Finance news

Beijing’s message for Asean – China doesn’t want to become a regional hegemon

In comments directed at Asean, a top Communist Party official reiterated that Beijing did not want to become a regional hegemon, while vowing to strengthen its energy cooperation with the Southeast Asian bloc. “For a country like China, which has ‘harmonious coexistence’ embedded in its DNA, it is extremely difficult to undergo a ‘genetic mutation’ and become a militaristic hegemony that bullies the small and weak,” said Sun Haiyan, deputy head of the party’s International Department. Sun, who..

World Cup could boost the June jobs report by 40,000, Goldman estimates

Nonfarm payrolls are projected to post a gain of 115,000, according to the Dow Jones consensus.

The US military wants a fleet of laser trucks. Here’s what they might look like.

Two ground vehicles could define how the Pentagon fields high-energy laser weapons at scale.

Russia’s Security and Trade Blocs Show Signs of Fracturing

The signs are multiplying that Vladimir Putin’s powers of coercion are rapidly fading, and his chief instruments of regional leverage are dissolving. Not only have Ukrainian drones put Russian forces on their heels in the two countries’ long-running conflict, but they are also threatening to tear apart the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Moscow’s version of NATO. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s failure to prevent the reelection of Putin’s nemesis in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashiny

Pentagon’s push to field weapons faster risks outrunning its own oversight, watchdog finds

Workforce reductions meant that weapon systems reach warfighters with “undocumented shortfalls related to effectiveness, suitability, [and] survivability."

Equinor, Var Energi to Swap Stakes in Norwegian North Sea

Var Energi and Equinor entered into a swap agreement to realign their investments in the Gjoa and Troll-Farm areas on Norway's side of the North Sea, which they said would support faster tieback developments.

Nvidia is betting on a trillion-dollar robotics boom. Here is the hidden way to trade it.

CEO Jensen Huang has called humanoid robots a “multitrillion-dollar economic opportunity.”

Trump says outside funds 'run my money' after disclosure shows billions in 2025 revenue

The 927-page annual financial disclosure form shows Trump's purchases and sales of hundreds of companies' stocks, including Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft.

Alibaba sues Pentagon, rare earth truce tested, Taiwan arms: 7 US-China relations reads

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump thinks he is playing hardball. But China is playing Trump: analysts As the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump fades in the rear-view mirror, marked by anaemic deliverables, poor transparency and missed opportunities, analysts and former US...

Japan's Biggest LNG Buyer Creates Standalone Trading Arm

Japan’s JERA is creating a wholly-owned subsidiary to develop and manage its LNG, upstream, low-carbon fuels, and shipping businesses, the biggest Japanese LNG importer and largest power producer said on Wednesday. The new company, JERA Global Energy Solutions (JERA GES), will be the Japanese utility giant’s response to increasingly volatile and complex energy markets. JERA GES will be a vertically integrated LNG company which can quickly respond to the market needs while maintaining security of

Go big or go home: Washington’s assistance to the Lebanese army

The US seems stuck on the fence about whether to abandon or commit to the Lebanese military, and until it picks a side, little is likely to change in the regional conflict with Hezbollah, writes Bilal Saab.

Rights of vacationers: Cancel the trip free of charge due to extreme heat - is that possible?

A warm summer is nice, but over 40 degrees in the shade is too much for most people. Can you cancel your vacation because of extreme heat? What travelers need to know.

ServiceNow and Salesforce shares now look like buys, as ‘Armageddon’ fears are too extreme, analyst says

A Guggenheim analyst says that valuations for the two software stocks are too depressed, even though the AI threat is real.

Infineon: The silent AI winner from Dresden

Infineon shows how transformation works. The Munich-based company has made great money for many years as a chip supplier to German car manufacturers - and is benefiting from the AI ​​super trend.

Video purportedly shows Ukrainian unit running down Russian Shahed. The US is paying attention.

An unverified video of Ukrainian unit taking down a Shahed drone with an American-made interceptor comes as the U.S. Army seeks to field drones at scale.

