The Rhine gauge at Kaub fell to six centimetres overnight into Saturday, the lowest ever measured there, halting most freight. Hungary is sinking two barges to raise the Danube at its nuclear plant's cooling intake.
Washington is preparing new economic measures to force Tehran to capitulate after almost six months of war. Iran says its ports and oil output are holding up.
Bloomberg reports that bond investors are struggling to price roughly $70bn of opaque credit guarantees behind AI companies. Such backstops make up a growing share of the debt financing the data-centre boom.
OpenAI's annualised revenue has topped $40 billion, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, strengthening the case for a stock market listing. A day earlier, revenue chief Denise Holland Dresser announced her departure.
Petrobras has detected indications of oil off the mouth of the Amazon, part of a megaproject contested for several years, Le Monde reports. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva backs the drilling, arguing that Brazil needs hydrocarbon revenue to finance its transition.
The Wall Street Journal reports that cooling US consumer prices and gains among oil refiners pushed stocks up, while European indices extended their record highs. New research cited by the New York Times shows worker pay is once more failing to keep pace with inflation, repeating the pattern of 2021-22.
Since Saturday the Panama Canal has been operating with a draught of 48.5 feet (14.78 metres) in its Neopanamax locks as a preventive measure against the drought, according to Telesur. Bloomberg reports that Mexico is using the squeeze on global waterways to promote its own interoceanic corridor.
TASS reported on Sunday that Ukraine's losses from unused port capacity have risen to about $1.75 billion and that agricultural exports have dwindled by roughly 60 percent. The figures come from the Russian state agency alone and are not independently confirmed.
India has published draft rules that would let private companies build and operate nuclear power plants, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. The step would end the state monopoly in one of the world's fastest-growing electricity markets.
The Wall Street Journal on Saturday described the risk-amplifying strategy that led to heavy losses at the fund Situational Awareness. According to the report, the geared-up bets cost Jane Street about 15 billion dollars.
Official figures show that 30,633 companies have closed in Argentina since Javier Milei took office, Telesur reported on Saturday. In May alone the number of registered employers fell by 2,371, and more than 70,000 formal jobs have been lost.
India has raised $50bn from its diaspora and closed the accompanying swap facility ahead of schedule, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. The report is available only as a headline summary and gives no further detail.
Chinese-owned AESC has shelved the expansion of the UK's largest electric-vehicle battery gigafactory after talks with Jaguar Land Rover stalled, the Guardian reported on Saturday. The paper calls the decision a sign of a slowing shift from petrol and diesel to electric cars.
Telesur reported on Saturday that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation has a 95 percent chance of becoming very strong by late 2026. Forecasters expect effects on rainfall, farming, food supplies and markets across Latin America.
Crude closed Friday with a weekly gain of about 6 percent, with the Strait of Hormuz shut since February. Economists warn Iran's economy is nearing collapse.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Jane Street lost about $15 billion after trouble at the AI fund Situational Awareness. Its assets fell by more than two thirds within a single month.
US retail sales fell in July by the most in more than a year, and consumer sentiment weakened in August. Long-dated US borrowing costs reached their highest level in 25 years.
Russia's government said on Friday that fuel supply to filling stations remains strained in several regions. Two are now rationing sales.
Extreme heat has pushed Europe's harvests weeks early and cut yields. Low rivers are throttling freight and reactor cooling; Britain gave farmers £65m on Friday.
PayPal is negotiating a sale to its rival Stripe and the private equity firm Advent, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. A deal would reshape global online payments; no terms have been reported.
President Prabowo Subianto said on Friday that Indonesia will close more than 750 of its 1,074 state companies by the end of 2026, calling it perhaps the world's largest corporate restructuring.
BP, Abu Dhabi's XRG and Qatar's UCC have won the licence for phase two of Venezuela's offshore Loran gasfield, among the first large foreign investments since the US ousted Nicolás Maduro in January.
