HOWEVER YOU do it, booking holidays can be a hassle. It used to mean a visit to a travel agent. Online firms at least let you set up trips yourself, in your pajamas. Now they are promising to do the brainwork too, via artificial intelligence. Expedia has trialled Romie, its “AI-powered travel buddy”, Trip.com has brought out TripGenie and Booking.com has introduced the more prosaically named AI Trip Planner. More
The latest episode of “60 Minutes”, broadcast on CBS on April 27th, began with items on medical-research funding, Islamist terrorism and Japan’s population crisis. But its biggest story was delivered in the final 60 seconds. “Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger,” the correspondent, Scott Pelley, explained to the show’s 7m or so viewers. “The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways.” More
ALL QUIET on the western waterfront. And the eastern one, too. Across littoral America, stevedores are twiddling their thumbs. They have President Donald Trump to thank for this unexpected breather. It is the foreseeable consequence of his unprovoked trade world war. Eastbound shipments from China, his biggest target and source of 40% of America’s seaborne imports, are being cancelled. Some importers are switching to suppliers in places granted reprieve from his “reciprocal” tariffs. Many are just waiting out the storm. On April 29th the boss of the Port of Los Angeles, America’s biggest, predicted that imports at the facility would fall by at least 10% in the second half of 2025. More
Investors cheered when Brian Niccol was named chief executive of Starbucks last August. Mr Niccol, then the boss of Chipotle, a Mexican-restaurant group, had earned an almost messianic reputation for turning around struggling hospitality businesses. The world’s biggest coffee chain, increasingly derided for its tired stores, slow service and pricey brews, desperately needed such a saviour. More
For Gen Z shoppers in America, Donald Trump’s trade war with China is no longer just a headline. On April 25th Shein and Temu, two Chinese online emporiums popular among youngsters, announced they would be adjusting their prices in America. The cost of some goods sold by Shein subsequently shot up by more than 150%. Temu has added “import charges” that in some cases exceed the price of the item being purchased. More
In the weeks after the re-election of Donald Trump, the bosses of America’s tech giants worked hard to ingratiate themselves with the returning president, congratulating him publicly and dutifully turning up to his inauguration. Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, gushed that it was nice to have an administration that was “proud” of America’s tech champions. More
In the weeks after the re-election of Donald Trump, the bosses of America’s tech champions worked hard to ingratiate themselves with the returning president, congratulating him publicly and dutifully turning up to his inauguration. Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, gushed that it was nice to have an administration that was “proud” of America’s tech champions. More
In the late 1940s, as the industrial capacity of Europe and Japan lay in tatters, America accounted for over half of global manufacturing output, with much of the world heavily reliant on its wares. Last year it accounted for little over a tenth, and imported $1.2trn more in merchandise than it exported—to the displeasure of its president. More
