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The World at a Glance
Updated 10:27am EDT
1
The US and China reached a ‘framework’ deal over TikTok, after a yearslong dispute over the Chinese app’s ownership in the US.
2China’s economic slowdown appears to be deepening, with data for August throwing up several warning signs.
3The US and UK signed a deal to build nuclear reactors in England ahead of Donald Trump’s state visit.
4A Russian drone entered Romanian airspace, days after Poland shot down several unmanned aircraft.
5The US is increasingly breaking with the global scientific community on critical health issues, in particular on vaccines.
6Germany’s chancellor won a convincing election in his home state, while the far-right AfD party tripled its vote share.
Trump stands by Patel amid criticism
The FBI director, under fire for his handling of the investigation into Kirk’s death, met with the US president at the weekend.
Cheney Orr/ReutersAfrican Union proposes mining coalition
The move is an attempt to shore up regional alliances at a time when countries across the world are trying to capitalize on the continent’s natural resources.
A copper-cobalt mine in DR Congo. Arlette Bashizi/For The Washington Post via Getty Images.China’s economic woes deepen, new data shows
Several key data came in below analysts’ expectations in August, while the country’s real estate downturn is intensifying.
Stringer/ReutersHow Paul Hudson runs Sanofi’s AI ‘Fight Club’
The French drugmaker’s CEO says the revolution will not be delegated.
Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Fortune MediaAD
Africa to receive billions in new World Bank loan
Around 70% of a new $100 billion World Bank financing package will be sent to Africa, the bank announced.
The World Bank’s Axel van Trotsenburg. Dado Ruvic/Reuters.Utah governor offers more details about Charlie Kirk suspect
The alleged shooter’s motive remains hazy, but Gov. Spencer Cox suggested he may have been radicalized by “deep, dark” internet culture.
Jim Urquhart/File Photo/ReutersRubio heads to Israel as tensions simmer with Qatar
Qatar’s prime minister met the US secretary of state and President Donald Trump in New York on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Marco Rubio visit the holy site at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Nathan Howard/Pool/Reuters
Politics
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
USTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. United States Treasury/Handout via Reuters.
Adam Gray/Reuters
Wall Street banks, losing clout in Washington, overhaul personnel and tactics
The ascendant crypto sector is eclipsing what was once a powerhouse industry.
Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersUS, China reach ‘framework deal’ over TikTok
Top US and Chinese officials agreed to the deal during trade talks in Madrid.
USTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. United States Treasury/Handout via Reuters.Charlie Kirk tried to manage Republicans’ Israel divide. Now they’re split over his legacy.
Kirk was trying to hold his party together. Now, in the wake of his death, the right is arguing in private and in public.
Adam Gray/ReutersSenate to confirm Fed pick ahead of meeting
Stephen Miran says he will not resign from his White House role.
Bitterness lingers inside Trump’s economic team
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte both traveled with the president to New York last week, per pool reports.
Politicians to America: Log off
GOP Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on NBC that ‘cancer probably isn’t a strong enough word’ for social media.
Trump stands by Patel amid criticism
The FBI director, under fire for his handling of the investigation into Kirk’s death, met with the US president at the weekend.
House GOP eyes stopgap funding bill to avert shutdown
Republicans aim to continue current spending until around Nov. 20, then negotiate on three Senate-passed bills.
‘The verdict of history will be merciless’: A new left media rises in the age of Trump
Drop Site News is bringing on a new publisher as it and other leftist news sites get scoops and momentum.
US-China trade talks resume, but analysts say a breakthrough is unlikely
Pressure is mounting on officials on both sides over the economic fallout from escalating tariffs.
Rubio heads to Israel as tensions simmer with Qatar
Qatar’s prime minister met the US secretary of state and President Donald Trump in New York on Friday.
BusinessEvelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Wall Street banks, losing clout in Washington, overhaul personnel and tactics
The ascendant crypto sector is eclipsing what was once a powerhouse industry.
Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersChina says Nvidia violated antitrust rules, as trade rift deepens
Chinese officials did not give details of how the firm broke competition rules, but said the ruling followed a preliminary investigation.
China’s economic woes deepen, new data shows
Several key data came in below analysts’ expectations in August, while the country’s real estate downturn is intensifying.
China shuns US soybeans in test for Trump’s trade strategy
China imported about $13 billion of soybeans from the US last year, but has booked no orders so far this year, as it turns to competitor Brazil.
Bloom Energy’s KR Sridhar on why all CEOs need a power strategy
The fuel cell group’s founder says companies need “the DNA of a rabbit” to move at AI speed, because “there’s not much you can do to the culture of a turtle to make it go faster.”
Technology
Neil Hall/Reuters
Antranik Tavitian/Reuters
OpenAI, Nvidia to announce data center investments in the UK: Report
The deals will be announced during US President Donald Trump’s visit to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer next week, according to reports.
Neil Hall/ReutersCharlie Kirk’s graphic death videos on social highlight content policy failures
Platforms including X and Threads had difficulty removing the graphic content as their moderation efforts are slower than the pace of virality.
Antranik Tavitian/ReutersChinese tech giants Alibaba, Baidu move away from Nvidia chips: Report
US export restrictions on semiconductors are forcing Chinese companies to innovate, though there is still a performance gap with American chips.
