Chevron agreed to take over Anadarko in a $49 billion deal. The acquisition expands Chevron's shale-oil assets in America's Permian basin, where Anadarko is a leading independent operator. It also gains a huge liquefied-natural-gas project in Mozambique. Big oil companies have been increasing their shale production targets, adding to the pressure on smaller, independent outfits to consolidate.
Apple and Qualcomm settled their dispute over royalties and reached a six-year licensing agreement, ending years of costly litigation. Their quarrel had revolved around patent fees for the use of Qualcomm's chips in Apple's iPhone. While the dispute dragged on, Apple had switched to Intel to supply it with chips, but Intel had encountered problems designing chips for next-generation 5G phones and now plans to exit that business.
Investors pored over Uber's prospectus, which it released ahead of its forthcoming IPO. Overall revenue hit $11.3 billion last year, though growth is slowing at Uber's core ride-hailing service. Uber Eats, its food-delivery service, accounted for 13% of sales, a big jump from the previous year. Uber is aiming for a $100 billion stock market valuation, which would make it the biggest flotation in five years.
German prosecutors charged Martin Winterkorn with "particularly serious" fraud relating to the emissions-cheating scandal at Volkswagen while he was chief executive. Winterkorn resigned soon after the scandal broke in 2015. He has been indicted in the U.S. on similar charges but is unlikely to face trial there. The German authorities want him to return some of his pay, and he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Volkswagen unveiled an electric SUV that it will build in China from 2021, stepping up its production of zero-emission vehicles to take on Tesla in the world's biggest car market.
China's economy grew by 6.4% in the first quarter, year on year. That was a bit better than markets had expected, possibly reflecting the easing of trade tensions between the U.S. and China. The negotiations to resolve that conflict are in their final stages.
Jet Airways' share price plunged amid reports that it would have to cease all operations. The Indian airline is beset by a funding crisis that has left some staff unpaid since December and led to its aircraft being seized by creditors.
The ripples from the grounding of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft following two fatal crashes continued to be felt across the airline industry. American Airlines canceled all flights on Max jets until mid-August. That came after Southwest, which has the largest fleet of Max aircraft, extended its flight cancellations.
Global politics from the Economist
Notre Dame's roof, spire lost in fire
Notre Dame, a medieval cathedral immortalized by Victor Hugo, Hollywood and innumerable tourist selfies, caught fire. More than 400 firefighters brought the blaze under control, but the roof is gone, and with it the spire. The interior damage is extensive, but many artifacts and relics, including a supposed part of Jesus' crown of thorns, were saved. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, visited the site and vowed that the cathedral will be rebuilt. Two French billionaires pledged a total of €300 million ($340 million) toward that effort.
The Finns Party, an anti-immigrant outfit, won 17% of the vote in Finland's election. The winning Social Democrats will try to form a government without it.
Britain pondered what to do with Julian Assange, a co-founder of WikiLeaks. The U.S. wants him extradited for conspiring to help a soldier hack a classified computer network. In Sweden, a woman who says he raped her has asked prosecutors to reopen the case. He also faces jail in Britain for jumping bail.
The African Union threatened to suspend Sudan, following a military coup that deposed Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled for more than three decades. The A.U. gave the generals who now run the country 15 days to hand power to civilians.
The United Conservative Party won an election in the oil-producing Canadian province of Alberta. The incoming premier, Jason Kenney, is expected to abolish the province's tax on carbon emissions and to challenge the federal policy of imposing a carbon price on provinces that do not have their own.
