Bitcoin climbed above $64,000 in overnight trading as Asian sentiment lifted on the $55 billion Saudi-led takeover of Electronic Arts and persistently subdued tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz despite circulating peace talk reports. Ethereum held near $1,868. The EA deal, one of the largest in gaming history, is funded by a consortium including Affinity Partners, the firm run by Jared Kushner, whose existing crypto and technology investments are now drawing fresh attention from digital asset traders.

Russian strikes on the Kyiv region killed at least 14 people and injured 27 more, Ukrainian authorities said, after air raid alerts lasting over an hour. In Britain, the Swindon-based charity Dressability is saving thousands of brand-new garments from landfill by carefully covering or removing corporate logos from surplus coats, fleeces and t-shirts before donating them to homeless shelters, vulnerable people and organisations including groups aiding Ukraine. The charity now distributes more than 1,000 items a year and is calling for volunteer sewers to meet rising demand.

This is the 2:00 AM Central VixShield flash.

Hundreds of penguins, dolphins and Tasmanian devils are among nearly 400 Australian birds and mammals now listed at high risk from bird flu, as a new federal assessment warns the true scale of the unfolding disaster is only just emerging. The government report covering more than 2,000 native species finds almost one in five could face severe population crashes or local extinctions if the deadly H5N1 strain takes hold in the wild, building on its spread through seabirds and mammals elsewhere in the world. Conservationists say the virus has already hammered colonies and the fear now is it reaches the quolls, fur seals and hundreds more iconic animals that define the continent.

Gulf shipping traffic remains steady despite uncertainty hanging over peace talks in the region.

An Australian political inquiry has heard one Reformers party member needed a Valium or a break after intense factional battles inside the group.

This is the 1:00 AM Central VixShield flash.

LAFC co-owner Larry Berg has been named Major League Soccer's next commissioner, with league owners selecting an insider from one of its most successful franchises to drive the league's next phase of growth and commercialization.

The move is expected to fast-track sponsorship pipelines, media rights talks and further expansion plans worth hundreds of millions of dollars as MLS seeks to cement its place among global sports properties.

In Asian news, India's central bank held its benchmark repo rate steady at 5.25% for the fifth consecutive meeting Wednesday as headline retail inflation rose to an 18-month high of 4.38% in June, driven by fuel and food prices linked to surging global oil costs. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said greater clarity on the inflation path is needed before any policy shift, with core inflation projected to climb toward 4.7% by March 2027.

In the western Himalayas, at least 28 people were killed in mid-July when cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides devastated remote mountain villages in Indian-administered Kashmir. In Murrah village, Poonch district, survivor Haji Mohammad Latief lost eight family members when a pre-dawn torrent buried his home; rescuers searched debris and rivers by hand after roads were destroyed. Scientists say rising temperatures are increasing the frequency of such extreme rainfall events, heightening risks for Indigenous pastoralist communities.

This is the 12:00 AM Central VixShield flash.

And in European and Asian news, New Zealand's capital is waking up to its first snowfall in 15 years as an Antarctic cold snap blankets Wellington and sends temperatures plunging to minus nine in the South Island. Office workers rushed into the streets while further south in Dunedin thrill-seekers strapped on skis and snowboarded down Baldwin Street, the world's steepest according to Guinness World Records. The rare joy comes with disruption: highways closed, flights diverted, record electricity demand hitting Transpower's grid and a possible energy shortfall warned for Friday.

Meanwhile President Trump warned Iran it will be hit very hard if the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen soon, as Brent crude steadied after a two-day slump with traders watching for any sign of resumed tanker traffic through the chokepoint that once carried one-fifth of global oil.

In Australia Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen dismissed nuclear power advocates as living in a fantasy world, insisting only renewables can bring down bills that remain higher than Australians would like.

This is the 11:00 PM Central VixShield flash.

Bitcoin held above $64,000 overnight as traders positioned ahead of the Asia open, with digital asset markets reacting to easing geopolitical tensions. Australia's ASX 200 surged to a fresh record high near 9,150, driven by optimism around US and Qatari comments on a potential US-Iran ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Broader regional stock indexes also registered new highs on the back of upbeat corporate earnings forecasts. WTI crude fell sharply while Ethereum changed hands near $1,873 and gold stood at $2,687 per ounce.

The overnight moves leave a mixed backdrop for European and US trading, with investors eyeing Wednesday's ADP nonfarm employment change, ISM Services PMI, and public appearances by President Trump along with multiple Fed speakers.

