1.Airlines re-route, cancel flights due to India-Pakistan fighting

India’s escalating conflict with Pakistan has hit domestic airlines like IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air, forcing them to cancel flights due to airport closures. With 16 northern and western airports, including Jammu, Srinagar, and Chandigarh, shut, belly cargo in passenger flights is grounded. IndiGo alone cancelled 165 flights till May 10, affecting cargo movement. Air India Express is offering a full refund or free rescheduling for flights to and from Amritsar, Gwalior, Jammu, Srinagar, and Hindon until 05:30 am on May 10, 2025. Road transport now remains the most reliable cargo option.

2.Flying business class on international flights from Mumbai gets pricier under AERA's UDF tweak

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has allowed Adani Group-led Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) to charge higher user development fees (UDF) from international business class passengers than economy class travellers until 2028–29.

GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) became the first to receive approval for class-based UDF in March this year.

In a statement on Thursday, AERA said MIAL can collect a UDF of Rs 615 from each departing international economy class passenger and Rs 695 from each departing business class flyer, starting 16 May. For arriving international passengers, the UDF will be Rs 260 for economy and Rs 304 for business class.

3.Indian service sector enjoys strong start to new fiscal year

India’s services sector showed modest growth in April 2025, with the services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rising to 58.7 from 58.5 in March, driven by strong new business and export orders, especially from Asia, Europe, West Asia, and the US. The Composite PMI also edged up to 59.7, signalling the sharpest expansion since August 2024.

The finance and insurance sectors led growth. Meanwhile, the index of industrial production (IIP) growth recovered to 3% in March, while FY25 output growth hit a four-year low. "New export orders gained momentum after taking a breather in March, accelerating at its fastest pace since July 2024,” said Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC.

4.Apple Eyes Move to AI Search, Ending Era Defined by Google

Apple is considering adding artificial intelligence-powered search to its Safari browser, a top executive said Wednesday, potentially threatening Google’s coveted status as Apple’s default search engine. Shares of both Apple and Alphabet dropped after the executive’s testimony during an antitrust case, where he revealed that searches on Safari had declineD because more users are likely turning to AI chatbots.

That shift could erode Google Search’s dominance: Its share of the market dropped below 90% in the final quarter of 2024 for the first time in nearly a decade. While Google has released some new AI features for its search engine, the tech giant is struggling to articulate how AI will define the future of search, The Information wrote.

5.American Car, Made in Korea: Why GM Gets Roiled by Tariffs

General Motors, the Detroit stalwart, imported more cars into the US last year than any other automaker—even Toyota. Almost half of the brand’s vehicles sold in the US were built abroad, including many of its most affordable models like the Korean-made Chevrolet Trax and Buick Envista SUVs.

• No American carmaker stands to lose more from the trade war. Tariffs have GM scrambling to manage levies of up to $ 5 bn this year, which despite some offsets, will ravage 2025 earnings before interest and taxes by about 20%, according to the company. 

• Other US automakers will also feel the pain—just maybe not quite as much. Ford suspended its full-year financial guidance and said levies will weigh on profit. It’s facing a $2.5 billion tariff hit this year, which it aims to offset with $1 billion in cost savings.

• Tariffs have already begun to trickle down to consumers. Ford is boosting the sticker prices on Mexico-built models by as much as $2000. The increases are effective as of May 2 and affect Maverick small pickups, Bronco Sport compact SUVs and the electric Mustang Mach-E. 

6.Disney is planning a theme park in the Middle East as it bucked a wider trend toward economic retrenchment.

Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be Disney’s 5th overseas theme park and resort , after Japan, France, Hong Kong, and mainland China: The company turned down overtures from, among other places, Saudi Arabia.

It’s a sign of the UAE’s growing tourism heft, but also of Disney’s confidence. Profits at its theme parks and cruises are up, and its streaming service is outperforming expectations.

It may be good news for the US: “Disney has long been seen as bellwether for consumer confidence,” The New York Times reported. When visits to the Magic Kingdom are down, “it’s usually a sign that Americans are growing pessimistic.”

7.Russia Is in Demographic Free Fall. Putin Isn’t Helping

Russia was in demographic decline long before the war in Ukraine. Now it’s in free fall.

Since 2022, hundreds of thousands of Russians have died or suffered critical injuries in Ukraine. The result: According to one demographer, Russians may have had fewer children from January to March 2025 than in any three-month period over the past 200 years. As of 2023, the country’s fertility rate—1.4 births per woman—lies well below replacement level and amounts to a roughly 20 percent drop compared with 2015. In some regions, births fell that much in just 12 months. Last year, deaths outpaced births by more than half a million.

This crisis has led to one of the world’s most extreme natalism campaigns—and one of the weirdest. President Vladimir Putin has commanded his government to “stimulate” Russian women to have at least three children, and to make sure they get pregnant when they’re young. To that end, the Ministry of Education has been discussing ways to create “conditions for romantic relations” in schools. Last month, Moscow’s Department of Health displayed giant pink banners around the city asking women, how’s it going? still haven’t given birth? Read on.

8.The Conclave Begins at the Vatican

The process to determine the successor to Pope Francis gets underway today, as Catholic Church leaders gather in the Sistine Chapel to begin the secretive and centuries-old tradition known as the conclave. 

Ballots will be cast by a group of cardinals, the second-highest rank in the church hierarchy. While there are 252 cardinals, only those under 80 years old are eligible to vote, with a two-thirds majority required for a candidate to be selected.  

Observers say the election will be a referendum on whether to continue the reforms set in motion by Pope Francis—regarded as a relatively liberal church leader—or return to more conservative roots. Of the 133 voting cardinals, 108 were appointed by Pope Francis during his tenure. While no

Voting continues until a successor is chosen, with white smoke from the chapel's chimney indicating a decision has been made. Late last night India time a new pope was selected and announced in American cardinal Francis Prevost.

9.Netflix Plans Major Overhaul of Homepage Design, OpenAI-Powered Search and TikTok-Style Vertical Feeds

Netflix is planning a major overhaul of its home page on TV sets, as it continues to push into areas like games and live events. The company says that the new home page will roll out to users in the next few weeks and months, depending on location.

This is the first serious makeover since 2013. The redesign, which features fewer titles but more video and animation, is intended to present a sleeker look and get “people to press play, and stay,” the company said.

The last time Netflix debuted a major home page redesign, the streaming service had just over 30 million subscribers and was only starting to make its own original programs. It now has more than 300 million subscribers, has released thousands of original TV shows and movies and has remade the entire entertainment industry in its streaming image.

It’s a moment that the company is marketing as “the new Netflix.”

10.China’s smart ‘band-aid’ for organs delivers medicines wirelessly on demand

Chinese researchers have developed a wireless, paper-thin patch that attaches to an organ to create a highway for drug delivery.

To solve an important problem in drug delivery, a research team that includes Beihang University and Peking University developed an electronic patch that acts like a band-aid for organs.

Traditional drug delivery systems send a vague package through the body that requires higher doses than necessary and might harm organs in the process of trying to find their destination. Large-molecule drugs, or biopharmaceuticals based on proteins, face an even greater challenge as the cell membrane often blocks these drugs.