On Our World As September is Before Us

 

Welcome to a new month at the Daily Outsider.

Our team chose this from Tony Robbins as an opening thought as we present a snapshot of our World courtesy of the Team at the Economist of London  and look forward to the continued privilege to serve:

Nvidia’s share price slumped by 9.5% on Tuesday as part of a broader decline in American stock markets. The AI chipmaker shed nearly $300bn in market value in the biggest-ever single-day decline for an American firm. Investors are souring on technology-heavy stocks globally. The sell-off spread to Asia on Wednesday as markets in Japan and South Korea fell during early trading. Taiwan saw a record daily outflow of shares, according to Bloomberg.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, resigned as part of an ongoing government shake-up. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the changes were needed to “strengthen some areas in the government”. The reshuffle seeks to boost Ukraine’s prospects in the war; overnight Russian missile attacks killed at least seven people in Lviv, a city near the border with Poland.

Volkswagen’s senior management will meet with workers as it tries to push through drastic cost-cutting measures, including its first-ever factory closures in Germany. Europe’s largest carmaker is struggling with falling demand; a cost-cutting programme launched last year fell short of expectations. Volkswagen said it had “a year, maybe two” to adapt. Worker representatives signalled “fierce opposition” to the measures.

America’s Justice Department indicted six senior members of Hamas—including Yahya Sinwar, the group’s leader—on charges related to the October 7th massacre, including conspiracy to murder Americans. Prosecutors said that at least 43 Americans were killed in the attack, and at least ten “were taken hostage or remain unaccounted for”. Merrick Garland, the attorney-general, said that the actions against Hamas “will not be our last”.

China retaliated against Canada’s introduction of 100% tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles by announcing an anti-dumping probe into Canadian rapeseed. China also said it would refer Canada to the World Trade Organisation for its “discriminatory unilateral” action. China is Canada’s second-biggest rapeseed-export market, worth C$5bn ($3.7bn). The government in Ottawa called the move “deeply concerning”.

Linda Sun, a former aide to New York’s governor, was charged with acting as a foreign agent for China. Prosecutors say Ms Sun took money to, among other things, block Taiwanese officials’ access to New York state officials. Separately Alice Guo, who was accused of spying for China while she was mayor of the Philippine town of Bamban, was arrested in Indonesia. Both women deny their charges.

Riad Salameh, whom The Economist once described as the world’s worst central-bank chief for overseeing Lebanon’s economic collapse, was detained over corruption allegations. Authorities are reportedly investigating a Lebanese brokerage firm he was connected to; according to Reuters and the Financial Times, he has been charged with embezzlement. America issued sanctions against him last year for alleged financial crimes. He retired in 2023 and has denied wrongdoing.