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• Wall Street experienced a downturn on Friday as investors shifted away from the artificial intelligence sector due to growing concerns over frontier AI development. • In contrast to the U.S. market retreat, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) managed to edge slightly higher. • Global markets are reacting to volatility in tech valuations and a simultaneous jump in oil prices.

• The British Film Institute (BFI) reported that UK film and high-end television spending rose to £6.8 billion in 2025, accompanied by growth in box-office admissions and takings. • To further support this growth, the UK government has unveiled a £380 million Creative Industries Sector Plan designed to boost film, TV, and global expansion. • These developments occur amid a shifting European landscape, including a 33.6% drop in foreign film investment in Spain in 2024 and new tax credit transparency rules in Italy.

ABS data show one in 10 people are not satisfied with life – but community cohesion and trust lift happiness scoresGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNearly 2.2 million Australians 15 years and older are living below the wellbeing poverty line, with the share of people reporting very low life satisfaction doubling over the past decade.In 2025, 9.7%, or about one in 10 Australians, rated their general satisfaction with life at four or below out of 10, according to Guardian Australia’s analysis of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’s (ABS) general social survey. Continue reading...

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reported record financial results for the second quarter of 2026, driven by strong client activity across its investment management, wealth management, and institutional securities divisions. • Executives attributed the success to the firm's integrated business model and a favorable environment for mergers and acquisitions, fueled by normalized regulations and robust economic conditions. • Leadership noted that the investment banking cycle, which started with debt issuance, has expanded into equity activity and may gain further momentum from financial sponsors.

• PV Sindhu is set to face home favorite Akane Yamaguchi in the final match of the Japan Open 2026. • The matchup features two of the world's top badminton players competing for the championship title in Japan. • This final is significant as it pits Sindhu's international experience against Yamaguchi's advantage of playing in front of a home crowd.

• Delhi Police shifted activist Sonam Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest site to VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital on Saturday. • The move follows a High Court order and occurs after Wangchuk completed 20 days of an "indefinite" hunger strike. • The protest was aimed at pressuring the state, though authorities characterized the strike as an attempt to hold the government to ransom.

Follow the latest updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt was a remarkably warm day in the Australian alps yesterday, with several ski fields reaching temperatures that look set to be record-breaking (the records are yet to be confirmed by the Bureau of Meteorology’s climate team).Mount Hotham reached 11.1C. That’s 2.4C higher than the previous July record of 8.7C set in 1994.Big slow moving high pressure systems creating large areas of descending & warming air hitting a radiation inversion = warm air trapped above the ground. Plus climate change… Continue reading...