A dramatic rupture between Israel and the US over Gaza dominates the day, while the Iran conflict's grip on global energy markets continues to ease — but slowly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly rejected the US-backed framework that would have Hamas disarm in phases in exchange for a staged Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, saying Israel will not pull out 'at all until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.' The open break with the Trump administration — barely a week after Trump declared the deal a historic breakthrough — throws the administration's signature Middle East initiative into serious doubt.
Iran's top diplomat ruled out direct negotiations with Washington and accused the US of violating the June memorandum of understanding, stalling the much-anticipated Oman-brokered deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The strait has been effectively shut since late February, driving a global energy crisis that has pushed oil prices and US inflation sharply higher.
US equity markets opened the week at all-time highs, with the Nasdaq 100 rebounding more than 10% from last week's lows, propelled by falling oil prices after Trump signalled a pause in strikes on Iran and by solid earnings from major companies. Investors are now focused on Tuesday's July CPI report — the first inflation reading since June's surprise 0.4% monthly decline — which could shape rate expectations for the rest of the year.
US military commanders told the Pentagon that stocks for a key missile defense system are nearly exhausted after months of intercepting Iranian ballistic and hypersonic missiles, leaving stockpiles at 'dangerously low' levels. The warning adds urgency to diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and underscores the strain the Iran campaign has placed on US military readiness.
Researchers announced they have engineered the atomic interface between dissimilar semiconductor materials — the stubborn boundary problem that had limited the performance of atomically thin chips — enabling transistors far smaller and more efficient than today's silicon designs. The breakthrough could accelerate the next wave of miniaturisation in computing hardware at a moment when AI workloads are straining existing chip capacity.
gathered from: CNN · NPR · Al Jazeera · Bloomberg · CNBC · TrendSpider · ScienceDaily · Washington Post