Chinese experts have dismissed a White House report accusing exporters of dodging US tariffs through third countries. They say Washington is raising trade barriers that will disrupt global supply chains.
Chinese experts said the tariffs of up to 100 percent that Washington announced on imported drones expose protectionism, disrupt global supply chains and backfire on US consumers, describing a lose-lose outcome for both countries. On Friday a US appeals court gave the Shenzhen-based manufacturer DJI another chance to challenge its inclusion on a Pentagon blacklist of companies allegedly linked to the Chinese military.
Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Taras Vysotsky said Ukrainian grain exports have fallen 70 percent since the beginning of August, while opportunities remain to partly increase shipments via rail and Danube ports, TASS reported. Ore exports dropped 27 percent over seven months, with revenue at $1.08 billion and $148 million in July, and Bloomberg reports that crop buyers cut off from the Black Sea are turning to other origins.
The yen has given back the gains it made after the US Treasury intervened to support it, with concern mounting over the direction of Japan's spending, the New York Times reported on Friday. Bloomberg reports that carry traders are using the intervention to rebuild short positions and that Senator Warren has written to Bessent asking him to justify the operation.
Hong Kong raised its 2026 growth forecast to between 3.5 and 4.5 percent after the economy expanded 4.3 percent in the second quarter, supported by external trade. Bloomberg reports that Taiwan expects its first year of double-digit GDP growth since 2010, driven by demand for AI hardware.
Germany's 40 Dax companies together earned more than ever before, while industry cut more than ten thousand jobs a month, the FAZ reported on Friday. Bloomberg reported the same day that the German car industry's workforce has shrunk to its smallest in more than 20 years.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday granted preliminary approval for World Liberty Financial to establish a national bank, according to Breitbart. The venture was co-founded by President Trump and his sons, and the Wall Street Journal reported the decision as an exclusive.
China's first consolidated Ecological and Environmental Code came into force, the state-run Global Times reported on Saturday. According to the outlet, the code turns national ecological goals into everyday rules for industry and sets key targets for building a "Beautiful China" from 2026 to 2030.
The ruble-denominated MOEX index fell 4.29 percent over the week and the dollar-denominated RTS index lost 5.13 percent, TASS reported on Friday. The central bank put the decline of the ruble's real effective exchange rate in July at 4.7 percent, and banks in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan sharply raised fees for cash ruble deposits by nonresidents, according to RBC.
Türkiye imported around 1.01 billion cubic metres of pipeline gas from Azerbaijan in June, pushing Russia into second place, Daily Sabah reported on Friday, citing official data. It is the first time Azerbaijan has led Turkish pipeline gas imports.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada must end its retaliatory measures to avoid further US tariffs, Bloomberg reported on Friday. A Canadian union said Stellantis is considering selling its plant in the Toronto area, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Romania took its only nuclear plant off the grid on Thursday after drought pushed the Danube to record lows. Moldova, which leans on Romanian power, is exposed.
Washington will unveil measures next week amounting to economic isolation 'like the world has never seen' against Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says. Crude held its decline as a Hormuz deal stayed elusive.
Ukrainian drones have fully shut Russia's Orsk refinery, with repairs put at up to six months. Bloomberg reports Russian diesel exports at their lowest in years.
Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday imposing duties of up to 100 percent on imported drones and parts. The White House cites national security and reliance on foreign suppliers.
SMIC and Hua Hong reported triple-digit profit growth for the June quarter on Thursday. China's memory makers passed milestones of their own.
US producer prices were unchanged in July, and the S&P 500 closed at a record on Thursday. Treasury yields fell as traders pared bets on a Federal Reserve rate rise.
The Trump administration accuses Chinese exporters of sending goods through more than 40 third countries to dodge US tariffs. Its report, released on Thursday, calls this 'The Great Transshipment Scam'.
Legislation moving through Congress would give President Donald Trump the power to impose tariffs of 100 percent on countries that keep buying Russian energy, and The Economist argues the bill hands him too much discretion. India said its talks with the United States, including on the bill, had been reassuring, according to The Hindu.
