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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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Politics
Republicans scramble to remake their stance on data centers
The industry “could use a little public relations help,” President Donald Trump acknowledged. But his party is moving with the tide.
Moderna’s skin cancer vaccine shows promise in trial
The vaccine is built on the mRNA platform that allowed Moderna to quickly roll out COVID-19 vaccines five years ago.
Moderna’s skin cancer vaccine shows promise in trial
The vaccine is built on the mRNA platform that allowed Moderna to quickly roll out COVID-19 vaccines five years ago.
View / Tech faces its Big Tobacco moment, but teens have already moved on
View / Wall Street may have found its party pooper
The World at a Glance
Updated 6:59pm EDT
1
Moderna said an experimental mRNA vaccine prevented skin cancer from returning, a milestone in the pursuit of cancer therapies.
2Markets rallied after the US Treasury moved to ease pressure from the bond market.
3South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix announced a $28.6 billion share buyback in a bid to boost investor confidence.
4Israel announced investigations into attacks that killed a Palestinian child and paramedics, the first such probes into troop conduct in Gaza.
5China moved to block an EU probe of e-commerce giant JD.com’s purchase of a German retailer, escalating tensions between Brussels and Beijing.
6The US delayed 50% tariffs on Canadian exports that were due to come into effect overnight, signaling the countries were nearing a trade deal.
US Treasury to double long-term bond purchases
Yields on the longest US bond pulled back from their highest levels since 2007 after the announcement.
White House mix-up delayed SEC crypto rule
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will host crypto executives at the White House on Wednesday.
China blocks EU anti-subsidies probe of JD.com
China ordered entities not to comply with an EU probe of the e-commerce giant’s acquisition of a German electronics retailer.
Trump delays Canada tariffs, saying trade deal is near
Washington separately said the new deal would include “economic security commitments” and digital trade “alignment.”
Warren sends Democrats $600K for midterms
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has also raised more than $1.1 million for the DNC, making her one of the committee’s highest-grossing surrogates.
US-South Korea military exercises end early
President Donald Trump linked the scale back of the drills to his plans to revive talks with North Korea, a move that has shaken confidence among the US’ allies in Asia.
MS NOW to launch membership program for ‘super fans’
The cable news network will roll out the program next month in an effort to grow its digital business and reach new audiences.
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Politics
Israel to launch criminal investigations into Gaza killings
Washington had urged Israel to investigate 5-year-old Hind Rajab’s death, which was the subject of an Oscar-nominated film.
Mussa Qawasma/Reuters
Republicans scramble to remake their stance on data centers
The industry “could use a little public relations help,” President Donald Trump acknowledged. But his party is moving with the tide.
Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
Trump delays Canada tariffs, saying trade deal is near
Washington separately said the new deal would include “economic security commitments” and digital trade “alignment.”
Carlos Osoria/Reuters
White House mix-up delayed SEC crypto rule
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will host crypto executives at the White House on Wednesday.
Warren sends Democrats $600K for midterms
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has also raised more than $1.1 million for the DNC, making her one of the committee’s highest-grossing surrogates.
Another House Republican loser, and three other primary takeaways
Rep. Cory Mills became the fourth House Republican to lose his primary this year.
US, Canada hold last-minute trade talks
Ottawa is scrambling to avert new US tariffs that take effect at midnight on Wednesday.
Trump nixes Iran talks as stalemate persists
On Truth Social, the president wrote that there “are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled” with Iran.
White House weighs how to achieve Iran’s ‘economic isolation’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated announcements would come this week.
Nine primary races to watch
Florida is the star of the night, but Alaska, Wyoming, and California host contests too.
Why the White House torched Jon Ossoff
The senator made a comment about Trump aide Natalie Harp over the weekend.
Business
China blocks EU anti-subsidies probe of JD.com
China ordered entities not to comply with an EU probe of the e-commerce giant’s acquisition of a German electronics retailer.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Moderna’s skin cancer vaccine shows promise in trial
The vaccine is built on the mRNA platform that allowed Moderna to quickly roll out COVID-19 vaccines five years ago.
SK Hynix to buy back $28.6 billion in shares
The world’s second-biggest memory chipmaker acted to boost investor confidence after weeks of turmoil in its share price.
