Japan's exports surged 13.5% in May, faster than expected growth helped by a weak yen and strong demand in the U.S. and Asia.

Finance Ministry data reported Wednesday showed that the trade deficit totaled 1.22 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), down nearly 12% from 1.38 trillion yen a year earlier. Imports grew 9.5%, year-on-year, to nearly 9.5 trillion yen ($60 billion).

The post-pandemic surge in global sales of luxury handbags, shoes and apparel is set to stall this year amid a creativity crisis and price hikes as brands shift focus to the biggest spending customers, a new study by the Bain consultancy said Tuesday.

Bain is forecasting flat worldwide luxury sales in 2024 following a slight first-quarter dip, according to the study commissioned by the Altagamma association. The consultancy cited political uncertainty during a presidential election year in the United States as well as economic uncertainty in China that has brought on a phenomenon of "luxury shaming."

The Paris Olympics involve about 10,500 athletes from 200 countries or regions. But the Olympics are more than just fun and games.

They are a giant business that generates billions of dollars in income for the International Olympic Committee. They're also a proxy for geopolitical influence seen through the standings in the medal tables, the presence of world leaders at the opening ceremony and the national anthems serenading gold-medal winners.

The European Union's executive arm on Wednesday criticized France for running up excessive debt, a stinging rebuke at the height of an election campaign where President Emmanuel Macron is facing a strong challenge from the extreme right and the left.

The EU Commission recommended to seven nations, including France, that they start a so-called "excessive deficit procedure," the first step in a long process before any member state can be hemmed in and moved to take corrective action.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump told an influential group of CEOs that he wants to further cut the corporate tax rate he lowered while in office, while President Joe Biden's chief of staff separately told them that the Democratic incumbent's emphasis on global alliances would help their businesses.

Both Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and Jeffrey Zients met behind closed doors on Thursday with the Business Roundtable in Washington, with Zients stepping in for Biden during the president's meetings with Group of Seven leaders in Italy. The prominent group representing more than 200 CEOs just rolled out an effort to preserve the tax breaks for businesses that Trump signed into law in 2017.

The artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI has raised tens of millions of dollars from the likes of Jeff Bezos and other prominent tech investors for its mission to rival Google in the business of searching for information.

But its AI-driven search chatbot is already facing challenges as some news media companies object to its business practices and tech giants Google, and now Apple, are increasingly fusing similar AI features into their core products.

Global shares were mixed on Friday after Wall Street touched fresh records, with benchmarks pushed higher by the frenzy over artificial-intelligence technology.

France's CAC 40 dropped 1.3% in early trading to 7,606.73 while Germany's DAX dipped 0.5% to 18,174.98. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 8,143.79. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.5% and that for the S&P 500 was 0.2% lower.

Tesla shareholders voted Thursday to restore CEO Elon Musk's record $44.9 billion pay package that was thrown out by a Delaware judge earlier this year, sending a strong vote of confidence in his leadership of the electric vehicle maker.

The favorable vote doesn't necessarily mean that Musk will get the all-stock compensation anytime soon. The package is likely to remain tied up in the Delaware Chancery Court and Supreme Court for months as Tesla tries to overturn the Delaware judge's rejection.

The UK announced Thursday dozens of new sanctions aimed at constraining Russia's war in Ukraine, including targeting Moscow's main stock exchange, a day after Washington announced similar measures.

London said the 50 new curbs -- part of "co-ordinated action with G7 partners" as the Western-led bloc's leaders meet in Italy -- will hit the Russian financial system and suppliers supporting its military production.

Just before 2 a.m. on a chilly April night in Seattle, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup stopped at an electric vehicle charging station on the edge of a shopping center parking lot.

Two men, one with a light strapped to his head, got out. A security camera recorded them pulling out bolt cutters. One man snipped several charging cables; the other loaded them into the truck. In under 2½ minutes, they were gone.