- World stocks pause near record highs (Reuters)
- 'If there's a shutdown, there's a shutdown,' Trump says (Reuters)
- Trump’s Tax Plan Hits First Land Mine: Blue State Republicans (BBG)
- Congress to Vote on Stopgap Bill to Keep Government Open (WSJ)
- Tillerson Seeks to Boost Pressure on North Korea at UN Meeting (BBG)
- Why Trump Decided to Back Off Nafta Threat (WSJ)
- China's Didi Raises Over $5.5 Billion in Record Tech Funding (BBG)
- Trump spurns Taiwan president's suggestion of another phone call (Reuters)
- Anything-But-Soft Earnings Data Starting to Smack of Rally Years (BBG)
- How North Korea gets its oil from China: lifeline in question at U.N. meeting (Reuters)
- Sun and Sand Back in Style as New Yorkers Flock to Booming South (BBG)
- Trump complains Saudis not paying fair share for U.S. defense (Reuters)
- The Scientists Fighting to Save Us From a World Without Coffee (BBG)
- Icahn's oil refiner reports plunge in biofuels bill in first quarter (Reuters)
- Why More Couples Are Signing Postnuptial Agreements (BBG)
- Greenpeace gatecrashes Credit Suisse shareholder meeting (Reuters)
- Flood of Cuban migrants to United States shrinks to a trickle (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
- Starbucks Corp missed sales expectations again in its home market and globally in its fiscal second quarter, with sales up 3 percent in both regions. on.wsj.com/2oRzt9s
- Google parent Alphabet Inc on Thursday posted a sharp increase in first-quarter revenue, continuing a trend of rapid growth seemingly unscathed by boycotts from some of its major advertisers. on.wsj.com/2oRjTL6
- Activist investor Third Point LLC is pressuring Honeywell International Inc to spin off its aerospace division, seeking to break off the conglomerate's biggest business just a few weeks after Honeywell switched leaders. on.wsj.com/2oRMyiR
- United Airlines has reached a settlement with David Dao, the Kentucky physician forcibly pulled off an April 9 flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, in the latest step by the carrier to put the crisis behind it. on.wsj.com/2oCGDlH
- Amazon.com Inc posted a 41 percent rise in first-quarter profit, even as the company is spending heavily on everything from international expansion to video content. on.wsj.com/2oCM2JF
NYT
- President Trump warned of the possibility of a "major, major conflict" with North Korea in an interview in which he said he was seeking a diplomatic solution to concerns that Pyongyang was preparing to conduct another nuclear test. nyti.ms/2oRKFCP
- Swirling tensions at Fox News burst into public view on Thursday as one of its stars, Sean Hannity, spoke out in defense of an embattled executive at the center of an expanding culture clash inside the network. nyti.ms/2oRsFbS
- Anthony Levandowski, the Uber Technologies Inc executive accused of stealing trade secrets from Google, is stepping aside from leading some of the company's work on self-driving vehicles, amid a bare-knuckled legal fight between the two technology giants. nyti.ms/2oRNTX7
- David Dao, the doctor who was seen being dragged off a United Airlines jet this month in videos that sparked widespread outrage, has reached a settlement with the airline for an undisclosed amount, his lawyers said on Thursday. nyti.ms/2oRNDHq
- New Balance has won a rare legal victory in China in an intellectual property dispute: a court has ordered five shoe manufacturers and sellers to pay the state $250,000 for using the American shoemaker's signature slanting "N" logo. nyti.ms/2oRKasw
Britain
The Times
Barclays Plc has been dealt another blow over the future of its embattled chief executive after a corporate governance firm advised shareholders not to back his re-election to the board. bit.ly/2qdvJ63
Andy Duncan is to resign as chief executive of Camelot, the company that runs the National Lottery, because he did not want to commit himself to leading it through the next licence application. bit.ly/2qdKK7X
The Guardian
Low-income working families face significant reductions in income as a result of planned cuts to benefits, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. bit.ly/2qdkZ7N
Britain's carmakers have warned that they do not believe a trade deal with the EU will be struck within the next two years and are "sitting on their hands" rather than investing in the UK. bit.ly/2qdl5fF
The Telegraph
Vauxhall had a "reckless disregard for safety" by letting people drive its Zafira cars which it knew were unsafe and could catch fire, according to a parliamentary report. bit.ly/2qdyF2r
An investor backlash over pay intensified on Thursday as shareholders fired warning shots at a string of Britain's biggest businesses led by drug maker AstraZeneca Plc and power provider Aggreko Plc. bit.ly/2qddSfk
Sky News
M&S Group Plc is to trial an online grocery shopping service to deliver food to customers' homes for the first time. The retailer's boss Steve Rowe said the company needed to be ready to respond to changing shopping habits. bit.ly/2qdkmLz
Sandwich and coffee chain Pret A Manger is "reaching out" to British job applicants as it looks to plug a looming recruitment gap caused by Brexit, its boss said. bit.ly/2qdlqPt
The Independent
Persimmon Plc, the house builder that infamously once constructed a garage not wide enough to fit a family car, has pushed through an executive pay plan that is extreme even by the standards of corporate Britain. ind.pn/2qdz0Cf
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Long-standing rules of criminal justice will be on the table when federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould sits down with her provincial counterparts on Friday to discuss solutions to backlogged courts and serious criminal charges being thrown out over delay. https://tgam.ca/2poIRT3
** The head of Montreal's police union has thrown Philippe Couillard's government into another Quebec corruption crisis after he alleged political interference blocked criminal charges against a current Liberal caucus member. https://tgam.ca/2qecPMq
NATIONAL POST
** Crescent Point Energy Corp earned a profit in the first quarter as the light oil producer tries to rebuild confidence in its stock following a sell-off at the end of last year. http://bit.ly/2qejaHF
** Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has apologized to Canadian, American and Afghan troops that he served with in Afghanistan for claiming that he was the "architect" of Canada's most famous and bloodiest combat operation of that war. http://bit.ly/2qe871d