US Treasury to double long-term bond purchases
Yields on the longest US bond pulled back from their highest levels since 2007 after the announcement.
OpenAI sales growth slows, unnerving investors ahead of planned IPO
Rival Anthropic’s annualized revenue, meanwhile, topped $65 billion— up more than sevenfold from the end of last year.
Technology
Moderna’s skin cancer vaccine shows promise in trial
The vaccine is built on the mRNA platform that allowed Moderna to quickly roll out COVID-19 vaccines five years ago.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
SK Hynix to buy back $28.6 billion in shares
The world’s second-biggest memory chipmaker acted to boost investor confidence after weeks of turmoil in its share price.
Angelina Katsanis/Reuters
China’s YouTube, Bilibili, plans global expansion, English-language site
The company is courting influencers to connect with “Gen Z Coded” users, and staffing up in cities around the world.
AI startup produces fully AI-generated feature-length film
Higgsfield AI produced ‘The Cully Hill Boys’ with a $2 million budget, half of which went to AI tokens.
Gen AI outputs are unattributable, study finds
Researchers discovered a phenomenon they call “attribution decay,” where the more data a generative model is trained on, the harder it becomes to trace a generated image to a single image from the training data.
OpenAI needs to hit pause
One way to look at the AI giant slowing down its frontier model work because of safety concerns is that models are getting scarily powerful.
Energy
Oil prices rise as Trump cuts off talks with Iran
Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut amid stalled negotiations.
Stringer/Reuters
A safer bet for AI-hungry investors
While some data center investors finance giant “behind the meter” power plants, others are looking for steadier returns in regulated grids.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
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
Gulf
Dubai’s DP World pushes ahead with $800 million Syria port
It’s the latest evidence of Syria attracting much-needed capital from the Gulf.
Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters
Saudi firms Aramco and Maaden form a mining joint venture
Maaden and Aramco will work to survey the kingdom for copper, zinc, and other minerals.
Oil prices rise as Trump cuts off talks with Iran
Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut amid stalled negotiations.
XRG enters Venezuela as it grows global gas platform
The stake in the concession adds to its portfolio of projects in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Mozambique, Turkmenistan, and the US.
PIF’s assets shrink by $10 billion
While little more than a rounding error in the big-spending world of sovereign wealth, it marked the first such drop this decade.
China
China blocks EU anti-subsidies probe of JD.com
China ordered entities not to comply with an EU probe of the e-commerce giant’s acquisition of a German electronics retailer.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
China’s YouTube, Bilibili, plans global expansion, English-language site
The company is courting influencers to connect with “Gen Z Coded” users, and staffing up in cities around the world.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
Robotics giant Unitree’s shares surge in Shanghai debut
China has rapidly emerged as the global leader in humanoid robots manufacturing.
Tingshu Wang/Reuters
Africa
Africa Finance Corporation raises $430 million digital bond
The deal is the first by an African institution to be listed, traded, and settled on a regulated digital exchange.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Namibia’s oil boom draws global energy giant Equinor
Norway’s Equinor was bought into Chevron’s deepwater block off the coast of Namibia.
Pilar Olivares/Reuters
Dangote Refinery secures $1 billion underwriting ahead of IPO
The underwriting program comes from two firms, and forms part of a push towards an initial public offering this year.
Zambia’s pro-business president wins second term in controversial election
Hichilema has overseen a massive influx in foreign direct investment since taking office in 2021.
Liberia to take 1,200 deportees from the US
Monrovia said the deal was “not a transaction with a quid pro quo.”
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo becomes deadliest in country’s history
The current outbreak is spreading five times faster than previous ones.
Security
Israel to launch criminal investigations into Gaza killings
Washington had urged Israel to investigate 5-year-old Hind Rajab’s death, which was the subject of an Oscar-nominated film.
Mussa Qawasma/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
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
Media
China’s YouTube, Bilibili, plans global expansion, English-language site
The company is courting influencers to connect with “Gen Z Coded” users, and staffing up in cities around the world.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
Tennis’ greatest battles — on the court and off
‘The Cruelest Game,’ by Matthew Futterman, details the unique psychological toll that professional tennis can take — particularly on its greatest stars.
MS NOW to launch membership program for ‘super fans’
The cable news network will roll out the program next month in an effort to grow its digital business and reach new audiences.
‘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.
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.
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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