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Daily Briefing

By Edson Caldas

China's first-quarter economic growth beats expectations, sources say Nvidia kept some China customers in the dark about a US chip clampdown, and the UK's top court rules that the definition of woman refers to biological sex under equality legislation. Plus, India offers cheap loans for arms, targeting Russia's traditional customers.

Business & Markets

China's first-quarter economic growth outstripped expectations, underpinned by solid consumption and industrial output, but analysts fear momentum could shift sharply lower as US tariffs pose the biggest risk to the Asian powerhouse in decades.  Chinese sellers have taken to social media platform Rednote to generate sympathy purchases, telling domestic consumers they are offloading stock at bargain prices amid the tariff turmoil. Nvidia said it would take $5.5 billion in charges after the US limited exports of its H20 chip to China. The company did not warn at least some major customers in advance about new US export rules it was told about a week ago requiring it to obtain licenses to sell its China-focused AI chip, sources said. US President Donald Trump's new tariffs could cost US semiconductor equipment makers more than $1 billion a year, according to industry calculations discussed with officials and lawmakers in Washington last week, two sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bid to transform India into a global factory floor has produced billions of dollars of low-cost iPhones and pharmaceuticals. Now he hopes to add missiles, helicopters and battleships to the shopping carts of foreign governments. British inflation slowed to its weakest in three months in March and other measures watched by the Bank of England cooled too, but higher bills and employer costs will pressure prices soon against the backdrop of Trump's trade war.

World News

UK Supreme Court says 'woman' refers to biological sex under equality laws. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska The United Kingdom's highest court ruled that the definition of a woman under equality legislation referred to "biological sex", but it said trans people would not be disadvantaged by its decision. The landmark case is the latest example of the wider debate around transgender rights ending up before the courts. Members of the World Health Organization reached an agreement on how to learn from COVID-19 and prepare the world for future pandemics. The legally binding pact is seen as a victory for the agency at a time when multilateral organizations like the WHO have been battered by sharp cuts in US foreign funding. Palestinian medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of Gaza and continued to demolish homes in Rafah in the south. The enclave has become a "mass grave" for Palestinians and those trying to help them, according to medical charity MSF. Hundreds of Tunisians protested demanding accountability, after three students died earlier this week following a school wall collapse in the central town of Mazzouna, an incident that provoked widespread anger and accusations of negligence against officials.

US politics

President Donald Trump threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status and said the university should apologize, a day after it rejected what it called unlawful demands to overhaul academic programs or lose federal grants. A judge has called for officials to provide documents and answer questions under oath about the return of a man wrongly deported to El Salvador. Reporter Luc Cohen tells the Reuters World News podcast the demand ramps up an inquiry into whether the Trump administration defied a court order. Trump directed his health department to work with Congress on revamping a law that allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, seeking to introduce a change the pharmaceutical industry has lobbied for.

In Pictures

Octogenarian skater shreds concrete in Spain's Bilbao. REUTERS/Vincent West Grinning mischievously, Juanjo Urbizu dons a baseball cap, tucks his T-shirt neatly into his sweatpants and adjusts the velcro straps on his elbow pads before positioning his skateboard on the bowl's edge, ready for the "drop." Urbizu's attempt at a gnarly trick draws stares because the athlete is a sight to behold, wheeling around the unassuming skate park in northern Spain having just turned 88. View photo essay

And Finally...

Kenyan agents bust plot to smuggle giant ants. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi Four smugglers caught trying to transport thousands of live ants out of Kenya for sale on exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia will be sentenced for trafficking wildlife. The case is being hailed as a milestone by the Kenya Wildlife Service. Read more

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