• United Airlines Lifts Outlook as Higher Fares Blunt Turbulent Fuel Prices — Wall Street Journal - 20:19
• SpaceX Briefly Falls Below I.P.O. Price of $135 — The New York Times Business - 20:12
• Oil Prices Tick Higher as U.S. Reinstates Iran Blockade — The New York Times Business - 20:04
• SpaceX sell-off wipes $1tn from Musk’s rocket group — Financial Times - 20:03
• Oil traders warn market is close to running on empty as Hormuz shuts again — Financial Times - 19:49
• Pentagon to offer testosterone treatment to US troops — Financial Times - 19:33
• Conagra’s ‘Show-Me’ CEO Says Every Product Needs to Earn Its Keep — Wall Street Journal - 19:28
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy sacks Ukraine’s popular defence minister — Financial Times - 19:15
• Vote on US aid to Israel set to lay bare divide in Democratic Party — Financial Times - 19:07
• Twitter Turns 20: Two Decades of Memes, Movements and Hot Takes — The New York Times Business - 19:06

The AI and technology sector continues its rapid expansion, with Twitter celebrating 20 years, **Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines debuting an AI model, China’s chip champions CXMT and DeepSeek seeking billions in funding, ASML raising guidance on AI demand, and XPeng aiming for a global robot rollout, alongside IBM’s stock crash reflecting AI disruption and the rise of AI videos on TikTok Shop**.

• Twitter Turns 20: Two Decades of Memes, Movements and Hot Takes — The New York Times Business -
• Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines draws from Chinese rivals in debut AI model — Financial Times -
• China’s Chip Champion to Raise Billions in Race for A.I. Control — The New York Times Business -

• New SK Hynix ADRs are trading at a BIG premium — Financial Times -
• Chip-Machine Supplier ASML Raises Guidance Again on Unrelenting AI Demand — Wall Street Journal -
• IBM’s Stock Crash Reignites Fears of A.I. Disruption in Software Sector — The New York Times Business -
• AI Videos Are Flooding TikTok Shop — Wall Street Journal -
• Tech, Media & Telecom Roundup: Market Talk — Wall Street Journal -
• XPeng Aims to Produce Over 1,000 Robots a Month as It Plans Global Rollout — Wall Street Journal -
• How AI is reshaping supply chains — Financial Times -
• ASML raises forecasts as AI boom drives chipmaking demand — Financial Times -
• Wall Street banks are AI stocks now — Financial Times -
• Chipmaker CXMT seeks $10bn in largest China IPO since 2010 — Financial Times -
• Oracle leads race to supply Japan with top-secret cloud services — Financial Times -
• China’s DeepSeek Prepares to List Shares in Shanghai Next Year — Wall Street Journal -

Global geopolitical tensions are heightened by **Volodymyr Zelenskyy sacking Ukraine’s defence minister, a US vote on aid to Israel, and renewed US-Iran hostilities, which are driving up oil prices, creating concerns about dwindling oil reserves and Europe’s winter gas supply, and prompting IMF warnings about economic cushions, with Russia accused of planning infrastructure attacks and Ukraine securing funds for Chinese drone parts**.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy sacks Ukraine’s popular defence minister — Financial Times -
• Vote on US aid to Israel set to lay bare divide in Democratic Party — Financial Times -
• War Risk for Businesses Will Mean Higher Prices No Matter What Happens — The New York Times Business -

• U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Post Weekly Withdrawal — Wall Street Journal -
• Oil Prices Tick Higher as U.S. Reinstates Iran Blockade — The New York Times Business -
• China’s Crude Buying Pause Has Helped Cushion the Market. That Might Be Changing. — Wall Street Journal -
• Oil traders warn market is close to running on empty as Hormuz shuts again — Financial Times -
• What Trump’s New Iran Blockade Could Mean for Oil Prices — The New York Times Business -
• Ukraine to buy Chinese drone parts with EU funds — Financial Times -
• The U.S. and Iran Face Dwindling Options to End the War — Wall Street Journal -
• IMF Sees Reduced Cushion Against Oil Disruption for Global Economy — Wall Street Journal -
• EU readies crisis team for China rare earths stand-off — Financial Times -
• UK entry to EU loan scheme for Ukraine is ‘template’ for future deals, says bloc envoy — Financial Times -
• Europe’s Scramble for Gas Ahead of Winter Gets Harder — Wall Street Journal -
• Russia accused of planning attacks on Baltic or Polish infrastructure — Financial Times -
• Trump Reverses 20% Strait of Hormuz Toll, as U.S. Restarts Blockade of Iran’s Ports — Wall Street Journal -
• Trump’s return to war with Iran offers no clear path to victory — Financial Times -