UK defense plan to unlock fresh GCAP contract before Farnborough Airshow

The British government came up with essential funding on the day that cash flow for the jet was due to run out.

Sudan’s RSF committed ethnic cleansing, says Amnesty

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their attack on El-Fasher city between 2024 and 2025, Amnesty International alleged Wednesday. Sudan has been mired since April 2023 in a brutal war between the army and the RSF, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, according to the United Nations. Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with a UN independent fact-finding mission in February concluding

Ukraine is launching strike-drones from everything – including Black Sea robo-boats

The Pentagon is studying the lesson as it shifts focus toward a possible conflict with China.

China’s Kling AI nears US$3 billion round at US$18 billion valuation: sources

Kuaishou-backed Kling AI is close to completing a US$3 billion fundraising round that would value the company at US$18 billion post-investment, according to people familiar with the matter, as competition intensifies in China’s artificial intelligence video generation sector. The latest valuation was narrowed from an initial target of US$20 billion set in April, when Chinese short-video giant Kuaishou first planned to spin off Kling AI, according to a source, reflecting the shifting market...

Singapore seizes $42m home in Nvidia chip smuggling case

Why "Mixture of Experts" architecture is the ultimate bull case for memory demand

Wall Street is completely sleeping on how the latest shift in AI architecture is skewing the memory-to-compute ratio heavily in favor of RAM. Everyone thinks AI is all about Nvidia GPUs and pure math power, but the newest models are being built using an architecture called Mixture of Experts (MoE). Instead of being one giant brain that does massive math for every single word, an MoE model is broken up into hundreds of specialized "mini-brains." When you ask it a question, a digital traffic cop o

Demand for riskier mortgages drops, as their advantages shrink

The spread between the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and adjustable-rate loans is narrowing, causing demand for ARMs to weaken.

Climate: Seas warmer than ever before at this time of year

At the beginning of summer 2026, global ocean temperatures will reach a new high. But warmer oceans pose a risk for extreme weather.

China: Xi warns Taiwan on the party anniversary - and wants to further strengthen the army

China's head of state and party leader is using the 105th anniversary of the Communist Party to increase pressure on Taiwan. There is growing international concern about an escalation.

Health insurance: After billions in cuts: Federal government is accommodating to pharmaceutical companies

The pharmaceutical industry wants to cut billions in investments. According to Handelsblatt information, Berlin is now planning to accommodate the industry and adapt the austerity law. But is that enough?

Anthropic gets all-clear to let foreigners use latest model ahead of crucial IPO

News the U.S. government has lifted export controls on Anthropic’s most powerful artificial-intelligence models puts the company back on track to go forward with a critical initial public offering.

Israel tests Iron Dome with Iron Beam, pairing missiles with laser pulses for air defense

The combination of technologies is meant to give Israel a leg up in shooting down high-volume swarms of incoming threats like drones or missiles.

Is it worth it investing in non US markets?

Whats your tale on this? Im a non US investor: When US markets go up international markets go up less, when US markets go down, internal markets go down more, long term it doesnt seem to pay off. I'm a VT guy so far but within vt in the top 25 position the only non US companies are the below, wouldn't it be better to just be all in like VOO and buy those separaetly if even wanted? Among VT's top 25 holdings, these are the non-U.S. companies (and they dont move the needle anyways within the fund

Thailand’s suitcase murder raises safety fears as Pattaya mourns for teen victim

Just days after she last saw a teenager, known to her friends as Cake, on Pattaya Beach, Ning began to realise the unfolding horrors that shocked Thailand. The body of the 17-year-old was found on Saturday, placed inside a black suitcase and dumped in scrubland next to a railway track. “I would see her often. I didn’t realise she was still just a child,’’ Ning, 22, told This Week in Asia, giving an alias. “Her murder breaks my heart.’’ Australian national Simon Peter Carman, 45, has been charged

ECB annual meeting: Is artificial intelligence driving up inflation – or not?

The ECB annual meeting in Sintra, Portugal, will be dominated by one question: Will AI trigger an economic miracle – or the next US recession?