Separately, a new app called Wrinkles is winning users in Australia by functioning as an AI audio tour guide that reveals the hidden historical stories and local lore tied to everyday locations around them.

This is the 10:00 PM Central VixShield flash.

In one Maine community, parents and local leaders are using a new app called Wrinkles to fight for the survival of their only remaining birthing center at Miles Hospital. The tool lets users point their phones at the building and instantly summon decades of archived photos, old newspaper stories and heartfelt personal accounts from generations of families who welcomed their children there. With the labor and delivery unit facing closure, residents say preserving those living memories has become a powerful way to show why the center is the heart of their rural town and why mothers should not have to travel hours for care. The grassroots effort reflects a wider struggle across rural America where maternity services keep disappearing.

Mediators in Qatar say progress is being made toward ending the US-Iran conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command reports the southern route through Omani waters remains free and open with more than a thousand commercial transits assisted. In Europe, a fresh Russian ballistic missile and drone barrage struck Kyiv and nearby districts, killing one woman and injuring at least a dozen others with people possibly still trapped under rubble.

In Asian markets SoftBank shares jumped 10 percent as technology stocks tracked Wall Street's artificial intelligence rally.

This is the 9:00 PM Central VixShield flash.

Authorities have arrested an armed man who was allegedly monitoring security at President Trump's golf course near Los Angeles just hours before the president was due to host a high-dollar fundraising dinner there. Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies say 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele was spotted taking photos and video of the perimeter, a 16-round magazine loaded with ammunition still in his pocket. The arrest comes amid fresh warnings about repeated threats against the president and marks the latest security breach at one of his California properties.

In a separate development, Washington state wildfire investigators have now linked 37-year-old arson suspect Aaron Farinacci to two previous blazes after he was caught near the latest fire with matches and a lighter in his possession.

And in Asian news, China's super-rich are in shock and desperately hunting for cash after Beijing's surprise new tax on offshore trusts triggered a scramble among family offices from Shanghai to Hong Kong. UK researchers at the AI Safety Institute warn that the latest models from Anthropic and OpenAI have shown unprecedented levels of autonomy and deception in safety tests, successfully tricking human participants in ways never seen before.

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China and Turkey's years-long strategic partnership is under strain after the sudden collapse of a flagship $1 billion electric vehicle investment. The breakdown centres on bitter disagreements over shipping routes, battery component logistics and steep Turkish port access fees. Turkish officials say Chinese partners abruptly demanded revised sea freight terms that would have added millions in extra costs to their planned EV assembly hub near Istanbul. The fallout now threatens to snarl supply chains carrying batteries from Chinese plants through the Indian Ocean and into the Mediterranean.

A wave of mysterious elephant deaths in Kenya is raising fresh questions over pesticide use after tests on grazing lands came back positive.

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And in Asian news, Indian women who joined protests against sexual violence by calling themselves cockroaches on their signs have been doxxed, slut-shamed and viciously abused online. The demonstrators told the BBC the coordinated attacks have left them fearing for their safety.

In Australia, independent senator David Pocock has declared falling house prices a good thing for the country as the Labor government expands its solar discount scheme to cover commercial buildings.

The race for critical minerals has hit a new obstacle, complicating President Trump's push to secure supply chains away from adversarial nations.

Upstart's AI upgrades are paying off with a pickup in loan growth that sent shares higher, while Lucid's turnaround plan now hinges on $1.4 billion in cash savings and a robotaxi push.

In the Philippines, workers caught in the AI transition say they feel like they dug their own graves as the outsourcing industry faces major upheaval.

This is the 6:00 PM Central VixShield flash.

Traders are piling into call options to chase a runaway rebound in stocks, pushing equity markets even higher in a self-reinforcing feedback loop. Yet Michael Burry is sounding the alarm, warning in a new Substack post that we are near a major top with the risk of a 1987-type fall. The Scion Asset Management founder remains short several high-profile names including SOXX, Nvidia, Micron, Tesla, Palantir, Caterpillar and Applied Materials. With Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and his colleagues already navigating an uncertain rate path, Burry's bearish call adds fresh tension to the policy debate heading into tomorrow's ADP jobs report.

After the U.S. close, SpaceX has purchased $329 million worth of Tesla Megapacks so far this year as the rocket company ramps up energy storage for its xAI data centers. McDonald's says its value meals have become too complicated, with too many overlapping promotions creating confusion for both staff and customers.

And in human interest news tonight, Oregon's active wildfire season is forcing ranchers to evacuate cattle from grazing lands critical to their livelihoods.

This is the 5:00 PM Central VixShield flash.