Demonstrators take part in a rally against the far right following the announcement of the results of the first round of the French parliamentary elections at Place de la Republique in Paris on June 30, 2024. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images ”We’re scared of what might happen,” Amel, 34, told CNBC ahead of the final round of voting in France’s snap election this weekend. The vote is being closely watched by all quarters of French society to see if the nationalist, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) builds on its initial win in the first round of voting, or whether centrist...

US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, on July 5, 2024. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images President Joe Biden insisted Friday that his damaging debate performance against former President Donald Trump was just a ”bad night,” and not an indication of a more serious health condition. ”I was exhausted,” Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, in his first face-to-face TV interview since his raspy and disconnected debate last week. ”I didn’t listen to my instincts, in terms of preparing, and [had] a bad night,” said Biden, who also referred to his performance as...

Armoured vehicles of the Indian army at a military camp in Eastern Ladakh on May 19, 2024.  Tauseef Mustafa | Afp | Getty Images India and China have agreed to intensify efforts aimed at resolving their longstanding border issues, according to a statement by India’s external affairs ministry. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday. ”The two Ministers agreed that the prolongation of the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side,” the statement read. The...

The Exchange Square Complex, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets were mostly up Thursday as Japan’s Topix crossed its all-time high of 2,886.50, previously set in December 1989. The Topix jumped 0.37%, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.2%. The Nikkei is less than 200 points from its all-time high of 40,888.43. Japanese companies have delivered the largest wage hikes in three decades this year, according to the nation’s largest labor union. Monthly pay for union-backed workers will climb 5.1% on average this fiscal year ending March 2025, according to a survey...

BYD Seal U electric car at the IAA Mobility 2023 international motor show on September 6, 2023 in Munich, Germany. Leonhard Simon | Getty Images News | Getty Images Chinese electric vehicle startup BYD is on track to overtake Tesla in battery electric vehicle sales this year, with its BEV market share expected to surge, according to Counterpoint Research released Tuesday. ”This shift underscores the dynamic nature of the global EV market,” Counterpoint analysts said in the report. BYD’s second-quarter battery EV sales jumped nearly 21% year on year to 426,039 units, according to CNBC’s calculations. Tesla’s second-quarter deliveries fell 4.8% to 443,956...

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock exchange during morning trading on Nov. 10, 2023 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images What you need to know today This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here. AI momentumWall Street kicked off the second half of the year with modest gains, propelled by continued strength in megacap stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.13, while the S&P...

SHANGHAI, CHINA – JANUARY 01: Sun rises over the Oriental Pearl Tower on New Year’s Day on January 1, 2023 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images) Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets started the second half of the year mixed as investors assessed June business activity data from China as well as Japan’s business confidence readings. China released its official PMI figures on the weekend, with its manufacturing PMI coming in at 49.5, unchanged from May and marking its second straight month in contraction territory. A private survey of manufacturing activity, however, diverged...

If you, like many others, have ever fallen down a rabbit hole trying to learn more about what causes some people to live longer and feel more happiness, then you’ve probably already heard of Blue Zones like Okinawa, Japan. Blue Zones are areas in the world with the most people living the longest lives. On average, Okinawan women live longer lives than women from all other areas worldwide, according to longevity expert Dan Buettner. Additionally, ”Okinawans have less cancer, heart disease and dementia than Americans,” Buettner wrote on his site. The island’s age-defying residents caught the attention of authors Héctor...

Amazon will double the value of credits it offers some startups to use its cloud infrastructure, CNBC has learned, as the company faces heightened competition from Microsoft in artificial intelligence services. Starting July 1, startups that have raised a Series A round of funding in the past year will be eligible for $200,000 in credits through AWS’ Activate program, up from $100,000 before, the Amazon cloud unit said in an email to venture capitalists this week. Seed-stage startups will still be eligible for $100,000 in credits, AWS said. Two people briefed on the changes confirmed the credit increase, though they...

New Japanese 1000 Yen banknote on display inside the Currency Museum of the Bank of Japan’s Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies. The new banknotes will start circulate from July 3, 2024.  Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images The Japanese yen weakened to fresh 38-year lows on Friday, crossing the 161 mark against the dollar for the first time since 1986 and reaching a high of 161.27, according to LSEG data. The last time the currency was at this level was in December 1986. The currency has struggled and again weakened past the 160 level on Thursday. The yen...