British GDP expanded 0.4 percent in the three months to June, but analysts cited by The Guardian expect the resilience to fade. Rising energy costs and persistent inflation point to a harder autumn.
Gazprom said on Thursday that European underground storage holds 13.4 billion cubic metres less gas than a year ago and is refilling very slowly. Greek politician Panagiotis Lafazanis told TASS that the EU's ban on Russian pipeline gas and LNG by 2027 would hit Greece hardest, and that the planned Vertical Corridor to Ukraine remains only on paper.
Bloomberg reports that Japan's government supports faster rate increases by the Bank of Japan, following joint intervention with Washington to prop up the yen. The Economist writes that buying yen unwinds a dangerous trade, while Bloomberg describes domestic inflation as creating winners and losers.
A state judge's preliminary injunction bars the prediction market Kalshi from letting Washington residents place bets on the bulk of its offerings, the New York Times reported on Friday. El País writes that prediction platforms are courting female audiences on social media with empowerment messaging.
The Swiss government wants to give the financial regulator stronger powers, including fines, a freeze on bonuses and early intervention when trouble is suspected, Le Monde reported on Thursday. The package is Bern's answer to the collapse of Credit Suisse three years ago, which forced UBS to absorb its rival.
New mining projects proposed last year would add 2.5bn tonnes to global coal supplies, with most of the increase in the Indian states of Odisha and Jharkhand, The Guardian reported on Thursday. The expansion comes despite a plateau in global demand.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Mexico is pressing the United States to lower its tariffs on cars. In Canada, more than 110,000 people had signed a petition by Thursday calling for the removal of US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, according to Daily Sabah.
The New York Times reports that El Niño has set in early this year and is already disrupting weather around the world. The peak of the pattern could still be months away.
The Africa Finance Corporation is leading an investment in a $2.5 billion private placement for the Dangote refinery in Nigeria, Premium Times reported on Thursday. The AFC described the deal as a continuation of its long-term partnership with the Dangote Group and of its commitment to financing industrial projects across Africa.
Nigeria's state oil company NNPC said on Thursday that the new incentive order establishes a transparent, predictable and globally competitive fiscal framework for qualifying greenfield deep offshore developments. Premium Times reports that the company expects the order to accelerate investment and production growth.
France's ecology minister put this summer's heat at up to €15bn; a British thinktank counted £4.4bn in lost output. Record-low rivers are hitting freight and power.
US consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in July and the annual rate slipped to 3.4 percent, figures released on Wednesday showed. Subdued core inflation buys the Federal Reserve time.
The IEA and OPEC both trimmed their oil forecasts on Wednesday, blaming the blocked Strait of Hormuz. Crude fell on Thursday after five days of gains.
Bank of America will deploy $250bn into AI and energy infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Results from Cisco, Foxconn and Tencent showed the spending's reach and cost.
Oil tanker rates out of the Black Sea hit a record on Wednesday after a drone barrage, Bloomberg reports. The war's squeeze on the region's ports is feeding through to European grain prices.
New-energy vehicles took more than 60 percent of China's monthly car sales for the first time, Global Times reported on Wednesday. Chinese carmakers are at the same time shifting production to Spain and South Africa.
Rosstat put second-quarter growth at 1.3% on Wednesday, above official forecasts. Petrol queues and purchase limits have returned in a dozen regions after Ukrainian refinery strikes.
Canadian officials are considering accepting US tariffs on car exports in return for lower levies on vehicles that comply with the USMCA trade pact, while Mexico is pushing separately for reduced auto duties, according to the Wall Street Journal. The New York Times reports that some Canadian companies may only survive by moving to the United States if Donald Trump goes ahead with 50 percent tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods later this month.
The US Department of Agriculture made a bigger-than-expected cut to its corn yield projection on Wednesday, sending prices sharply higher. A record El Niño, expected to peak later this year, is already causing dry spells and crop failures on three continents, the New York Times reports.