Major corporate shifts include **Uber’s potential acquisition of Delivery Hero and Stripe’s $53 billion offer for PayPal, while SpaceX faces a significant sell-off, and Conagra adjusts its strategy after a loss, with BlackRock achieving record assets, BNY Mellon posting climbing profits, and Richemont reporting surging shares**.

• Conagra’s ‘Show-Me’ CEO Says Every Product Needs to Earn Its Keep — Wall Street Journal -
• Uber nears €12.5bn deal to acquire Delivery Hero — Financial Times -
• SpaceX sell-off wipes $1tn from Musk’s rocket group — Financial Times -

• PayPal investors can afford not to check out too hastily — Financial Times -
• SpaceX Falls Below I.P.O. Price of $135 — The New York Times Business -
• Stripe and Private-Equity Firm Advent Offer to Buy PayPal — Wall Street Journal -
• BNY Lifts Revenue Forecast After Profit Climbs — Wall Street Journal -
• PayPal Shares Surge Premarket on Reports of $53 Billion Takeover — Wall Street Journal -
• Conagra Swings to Loss, Cuts Dividend Under New CEO — Wall Street Journal -
• Morgan Stanley wealth management boosted by SpaceX millionaires — Financial Times -
• BlackRock assets rise to record $15.3tn — Financial Times -
• Richemont’s Shares Surge After Sales Beat — Wall Street Journal -
• Danone’s $1.2 Billion Huel Deal Faces U.K. Competition Probe — Wall Street Journal -
• FirstFT: Payments group Stripe swoops for Silicon Valley stalwart PayPal — Financial Times -
• Barratt Redrow Posts Pretax Profit Increase, Launches $517 million Buyback Program — Wall Street Journal -
• Stripe and Advent make $53bn bid for PayPal — Financial Times -
• As good as it gets in banking? — Financial Times -
• Airtel Africa taps more bankers for rare London IPO of mobile money business — Financial Times -
• Why boards can no longer wait to pick their next CEO — Financial Times -

**China’s economy is experiencing slowest growth in years, but major IPOs for chipmakers CXMT and DeepSeek are underway, with Chinese automakers like BYD challenging global supercars, while the EU prepares for a rare earths stand-off and Evergrande liquidators pursue PwC partners, amidst security risks threatening a China-backed copper mine in Pakistan**.

• China’s Chip Champion to Raise Billions in Race for A.I. Control — The New York Times Business -
• China’s Economy Grows at Slowest Pace in Years — The New York Times Business -
• Inside China’s Race to Overtake European Supercars — Wall Street Journal -

• China’s Crude Buying Pause Has Helped Cushion the Market. That Might Be Changing. — Wall Street Journal -
• XPeng Aims to Produce Over 1,000 Robots a Month as It Plans Global Rollout — Wall Street Journal -
• EU readies crisis team for China rare earths stand-off — Financial Times -
• China’s economy grows at one of lowest rates in decades — Financial Times -
• Chipmaker CXMT seeks $10bn in largest China IPO since 2010 — Financial Times -
• BYD can take Toyota’s crown without the US market, says top executive — Financial Times -
• The race to break China’s metals grip — Financial Times -
• China’s DeepSeek Prepares to List Shares in Shanghai Next Year — Wall Street Journal -
• China Evergrande liquidators warn PwC partners not to use divorce to shield assets — Financial Times -
• China-backed copper mine threatens Pakistan shutdown over security risk — Financial Times -

UK politics is dominated by **Shabana Mahmood’s likely appointment as Chancellor, discussions around Thames Water’s future and potential state control, rising taxpayer numbers, and OECD advice on VAT as a tax-raising tool, as the country seeks an innovation blueprint and grapples with climate adaptation policies, while a US lawmaker demands a briefing on media regulation**.

