Welcome to the horse latitudes of August. We’re watching Indonesia, where at least 38 people died following a severe earthquake. An ex-Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism was found dead. Luigi Mangione admitted killing health-insurance executive Brian Thompson.
Those prices are still high: The president in 2024 blamed Democrats for high prices. Two years later, they’re still rising despite his pledge to bring them down. As for gasoline prices, Trump told Americans they’ll have to deal with it as long as the U.S. pursues its conflict with Iran.
Oil: Two slicks appeared in Iranian waters as U.S. and Iranian attacks on tankers threaten to do environmental damage to the Gulf.
Engulfed: Fires destroyed homes in Croatia and in England and Wales, and hundreds of people were evacuated from a beach resort in northern Greece. More evacuations ensued in southwestern France and a German village near the Belgian border. Spain removed the bones of the first three kings of Aragón after a fire threatened the monastery where they were kept.
Qusra: The militant settlers besieged Palestinians in their homes in the occupied West Bank after cutting off their water and electricity. Settlers near the village of Fasayil diverted water from Palestinian farmers’ fields and used it to make a swimming pool.
Gaza: Cancer patients are dying at two to three times the pace that they did at the start of the war, local doctors said. Israel blew up Gaza’s specialized cancer hospital last year, saying troops found a Hamas tunnel beneath it.
Exclusive: Anthropic is projecting 2028 revenue up to $200 billion, far above the $47 billion run rate that reflects its current pace of business. That’s a farther look into the future than investors normally would take. Our analysis shows that institutional investors pulled back from tech-market segments during the second quarter.
Another exclusive: Jane Street took a $15 billion hit in July from its exposure to AI-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness and other tech stocks that were battered in a market selloff. Read more about Leopold Aschenbrenner, whose AI investments helped vaporize all that money.
AI music: The online-music service said it will add “AI Persona” badges to musician profiles to tell listeners whether the artist behind the music is real.
Invisible fink: A Connecticut state judge said a plaintiff in a case before him included hidden text, written in tiny white type on a white background, meant to serve as instructions for any AI system reviewing the documents to help the plaintiff’s case.
Jump shot: Joshua Kushner’s and Bob Iger’s purchase of the Los Angeles Lakers values the NBA team at $12.5 billion, a 25% jump in its valuation from a year ago. That deal and other recent sales leaves other team owners wondering what their franchises might be worth.
Shock the monkey: Organizers of the Badminton World Championships hired people who can imitate langur monkey calls to keep aggressive rhesus monkeys away from the venue in New Delhi. Also from India: The food-safety chief for the state of Maharashtra is cracking down on grocery giants like Swiggy after finding cockroach infestations and other nasty conditions at their warehouses.
