Anthropic has secured 191 megawatts of computing capacity from Riot Platforms’ Texas campus under a 20-year lease worth $9.1 billion, as the AI lab races to close a persistent compute gap.
S&P 500 Closes at Record 7,799 as Soft PPI Eases Rate-Hike Fears
Weaker-than-expected producer price data on Thursday pushed the S&P 500 to a new closing record of 7,798.99, trimming the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September.
US Retail Sales Fell 0.6% in July, First Drop in Nine Months
American consumers pulled back sharply in July, with retail sales posting their largest monthly decline in nine months at –0.6%, raising fresh questions about household resilience.
Washington Clears $280 Million Turkish Arsenal for Ukraine as Moscow Demands Explanation
The US State Department has notified Congress of a plan to transfer 70 ATACMS missiles and 12 M270 rocket launchers from Turkish stockpiles to Ukraine, drawing a sharp rebuke from Russia.
Indonesia Earthquake Kills 47 on Flores Island as Rescue Teams Fight Landslides
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Flores Island on Saturday, killing at least 47 people and blocking rescue teams behind landslide-sealed roads.
Apple Wins Beijing’s Clearance to Deploy Its Own AI Model in China
Apple has trained a China-specific large language model alongside Alibaba and received regulatory approval from Beijing — making it the first foreign company authorised to deploy proprietary AI on iPhones in mainland China.
Crude Oil Retreats on US Inventory Build and Weak Demand as Hormuz Risks Linger
WTI crude slipped to around $81 a barrel on August 14 as a substantial US stock build and signs of slowing global demand overshadowed ongoing supply risk from the Strait of Hormuz.
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Q2 as Industrial Output Contracts
Britain’s GDP expanded 0.4% in the second quarter of 2026, easing from Q1’s 0.6% pace, as a fall in industrial production and manufacturing cast doubt on the durability of the recovery.
Ukraine Pushes Russia from Dnipropetrovsk, Reclaiming 745 Square Kilometres
A Ukrainian summer offensive has recaptured 26 settlements and at least 745 square kilometres in the Dnipropetrovsk region, pushing Russian forces back across the Donetsk and Zaporizhia borders.
Israel’s October Election Takes Shape as Neither Bloc Nears a Majority
Fresh polling through July puts Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party level with Likud while Netanyahu’s bloc trails at 49–52 seats, well short of the 61 needed to form a government.