Bloomberg reports that Washington and Tokyo are preparing what would be the deepest seabed mining operation attempted so far, aimed at challenging China's dominance in critical minerals. The report published on Wednesday gives no further detail on the site or the timetable.
New York City has launched a broad inquiry into the two largest prediction markets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The New York Times reports that the platforms themselves flag suspected insider traders, but many face no charges because the supervising agency lacks the staff, the legal tools and the will to act, with bets on manipulable events such as flight delays drawing particular scrutiny.
The Trump administration will not enforce the reporting requirements of the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act, which was intended to expose the owners behind anonymous US companies. Campaigners against money laundering say the rollback reopens one of the world's largest secrecy loopholes.
Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest at $2.3 trillion, reported on Wednesday a record profit of 1.75 trillion crowns ($184.3 billion) for the first half of the year, driven largely by a rally in Asian technology stocks. Its chief executive said the record returns leave him more nervous, not less.
A US judge has dismissed the fraud charges brought against India's Adani group, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. No details of the ruling have been reported beyond the dismissal itself.
President Bola Tinubu has approved a tax incentive framework for deep offshore oil and gas projects intended to attract up to $50 billion and accelerate stalled developments, Premium Times reported on Wednesday. The regulator NUPRC said the same day that crude output fell 4 per cent month-on-month in July while staying above Nigeria's OPEC quota for a third consecutive month.
Electricity network operators in western Europe prepared for the fall in photovoltaic production during the solar eclipse on Wednesday afternoon, an output that has become increasingly important in France's energy mix, Le Monde reported. In Spain, authorities urged eclipse watchers to be wary of wildfire risks, according to the New York Times.
Bloomberg reports that the Australian government is putting support worth about $1.8bn behind a Rio Tinto aluminium smelter. The package ties public money to keeping domestic aluminium capacity running.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran announced on Wednesday that he will not seek another term as chairman of Tata Sons when his mandate ends in early 2027. Shares of Tata group companies fell after the announcement, with TCS down almost 6%, according to The Hindu.
Iran plans to join the BRICS development bank while wartime layoffs mount. Oil rose again on Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Nvidia and six Wall Street firms are assembling at least $500bn for AI data centres. Insurers and power forecasters are testing what the buildout can carry.
Chinese car sales fell 21.1 percent in July, the tenth monthly decline in a row, while exports jumped 88 percent from a year earlier.
Persistent low water on the Rhine is forcing the first companies to cut production, and shifting deliveries entirely to road is barely possible, FAZ reported on Tuesday. Swiss Re put worldwide economic losses from natural disasters in the first half of the year at $100 billion, a sharp decline.
Authorities in Sochi urged residents and tourists on Tuesday to avoid using their cars because of a fuel shortage, and a fire broke out at a Rosneft refinery in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the state news agency TASS reported. The same day, Russia's central bank cleared bitcoin, ether and tether for exchange trading, and Lloyd's List reported that the United States had sold two seized shadow-fleet tankers for scrap.
British regulators authorised Foundayo, a tablet version of Eli Lilly's obesity and diabetes drug, for use on prescription, which Le Monde describes as the first such approval in Europe. Novo Nordisk has already obtained British approval for its Wegovy tablet, while big pharma is accelerating takeovers of biotech firms ahead of a wave of patent expiries.
Comac's narrowbody jet started a daily service from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar on Wednesday, the first international passenger route for a Chinese-built airliner. Experts told The Guardian it could take generations before the aircraft challenges the dominance of Airbus and Boeing.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that South Korea's Hanwha has offered to acquire an American builder of US Navy ships. The report did not set out the terms of the offer.
The effect of the joint US-Japanese intervention in support of the yen has worn off, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Bloomberg reports that a public split between US Treasury chief Bessent and Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi over Bank of Japan policy could undermine any repeat rescue.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that transit fees for the Panama Canal have reached a record high. It links the increase to low water levels caused by El Niño and to shipping rerouted because of the Iran war.
