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Business
L3Harris CEO ousted for relationship with subordinate
Chris Kubasik was previously fired from Lockheed Martin after a similar probe more than a decade ago.
OpenAI funds new think tank projects
Recipients include US-based organizations across the political spectrum, as well as organizations in Europe, Brazil, Singapore, and South Korea.
OpenAI funds new think tank projects
Recipients include US-based organizations across the political spectrum, as well as organizations in Europe, Brazil, Singapore, and South Korea.
Can Democrats afford to take on Big Tech? Or to leave it alone?
View / Hormuz reality check
The World at a Glance
Updated 1:11pm EDT
1
A 60 day US-Iran truce expires today, with little progress on the horizon for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
2Israel carried out deadly attacks on Lebanon and a top minister called for an intensified assault on Gaza, amid US claims of negotiations progress.
3President Donald Trump said he would scale back US participation in military exercises with South Korea, partly because of its lack of support in the Iran war.
4China appears to be taking advantage of US focus on the Middle East to further its strategic goals in Asia.
5Global conflicts and climate change drive up global shipping costs, underlining concerns about fragile international supply chains and stoking inflation.
6In a rare meeting, US envoy Jared Kushner held talks with Hamas’ leader in Egypt to push for the group’s disarmament.
Progressive Democrats eye Israel policy shift in 2027
Capitol Hill progressives are homing in on the “Block the Bombs Act.”
Hormuz reopening remains distant as US-Iran truce expires
Iran’s foreign minister said his country had “not yet made a decision” over restarting negotiations with the US.
US scales back South Korea drills, citing lackluster support on Iran
The US recently asked transatlantic allies whether they had “been publicly supportive” of American foreign policy, Bloomberg reported.
Reed Hastings on life after Netflix and the coming ‘creative destruction’
The streaming pioneer says we’re underestimating how AI will change competition.
White House prepares to host crypto and prediction market execs
Attendees will include executives from Coinbase, a16z, Ripple, and Chainlink, plus Kalshi and Paradigm, as well as trade association Digital Chamber, according to people familiar with the plans.
ADNOC boosts oil output despite Iran war
ADNOC has emerged as one of the Gulf’s most flexible energy exporters, thanks to geography, defense capabilities, and a willingness to take risks.
Phillips 66, Marathon held now-scuttled merger talks
The talks underscore the exuberance in today’s dealmaking environment.
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Politics
Trump’s Oman threat follows concerns over Hormuz
The president threatened “bomb the sh*t out of” Oman if it gets in the way of a deal with Iran.
Kylie Cooper/Reuters
Israel’s Lebanon attacks and threats over Gaza undercut US claims of peace progress
Israel carried out its deadliest attacks on Lebanon in weeks and a top Israeli minister called for an intensified assault on Gaza.
Stringer/Reuters
OpenAI funds new think tank projects
Recipients include US-based organizations across the political spectrum, as well as organizations in Europe, Brazil, Singapore, and South Korea.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
Can Democrats afford to take on Big Tech? Or to leave it alone?
Some in Washington make the case for laying off the hyperscalers.
Progressive Democrats eye Israel policy shift in 2027
Capitol Hill progressives are homing in on the “Block the Bombs Act.”
Amodei addresses AI backlash
In rare social media remarks, Amodei acknowledged AI firms “haven’t yet delivered on our big promises to benefit the world.”
White House prepares to host crypto and prediction market execs
Attendees will include executives from Coinbase, a16z, Ripple, and Chainlink, plus Kalshi and Paradigm, as well as trade association Digital Chamber, according to people familiar with the plans.
Talarico touts endorsement from man who accused Paxton of stealing his pen
Joe Joplin left his $1,000 pen in a dish near a courthouse metal detector, after which a security camera captured Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton picking it up and walking away.
Democrats eye Republican-held Florida district
Democrats are hoping a potential blue wave will make a Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s district competitive.
Pirro’s special grand jury raises eyebrows among Trump allies
Some officials see the special grand jury move as an obvious ploy to “save her job at all costs,” as one administration official put it.
Tech companies mum on Trump executive privilege memo
Top tech companies are staying quiet so far about a new Justice Department memo that signals an executive privilege assertion over a wide swath of his communications with the private sector.
Business
L3Harris CEO ousted for relationship with subordinate
Chris Kubasik was previously fired from Lockheed Martin after a similar probe more than a decade ago.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Phillips 66, Marathon held now-scuttled merger talks
The talks underscore the exuberance in today’s dealmaking environment.
‘It’s an unbundling’: ADP’s Maria Black on how AI is changing the workforce
The payroll processor sees technology disrupting low-value tasks but making human judgment more valuable.
Chipmaker CXMT becomes China’s most valuable company
The changeover occurred after Tencent reported it had doubled its quarterly AI spending.
What the LA Lakers ‘firesale’ says about sports investing
The fact that Mark Walter found the cash he needs in a professional sports team, and not in his pile of loans and financial instruments, points to a bigger change unfolding in the financial frenzy around sports these days.
Technology
New Chinese model adds to AI competition
Chinese AI startup Zhipu said its new GLM-5.3 model outperformed Anthropic’s Mythos 5 in a key cybersecurity benchmark, marking the latest Chinese open-weight model to claim parity with the Western AI frontier.
Laurie Chen/Reuters
Amodei addresses AI backlash
In rare social media remarks, Amodei acknowledged AI firms “haven’t yet delivered on our big promises to benefit the world.”
