Axios

While Beijing is courting the European Union for support in a trade war, European officials are sounding the alarm on China's ambitions in their countries.

Why it matters: If the U.S. starts closing off its market to the Chinese, Beijing needs the EU to remain neutral and stay open to business with China, but the Europeans are increasingly frustrated with China's behavior and wary of its ever-growing influence.

Hollywood blockbuster "Black Panther" premiered in Saudi Arabia's first movie theater for the first time on Wednesday evening in a groundbreaking moment for the country, AP's Aya Batrawy reports from Riyadh.

Why it matters: The screening was private and invitation-only, but it was a clear marker of change in the country as it ushers in a new era of progressivism for the country.

"Automation anxiety" is likely to trigger popular resistance to robotization, Carl Frey, a leading researcher on the future of work, tells Axios.

Quick take: Frey is the co-author of among the most influential papers in the current obsession with automation, a 2013 study that said AI could swallow 47% of U.S. jobs. His paper — along with the two-year-old populist movement across the West — is the primary reason for the nervousness in Washington and other western capitals over robots and AI.

A Federal Reserve survey of U.S. businesses found "robust job growth" nationwide but growing concern over tariffs and trade disputes, Bloomberg reports.

“Businesses generally anticipate further price increases in the months ahead, particularly for steel and building materials."

Why it matters: The report highlights the tension between President's Trump's trade policies to protect U.S. steel and aluminum companies that also risk hurting companies that use those materials. One company told the Fed the tariffs are "now killing high-paying American manufacturing jobs and businesses."

The lender group controlling Toys "R" Us has rejected an $890 million offer from billionaire Isaac Larian that would have involved the takeover of over 200 U.S. stores and more than 80 Canadian stores, according to multiple media reports.

Why it matters: A lot of jobs are at stake here, and the lenders seem uninterested in saving them.

Tax cuts and the Affordable Care Act are supposed to be big issues in the midterm elections, but both have faded from the attention of the cable news networks now that they're no longer front and center in Congress, according to data from GDELT, a service that monitors television news coverage.

Why it matters: Democrats are campaigning hard on the GOP's unpopular attempt to repeal and replace the ACA, and Republicans are pushing the financial benefits of their tax law. But while the tax cuts have gotten another burst of attention during tax filing season, both issues are getting less cable news attention than Stormy Daniels right now. Both parties will have to hope that changes in time for the elections.

Supreme Court justices seem split on whether to allow state governments to collect sales tax from online retailers, a move that would drastically change long-standing interstate e-commerce rules.

Why it matters: It's one more example of the Supreme Court grappling with the collision of existing legal precedent and the realities of the tech-driven economy.