• Shabana Mahmood: the migration hardliner who refused to serve under Corbyn — Financial Times -
• Thames Water warns over future as Burnham eyes state control — Financial Times -
• Number of higher and additional UK taxpayers rises 35% in 3 years — Financial Times -

• UK statistics agency struggles to hire interviewers to restore survey quality — Financial Times -
• Shabana Mahmood set to be named UK chancellor by Andy Burnham — Financial Times -
• VAT is Burnham’s best tax-raising tool if UK public finances go off track, says OECD — Financial Times -
• The UK finally has a blueprint for innovation — now it must act on it — Financial Times -
• Thames Water warns over long-term future — Financial Times -
• Top US lawmaker demands briefing from Nandy on ‘news prominence’ plan — Financial Times -
• Consensus on chancellor shifts — but I still wouldn’t bet on it — Financial Times -
• Miliband trails Mahmood in race to become Burnham’s chancellor — Financial Times -
• Annual pay for nannies in the UK home counties nears £60,000 — Financial Times -
• The former Britpop stalwart at the heart of Burnham’s machine — Financial Times -
• Britain does not need looser fiscal rules. It needs better ones — Financial Times -

Environmental and infrastructure concerns include European industries pushing for more time on carbon emissions, widespread Canadian wildfires affecting US air quality, increased energy costs for data centers, and challenges in US air travel from controller shortages, alongside new US housing legislation and the UK facing an unprecedented heatwave.

• European industries expected to win more time to emit carbon — Financial Times -
• Canadian wildfires prompt air quality warnings as far as New York City — Financial Times -
• Energy & Utilities Roundup: Market Talk — Wall Street Journal -

• Developers Are Back to Building U.S. Warehouses — Wall Street Journal -
• The UK is forgetting the dull bit of climate change policy — Financial Times -
• Newark’s Having Trouble Again—and Summer Air Travel Is at Stake — Wall Street Journal -
• The US just passed the biggest housing law in 36 years. Will it help? — Financial Times -
• Unprecedented UK stretch above 30C stokes ‘firewave’ and strains emergency services — Financial Times -
• Data Centers to Add Billions in Power Costs in 13 States — The New York Times Business -

Diverse socio-economic and regulatory headlines feature former Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler testifying on Jeffrey Epstein, **Warren Buffett’s views on Bill Gates’s Epstein ties, the Treasury minting gold Trump coins, controversy over US EV market decline, and scrutiny of ‘buy now, pay later’ rules, along with developments in health tech funding and EU banking deregulation efforts**.

• Goldman’s Former Top Lawyer Calls Epstein a ‘Masterful Liar’ — The New York Times Business -
• Treasury to Begin Minting $1 Gold Trump Coins Featuring President’s Face — The New York Times Business -
• The American E.V. Has Been Crushed. Will It Take the U.S. Auto Industry With It? — The New York Times Business -

• Tech Investors and Longevity Influencers Back Neko Health’s Mega Round — The New York Times Business -
• Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Are Still Giving Away Their Fortunes. Just Not Together. — Wall Street Journal -
• The Fight Over Humanoid Robots Has Shut Down a Car Factory for the First Time — Wall Street Journal -
• Buffett describes Gates’s relationship with Epstein as ‘distasteful’ — Financial Times -
• AT&T and Verizon Look Beyond the Family Plan — Wall Street Journal -
• Elevance Health Logs Lower Membership Amid Rate Hikes — Wall Street Journal -
• Leonard Abramson, Health Care Innovator and Philanthropist, Dies at 93 — The New York Times Business -
• One answer to EU strategic autonomy is orbiting overhead — Financial Times -
• EU set to fine Google hundreds of millions of euros — Financial Times -
• Johnson & Johnson Bumps Up Guidance as Sales Rise — Wall Street Journal -
• Goldman’s Ruemmler tells Congress Epstein emails taken out of context — Financial Times -
• A Year After DOGE Cuts, Social Security Is Trying to Stabilize — The New York Times Business -
• Brussels has delivered only a slice of Draghi reforms, report says — Financial Times -
• Paramount and Disney are chasing a pre-stream pipe dream — Financial Times -
• Billionaires who fled California wealth tax risk intrusive residency audit — Financial Times -
• ‘Buy now, pay later’ rules could exclude millions, warn consumer groups — Financial Times -
• The EU’s push to deregulate banks — Financial Times -
• In the Weight-Loss Wars, Novo’s Obesity Pill Is Pulling Way Ahead of Lilly’s — Wall Street Journal -