Denis Balibouse/Reuters
China’s AI ecosystem gears up to challenge US
ByteDance is reportedly developing an AI model rivaling Anthropic’s most advanced Mythos system, and DeepSeek is touting its efforts to build a Claude Code challenger.
Flock tightens guardrails aimed at stopping cops from abusing its license plate cameras
CEO Garrett Langley pushed back against a “misconception that we are some evil entity that has these diabolical plans.”
AI trade surges on firms’ cloud earnings
The race to develop ever more sophisticated AI models shows no sign of slowing.
The gap is widening between corporate AI adopters and laggards
OpenAI’s enterprise customers are shifting toward agents that do work, not chatbots that answer questions, new data suggests.
Energy
Global conflicts and climate change drive up shipping costs
The wars in the Gulf and Ukraine have essentially shut off some of the world’s key passageways for global commodities.
Caroline Brehman/Reuters
Houthis claim strikes on Saudi refinery
The strikes could impact the kingdom’s efforts to maintain shipping volumes amid ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
US clean energy investment surges 22% in second quarter
The results, published by the Clean Investment Monitor, were largely driven by residential battery storage installations.
Mike Blake/Reuters
Gulf
Qatar enters regional EV race with first production facility
The factory is part of a deal between the local JTA International Investment Holding and British startup Watt Electric Vehicle Company.
Courtesy of Watt Electric Vehicle Company
Coinbase to establish ‘tokenization hub’ in Abu Dhabi
The hub boosts the UAE’s ambitions to become a global center for digital assets.
ADNOC boosts oil output despite Iran war
ADNOC has emerged as one of the Gulf’s most flexible energy exporters, thanks to geography, defense capabilities, and a willingness to take risks.
US to relieve USS Abraham Lincoln, leaving Pacific without carrier
US President Donald Trump dismissed reports of poor living conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln as the military prepared to replace it.
US and Hamas hold rare direct talks
US envoy Jared Kushner met with Hamas’ leader in Egypt on Sunday to push for the group’s disarmament as Washington attempts to salvage stalled negotiations.
China
China furthers goals in Asia amid US focus on the Middle East
Washington withdrew an aircraft carrier from the Pacific and has criticized South Korea.
Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
New Chinese model adds to AI competition
Chinese AI startup Zhipu said its new GLM-5.3 model outperformed Anthropic’s Mythos 5 in a key cybersecurity benchmark, marking the latest Chinese open-weight model to claim parity with the Western AI frontier.
Laurie Chen/Reuters
China’s AI ecosystem gears up to challenge US
ByteDance is reportedly developing an AI model rivaling Anthropic’s most advanced Mythos system, and DeepSeek is touting its efforts to build a Claude Code challenger.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
Africa
Fresh scandal hits South Africa’s Democratic Alliance
South Africa’s central bank is investigating a fintech firm co-founded and chaired by the DA’s head of finance.
Senegal raises fuel prices to keep subsidy costs in check
The government has spent nearly all of its full-year allocation for fuel subsidies already.
Zohra Bensemra/Reuters
Zambia’s president pulls ahead in reelection bid
The lead puts Hichilema on course to secure a second term at the helm of Africa’s second-biggest copper producer.
Ghana’s Genser Energy plans expansion after raising over $500M
The company plans to fund ongoing natural gas-based power projects and pursue new opportunities in West Africa.
Solar demand prompts calls for local manufacturing
China’s supply chain dominance means local manufacturing ambitions could take years to materialize, say energy analysts.
Tecno, PalmPay seek Hong Kong listings
The two Chinese tech firms with major African businesses are turning to Hong Kong to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in fresh capital.
Security
Israel’s Lebanon attacks and threats over Gaza undercut US claims of peace progress
Israel carried out its deadliest attacks on Lebanon in weeks and a top Israeli minister called for an intensified assault on Gaza.
Stringer/Reuters
China furthers goals in Asia amid US focus on the Middle East
Washington withdrew an aircraft carrier from the Pacific and has criticized South Korea.
Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Hormuz reopening remains distant as US-Iran truce expires
Iran’s foreign minister said his country had “not yet made a decision” over restarting negotiations with the US.
Yalda Moaiery/Handout via Reuters
Media
‘The Daily Show’ faces uncertain future under Paramount
Jon Stewart’s deal is up at the end of the year, and while there is strong interest from Paramount to renew, the two sides have yet to ink an extension.
Cheriss May/Reuters
Daily Mail brings on exec as it plans video expansion
The US outpost of the UK tabloid told Semafor that it had hired Mike Rothman as the company’s new general manager.
CNN president pitches giving network an editorial board to shield it from Paramount
The editorial board is intended to assuage concerns about any future meddling by Paramount in the news network’s journalism.
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl on AI, streaming power, and why music royalties are the safest asset on Wall Street
The Warner Music Group CEO joins Mixed Signals to explain what a record label actually does in a world where anyone can upload a song to Spotify.
Spotify’s new ‘skip’ button could end the podcast business as we know it
The Swedish streaming giant cast the move as streamlining a feature that already exists, the Spotify app’s 15-second skip button.
CEO Signal
‘It’s an unbundling’: ADP’s Maria Black on how AI is changing the workforce
The payroll processor sees technology disrupting low-value tasks but making human judgment more valuable.
Courtesy of ADP/Graph Massara/Semafor
Reed Hastings on life after Netflix and the coming ‘creative destruction’
The streaming pioneer says we’re underestimating how AI will change competition.
Why Max Levchin wants Affirm to act like your smarter older sister
The fintech founder sees AI threatening traditional lenders by alerting consumers to their hidden fees.
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