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Politics
US launches new strikes on Iran
President Donald Trump warned earlier Wednesday that a US attack was imminent.
A defiant Platner exits Maine Senate race
The Maine Democrat denied new allegations of sexual assault but conceding that he couldn’t keep running after his party abandoned him.
A defiant Platner exits Maine Senate race
The Maine Democrat denied new allegations of sexual assault but conceding that he couldn’t keep running after his party abandoned him.
View / Why Platner’s implosion won’t singe the Sanders wing
View / AI makes mistakes, too
The World at a Glance
Updated 6:56pm EDT
1
US Central Command launched new strikes on Iran, putting a new US-Iran ceasefire further out of reach.
2The global economy will grow at a slower rate this year, the IMF said, in part due to high energy prices resulting from the Iran conflict.
3President Trump offered both sticks and carrots to NATO, threatening to cut off trade with Spain before offering rare praise for the alliance.
4Trump agreed to supply licenses for Ukraine to build Patriot missile interceptors during a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
5The percentage of US citizens currently taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss has almost quadrupled to 11% from 3% in 2024.
6Commercial space ventures in the US and China are tapping broader pools of capital as the superpowers vie for dominance in a fierce space race.
US to help Ukraine build Patriot interceptors
The move stops short of the immediate transfer of Patriots to Ukraine that Kyiv would have preferred, but nevertheless is welcome news to European officials.
Rubio makes it official: Trump will remove Syrian terrorism designation
The secretary of state formalized the president’s plans in a notification to Congress, ending a 47-year blacklist.
Ghana gold dispute draws in president’s brother
A legal row involving a company run by a brother of the Ghanaian president threatens to dent investor confidence in the country’s mining sector.
Fresh strikes cast doubt on US-Iran ceasefire
Oil prices surged after Iran said it had struck dozens of US targets in retaliation for American strikes, threatening the fragile ceasefire.
Centrist Democrats back more candidates
Democrats including Marlene Galán-Woods in Arizona are picking up support from the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund.
Trump’s ‘sober’ approach to quantum
Government officials pushed the importance of domestic supply chain security at a quantum event.
Microsoft deepens AI ties with UAE to automate government work
Abu Dhabi is pushing to meet its own deadline to automate at least half of the public sector’s work using AI agents.
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Politics
A defiant Platner exits Maine Senate race
The Maine Democrat denied new allegations of sexual assault but conceding that he couldn’t keep running after his party abandoned him.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Trump keeps shifting tone on NATO
The US president offered both sticks and carrots to NATO, threatening to cut off trade with Spain before offering rare praise for the alliance.
Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
US to help Ukraine build Patriot interceptors
The move stops short of the immediate transfer of Patriots to Ukraine that Kyiv would have preferred, but nevertheless is welcome news to European officials.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
US launches new strikes on Iran
President Donald Trump warned earlier Wednesday that a US attack was imminent.
Why Platner’s implosion won’t singe the Sanders wing
The founding myth of the Sanders camp is that it sits outside the Democratic Party. But the reality is that he and his faithful are now inside.
Rubio makes it official: Trump will remove Syrian terrorism designation
The secretary of state formalized the president’s plans in a notification to Congress, ending a 47-year blacklist.
Centrist Democrats back more candidates
Democrats including Marlene Galán-Woods in Arizona are picking up support from the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund.
Disabling Russian tech on the table in talks over F-35s for Türkiye
Asking Ankara to make elements of its S-400 system inoperable is one option under discussion by the Trump administration, a person familiar told Semafor.
The hunt is on for Platner’s replacement in Maine
Maine Democrats accused Graham Platner’s Senate campaign of putting a “thumb on the scale” in the debate over how to replace him.
Trump expected to remove Syrian terrorism designation
Advocates for fully normalized relations with Damascus were bullish ahead of the US president’s meeting with his Syrian counterpart.
Trump lashes out at NATO, still wants Greenland
The threats undercut European allies’ efforts to placate him during the NATO summit in Türkiye.
Business
US, China space ventures raise capital
Commercial space ventures in the US and China are tapping broader pools of capital as the superpowers vie for dominance in a fierce space race.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
GLP-1 use reaches new high in US
The percentage of US citizens currently taking GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy for weight loss has almost quadrupled to 11% from 3% in 2024.
IMF slashes growth outlook on Iran conflict
The global economy will grow at a slower rate in 2026, the IMF said Wednesday, as high energy prices resulting from the Iran conflict drag on growth and drive inflation.
DeepSeek’s AI chip plans
DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip, Reuters reported, in a move that could reshape China’s domestic semiconductor race while also ramping up pressure on US chip giant Nvidia.
India, China are winning back investors
Foreign investors are returning to Asia’s two largest emerging markets, though lingering concerns could temper inflows.
Technology
AI makes mistakes, too
A Codex glitch sent my agent into a loop where it kept reviewing a bunch of data over and over again, racking up tokens — an entirely avoidable problem.
Dado Ruvic/Reuters
China pitches the world on open-source AI
Beijing is leaning on its geopolitical allies to advance its vision of open-source AI, as it looks to shape how the technology is governed worldwide and pitch itself as the developing world’s AI partner of choice.
