Google has officially unveiled Googlebooks, a new category of laptops built around its Gemini AI assistant. Devices from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are expected this fall, though pricing and full hardware details have not yet been disclosed.

Global oil prices rose further with Brent crude climbing near $110 a barrel, as a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz continues with the US and Iran both rejecting the other’s ceasefire proposal.  Meanwhile, Japanese snack giant Calbee has decided to temporarily switch to black and white packaging for some of its products including crisps and prawn crackers due to supply instability in printing ink, made using petrochemical materials. 

Chrome on Android is getting a major AI upgrade with Gemini at its core, turning the browser into a more helpful assistant that can understand pages, handle tasks, and simplify how you use the web.

U.S. consumer prices climbed sharply again last month as the 10-week war with Iran delivered higher gasoline prices and more pain for Americans.

The Labor Department’s consumer price index rose 3.8% from April 2025, the biggest jump in three years, and up from a 3.3% year-over-year gain in March. On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 0.6% from March as gasoline prices rose 5.4%, according to the data released Tuesday. The month-over-month gain was down from a 0.9% increase in overall prices from February to March, when the initial financial shock from the war hit the U.S. economy.

Labor Department figures showed that gasoline prices are up more than 28% compared with a year ago. However, the AAA motor club listed the average regular gallon of gasoline above $4.50 on Tuesday, about 44% more than it cost last year at this time.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called consumer core prices rose 0.4% last month from March and 2.8% from April 2025, relatively modest readings that suggest the energy price burst has yet to spill over more broadly into prices for other goods.

Grocery prices rose 0.7% from March to April as meat prices rose after they had declined slightly in the month before.

Prices are rising at a time when Americans are already frustrated by the high cost of living. Affordability is likely to be a key issue when voters go to the polls November 3 to determine whether President Donald Trump’s Republican Party maintains control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

“Inflation is the key drag on the U.S. economy now,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote. “There is a real financial squeeze underway. For the first time in three years, inflation is eating up all wage gains. This is a setback for middle-class and lower-income households, and they know it. They are having to cut back on spending and stretch every dollar.”

In April, average hourly wages fell 0.3% from a year earlier after accounting for inflation—the first year-over-year drop in three years.

Inflation had been dropping more or less steadily since peaking with a 9.1% year-over-year spike in June 2022, a surge caused by supply chain bottlenecks at the end of COVID-19 lockdowns and a jolt for energy prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But inflation has remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Then, the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and Tehran responded by shutting off access to the Gulf of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes. That has sent oil prices, and most visibly gasoline, racing higher.

The Fed, which had been expected to cut its benchmark interest rate in 2026, has turned cautious as it waits to see how long the conflict lasts and whether higher energy prices spill over into other products and cause a broader inflationary outbreak.

Trump has lambasted the Fed and its outgoing chair, Jerome Powell, for refusing to slash rates to boost the economy. Kevin Warsh, the president’s hand-picked choice to succeed Powell, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week; but it’s unclear whether Warsh would pursue lower rates given the uncertainties arising from the war—or whether he could persuade his colleagues on the Fed’s rate-setting committee to go along if he tried.

Some companies are also starting to feel the pain.

Whirlpool, which makes KitchenAid and Maytag appliances, reported last week that revenue dropped nearly 10% in its most recent quarter and said that the war has caused a “recession-level industry decline″ that has undermined consumer confidence.

Grace King of Ames, Iowa, said that higher prices in the food aisle and at the pump are making her cut back on spending for things like clothing. The administrative assistant, 31, used to spend $200 per month on clothing, mostly on Amazon, but not anymore.

“There’s pressure basically everywhere from the groceries that I buy to the gas to fill up the tank,” she said. “I’ve severely cut back on my frill spending.”

For example, King noted that while it’s only a five-minute drive to work, she makes the trip twice a day. And if she needs to do any big shopping, that’s a 40-minute drive to malls in Des Moines, Iowa.

—By Paul Wiseman, AP economics writer

AP Retail Writer Anne D’Innocenzio contributed to this story.

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival began on Tuesday with actors Jane Fonda and Gong Li presenting the opening ceremony, and New Zealand’s Peter Jackson, who directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, receiving an honorary Palme d’Or award for his career. 

Android Auto is getting a major upgrade that goes beyond design tweaks, bringing smarter navigation, richer entertainment, and a more helpful driving experience.

Yes, you read that right: Brain-eating amoeba have been found in two popular U.S. national parks, according to a recent study from the U.S. Geological Survey, and a number of other institutions, published in the American Chemical Society’s journal, ES&T Water.

Here’s what to know.

What happened?

Researchers took 185 water samples from five popular U.S. national parks, looking at “40 thermally impacted recreational waters” at Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Olympic National Park, and Newberry National Volcanic Monument over an eight year period from 2016 to 2024.

What they found revealed widespread detection of Naegleria fowleri (dubbed “brain-eating amoeba”) in 34% of the samples, or 63 specimens, at Yellowstone, Lake Mead, and Grand Teton hot springs and thermally impacted waters. However, the brain-eating amoeba was not found at Olympic National Park or Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

It’s important to note that no infections or deaths due to the brain-eating amoeba have been reported at the detection sites.

What is Naegleria fowleri?

Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba, a one-celled organism that thrives in warm freshwater lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It’s called the “brain-eating amoeba” because it can infect and destroy brain tissue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While brain infections caused by Naegleria fowleri are quite rare, they are nearly always fatal, at a rate of 98%.

If water containing the amoeba goes up a person’s nose into the brain, it can cause an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM. Typically, fewer than 10 people a year in the U.S. get PAM. However, almost everyone who gets PAM dies from it, per the CDC: Out of 167 reported cases of PAM in the U.S. between 1962 to 2024, only four people survived.

Exposure risks

Brain infections caused by Naegleria fowleri usually occur after a person goes swimming or diving in a lake, river, or other fresh water in the summer after a prolonged period when it was hot, causing higher water temperatures but lower water levels.

The CDC cautions you cannot contract the Naegleria fowleri infection simply by swallowing water containing the amoeba, nor can a person pass it to another person.

How to reduce the risk of contracting a Naegleria fowleri infection

The CDC suggests people hold their nose or wear a nose clip if they are jumping or diving into fresh water, and to keep their head above water in hot springs. Don’t dig in shallow water, because Naegleria fowleri is more likely to live there.

Signs and symptoms of a Naegleria fowleri infection

Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) progresses quickly, with early symptoms that can include headache, fever, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, and hallucinations.

Most people with PAM die within 18 days after experiencing initial symptoms, with many entering a coma and dying after 5 days, per the CDC.

Donald Trump is travelling to Beijing where he will be hosted by Xi Jinping. On the agenda is a series of issues that could cement the superiority of one over the other, and even lead to a new world order. Because beneath the diplomatic and friendly langaage there are messages that will be hard to disgest for someone. Behind the handshake there’s a likely arm wrestle over who has dibs where and when in the world. Our panel will dissect what’s at stake and I hope answer your questions in what is the mopst testing of times.