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of America N.A. Member FDIC. President

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Biden's threat to pause weapons deliveries

0:36

to Israel stirs concerns about a

0:38

rupture in relations. Plus,

0:40

Apple apologizes for an ad

0:43

campaign seen by some as

0:45

cheering AI's replacement of human

0:47

creativity and why online

0:49

shopping is helping to keep the lights

0:51

on at Main Street stores. The

0:54

cost of attracting customers

0:56

online through advertising really

0:58

skyrocketed. So some retailers

1:00

realized it was more cost effective to

1:02

have kind of a hybrid of an

1:04

online and in-person presence. It's Friday,

1:07

May 10th. I'm Luke Fargus

1:09

for The Wall Street Journal. And here

1:11

is the AM edition of What's News,

1:13

the top headlines and business stories moving

1:16

your world today. The

1:19

U.S. has said it would soon begin using

1:22

a $320 million floating pier to deliver

1:24

aid for the Gaza Strip in a

1:27

test of President Biden's promise to ease

1:29

the humanitarian crisis in the territory. However,

1:32

U.S. officials said that key details,

1:34

including how the aid will be

1:36

distributed, have yet to be sorted

1:38

out with the pier just days

1:40

away from operation. Meanwhile,

1:42

Biden's threat to freeze weapons deliveries to

1:45

Israel should it launch a major assault

1:47

on the city of Rafa is

1:50

raising alarm in the country over a

1:52

rupture in relations with its most important

1:54

international supporter. Israeli Prime

1:56

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had this response.

2:00

If we have to stand alone, we will

2:02

stand alone. I have already said

2:04

that if we have to, we will fight with

2:07

our nails, but we have much more than nails.

2:10

Israeli officials and analysts said that Biden's

2:12

warning about withholding weapons appeared to be

2:14

a political message that in the short

2:16

term wouldn't affect Israel's ability to wage

2:18

war. However, Israel's long-term

2:21

ability to fight on several fronts

2:23

could be threatened if Biden pauses

2:25

further delivery. The

2:27

port of Baltimore is expected to

2:29

reopen next week after a controlled

2:31

demolition scheduled for this weekend to

2:33

free a container ship that crashed

2:36

into the Francis Scott Key Bridge

2:38

in March. A

2:40

port spokesman said they expect about 20

2:42

vessels to call on the port next

2:44

week, a major step toward the resumption

2:47

of normal operations at America's busiest gateway

2:49

for imports of cars and heavy machinery.

2:52

The U.S. Senate has approved

2:54

legislation reauthorizing the rules that

2:56

govern the Federal Aviation Administration in

2:59

an effort to make air travel

3:01

smoother and safer. The

3:03

chair of the Senate's Commerce, Science

3:06

and Transportation Committee, Maria Cantwell, called

3:08

on the House to approve the

3:10

legislation next week and touted the

3:12

bill's benefits. By assuring that we

3:14

have the safest aviation system in

3:17

America, we are investing in our

3:19

economy. Aviation contributes

3:21

more than 5 percent to our GDP, $1.9

3:23

trillion of economic activity, and

3:27

it supports over 11 million jobs. The

3:30

bill requires the FAA to install

3:33

new systems at airports to prevent

3:35

runway collisions, includes nearly

3:37

$20 billion in grants for

3:39

airport upgrades, along with consumer

3:41

protections on ticket reimbursements for

3:43

some travel disruptions. The

3:50

United Kingdom has returned to growth in

3:52

the first three months of the year,

3:55

a sign that the country is beginning

3:57

to recover from rampant inflation and low

3:59

productivity. GDP was 0.6%

4:02

higher than in the previous three-month

4:05

period, beating economists' expectations and essentially

4:07

achieving the soft landing that Chancellor

4:09

Jeremy Hunt has been hoping for.