J.D. Capelouto/Semafor
DeepSeek takes control of its hardware: report
DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip for inference, Reuters reported.
Trump’s ‘sober’ approach to quantum
Government officials pushed the importance of domestic supply chain security at a quantum event Tuesday.
UN Secretary-General seeks ban on AI weapons
António Guterres said the decision to take life “must remain forever human.”
Amazon returns to the bond market
Big Tech companies have hit the limits of their cash flows, and are turning to the markets to cover their AI bills.
Energy
Saudi Arabia slashes main crude oil price for Asian customers
Despite the discount, Asian buyers said Saudi supplies were still more expensive than those from other regional producers.
Ali Jarekji/Reuters
US heat wave strains grid
A heat wave gripping the US this week is putting pressure on an already-strained energy grid.
Jordan Tovin/Reuters
Russia faces growing fuel shortage
President Vladimir Putin acknowledged this week that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries had triggered fuel shortages, but downplayed the severity of a crisis.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Gulf
Microsoft deepens AI ties with UAE to automate government work
Abu Dhabi is pushing to meet its own deadline to automate at least half of the public sector’s work using AI agents.
Courtesy of Microsoft
Saudi debt forecast to rise sharply
The kingdom’s debt levels could reach 60% of GDP by 2030, which could push up borrowing costs and put pressure to tighten spending, one consultancy forecast.
Saudi-UAE tensions hit money flows
For more than a month, money transfers between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been delayed or cancelled without explanation as a result of the strained ties between the two countries.
ADNOC wants more gas stations, eyes Africa and Southeast Asia
The company’s retail arm ADNOC Distribution is broadening its global expansion strategy.
US strikes Iran after ships attacked in Hormuz
Washington said the strikes were in retaliation for three ships that were hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
China
US, China space ventures raise capital
Commercial space ventures in the US and China are tapping broader pools of capital as the superpowers vie for dominance in a fierce space race.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Chinese cities rank higher on ‘liveability’ index
Four of the five fastest-rising cities in the index were in China, led by Fuzhou — a 9-million-person city in the country’s southeast.
Stringer/Reuters
‘FOBO’ is driving China’s AI anxiety
For the first time in living memory, the arrival of a new technology has inspired apprehension, rather than unrestrained enthusiasm in China.
Tingshu Wang/Reuters
Africa
Senegal’s president to set up new political party
The move follows weeks of political turbulence between Senegalese officials over how to handle the country’s debt crisis.
Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Mike Segar/Reuters.
South Africa’s Treasury freezes Johannesburg budget
The decision is part of a crackdown on allegedly wasteful spending just months before local government elections.
Shafiek Tassiem/Reuters
Nigeria opens $250M lithium processing plant
The plant, built by Chinese companies Jiuling and Canmax, will process 3 million metric tons of lithium ore per year.
South Africa mulls tax cuts to boost industrial growth
The move comes after the country lost its top spot as Africa’s most industrialized economy.
Ghana gold dispute draws in president’s brother
A legal row involving a company run by a brother of the Ghanaian president threatens to dent investor confidence in the country’s mining sector.
East African animators break onto global stage
The Addis-Ababa-based studio behind ‘Sunday Morning’ took home two awards.
Security
Trump’s renewed attacks ‘blindside’ NATO
A raft of new defense investments by NATO members haven’t proved enough to appease the US leader.
Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
Zelenskyy says Trump has changed mind on war
The US president “wants to be where there’s success,” Zelenskyy told the Financial Times.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Fearing Russian aggression, Eastern Europe prepares
Along Europe’s eastern flank, countries are stockpiling, fortifying, and preparing to go it alone in the face of Russian aggression.
Kuba Stezycki/Reuters
Media
The Daily Wire sells Jeremy’s Razors to media company’s former CEO
The sale represents the further uncoupling of Jeremy Boreing and the conservative media company he co-founded with Ben Shapiro.
Cheney Orr/Reuters
‘The View’ throttles back political candidate bookings following FCC inquiry
Since February, the ABC daytime talk show has cut its bookings of candidates for office.
Daily Wire, under pressure, seeks strategic investors, targets IPO
The Daily Wire is in talks to take on at least $100 million in investment, with an eye on an initial public offering in a few years’ time.
OpenAI’s $100 billion ad bet
The tech giant rolled out new tools for creatives.
The Atlantic beefs up its video podcasts
One of America’s oldest magazines is investing in video after seeing notable growth in its audience.
CEO Signal
How Allianz’s CEO prepares for the risk of ‘huge havoc’
Oliver Bäte says Europe can no longer afford all the options its citizens expect.
Courtesy of Allianz/Graph Massara/Semafor
The MSCI boss helping Elon Musk get closer to Mars
Henry Fernandez says the index provider has grown by playing soccer, not singles tennis.
Courtesy of MSCI/Graph Massara/Semafor
How Antonio Neri turned HPE into an unlikely AI stock
The veteran dealmaker says he’s ‘building the best networking business on the planet’.
Courtesy of HPE/Graph Massara/Semafor
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