2026-01-30
3 分钟The Economist Hello, you're listening to the free edition of The World in Brief from The Economist.
As a reminder, if you subscribe to The Economist,
you'll get access to a deeper look at the day ahead, updated three times a day.
If you're already an Economist subscriber,
visit economist.com slash espresso or visit our Espresso app to start listening.
Here's today's free edition.
This is the world in brief from The Economist.
Our top stories.
Technology stocks tumbled over worries that vast AI spending,
particularly on data centres, was not generating sufficient returns.
The tech heavy NASDAQ index closed 0.7% lower.
Microsoft's poor results prompted the sell-off.
Although its cloud computing units saw revenues rise by 38% on a year earlier,
the firm's capital expenditure rose by 66%.
Its shares fell by 10% on Thursday, the biggest drop since 2020.
America's Senate potentially averted a partial government shutdown before this weekend's deadline,
passing spending bills for five agencies and agreeing to temporarily extend the deadline on the 6th.
final package, funding for the Department of Homeland Security while negotiations continue.
Democrats are demanding restrictions on the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
However, the House of Representatives which must approve these changes is in recess until Monday.