4:12

And he told the WSJ CEO

4:15

Council yesterday that the key to

4:17

further growth is about boosting UK

4:19

productivity. Despite the fact that it

4:21

takes Brits, broadly, five days

4:23

to make what it takes the German four

4:25

days to make, we've

4:27

actually grown faster than Germany since 2010. And

4:31

the reason is because of our

4:33

great strength in technology, in film

4:36

and TV, which is now an offshoot of

4:38

technology, in bioscience and all these growth industries

4:40

of the future. Now, what

4:42

every economist will say you need

4:44

to do to address

4:47

that productivity weakness which we've had

4:49

for many years in this country

4:51

is more investment, particularly more business

4:53

investment. It is the UK's strongest

4:55

performance since 2021 and on an

4:57

annualized basis, the British economy grew

4:59

by 2.5% in

5:02

the first quarter, beating the US, which

5:04

recorded just 1.6% growth in

5:07

the same period. Japanese

5:09

carmakers Honda and Nissan are forecasting

5:11

a drop in their annual net

5:13

profits of 9.7% and

5:17

11% respectively. Honda said

5:19

it's expecting declines in car sales

5:21

in Europe and Asia over the

5:23

next year, while Nissan cited heightened

5:26

competition in the industry and high

5:28

inflation. Both companies

5:30

said earlier this year they plan

5:32

to collaborate on EV development, while

5:34

fellow Japanese automaker Toyota has focused

5:37

more on hybrid vehicles. And

5:40

Apple has apologized for a new

5:42

advertisement depicting a range of creative

5:44

tools being crushed by a giant

5:46

compressor and revealing a new thin

5:49

iPad model in their place. Some

5:52

critics saw the ad as a symbol

5:54

of Apple's power and of AI's potential

5:57

to replace human creativity. to

6:00

ad age, an Apple spokesperson said

6:02

the company designs products to empower

6:05

creatives, but that the video

6:07

missed the mark and the ad will not

6:09

run on TV. And

6:12

AI isn't the only technology with the

6:14

potential to shake up far-flung corners of

6:16

the economy. As a

6:18

new class of drugs revolutionizes weight loss,

6:20

we're planning to look at what changes

6:22

could be in store for a range

6:24

of industries from food to medicine. And

6:26

we want to know what questions you

6:29

have about the economic effects that that

6:31

could cause. To weigh

6:33

in, send a voice memo to

6:35

wnpod at wsj.com or leave a

6:37

voicemail with your name and location

6:40

at 212-416-4328. And we just might use it on

6:42

the show. Coming

6:47

up, we'll look at whether our

6:50

online shopping habits may actually be

6:52

keeping physical stores alive. That

6:54

story after the break. This

7:02

message comes from Viking, committed to

7:04

exploring the world in comfort. Journey

7:07

through the heart of Europe on

7:09

an elegant Viking longship with thoughtful

7:11

service, destination-focused dining and cultural enrichment

7:13

on board and on shore. And

7:16

every Viking voyage is all-inclusive with

7:18

no children and no casinos. Discover

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more at viking.com. Once

7:28

seen as a direct threat to brick and mortar

7:31

stores, e-commerce is lending a

7:33

boost to Main Street. That

7:35

is, as retailers increasingly rely on

7:37

their shops as fulfillment hubs that

7:39

can ship items ordered online from

7:41

their stock rooms in addition to

7:44

warehouses. According to research

7:46

firm Global Data, nearly 42% of

7:49

e-commerce orders last year involved stores

7:52

up from around 27% in 2015. Our

7:56

Kate Bullivant spoke with Journal Real Estate

7:58

Reporter Kate King. And began

8:00

by asking her why online shopping

8:02

hasn't made stores obsolete? A. Lot

8:04

of people thought that as online shopping

8:07

took off retailers would have the opportunity

8:09

to clothes stores, save a bunch of

8:11

money on rent and all the other

8:14

expenses that go along with operate bricks

8:16

and mortar stores and just sell more

8:18

goods online. But as time went on

8:21

retailers really realized that they need store

8:23

is just purely from the perspective of

8:25