Senior US and Canadian trade officials are working to finalise a possible trade agreement, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported. Daily Sabah wrote on Tuesday that the deal could be presented to US President Donald Trump as early as Monday.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that replacing FIFA President Gianni Infantino would be 'a terrible mistake'. Reports on Tuesday presented the statement as support for Infantino during a power struggle at the head of world football.
Bloomberg reports that Beijing is working on a framework for residential land leases that are starting to run out, with about $148 billion in property value at stake. In Hong Kong, a court ruled that Evergrande may recover about HK$6 billion from a third party, while the developer Wharf said it is leaning on the city's luxury-home market to offset weakness on the mainland.
Nvidia and Wall Street firms are assembling at least $500bn for AI infrastructure. The push was announced on Monday, alongside further data-centre deals.
Crude held its gains on Tuesday, a day after prices surged as hopes of reopening the Strait of Hormuz faded again. Stock markets in New York and Mumbai lost ground.
Germany's inland shipping association expects the Rhine gauge at Kaub to fall to single digits this week, splitting the waterway. Chemical firms and retailers warn of bottlenecks.
Chinese carmakers reached fresh sales highs in western Europe even with EU tariffs in force, the Global Times reported on Monday. US outlets link the shift to the war's effect on fuel and to German brands' slide in China.
Bloomberg reported that the Fed's Hammack floated 'some number' of rate increases on Monday. US long-term yields are at levels last seen in the financial crisis.
US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn dismissed the criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday. The Justice Department had said it was abandoning the fraud and bribery case.
Intel said on Monday it would offer $15 billion of common stock, a move Bloomberg links to demand driven by artificial intelligence. Bloomberg also reported that Microsoft plans to increase production of its AI chips, while Global Times said Apple is testing memory chips from the Chinese maker CXMT.
Nikkei Asia reported on Monday that expectations of faster interest rate rises by the Bank of Japan pushed up Japanese government bond yields. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the yen firmed slightly on prospects of coordinated intervention, while Nikkei put corporate Japan's quarterly profit growth at 70 percent, driven by the weak currency and AI spending.
China's commerce ministry imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 54.3 percent, collected as deposits, on pecans from the United States and Mexico, and asked in Geneva on Monday to join Brazil's WTO consultations against US tariffs of up to 37.5 percent. More than 38 million dollars in tariff refunds from US Customs and Border Protection, plus accrued interest, have reached Chinese companies' accounts, the South China Morning Post reported.
Russian crude reached an all-time high of 48 percent of India's oil imports even as Washington prepares tariffs of up to 100 percent, The Hindu reported. Indian refiners are at the same time broadening their sourcing because of market volatility, TASS reported, citing local media.
Breitbart reported on Monday that the Chinese shipping company Sea Legend is opening an "Ice Silk Road" lane through the Arctic in order to avoid Middle East chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz. Other sources have not confirmed the report.
The Bank of Russia recommended on Monday that lenders support small and medium-sized businesses affected by what it called terrorist attacks, a reference to Ukrainian drone strikes on warehouses and logistics sites, and urged them not to charge penalties for overdue payments or demand early repayment. Kommersant reports that Russian book publishers are suspending sales on the Wildberries marketplace as drone attacks continue to hit the platform's warehouses.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the United States has pledged $2 billion to battery and materials producers. Nikkei Asia reports separately that a Chinese rare-earth project in Laos is stumbling while the industry records high profits.
Airbus and Boeing are putting in place large industrial plans to expand their production capacity, with more than 16,000 aircraft to be built, Le Monde reported on Monday. According to the paper, the European manufacturer appears able to exceed its best year in 2026.
South Korea's Hanwha is making a $1 billion push into naval shipbuilding in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Further details of the investment are not given in the report available.
The Food and Drug Administration will require companies to disclose food ingredients while postponing the planned crackdown on ultraprocessed foods, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the changes on Monday, and Bloomberg reported that chief executives had pressed the White House for the delay.
