Nation & World Business

Asian shares are mixed after U.S. stocks held relatively steady on Wall Street. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 1.5% but most other markets saw modest changes. The yen weakened further against the U.S. dollar. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% in its fourth straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. Kenvue, the company behind Band-Aids and Tylenol, rose after topping analysts’ forecasts for profit and revenue. The Walt Disney Co. sank after reporting revenue that fell a bit shy of forecasts. They’re among the tail end of companies reporting their results for the first three months of the year.

Asian shares are mixed after U.S. stocks held relatively steady on Wall Street. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 1.5% but most other markets saw modest changes. The yen weakened further against the U.S. dollar. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% in its fourth straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. Kenvue, the company behind Band-Aids and Tylenol, rose after topping analysts’ forecasts for profit and revenue. The Walt Disney Co. sank after reporting revenue that fell a bit shy of forecasts. They’re among the tail end of companies reporting their results for the first three months of the year.

An independent review of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s workplace culture describes an environment that fostered “hostile, abusive, unprofessional, or inappropriate conduct,” and questions whether the agency’s chairman is credible to lead the agency through a cultural transformation. The report released Tuesday outlines incidents of stalking, harassment, homophobia and other violations of employment regulations. More than 500 workers reported incidents of harassment, discrimination and other issues.

No, Katy Perry and Rihanna didn’t attend the Met Gala this year. But that didn’t stop AI-generated images from tricking some fans into thinking the stars made appearances on the steps of fashion’s biggest night. Deepfake images depicting a handful of big names at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual fundraiser quickly spread online. Some eagle-eyed social media users spotted discrepancies — and platforms themselves, such as X’s Community Notes, soon noted that the images were likely created using artificial intelligence. This is far from the first time we’ve seen generative AI used to create phony content, but experts note that each instance underlines growing concerns around the misuse of this technology

France’s president has hosted China’s leader at a remote mountain pass in the Pyrenees for private meetings. The trip on Tuesday comes after a high-stakes state visit in Paris dominated by trade disputes and tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Tourmalet Pass near the Spanish border. Macron spent time there as a child visiting his grandmother. It is meant to be a reciprocal gesture after Xi took Macron last year to a place where the Chinese president’s father once lived. Xi is on a trip to Europe that takes him next to Serbia and Hungary.