Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump expressed hope that their White House summit Monday with European leaders could eventually result in trilateral talks with Vladimir Putin over ending Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The meeting was arranged hurriedly after Trump met Putin in Alaska on Friday and came away saying the onus was on Zelenskiy to end the conflict. Ahead of the meeting, Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities killed 10 people and injured dozens of others, The New York Times reported. According to the Times, Ukrainian officials view the attacks as proof Russia does not intend to stop the hostilities.
Similarly, Ukraine’s European allies arrived in Washington skeptical that Putin really wants peace, and apprehensive that Trump will try to force Kyiv into making unpalatable concessions. The Republican president has long echoed Kremlin talking points when it comes to the war, including that Ukraine should give up territory to end Russia’s onslaught.
The Trump administration is said to be in talks to take a 10% stake in Intel, a historic move by the US government that could see it become the beleaguered chipmaker’s largest shareholder. The federal government’s potential investment would involve converting some or all of the company’s grants from the US Chips and Science Act into equity.
Intel has been slated to receive a combined $10.9 billion in Chips Act grants for commercial and military production. That figure is roughly enough to pay for the targeted holding. At Intel’s current market value, a 10% stake in the chipmaker would be worth roughly $10.5 billion. The exact size of the stake, as well as whether the White House chooses to move ahead with the plan, is still in flux.
US homebuilder confidence fell this month to match the lowest level since 2022. An index of housing market conditions from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo slipped 1 point to 32 in August. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a slight gain in the gauge, based on the median projection.
The report showed contractors are having to increase their already liberal use of sweeteners: The share of builders using sales incentives climbed to a post-pandemic high of 66% this month, while an elevated 37% reported cutting prices.
In other US housing news: The number of properties sold to non-US citizens ticked up for the first time in eight years. Sales of existing US real estate to non-US citizens hit $56 billion in the year through March, up 33% from the same period the year before, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors.
In recent years, elevated mortgage rates and home prices have kept many US citizens on the sidelines of the American housing market, helping create less competition for non-Americans who often buy in cash and aren’t always attached to specific locations. And although sales to the latter account for only 2.5% of the existing US real-estate market, the increased demand isn’t helping a once-in-a-generation affordability crisis that’s shutting out many Americans.
Novo Nordisk is slashing the cost of Ozempic to $499 a month for patients paying in cash. They can now get Ozempic for about half of its US list price through Novo’s cash-pay pharmacy NovoCare, the company said Monday. It’s also partnering with GoodRx to offer Ozempic and its sister weight-loss drug Wegovy for the same price at pharmacies across the US. The price change comes less than a week after weight-loss rival Eli Lilly raised the list price for its obesity shot in the UK by as much as 170%.
Hamas said it has agreed to a deal proposed by Qatar and Egypt to pause the militant group’s war with Israel in Gaza, fueling optimism that a long-awaited breakthrough in negotiations could be close. It’s said that the proposal would see Hamas release half of the hostages it still holds from the October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the conflict in return for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops. Tens of thousands have been killed in the war and the largely destroyed Gaza Strip is now witnessing a spreading famine.
Palestinian girls carry salvaged items across debris and rubble in the al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City on Aug. 14. Photographer: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images
Comcast is losing customers in its internet access business, with record losses of broadband subscribers for three straight quarters, totaling more than half a million accounts. To stem the losses, the company has begun bringing in new management to the broadband division, introducing new pricing plans and pushing harder into other products, such as wireless phone service, to complement their internet offerings and cable TV.