Winklevoss twins’ crypto company Gemini joins tech IPO boom
The company, which will start trading on Nasdaq Friday, priced its IPO at $28 a share, $2 above the top end of its range.
Albania appoints first AI minister to oversee public procurement
The bot will award all public tenders involving the government’s hiring of private companies, a role historically vulnerable to bribery and threats.
Researchers give doomsday warning about building AI too fast
Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares argue AI could legitimately take over the world in their new book, If Anyone Builds it, Everyone Dies.
Net Zero
Protestors in Belem ahead of COP30. Wagner Santana/Reuters.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
Lesley Martin/Reuters
US withdrawal highlights COP30’s deeper challenge
Negotiators have several issues to tackle, but the principal one is protecting the actual process of global climate talks, the head of last year’s summit said.
Protestors in Belem ahead of COP30. Wagner Santana/Reuters.Trump’s climate rollbacks to sharply slow US emissions cuts: Report
What were once worst-case projections under former US President Joe Biden are now best-case under President Donald Trump.
Nathan Howard/ReutersHydrogen production still growing despite project cancellations
Investment in new clean hydrogen projects topped $110 billion in the last year, across more than 500 projects, a report by the Hydrogen Council found.
Lesley Martin/ReutersGulf
Bildagentur-online/Universal Images Group via Getty
Investors back Oman’s AI economic zone
The new district for startups is part of Oman’s efforts to overcome a decade-long budget deficit.
Bildagentur-online/Universal Images Group via GettySaudi’s Riyadh Season festival goes global
The monthslong festival, running until early 2026, blends sports, music, and spectacle.
Saudi, Omani firms invest to boost Iraq’s private sector
Gulf states are increasingly looking to use investment deals to cement trade ties and counter Iranian influence in countries like Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria.
Saudi crown prince moves to cool Riyadh’s property market
Mohammed bin Salman launched Tawazon, a platform for Saudis who are married or over the age of 25 to apply for residential land.
Abraham Accords shakier than ever on fifth anniversary
Trump’s signature foreign policy breakthrough is now in damage-control mode as Gulf leaders balance ties with Israel and public fury over Gaza.
Africa
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
South Africa’s retail turnover surges to $7.4B
Research firm World Wide Worx found online purchases are likely to account for 10% of all retail sales, compared with 8% last year.
Siphiwe Sibeko/ReutersGhana invests $1.2B in infrastructure to boost growth
The proposed spending is aimed at engineering an “an economic reset,” the country’s deputy finance minister said.
Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesUS fintech for African migrants raises $22M
Kredete is one of a rising crop of startups serving the diaspora whose remittances are a sizable source of financial flows to Africa.
Africa to receive billions in new World Bank loan
Around 70% of a new $100 billion World Bank financing package will be sent to Africa, the bank announced.
African Union proposes mining coalition
The move is an attempt to shore up regional alliances at a time when countries across the world are trying to capitalize on the continent’s natural resources.
Surge in borrowing costs hurting some African economies, Moody’s reports
The credit rating agency put the rise down to policy weaknesses, market constraints, and inflation.
Security
A NATO AWACS surveillance plane parked in Romania. George Calin/Inquam Photos/Reuters.
Stringer/Reuters
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Romania accuses Russia of incursion after drone enters airspace
The move comes days after Poland shot down several Russian unmanned aircraft.
A NATO AWACS surveillance plane parked in Romania. George Calin/Inquam Photos/Reuters.Student protesters choose anti-corruption crusader as Nepal’s leader after toppling government
Sushila Karki, 73, was named Nepal’s prime minister after the military reportedly consulted with student protesters on a Discord server.
Stringer/ReutersQatar denounces ‘cowardly’ Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders
Israel launched an aerial strike against Hamas’ leadership team in Doha, in a major escalation of regional tensions.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/ReutersMedia
Courtesy of Equator
New ‘post-American’ global magazine to launch
Equator will “challenge the reigning assumption that global events should be narrated by and for the West.”
Courtesy of Equator‘The verdict of history will be merciless’: A new left media rises in the age of Trump
Drop Site News is bringing on a new publisher as it and other leftist news sites get scoops and momentum.
How AI is reshaping media, with Google’s VP of marketing, Josh Spanier
How does Google think about advertising?
Trump threatens to sue NYT over Epstein coverage
The US president is already suing The Wall Street Journal and its owner Rupert Murdoch for its reporting on the Epstein files.
LeBron James did not write essay published in Chinese state media: Reports
American basketball LeBron James did not write an essay in a Chinese state media outlet that was attributed to him, The Athletic reported.
CEO Signal
Robert Galbraith/ReutersJemal Countess/Getty Images for Fortune Media 
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Bloom Energy’s KR Sridhar on why all CEOs need a power strategy
The fuel cell group’s founder says companies need “the DNA of a rabbit” to move at AI speed, because “there’s not much you can do to the culture of a turtle to make it go faster.”
Robert Galbraith/ReutersHow Paul Hudson runs Sanofi’s AI ‘Fight Club’
The French drugmaker’s CEO says the revolution will not be delegated.
Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Fortune Mediae.l.f. Beauty’s CEO on diversity, tariffs, and valuing Hailey Bieber
Tarang Amin runs a “different kind of company” but faces challenges familiar to other executives.
Brendan McDermid/ReutersAD