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According to Greek media reports, Athens deployed an air defense system to Crete after Iran threatened US military bases in Europe.

The China Earthquake Networks Center automatically determined that an earthquake of approximately magnitude 4.9 occurred near Changning County, Yibin City, Sichuan Province at 08:26 on August 24. The final result is subject to the official rapid report.

August 24th - According to sources familiar with the matter, the Canadian government believes the possibility of resuming negotiations with US President Trump before the midterm elections is extremely slim, as trade talks have broken down. The source stated that Canadian Prime Minister Carney indicated he would prepare a domestic aid package to help businesses affected by US tariffs. Sources say these measures are designed to help businesses weather the remainder of Trump's term if necessary. However, while the Carney government sees no immediate signs of restarting negotiations, some sources warn that the situation remains dynamic, and the US has not ruled out renegotiating. The sudden breakdown of negotiations has forced Carney to prepare for a potentially long winter. Carney reportedly told reporters, "We will support affected businesses for as long as possible, in other words, even beyond the end of this US administration's term. We have established various mechanisms, and all details will be released within the next few days."

On August 24th, it was reported that the U.S. Postal Service issued new rules for mail-in ballots on August 23rd local time. The rules require states to submit lists of voters who have applied for mail-in ballots and to affix unique barcodes containing names and addresses to both mailed and returned ballot envelopes for verification and tracking. The U.S. Postal Service stated that the collected data will be managed separately from state voter rosters and will aid in the enforcement of federal law. Due to a court injunction, the new rules will not take effect immediately and will only be implemented after the injunction is lifted. This year's midterm elections are crucial for the battle for control of the House and Senate. Regarding mail-in ballots, the Supreme Court rejected a Republican appeal in June, allowing some local governments in the U.S. to still count ballots postmarked no later than Election Day but delivered later.

The Nikkei 225 index opened down 153.79 points, or 0.23%, at 65,862.57 on Monday, August 24.

On August 24th, according to foreign media reports, ExxonMobil stated in a statement that a fire in the laundry room of a floating vessel off the coast of Guyana forced the company to temporarily suspend operations at the facility. The statement said the fire on the Liza Unity floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit was quickly extinguished. An ExxonMobil Guyana spokesperson said that crude oil unloading operations were affected due to the temporary shutdown. The Liza oil field is key to Guyana's transformation into a major crude oil producer, and the Liza Unity FPSO is responsible for producing approximately 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day of the more than 900,000 barrels per day in the Stabrok block.

According to Al Jazeera: Israeli airstrikes near a hospital in Gaza have injured several people.

1. Hugging Face reportedly attracts at least $13 billion in acquisition interest. 2. The second World Humanoid Robot Games will hold multiple events. 3. Nvidia reportedly notified customers of a price increase of over 15% for AI-related products. 4. Alibaba plans to place HK$80 billion in new shares, with all proceeds going towards AI. 5. The Chang'e 7 mission does not meet launch requirements and cannot be carried out within the scheduled launch window this year. 6. Trump: Communities that refuse to plan and build data centers are making a mistake.

On August 24th, according to Axios, US President Trump defended the expansion of data centers in an interview broadcast on Sunday. He stated that data centers do not draw power from the grid. Trump said, "People are building their own power plants, the most beautiful power plants you've ever seen." He added, "Communities that aren't building data centers are making a mistake," because data centers create "a lot of jobs and economic benefits." His remarks came as the Texas governor stated that data center companies are "digging their own graves" and instructed state regulators to require data centers to fully bear the construction costs of their required power infrastructure; meanwhile, the Pennsylvania governor introduced related restrictions, and the New York governor ordered a one-year halt to the construction of hyperscale data centers. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has taken steps to relax some environmental requirements for data centers while urging technology companies to bear more of the electricity costs associated with artificial intelligence construction.

According to foreign media reports, soybean oil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) continued to rise in the week ending August 21, 2026, with the benchmark December contract closing 0.9% higher. This reflected soaring crude oil prices, declining soybean oil inventories, and disruptions to Black Sea vegetable oil exports. However, Midwest surveys showed that soybean yield potential was higher than government expectations, unlocking oil-meal arbitrage opportunities and limiting the upside potential of the soybean oil market. International crude oil prices surged, reaching their highest closing price in a month, due to US President Trump's threat to impose economic sanctions on Iran's trading partners, raising market expectations of tighter supplies in the coming weeks. Stronger crude oil prices typically boost demand for biofuels, and soybean oil is a key raw material for biofuel production. Meanwhile, the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine disrupted exports from Black Sea ports, interrupting sunflower oil exports from the region and forcing buyers to turn to other edible oils such as soybean oil, also supporting the Chicago soybean oil market.

Minmetals Resources (01208.HK): A fatal accident occurred at the Las Bambas mine in Peru on August 19. The company confirmed that the mine and ore processing plant resumed operations on August 21.

The local governor stated that Russia is defending against drone attacks on the Nevinomysk industrial zone in the southern Stavropol region.

On August 24th, following US President Trump's announcement of an "unprecedented" economic war against Iran, US Treasury Secretary Bessenter confirmed that the specific details of the "unprecedented economic isolation" measures against Iran would be officially announced on the 24th. Iran, on the other hand, played its "oil export countermeasure" card on the 23rd: if the US waged an economic war, there would be no more oil exports from the Strait of Hormuz or even the Persian Gulf region. Currently, there are less than 24 hours left before the US announces the details of the sanctions. Public opinion generally believes that this is a desperate move by the US given the current situation of a protracted war between the US and Iran and the failure of negotiations. Although the specific measures have not yet been announced, some analysts believe that this action may ultimately lead to a "lose-lose" situation.

Alibaba (BABA.N) announced the pricing of its HK$80 billion share placement, with 710,000,000 new shares to be subscribed at HK$112.70 per share. The placement is expected to be completed on August 26, 2026.

On Monday, both WTI and Brent crude oil opened $0.30 lower, at $85.97/barrel and $91.96/barrel respectively.

On August 24th, according to a report by Israel's Channel 12 on the 23rd, sources revealed that Syrian Transitional Government Foreign Minister Shibani met with Israel's intelligence and special operations agency (Mossad) director Goffman that day. The report stated that the meeting was "effective" and aimed at easing tensions between the two countries. Previously, on the 18th, the Israeli military carried out an airstrike on the Abu Zukhur airbase in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, which the Syrian Transitional Government's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned as an "act of aggression without any justification."

US President Trump: Communities that refuse to plan and build data centers are making a mistake. Data centers provide a lot of jobs and funding.

On August 24th, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz warned Hamas on the 23rd that if they did not immediately stop "flying kites" from the Gaza Strip into Israel, the Israeli military would intensify its crackdown on those involved and evacuate residents from relevant areas of the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli media reports, at least four kites flying from the Gaza Strip landed on collective farms in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip this weekend. The Israeli military stated that no suspicious items were found on these kites, and that the kites did not pose a danger to the public. However, these kites are reminiscent of kites and balloons carrying incendiary devices that were flown from the Gaza Strip in previous years, causing fires in several parts of southern Israel.