World Business Report US-China trade war: The beginning of the end?
Elsewhere, we discuss whether the fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk will have any dramatic changes to US government's policy, while Andrew Peach speaks to diamond analyst Paul Zimnisky about why the main diamond company in Botswana says it's temporarily halting production.
And our correspondent Stephen McDonell reports from China on how the era of the driverless truck may finally have arrived.
The latest business and finance news from around the world, on the BBC.
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The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern confirm merger talks to create coast to coast railroad
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern acknowledged Thursday that they were in merger talks that would create a single U.S railroad with rails stretching service from East to West Coasts. The Associated Press reported last week that the companies were discussing a tie-up but neither company confirmed until Thursday morning. The potential merger would combine the largest and smallest of the country's six major freight railroads. There's widespread debate over whether such a merger would be approved by U.S. regulators, which have established a high bar for consolidation in the crucial industry. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. Union Pacific reported Thursday that its adjusted profit grew to $1.8 billion in the second quarter as merger rumors to swirl around the nation's largest railroad. The Omaha, Nebraska, per-share earnings rose rose to $3.03, beating Wall Street expectations and easily topping the $2.71 per-share profit it reported in the same period last year. Analysts were expecting profit of $2.91 per share for the recent quarter. Operating revenue grew 2% over last year, to $6.2 billion, the company said. Union Pacific shares rose about 1% before the bell Thursday, to $233.30 each. They had slumped to around $208 in early April, their lowest level of 2025, as President Donald Trump rolled out sweeping tariffs that threatened to upend global trade. Shares of all U.S. railroads moved higher as well. Sources told The Associated Press last week that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are in merger talks that would create the a railroad in North America that essentially connects the East and West Coasts. Neither company has commented on the negotiations, which began during the first quarter of this year, according to a person familiar with the talks who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about them. It would combine the largest and smallest of the country's six major freight railroads. There is widespread debate over whether such a merger would be approved by U.S. regulators, which have established a high bar for consolidation in the crucial industry. That is largely because of a disastrous deal that involved Union Pacific. Union Pacific merged with Southern Pacific in 1996 and the tie-up led to an extended period of snarled rail traffic on U.S. rails. Three years later, Conrail was divvied up by Norfolk Southern and CSX, which led to more backups on rails in the East. However, just two years ago the U.S. Surface Transportation Board did approve a deal that created the CPKC railroad, allowing Canadian Pacific to acquire Kansas City Southern for $31 billion. That merger combined the two smallest major railroads in North America, however, but left only six major freight railroads. It was the first major rail merger approved in more than two decades. To be approved, any major rail merger must show it will enhance competition and serve the public interest under the 2001 rules. The CPKC merger was not judged under those rules because Kansas City Southern had an exemption from them as the smallest major freight railroad at the time.
The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
UnitedHealth says it is under a federal investigation and cooperating
Shares of UnitedHealth Group slipped Thursday after the health care giant said it was under a Department of Justice investigation. The company said it has started complying with both criminal and civil requests from federal investigators and it was cooperating with them. '(UnitedHealth) has a long record of responsible conduct and effective compliance,' the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal said federal officials had launched a civil fraud investigation into how the company records diagnoses that lead to extra payments for its Medicare Advantage, or MA, plans. Those are privately run versions of the government's Medicare coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and over. The company's UnitedHealthcare business covers more than 8 million people as the nation's largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans. The business has been under pressure in recent quarters due to rising care use and rate cuts. UnitedHealth Group Inc. said in February that it wasn't aware of the start of any new activity as the paper reported. The company said Thursday that it reached out to the Justice Department 'after reviewing media reports about investigations into certain aspects of the company's participation in the Medicare program.' UnitedHealth runs one of the nation's largest health insurance and pharmacy benefits management businesses. It also operates a growing Optum business that provides care and technology support. Company shares have mostly shed value since December, when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in midtown Manhattan on his way to the company's annual investor meeting. The stock price dropped 2%, or $6.13, to $286.50 Thursday morning.
The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Even the ‘QAnon Shaman' has turned on Trump
Jacob Angeli Chansley, also known as the 'QAnon Shaman,' has launched a scathing verbal attack on President Trump, as the commander-in-chief continues to deal with the fallout of his administration's decision not to release the Epstein files. In 2021, the pictures of Chansley, adorned in a fur Viking horned headdress and red, white, and blue face paint, became a defining image of the Capitol riot. Four years on, Chansley's support of the president seems to be over. 'Oh yeah & F*** Israel! And F*** Donald Trump!, Angeli-Chansley wrote on X Wednesday. Chansley posted a flurry of fiery tweets about Trump, including one that has since been deleted under a Trump post featuring his mugshot. The tweet, which read 'F*** this stupid piece of s***... What a fraud,' was shared by X account Faketriots Watch. Chansley then turned his attention to Hollywood star and Trump supporter James Woods. 'Did you go to Epstein Island too James? Cuz I am beginning to look your house survive the LA fires too? Nothing about Epstein? You're not holding Trump accountable...I know the routine James...I try to give people their I'm gonna let you cook…,' Chansley wrote to the Once Upon a Time in America star. The one-time Trump superfan was sentenced to 41 months in prison in November 2021 after he was seen storming the Senate dais, taking selfies in a seat that Vice President Mike Pence had occupied an hour earlier, and scribbling 'It's Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!' on a piece of paper left on the desk. 'Mike Pence is a f***ing traitor,' he said during the raid. Chansley then called other rioters up to the dais and led them in an incantation over his bullhorn, according to the Department of Justice. He was released to a halfway house in 2023. Two years later, Trump pardoned Chansley along with over 1,500 others involved in the rioting that day. In 2021, his support for the president wavered when he offered to testify against Trump, stating that he was one of the many individuals incited by the then-former president's actions and rhetoric at The Ellipse on January 6. Ever since a n FBI memo was leaked claiming Jeffrey Epstein held 'no client list', MAGA has been split over the truth behind the matter. GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and a string of conservative pundits, including Tucker Carlson, former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, and right-wing podcaster Ben Shapiro, have all taken aim at Trump over the Epstein debacle.
