It's hard to know where to look first: the Looney Tunes -ass slapstick of a bipedal robot completely wiping out on the athletics track; the pure awe of another bot casually shattering Usain Bolt's 100m record; or the low-key shock of others going full Jetsons backstage by quietly microwaving snacks and routing cables for judges.
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CANADA
After a last-minute reprieve offered initial hopes of a breakthrough, US-Canada trade talks have now collapsed amid duelling claims of sudden goalpost shifts around US tariffs on trucks, plus Canada’s protections for French-language content. Canada is now insisting it’ll match dollar-for-dollar DC’s new 50% tariffs on $20B in Canadian goods (booze, dairy, hockey!), with retaliatory tariffs targeting US exports like steel, dairy, and appliances. (WSJ $)
UNITED STATES
Sceptical markets have now almost entirely erased the initial drop in US bond yields after Secretary Bessent’s surprise doubling of long-dated bond buybacks, with yields back near multi-year highs. (Bloomberg $)
UNITED NATIONS
The latest informal Security Council straw poll to pick the next UN boss has resulted in three semi-surprises: i) Guyana’s Rodrigues is now ahead of Costa Rica’s Grynspan, but ii) both have now dipped below the nine votes needed to win, and iii) Uganda’s Otunnu showed the biggest gain (though he’s still behind). (Al Jazeera)
THAILAND
Dozens of arson and incendiary attacks have hit government offices, utility sites, and even a 7-Eleven across Thailand’s restive south, wounding at least three. No group has claimed responsibility, but the scale, targets, and coordination point to one of the Islamist-separatist groups in the Buddhist-majority nation’s south. (SCMP)
IRAN
US Treasury Secretary Bessent has used an op-ed to warn that he’ll today (Monday) unleash the “largest single financial attack ever marshalled”, with big secondary sanctions on anyone helping Iran trade. (CNBC)
GUINEA
A landslide at a huge landfill in the capital Conakry has left at least 30 dead under heavy rains. The authorities had just announced the site would be closed because of the risks. (Guardian)
NORWAY
The palace has announced that King Harald V’s condition has deteriorated over the weekend, after he was hospitalised for a blood condition. He’s Europe’s oldest monarch and has always ruled out abdication. (EuroNews)
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