attracting and retaining customers people tend to

8:28

forget about sore as if they don't

8:30

see them when they're driving around their

8:32

towns and also the cost of. Attracting

8:35

customers online through advertising really skyrocketed,

8:37

so some retailers realized it was

8:39

more cost effective to have kind

8:41

of a hybrid of an online

8:43

and in person presence. Retailers also

8:45

realize that may be savings that

8:47

they had realized by letting go

8:49

of some of their A B

8:51

Says and physical presence, as were

8:54

quickly eaten up by the costs

8:56

of the selling online orders through

8:58

shipping, so it was more cost

9:00

effective for them to allow customers,

9:02

so order items are mine. And

9:05

then have them shipped from the

9:07

store that's closest to the customers

9:09

home. So major retailers are really

9:11

adopt him as hybrid way of

9:13

the selling online orders Coles, the

9:15

department store now sells more than

9:17

a third of it's online orders

9:19

and stores Walmart more than half

9:21

and Targets as old nearly. All

9:23

it's sales from. It's roughly two

9:26

thousand storefronts. Say. Kate is marrying

9:28

his ecommerce with physical stores Or

9:30

does it mean for customers in?

9:32

Is it something that they welcome?

9:34

Yeah. This is definitely a convenience I

9:37

customers appreciate and in fact expect now Customers

9:39

want to be able to order. Items are

9:41

mine and if they choose go to the

9:43

store is directly to return them. It's a

9:45

lot of work for customers to packaged stuff

9:48

back up. Sometimes they have to pay shipping

9:50

see if they're returning it through the mail.

9:52

The So they like to be able to

9:54

have the option to go to the Gap.

9:57

Or Macys. Or. Target

9:59

and Return. They bought online in

10:01

person. Sometimes they end up browsing and

10:03

by another South Wall in the store

10:05

after making their returns and so that's

10:08

you know. Little bonus for the stores

10:10

as well. So brick and mortar stores

10:12

playing a vital role here. But does

10:14

this mean that this thread has totally

10:17

disappeared for them? know? I think we

10:19

can't deny the fact that ecommerce is

10:21

an existential threat for some retailers. If

10:23

you can buy something online cheaper that

10:26

you really don't need to go into

10:28

the story to see and. Touch and

10:30

Feel. For example: toothpaste, toilet paper, paper

10:32

towels. You're just going to order it

10:35

online, So retailers really need to have

10:37

a reason that draws customers into their

10:39

stores and some of them are having

10:42

a hard time even making the numbers.

10:44

Works for example, grocers are finding

10:46

it really hard. They already operate

10:48

on really thin margins and they're finding

10:51

it difficult to make money from online

10:53

orders that are than picked up by

10:55

customers in stores. It also poses a

10:58

problem for landlords as well because when

11:00

a retailer hits a certain threshold and

11:02

sales and he sales above that threshold,

11:04

they sometimes pay a portion of it

11:07

to their landlord. The landlord need to

11:09

be able to track all the sales

11:11

that third tenants are reporting, and if

11:14

customers return a bunch of items that

11:16

they ordered online that might artificially. Decrease

11:18

the amount of revenue that's been

11:20

reported to the landlord and impact

11:22

the landlords ability to collect rent.

11:25

That was gentle real estate reported

11:27

case King State: so much for

11:29

your time than kill. And

11:31

that's what's lose for Friday

11:33

morning Today show was produced

11:35

by Keep Bullivant and Daniel

11:37

Bomb or supervising producer Suffer

11:40

till half time loop Artists

11:42

Streets we went. On

11:46

was great weeks.

12:00

This message comes from Viking, committed

12:02

to exploring the world in comfort.

12:05

Journey through the heart of Europe

12:07

on an elegant Viking longship with

12:09

thoughtful service, destination-focused dining and cultural

12:11

enrichment on board and on shore.

12:14

And every Viking voyage is all-inclusive,

12:16

with no children and no casinos.

12:19

Discover more at viking.com.