Walmart reported increased profits Thursday as it capitalized on affordability concerns at a time of soaring gasoline prices, but shares fell sharply on disappointment over the retailer's sales forecast.
Oil prices jumped while stock markets mostly retreated and the dollar firmed Thursday as hopes of a Middle East peace accord faded on conflicting headlines on the state of talks.
Jeep and Fiat owner Stellantis said Thursday that it would invest 60 billion euros in a five-year push to restore profitability, reducing its factory capacity in Europe while focusing on "affordability" in the shift to clean-energy vehicles.
- French films tackle war and fascism as crunch election looms
- Italian divers in Maldives may have got lost in cave: recovery firm
Sports
Many of the world's tennis stars will protest against perceived low prize money when they gather at Roland Garros for media duties ahead of the French Open which begins on Sunday.
May 21, 2026
RECENT NEWS
- EU slashes eurozone 2026 growth forecast on Mideast war
- Chinese authorities demolish villager's madcap 10-storey home
- Air France, Airbus guilty of manslaughter in 2009 Paris-Rio crash: French court
- Lustrinelli succeeds Eta as Union Berlin coach
Scientists will conduct an autopsy on "Timmy", the humpback whale whose ordeal to return to the open seas captured Germany's hearts and sparked a media frenzy, Denmark's environmental protection agency said on Thursday.
May 21, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Oil prices jumped, European stock markets retreated and the dollar firmed Thursday as hopes of a Middle East peace accord faded on conflicting headlines on the state of talks.
May 21, 2026
Independent filmmakers in Iran face a fresh wave of repression and extreme economic hardship because of the war, risking choking off a mainstay of world cinema, industry insiders say.
May 21, 2026
Veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was handed a surprise recall to Germany's 26-man World Cup squad on Thursday, coming out of international retirement to play in the tournament for a fifth time.
May 21, 2026
Economy
Samsung Electronics chip employees are expected to receive average bonuses worth 509 million won ($338,000) this year, a company official said Thursday, under a tentative deal between management and labour unions to avert a strike.
May 21, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Wearing leaf skirts and with brightly painted faces depicting mythical spirits, Cambodian revellers danced through village streets on Thursday, praying to an ancient guardian for rain, good fortune and peace with neighbouring Thailand.
A first Ebola case has been confirmed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province, in an area under the Rwanda-backed M23 militia's control, the armed group's spokesman said Thursday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday presented what he called Spain's biggest-ever campaign against forest fires after deadly blazes devoured a record amount of land last year.
Cubans expressed their shock and indignation after the United States indicted former president Raul Castro on murder charges, a stunning new step in President Donald Trump's pressure on the communist state.
May 21, 2026
Politics
Pakistan's army chief was due in Iran Thursday, Iranian media reported, with Islamabad mediating as the Islamic republic examines a new US proposal to end the Middle East war.
May 21, 2026
RECENT NEWS
British no-frills airline EasyJet said Thursday that its losses deepened in the six months to end-March after the Middle East war sent jet fuel prices soaring.
At least four Iranian footballers and one of their entourage went to the US embassy in Ankara Thursday to submit visa applications for the World Cup, an AFP correspondent said.
Financial irregularities surrounding Sri Lankan cricket were far worse than feared, government-appointed administrators said Thursday, promising a full accounting and sweeping reforms.
Shares in Ubisoft plunged more than 15 percent Thursday after the French video games giant reported disappointing annual results and forecast further pain in the coming year.
May 21, 2026
- Vets bid to save Kosovo's stray dogs from cull through sterilisation
- Mideast war forces EU to slash eurozone 2026 growth forecast
- Gaza flotilla activists await deportation from Israel
- Rich nations topped $100 bn climate finance goal again in 2023, 2024: OECD
- London next step in all-women Athlos' goal to be 'F1 of track and field'
- Asian stocks surge on Iran hopes, Samsung union talks
- Winston Churchill's 'playful' paintings go on show in London
- Tourists in Thailand plan for coming cuts to visa-free stays