📊 May Day, Mifepristone, and Apple Earnings

Labor pressure, abortion access, and iPhone momentum.

May 01, 2026

Greetings! Happy May Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

🇮🇷 May Day meets the energy squeeze. May Day arrived with its old language and a new bill. Workers marched worldwide on Friday. They demanded higher wages. They demanded peace. They demanded better working conditions. The backdrop was harsher than usual. Many workers are facing rising energy costs tied to the Iran war. They are also facing shrinking purchasing power. In Manila, protesters clashed with police near the American Embassy. In Istanbul, police detained at least 15 demonstrators trying to reach Taksim Square despite a government ban. In New York, demonstrators criticized Amazon and accused it of pushing small businesses out. Marches also unfolded in France, South Africa, Chicago, and Panama City. An effigy of President Trump burned during a Panama City rally. The European Trade Union Confederation said working people would not pay for Trump’s war in the Middle East. The group represents 93 union organizations in 41 countries. The holiday’s 140-year history began around labor rights. This year, it looked like a cost-of-living referendum with global flags. May Day did not sound nostalgic. It sounded newly expensive.

🇪🇺 Trump’s tariff threat hits Europe’s cars. President Trump says he will raise tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union (EU) to 25% next week. He accused the EU of not complying with last year’s trade deal. He did not spell out the alleged breach. He said the higher tax would force more production into America. That is the theory. The timing is the risk. Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed last July to a trade framework. That deal set a 15% tariff ceiling on most goods. The Supreme Court later rejected the legal authority Trump had used for that tax. His administration then imposed a 10% tax while searching for substitute authorities. The new auto tariff would arrive as the Iran war already strains growth and inflation. Energy prices have risen because the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively disrupted. March inflation reached 3.3%. That was higher than the level Trump inherited. The White House sees tariffs as leverage. Car buyers may see them as another price shock. Europe may see them as a broken ceiling.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

💊 Mifepristone access narrows nationwide. A federal appeals court just narrowed abortion access across America. The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit blocked mailing prescriptions of mifepristone. It said the abortion pill must be distributed only in person at clinics. That reverses a major pathway for medication abortion. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, mailed prescriptions have become central to abortion access. They have also reached people in states with bans. Louisiana’s attorney general and a woman who said she was coerced into taking abortion pills sought the rollback. The court said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could not say when its new mifepristone safety review would be complete. FDA officials under President Trump have said the agency is reviewing the drug at his direction. Mifepristone was approved in 2000. It is usually used with misoprostol to end early pregnancies. Judges have traditionally deferred to FDA drug safety judgments. This ruling cuts against that habit. The American Civil Liberties Union warned that rural patients, low-income patients, disabled patients, and abuse survivors will suffer most. The legal fight is about abortion. The practical fight is about distance.

🛢️ New pipeline gets the Trump green light. President Trump granted a key approval Thursday for a major new Canada-to-America oil pipeline. The project is called the Bridger Pipeline Expansion. Critics and boosters have nicknamed it “Keystone Light”. The three-foot-wide line would carry up to 550K barrels of oil per day. It would run from Canada through Montana and Wyoming. It would then connect with another pipeline. The project still needs state and federal environmental approvals. Company officials expect construction to start next year. Environmentalists hope to stop it over spill concerns. At peak volume, the 650-mile line would move about two-thirds as much oil as Keystone XL. President Joe Biden canceled Keystone XL’s permit in 2021. Trump framed his approval as a contrast with that administration. Bridger Pipeline said more than 70% would use existing pipeline corridors. It also said 80% would be built on private land. The oil would include crude from Canada’s oil sands. The pipeline is not just infrastructure, but energy policy drawn as a border crossing.

🗂️ MISC

🍏 Apple keeps selling the iPhone future. Apple ($AAPL) beat Wall Street’s expectations again, with strong January-to-March earnings yesterday. Profit reached $29.58B. That was $2.01 per share. Profit rose about 22% from a year earlier. Revenue climbed about 17% to $111.18B. Analysts expected $1.95 per share on $109.46B in revenue. iPhone sales delivered $56.99B. CEO Tim Cook called it Apple’s best March quarter ever. He said growth was double-digit across every geographic segment. The result comes as Cook prepares to step down later this year; hardware SVP John Ternus will take over the reins September 1st. Apple is still under pressure on artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and innovation. Its long-promised Siri overhaul has not fully arrived. Cook said a more personalized Siri is still coming this year. He also warned that memory costs are rising. Supply constraints are already hitting some Mac models. Apple remains a machine of momentum. The question is whether Ternus inherits enough AI credibility to keep that machine feeling inevitable.

🧅 The Onion’s Infowars joke hits court again. The Onion’s bid to take over Infowars is stuck again. A Texas court paused the proposed deal Thursday. That leaves the satirical outlet’s plan in limbo. Infowars was built by Alex Jones into a conspiracy megaphone. It now faces liquidation because Jones owes more than $1B in defamation judgments to Sandy Hook families. Those families sued after Jones called the 2012 school massacre a hoax. The proposed deal would give The Onion temporary authority over Infowars trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property. A state receiver is still working toward liquidation. A state judge in Austin had scheduled a hearing on the deal. Then the Texas Third Court of Appeals granted an emergency motion by Jones’ lawyers. That blocked asset transfers temporarily. The hearing became a status conference. Another hearing is set for May 28th. The Texas Supreme Court had not ruled before Thursday’s hearing. The Onion chief executive Ben Collins blasted the delay. Jones declared victory online. The strangest media takeover in America remains trapped between parody, bankruptcy, and grief.