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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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Politics
Nine primary races to watch
Florida is the star of the night, but Alaska, Wyoming, and California host contests too.
Oil prices rise as Trump cuts off talks with Iran
Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut amid stalled negotiations.
Oil prices rise as Trump cuts off talks with Iran
Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut amid stalled negotiations.
View / Wall Street may have found its party pooper
View / Hormuz limbo is now global oil’s top risk
The World at a Glance
Updated 6:41pm EDT
1
Oil prices jumped as US President Donald Trump cut off talks with Iran for the forseeable future.
2Canada’s Mark Carney spoke with President Donald Trump, as Ottawa scrambles to avert new 50% tariffs that take effect at midnight on Wednesday.
3Chinese firm Baidu posted a its fifth consecutive quarterly revenue drop, sending its stock lower as it tries to compete with AI peers.
4Meta rejected claims that its apps were designed to addict young users, as a trial opened that could reshape the social media giant’s businesses.
5The World Robot Conference kicks off in Beijing, as China eyes new growth from humanoid robots and AI.
6Government bond yields rose to multiyear highs and stock markets fell as fears of a prolonged US-Iran conflict grows.
US, Canada hold last-minute trade talks
Ottawa is scrambling to avert new US tariffs that take effect at midnight on Wednesday.
Fears of long Iran conflict shake markets
Government bond yields rose to multiyear highs and stock markets fell as fears of a prolonged US-Iran conflict grow.
Why the White House torched Jon Ossoff
The senator made a comment about Trump aide Natalie Harp over the weekend.
New Chinese shopper turns to prestige beauty and hamburgers
The shift reflects the tastes of a more price-sensitive and discerning consumer.
US tech firms leave China amid decoupling
Google reportedly plans to move its smartphone supply chain outside of China by next year.
US allies worry after Trump pulls out of key military drills
Trump said the reduction in joint exercises with South Korea is in part because of Seoul’s lack of support for his war in Iran.
L3Harris CEO ousted for relationship with subordinate
Chris Kubasik was previously fired from Lockheed Martin after a similar probe more than a decade ago.
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Politics
US, Canada hold last-minute trade talks
Ottawa is scrambling to avert new US tariffs that take effect at midnight on Wednesday.
Leah Millis/Reuters
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.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
White House weighs how to achieve Iran’s ‘economic isolation’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated announcements would come this week.
Kylie Cooper/Reuters
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.
US consumption shows signs of strain
Consumer sentiment fell in August for the first time in months, data showed, as the intensifying US-Iran conflict stoked cost-of-living concerns for Americans.
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.
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.
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?
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.”
Business
Wall Street may have found its party pooper
Mark Walter is selling assets quickly to unwind a dragon’s nest of interlocking loans and resolve a Justice Department investigation.
David Swanson/Reuters
US housing starts fell in July
High mortgage rates and a dire supply shortage have sidelined potential buyers.
Nvidia to provide up to $105 billion backstop for OpenAI data center
Nvidia reached a deal on Monday to provide up to $105 billion to backstop a new OpenAI data center in Ohio, as Big Tech ramped up its debt-fueled AI splurge.
German companies slash US investments
Firms slashed investments to a three-year low to limit exposure to Washington’s uncertain trade policies.
US consumption shows signs of strain
Consumer sentiment fell in August for the first time in months, data showed, as the intensifying US-Iran conflict stoked cost-of-living concerns for Americans.
Technology
Meta social media addiction trial opens
Lawsuit argues Facebook and Instagram knowingly contributed to negative health outcomes for minors.
Mike Blake/Reuters
China’s ‘physical AI’ takes center stage
The World Robot Conference kicks off in Beijing on Wednesday coinciding with humanoid maker Unitree going public in Shanghai.
Tingshu Wang/Reuters
Nvidia to provide up to $105 billion backstop for OpenAI data center
Nvidia reached a deal on Monday to provide up to $105 billion to backstop a new OpenAI data center in Ohio, as Big Tech ramped up its debt-fueled AI splurge.
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.
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.”
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.
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
Oil prices rise as Trump cuts off talks with Iran
Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut amid stalled negotiations.
Stringer/Reuters
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.
Hormuz limbo is now global oil’s top risk
Lost supply and a projected demand rebound have placed the oil market in a fragile equilibrium.
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.
China
New Chinese shopper turns to prestige beauty and hamburgers
The shift reflects the tastes of a more price-sensitive and discerning consumer.
Casey Hall/Reuters
China’s ‘physical AI’ takes center stage
The World Robot Conference kicks off in Beijing on Wednesday coinciding with humanoid maker Unitree going public in Shanghai.
Tingshu Wang/Reuters
China needs another Zhu Rongji
The late former premier would wonder why reform has halted as China’s economic woes mount.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Africa
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo becomes deadliest in country’s history
The current outbreak is spreading five times faster than previous ones.
Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters
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.
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.
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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