Daily Digest — 5 Jul 2026

Massive crowds filled Tehran for the second day of funeral processions for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US airstrike, as the BBC shows. The outpouring comes as analyst Paolo von Schirrach argues the US is facing a “changing global order” and its influence is increasingly challenged — a theme echoed by the Al Jazeera documentary “How US power and policy shaped the modern world.” Meanwhile, Bitcoin jumped above $⁠63,000 during thin July 4 trading, reversing end-June losses, as investors weighed geopolitical uncertainty and debated a proposal by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao to freeze Satoshi Nakamoto’s 1.1 million bitcoin over quantum computing fears.

Americans marked 250 years since the Declaration of Independence with a campaign-style rally by Donald Trump on the National Mall, where stepped-up security and temperatures above 100F were the backdrop. In a sign of shifting tech narratives, Google released a commercial imagining the Founding Fathers using AI to write the Declaration — while Lebanon’s President Aoun used US Independence Day to call on Washington to “always stand beside” his country. Trading volumes on prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket hit record highs in June driven by the World Cup, as CNBC noted.

In technology, OpenAI’s apparent failure to visit a key site has raised questions over the UK’s £30bn AI investment plan, which the Guardian called largely hypothetical. Alibaba has banned employees from using Claude Code, classifying it as high-risk software, according to TechCrunch. Midjourney, meanwhile, is seeking to force Hollywood studios to reveal how they use AI themselves, as part of an ongoing legal dispute.

Elsewhere, Ukraine hit a major oil terminal near St Petersburg, which President Zelensky said generates revenue for Russia’s war. In the UK, a major report co-authored by former home secretary Lord Blunkett called for an “ethical reset” of police leadership. And Elon Musk posted twice as often on UK race and immigration as about SpaceX in the run-up to the company’s record IPO, the Guardian found.

Markets saw gold and silver rise 1.5% and 2.9% respectively, while oil was flat at $⁠68.78. XRP led crypto gains with a 5% jump. Bitcoin is now at $⁠63,133.