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ROME: Record 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic will not take part in the Italian Open in Rome from May 7-18, tournament organisers announced on Tuesday. “Novak Djokovic has announced he won’t take part to #IBI25,” organisers of the clay court tournament announced on social media. The organisers did not state the reason for 37-year-old Djokovic’s withdrawal. The Serb’s wait for a 100th ATP title goes on after his withdrawal from the Masters event in the Italian capital which he has won six times, most recently in 2022. His last silverware came at the Paris Olympics last year — at…

Europe’s economy grew more strongly in the first three months of the year, only to see hopes for an ongoing recovery quickly squelched by US President Donald Trump’s trade war. Gross domestic product in the 20 countries that use the euro grew 0.4% in the first quarter, improving on 0.2% growth in the last part of 2024, according to official figures released Wednesday. But on April 2, just two days after the end of the quarter, Trump announced an onslaught of new tariffs on almost every US trading partner and hit goods imported from the European Union with a 20%…

Nasdaq has submitted a regulatory filing to list and trade shares of the 21Shares Dogecoin ETF, potentially creating a new investment avenue for the popular cryptocurrency as the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to extend review periods for multiple crypto fund applications. According to the filing, the proposed ETF would hold spot Dogecoin and track the CF DOGE-Dollar US Settlement Price Index, with Coinbase Custody Trust Company serving as the cryptocurrency custodian for the trust. The application represents another step toward expanding cryptocurrency access through ETFs, which would allow investors to buy Dogecoin exposure through their existing brokerage accounts instead…

MADRID: Madison Keys of the US returns to Poland’s Iga Swiatek during their Madrid Open quarter-final at Caja Magica on Wednesday.—AFP MADRID: Iga Swiatek kept her Madrid Open title defence alive, as she avenged her Australian Open defeat to Madison Keys with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against the American in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. The second seed will next square off with Coco Gauff, who beat 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva for the third time in as many meetings, 7-5, 6-1. Searching for her first title of the season, the second-seeded Swiatek recovered from a poor opening set to improve her…

Washington CNN  —  The US economy just had its worst quarter since 2022 as President Donald Trump’s significant policy changes unnerved consumers and businesses. Gross domestic product, which measures all the goods and services produced in the economy, registered at an annualized rate of -0.3% in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That’s a sharp slowdown from the fourth quarter’s 2.4% rate, and much worse than the 0.8% rate economists projected. GDP is adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation. US stocks dropped after the GDP report was released. The Trump administration has been on a chaotic tariff spree…

As the crypto market recovers from a historic rout, Robinhood, the online brokerage that offers digital assets, stocks and other investments, is planning to lean into its other offerings, despite becoming increasingly reliant on crypto trading volume in recent years. “It’s going to go up and down in terms of trading volumes,” Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said in an earnings call with shareholders on Wednesday, acknowledging crypto’s trademark volatility. “We’re diversifying the business outside of the crypto business, which will make us less reliant on crypto transaction volumes.” Robinhood reported $927 million in Q1 revenue on Wednesday, a slight pullback…

LAHORE: Islamabad United finally met their match. Imperious after winning their opening five games of the ongoing HBL Pakistan Super League season, they were routed by a rampant Lahore Qalandars at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday. The 88-run victory saw Qalan­dars win for a second time in two matches and move up to second in the table behind United. Lahore were powered by a brilliant all-round show by Sikandar Raza, as well as valuable contributions from the bat by Sam Billings and Fakhar Zaman with Haris Rauf showing signs of returning to his lethal best with the ball. After Raza…

New York CNN  —  President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff plan was largely expected to impact the US economy’s first-quarter performance as companies loaded up on imported goods ahead of higher levies. But what few failed to anticipate was how much worse off the economy would have appeared without stockpiling. “People are stockpiling now. That’s helping the economy now — and then they’re going to spend even less,” said Ryan Young, senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank. GDP, or gross domestic product, which measures all the goods and services produced in the economy, fell to an…

An eyeball-scanning crypto project that’s backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has launched in the U.S., Tools for Humanity, the venture’s developer, announced Wednesday evening. Originally dubbed Worldcoin, the project, now rebranded to World, aims to scan human’s irises through an orb to prove that humans aren’t AI. In return, participants receive a cryptocurrency called WLD. Americans can now access the eyeball-scanning orb, claim cryptocurrency, and use the associated World app. The project is first rolling out its iris scanners in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville and San Francisco, according to a press release. When it first launched in…

DUBAI (Reuters) – Crypto enthusiasts descended on Dubai on Wednesday, gathering under the Gulf’s scorching sun and hoping the industry’s buoyant mood can keep going despite signs the euphoria around Donald Trump’s crypto stance is ebbing. Speakers at the two-day event in the desert city include chief executives at some of the world’s major crypto firms, the head of digital assets at BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, as well as the U.S. president’s son, Eric Trump, who is set to take the stage on Thursday. Once a crypto sceptic, the U.S. president has vowed to support the industry by easing regulatory…