A detailed Australian survey reveals organised anti-wind and solar campaigns have successfully eroded community support, while enthusiasm for electric vehicles surged following Donald Trump's attack on Iran. Despite this, home batteries and rooftop solar maintain high 'deep support'
The number of megacities (urban areas with over 10 million people) is projected to increase from 33 in 2025 to 37 by 2050, with Africa and South Asia driving growth, and potentially seeing the emergence of 'gigacities' like Lagos with over 100 million residents.
Tether and Nairobi Securities Exchange explore tokenized securities, blockchain infrastructure, and USDT as a settlement layer in a new MoU, amidst growing tokenized real-world assets sector.
Moonshot AI has released Kimi K3’s weights and supporting infrastructure, making the model available for public use, modification and distribution. The open-weight system is described as the largest of its kind at 2.8 trillion parameters.
Texas officials declare Lake Meredith fully infested with zebra mussels, native to Eurasia, posing risks to ecosystems, infrastructure, and recreation, with concerns of further westward spread beyond state lines.
Moody's warns that the trillion-dollar annual spending on AI infrastructure by hyperscalers (Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Oracle, CoreWeave) is eroding their free cash flow and increasing balance-sheet risk, despite robust demand for AI computing.
Iran’s missile campaign against US and Gulf targets is becoming more accurate, according to analysts cited in the article. The piece links the improvement to Chinese satellite imagery, Russian tactics and advances in Iran’s ballistic missile programme.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike Hamas targets in Gaza Strip, targeting weapons storage, manufacturing, and infrastructure, citing systematic ceasefire violations.
Russia's Defense Ministry reported intercepting 571 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions, the Sea of Azov, and the Black Sea. Attacks targeted civilian infrastructure in St. Petersburg, Leningrad, and Tver regions, causing fires, structural collapses, and injuring three people. The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal probe into the incident.
St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov reported that Ukrainian military drones attacked civilian infrastructure near the Moscow highway in Russia's second-largest city in the early hours of July 24, with air defenses active and recovery efforts underway.
Two civilians were wounded and infrastructure damaged in 34 shelling attacks by Ukrainian armed groups on the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, according to the DPR department for documenting war crimes.
Runway launched its Media Router via Runway Dev, aiming to become the infrastructure layer for generative media. The tool automatically selects optimal image, video, or audio generation models based on developer priorities like quality, speed, or cost, marking a strategic shift from an AI video startup to a platform for integrating diverse generative media models.
Coinbase is expanding its AI-powered finance offerings, enabling businesses to accept USDC payments from autonomous AI agents via the x402 standard and introducing new AI trading and developer tools to support the "agentic economy."
Empery Digital invested $20 million in Cardinal Data Power's $70M Series A, securing an 8% stake to support a 750MW West Texas data center for AI. This move aligns with Empery's pivot from its Bitcoin treasury strategy, having sold 1,400 BTC for $87.1M amid shareholder pressure, to fund AI infrastructure and repay debt.
David and Marilee Kiliti sold their 89-acre Pennsylvania hog farm for over $22 million to QTS, a Blackstone-backed data center company. This sale, part of a larger 1,700-acre acquisition for AI data centers, highlights a trend of tech giants investing in rural areas for power infrastructure.
Oil prices jumped after reported tanker attacks in the Red Sea and President Donald Trump threatened a major strike on Iran. Brent crossed $100 a barrel as traders priced in rising supply risk from the Middle East.
US strikes in southern Iran, particularly Hormozgan province, have targeted bridges, tunnels, roads, rail, power, and desalination plants, aiming to cripple Iran's mobility and recovery capabilities, and potentially pressure oil exports via Kharg Island amid renewed conflict.
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart suggests the CLARITY Act will have minimal direct impact on Bitcoin, which already has established regulatory infrastructure. The updated bill, released by Senate Republicans, is seen as more beneficial for assets like Ethereum and Solana, which lack clear legal status.
Amazon has laid off employees from its Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) team, responsible for developing human-level AI, despite calling AGI a top priority. The cuts, affecting roles in model customisation and post-training, aim to sharpen focus on key AI initiatives amid continued heavy investment and recent leadership changes.
Kazakhstan approved a new framework for large-scale crypto mining, linking electricity access to contributions to a state-backed digital asset reserve. Strategic miners must meet strict infrastructure requirements and transfer part of their mined crypto to Astana Hub.
India faces a severe urban parking crisis due to rapid motorisation, poor planning, and weak enforcement. With over 400 million registered vehicles, existing infrastructure and outdated master plans are overwhelmed, leading to chaos, revenue loss, and underutilized multi-level facilities. Digital solutions and demand management are being explored.
Russian forces conducted group strikes on Odessa, targeting military cargo infrastructure and UAV production facilities. Danish shipping company Maersk subsequently suspended services through Chernomorsk port due to heightened risks.
Oil prices surged after reports of Houthi attacks on tankers off Saudi Arabia and renewed US threats against Iran following a ceasefire collapse. Brent crude topped $100/barrel, and WTI also rose significantly, reflecting escalating Middle East tensions and supply disruption fears.
Hackers stole over $31.6 million in two separate crypto bridge exploits targeting AFX's Arbitrum bridge ($24.15M) and the Verus Ethereum Bridge ($7.5M) within hours. Blockaid detected both attacks, with the AFX incident likely due to compromised validator keys, underscoring persistent security risks for cross-chain bridges.
