Daily Digest — 25 Jul 2026

Trade war tensions escalated sharply today, with Donald Trump threatening the EU with “substantial” tariffs after Brussels fined Google, while separately suing the US government over his own new 25% duties on Brazilian imports and 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. The moves sent oil plunging 3.1% to $⁠89.31 on demand fears, while gold held near record highs at $⁠4,070.80 as investors sought safety. Crypto markets also felt the pressure—Bitcoin fell 1.8% to $⁠64,095, and Ethereum slipped 1.1%, though gold-pegged PAXG rose 0.6% in a flight to hard assets.

In AI, Anthropic released Claude Opus 5, a “step change” for long-running agents and coding, while OpenAI debuted a quirky AI keypad that mystifies non-coders—but Prentis, a new AI lab co-founded by Reid Hoffman, raised $⁠100m to automate routine computer tasks. Separately, Sam Altman-backed World Network secured $⁠52.5m to fight deepfakes with biometric screening, shifting focus from basic network expansion to enterprise software.

Europe and the UK battled extreme wildfires: over 220,000 people evacuated in France and Spain, a fertiliser explosion triggered a major incident in Essex, and the Cairngorms forced the evacuation of Nethy Bridge. Meanwhile, funerals were held for four Palestinians killed in a West Bank shooting near Nablus, a stark reminder of ongoing violence in the occupied territories. And in the UK, Reform councillors were told to dismiss a donations inquiry as an “establishment stitch-up,” while the government considered exempting existing care workers from tough new immigration rules.

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