Crude extended its gains on Monday and equities slipped after the weekend brought no breakthrough on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has tempered hopes of a swift reopening.
China's producer and consumer price inflation both slowed in July as the oil shock from the war on Iran eased. Weak home demand leaves exports as the growth engine.
Chinese AI chip developer Moore Threads said on Sunday it will seek a Hong Kong listing after first-half revenue rose 147 per cent. It is the latest sign of Chinese capital flowing into artificial intelligence and robotics.
The Bank of Japan's summary of its July meeting showed board members discussing scope to speed up rate increases and flagging upside risks to prices, according to Reuters and Bloomberg. Japan also posted its first current account deficit in nearly one and a half years, and executives called for exchange-rate stability as the weak yen raises import bills.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that Australia has widened orders restricting Chinese investors in a rare-earths company. Shares in an Australian miner rose by as much as 29 percent after an investment by the US War Department.
Turkish officials said on Sunday that passage through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea is continuing smoothly after delays linked to the war between Russia and Ukraine. TASS reports that the owner of the MV Reyhan Sari, attacked by a drone in July while carrying coal from the Russian port of Taman to Trabzon, plans to take Ukraine to international arbitration.
A central Chinese province is targeting 12 billion dollars in trade with Africa by 2028, focused on mining and modern agriculture, according to Global Times. Near Abuja, rice seeds supplied by a Chinese-backed company are transforming the fortunes of Nigerian farmers, the South China Morning Post reports.
The rating agency Moody's said on Sunday that the race to adopt artificial intelligence is leaving big banks dependent on a small number of technology suppliers. It expects the finance sector to gain from the technology, but says the shift requires substantial investment and creates new risks.
Up to 20,000 seafarers, mostly Indian and Filipino crews, have been stuck aboard ships in the Gulf since February because the war between the United States and Iran has closed shipping routes, The Guardian reported on Sunday. Crew members describe life on board as being like prison and say none of them knows when they will be able to leave.
The dollar held near a two-month trough on Monday and gold drifted lower from a seven-week peak as markets awaited US inflation figures due on Tuesday. Soft jobs data had eased expectations of a September rate rise, while Wall Street reads Treasury Secretary Bessent's recent moves as a sign of anxiety in the bond market.
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to 304.81 million barrels, its lowest since March 1983, leaving about 43 days of cover on Energy Department and Bank of America figures.
After a surge of attacks on ships, Turkey has begun restricting Black Sea traffic, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Its foreign ministry warns the escalation could hit food security.
Politicians from Germany, France and the United States, among them Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, are pressing the EU to use Russia's frozen assets to finance Ukraine, which could soon run out of money, the FAZ reported on Saturday. The same day the US Senate approved a new Russia sanctions bill, which Chinese state media called political coercion in global energy supply chains.
Consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in July and factory-gate inflation eased to a three-month low, Reuters and Global Times reported on Sunday. Inflation cooled more than expected, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ukrainian drones have increasingly targeted warehouses of Wildberries, Russia's largest e-commerce company, on which many Russians rely, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Billionaire co-founder Tatyana Kim faces her biggest test yet, according to The New York Times.
Berkshire Hathaway reported higher operating profit and bought back $4.5 billion of its own shares, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. According to the Financial Times, chief executive Greg Abel is putting to work the cash pile built up under Warren Buffett.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Dow Jones reached 54,000 as US stocks ended the week at record highs, supported by strong corporate earnings. The paper also wrote that the labour market may not need as many new jobs as before to count as healthy.
The Financial Times reported that the crypto sector's flagship market-structure bill stalled in the US Senate despite $225 million in industry spending, while Reuters said senators advanced it before the August recess. According to the Wall Street Journal, reporting on Donald Trump's financial windfall from crypto stiffened opposition to the legislation.
