Google DeepMind abandoned the Gemini 2.5 Pro base architecture and pushed the 3.5 Pro launch to July 17, opting for a complete rebuild to close performance gaps in mathematical reasoning and SVG generation before competing releases from OpenAI and Anthropic.
Posted inMarkets
Brent crude tops $78 on fresh US strikes as Trump weighs targeting Kharg Island
Brent crude settled above $78 a barrel on Wednesday, up more than 5%, after the US launched a second day of strikes on Iran, the US Treasury revoked Tehran’s oil sanctions waiver, and Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Posted inEconomy
IMF holds global growth at 3% as war shock and AI investment pull in opposite directions
The IMF’s July update kept its 2026 global growth forecast at 3% but raised headline inflation to 4.7%, citing opposing pressures from energy disruptions in the Middle East and AI-driven demand in technology-integrated economies.
Posted inGeopolitics
Trump declares the Iran ceasefire over as US launches a second day of strikes
President Trump declared the three-week memorandum of understanding with Iran ‘over’ on July 8 after US forces struck more than 80 Iranian targets and Tehran fired missiles at US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Posted inWorld
Australia and Fiji seal the Ocean of Peace Alliance in Pacific security push
Australia and Fiji signed a mutual defense pact and a A$1 billion economic treaty on July 6, the same day China test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the Pacific.
Posted inTech
China’s GLM-5.2 beats GPT-5.5 on coding benchmarks at a fraction of the cost
Z.ai’s open-weight GLM-5.2, trained on Huawei silicon by a US-blacklisted Chinese startup, has outscored OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 on two leading coding benchmarks and costs roughly one-sixth as much to run.
Posted inMarkets
Gemini launches commission-free stock trading in push toward financial super app
Crypto exchange Gemini expanded into US-listed equities on 7 July 2026, adding thousands of commission-free stocks and ETFs to a platform already spanning crypto spot, derivatives, and prediction markets.
Posted inEconomy
US trade deficit widens to $77.6 billion in May as imports surge
The US goods and services trade deficit expanded by $23 billion to $77.6 billion in May 2026, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on 7 July, driven by a sharp rise in imports and a fall in exports.
Posted inGeopolitics
NATO Ankara summit pledges €70bn for Ukraine and locks in 5% GDP defence target
Leaders of all 32 NATO members gathered in Ankara on 7–8 July 2026, pledging €70 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2026 and formalising the alliance’s five-percent-of-GDP defence investment target.
Posted inWorld
Farage quits his Commons seat to force Clacton by-election amid funding probe
Nigel Farage resigned as MP for Clacton-on-Sea on 7 July 2026 to trigger a by-election he will contest himself, while a parliamentary investigation into his undisclosed funding is put on hold.