Inside one of South Korea's oldest semiconductor research institutes, the cleanrooms and workshops are calm and immaculate, but outside the Seoul National University campus, a chip storm is brewing.

Japanese tech investor SoftBank Group, a major player in the US Stargate artificial intelligence drive, on Tuesday posted a $7.8 billion annual net profit, its first in the black for four years.

Google has agreed to pay US$1.375 billion in a settlement in principle reached with the state of Texas over allegations the company violated users' data privacy, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Friday.

Twelve US states will ask a federal court on Wednesday to halt President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, arguing that he overstepped his authority by declaring a national emergency to impose across-the-board taxes on imports from nations that sell more to the US than they buy.

The president director of bankrupt textile giant Sritex has been arrested as part of a corruption investigation, the Attorney General's Office said on Wednesday.

The euro fell on Friday, reversing earlier gains after US President Donald Trump said he would recommend hitting the European Union with 50 percent tariffs from June 1, reigniting investor fears over the impact of duties on the world economy and trade.

Asian shares made some tentative gains on Friday as beaten-down Treasuries found buyers after US President Donald Trump's tax bill narrowly passed the lower house, although debt worries still lingered.

Crude prices surged Wednesday following a report that US intelligence suggested Israel was planning a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, which would send geopolitical tensions into overdrive and fuel regional conflict fears.