Bloomberg reports that a US judge has temporarily blocked the Defense Department's designation of the contract drug developer WuXi AppTec as a Chinese military company. The Global Times quotes Chinese experts as saying the ruling shows that such blacklists are not beyond challenge.
Handelsblatt reports that deforestation in the Amazon has dropped to its lowest level in ten years. According to Bloomberg, the pressure has moved across the border into Bolivia, where forest loss is growing.
The US Senate has approved short-term financing that keeps the federal government open past the coming election, Reuters reports. According to Bloomberg, the bill leaves out Trump's spending priorities.
Telesur reports that China delivered a second donation of 5,000 photovoltaic systems to Cuba on Friday at a ceremony in Havana. The Cuban government also approved two resolutions to ease the tax burden on state and private investment in renewable energy, as the island runs low on oil, according to the Wall Street Journal.
FIFA issued a new statement alleging a "concerted and ongoing effort by some" to undermine its president, Gianni Infantino, after reports that UEFA paid a six-figure departure package to a female employee said to have been in a relationship with him. Infantino, a candidate for re-election in March, rejects the allegations, and FIFA says any insinuation of inappropriate conduct is defamatory.
The US economy lost 23,000 jobs in July instead of the 80,000 gains economists had expected, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. Markets rallied as traders pared bets on a Federal Reserve rate rise.
The UN food price index rose in July to 131.1 points, its highest reading in more than three years, the FAO said on Friday. Heatwaves, the war in Ukraine and escalation in the Gulf lifted cereal, sugar and vegetable oil costs.
Chinese exports rose almost a quarter year on year in July, and chip exports nearly doubled between January and July, according to the Financial Times and Global Times. The New York Times reports that factories keep finding eager buyers abroad even as weak consumer spending and a prolonged property slump weigh on growth at home.
Ukraine has completely stopped exporting agricultural products through the Black Sea after Russian strikes on Odesa, a route that carried about 85% of such exports before July, Agrarian Policy Minister Taras Vysotsky said. TASS reports 6,835 vehicles queued at the Polish border and a drone strike on the Turkish cargo ship MV Gulluk near Novorossiysk, while Bloomberg reports that Washington says Kyiv will avoid targeting tankers and a Black Sea oil site.
Chinese rare-earth exports fell 10% between January and July, with shipments to Japan and the United States plunging after new export restrictions, according to Global Times and Nikkei Asia. Beijing plans to raise annual output capacity by 50% at the Bayan Obo mine in Inner Mongolia, the world's largest rare-earth deposit, investing more than $74 million, the South China Morning Post reports.
Oil futures moved lower on expectations of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported, while The National said prices stayed volatile as Houthi attacks renewed fears of a supply crunch. Comex gold ended the week 7.20% higher at $4,340.70, and Handelsblatt reports that the war with Iran is also cutting oil demand with long-term consequences.
Trump announced about $3 billion in mining projects and critical-minerals agreements with several mining companies at a roundtable on American mining, part of a push to curb China's dominance over strategic materials. He also ordered a new 15% tariff on imported products made of polysilicon, used in solar panels and microchips, and his administration is to award $2 billion to battery and materials companies.
The yen surrendered nearly half of the gains it made after the joint US-Japan intervention, and hedge funds slashed their short bets on the currency, Bloomberg reported. Nikkei Asia attributes the limited impact to market doubts about Japan's policy, while BlackRock warned that US sales of euros to buy yen add geopolitical risk.
US President Donald Trump has renewed his effort to remove Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, despite a Supreme Court ruling in June that blocked his first attempt, Bloomberg and the South China Morning Post reported on Friday. Al Jazeera notes that Trump has clashed with Federal Reserve members over his push for rapid interest rate cuts despite inflation.
Copper prices moved towards a record high close on Friday as the global market tightened, Bloomberg reported. Bloomberg also reports that a market crunch is brewing as the United States and China compete for the metal.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering the United States concessions in trade talks to prevent 50 percent tariffs on many Canadian goods scheduled for this month, the New York Times reported. Ottawa is at the same time demanding a comprehensive agreement.
The US aviation regulator has ordered operators to inspect the fuselages of about 470 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for cracks, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Guardian says the order follows reported problems in earlier models; The National reports the concerns relate to door cracks.
Brent swung back above $80 a barrel on Thursday and gold reached a seven-week high as traders priced in a possible reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. US stocks fell on doubts the deal would land.
Power plants in six EU countries are idle because rivers are running low and warm, while shallow water has crippled cargo shipping on the Rhine. The European Commission called the bloc's energy situation tense on Thursday but saw no immediate supply risk.
A surge of attacks on ships, ports and export terminals in the Black Sea region is disrupting global supplies of grain and oil, Daily Sabah reported on Thursday. The report describes the area as the latest strategic pressure point for world commodity flows.
China launched a cybersecurity investigation into products made by the US firm Palo Alto Networks. Bloomberg reports the move is part of an expanding legal arsenal that Xi is using to warn Trump ahead of the two leaders' summit.
Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday imposing a 15 per cent tariff and price floors on polysilicon, a key material for solar panels and semiconductors. The tariff is to take effect after 120 days.
China's foreign trade expanded 17.3% in the first seven months of the year, and the Wall Street Journal describes a new export engine built on supplying factories abroad. Bloomberg reports that Chinese banks are expanding direct settlement to widen the yuan's role in global trade and finance.
Saudi crude shipments to the United States have dropped to zero for the first time in 40 years, Bloomberg reported. US refiners were buying more than 600,000 barrels of Saudi oil a day earlier this year before turning to other suppliers.
Trump made calls to Kevin Warsh, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, describing it as the latest sign of his bid to influence the Federal Reserve. The Financial Times reported that Warsh will stick with lean Fed messaging despite a market backlash, while Bloomberg wrote that his faith in markets sidelines more nuanced policy tools.
The United States sold euros as part of an effort to support the yen, a step that blindsided the European Central Bank, the Financial Times reported on Friday. No details on the size or timing of the sale were given in the report.
Britain's antitrust watchdog cleared Paramount Skydance's takeover of Warner Bros Discovery on Thursday, and culture secretary Lisa Nandy said she would not intervene after securing guarantees on Channel 5. The deal is put at $110 billion by the Financial Times and the South China Morning Post and at $81 billion by the Wall Street Journal, and it still faces a key hurdle in the United States.
SoftBank secured a $10 billion margin loan backed by its stake in OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Its quarterly profit beat expectations, helped by an $8 billion gain on its Intel holding, according to the Financial Times.
Putin, who had long kept a conspicuous distance from monetary policy, made clear twice in July that Russia's central bank needed to lower its key rate, Bloomberg reported on Thursday in an account relayed by Meduza. Bloomberg also reported that Russia's war economy is fuelling pay gains that companies cannot afford.
China announced a package of countermeasures on Wednesday against recent US trade and technology restrictions. The package targets American companies, drone-related exports and imported office equipment.
The Trump administration has refunded importers about $100bn of the "liberation day" tariffs, roughly 60% of what it collected. The Supreme Court ruled the levies illegal in February.
Japan continued its foreign exchange interventions this week with backing from the US Treasury, with the yen stuck at about 157 per dollar as markets weigh the limits of the operation. Bessent said the aim was to stop instability spreading to other Asian markets; Le Monde notes Washington intervened similarly for Argentina in October 2025.
Iraq's oil exports fell from 100 million barrels in February to around 32 million in May and June, according to Oil Ministry figures shown to The National and cited by the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. Baghdad is struggling to cover public sector salaries as the Strait of Hormuz crisis deepens.
US hedge funds took a heavy hit in July from the selloff in artificial intelligence stocks, and JPMorgan says retail investors may now carry more weight in the tech trade, Bloomberg reported. Doubts about US policy have revived the 'Sell America' argument, while The Economist warns governments are making a dangerous bet on the AI boom.