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In the first half of 2025, the number of global activist campaigns fell to 129, a 12% decrease from 147 in the same period last year, as economic and geopolitical uncertainties made investors more cautious. Jim Rossman, global head of shareholder advisory at Barclays, said: "The environment was shaped by mixed economic signals, fears about wars and geopolitical tensions." Despite the decline in campaigns, activist investors secured 86 board seats, a 16% increase, and settlements rose by 32% to 37. Most activity remained focused in the US, with 60 campaigns, while Europe saw 24 launched - a 17% decline. Japan saw 37 campaigns compared to 51 a year ago.

 

Reuters

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI have announced an arrest and indictments related to North Korea's "IT worker" program, which saw North Koreans secure remote IT jobs at over 100 U.S. companies. The North Koreans allegedly stole around $900,000 in cryptocurrency from a Georgia-based firm and sensitive data from a California defence contractor. Zhenxing “Danny” Wang and Kejia Wang, both U.S. citizens, were indicted as part of the operation, according to the DOJ. Zhenxing Wang was arrested in New Jersey, while Kejia Wang remains free. The two men, along with four other unnamed U.S. “facilitators,” assisted the North Koreans by procuring and operating laptops used by the overseas workers, created financial accounts to receive money earned by the workers to be sent back to North Korea, and created shell companies to make the workers appear more authentic, Reuters reports.

 

Fox News

Reuters

A series of mysterious limpet mine attacks on oil tankers shortly after visiting Russian ports has prompted speculation that the explosions were part of a state-backed sabotage campaign.

 

Financial Times

Google has warned EU antitrust regulators that landmark rules under the EU's Digital Markets Act are holding back innovation to the detriment of European users and businesses. "We remain genuinely concerned about real world consequences of the DMA, which are leading to worse online products and experiences for Europeans," Google's lawyer Clare Kelly told a workshop organised by the European Commission. Another Google lawyer, Oliver Bethell, says he wants regulators to detail what the company needs to do. "If we can understand precisely what compliance looks like, not just in theory, but taking account of on the ground experience, we can launch compliant services quickly and confidently across the EEA," Bethell said.

 

Reuters

Nearly 300 current and former employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have expressed their displeasure about the Trump administration, whose actions they say are undermining the agency's mission. In a declaration addressed to Administrator Lee Zeldin, the employees highlighted five key areas of concern, including the politicisation of science, severe job cuts, and the abandonment of environmental justice. "Your decisions and actions will reverberate for generations to come," they said. "EPA under your leadership will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water, but instead will increase risks to public health and safety."

 

U.S. News

A judge in Brooklyn has thrown out Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies' bid to dismiss most of a federal indictment accusing it of attempting to steal technology secrets from U.S. rivals, and misleading lenders about its work in Iran. In a 52-page decision, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly said she found sufficient allegations in the 16-count indictment that Huawei engaged in racketeering to expand its brand, stole trade secrets from six companies, and committed bank fraud.

 

ABC News

Reuters

The Supreme Court has asked the Trump administration for its views on whether the justices should take up Bayer's appeal to sharply limit lawsuits which claim that the company's Roundup weedkiller causes cancer and potentially avert billions of dollars in damages. Bayer has called on the justices to hear its appeal of a lower court's decision to uphold a $1.25m verdict awarded by a St. Louis jury in a case in Missouri state court in which a plaintiff sued after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma he attributed to his exposure to Roundup. Bayer CEO Bill Anderson described the court's request as "an encouraging step," adding "When courts permit companies to be punished under state law for following federal law, it makes companies like ours a prime target of the litigation industry and threatens farmers and innovations that patients and consumers need for their nutrition and health."

 

Reuters

The Supreme Court has rejected a bid by Exxon Mobil to overturn a $14.25m civil penalty imposed in a long-running lawsuit over air pollution at the energy giant's crude oil refinery in Baytown, Texas. Exxon had asked the justices to take up the case after a lower court in December upheld the largest penalty ever assessed in a citizen-initiated lawsuit enforcing protections against air pollution under the landmark Clean Air Act environmental law, Reuters reports.

 

Reuters

Standard Chartered Bank is facing a $2.7bn lawsuit over its alleged role in enabling fraud. Liquidators who are seeking to recoup misappropriated funds from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund 1MDB have filed legal proceedings in Singapore. Liquidators allege Standard Chartered Bank chose to overlook obvious red flags in relation to the transfer of funds, resulting in the losses. "According to this lawsuit, the transfers demonstrate serious breaches and control failings which ultimately enabled the theft of public funds by people operating at the highest levels of the Malaysian government during that period," they said.

 

Reuters

S&P Global has released its Manufacturing PMI for June, showing a 0.9 point increase from May to 52.9, beating Wall Street's expectations for an unchanged reading, and remaining above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction. Chris Williamson, chief economist at S&P Global, said: "The increase in orders from both domestic and overseas customers directly drove higher workloads and production recovery." He added, however, that "This may be due to customers placing advance inventory orders to hedge against tariff-driven price increases . . . Price pressures have already accumulated, and growth could slow in the second half of the year." Separately, the Institute for Supply Management's own Manufacturing PMI for last month remained in contractionary territory, at 49, inching up half a point from May. The production index jumped to 50.3 in June from 45.4, the new orders index fell to 46.4, and the employment index declined to 45.

 

Bloomingbit

Seeking Alpha

RTT News

Construction spending in the U.S. decreased by slightly more than expected during May, according to the Commerce Department, dropping 0.3% to an annual rate of $2.138tn. Economists had expected construction spending to edge down by 0.2%. Spending on private construction decreased 0.5% to $1.627tn, and was up 0.1% for public construction, to $5.11.6bn. Residential construction declined 0.5% to $888.9bn, and non-residential works dropped 0.4% to $737.7bn. 

 

Reuters

RTT News

Qantas is reaching out to customers following a cyber attack that targeted its third-party customer service platform, affecting the data of approximately 6m individuals. The Australian airline detected "unusual activity" on 30 June and says it has since taken "immediate steps" to contain the breach. While the full extent of the data theft is still under investigation, Qantas has assured that sensitive information such as passport and credit card details were not compromised.

 

BBC News

The Guardian

Boeing has appointed former Lockheed Martin executive Jesus 'Jay' Malave as its new chief financial officer, effective August 15th, when he will replace Brian West, who is to remain as an advisor to chief executive Kelly Ortberg. Mr. Malave takes the role "at an important time in helping build Boeing’s next chapter,” Mr. Ortberg said. “He is a well-respected financial and business leader, and brings decades of experience developing people and teams across complex aerospace and manufacturing businesses.” Mr. Ortberg has been shaking up Boeing’s management since arriving at Boeing in August. Defense chief Ted Colbert left last year shortly after Mr. Ortberg’s arrival. Boeing’s quality chief, its chief information officer and its top lobbyist have also departed the company. 

 

Financial Times

The Seattle Times

Wall Street Journal

Exposure to wildfire smoke appears to affect the immune system on a cellular level and might make some people more likely to fall ill by altering their immune systems, researchers have reported in the journal Nature Medicine. The researchers said the results demonstrated that individuals exposed to wildfire smoke showed an increase in memory immune cells that provide long-term immunity and biomarkers of increased inflammation and immune activity, and they also showed changes in dozens of genes related to allergies and asthma. “We’ve known that smoke exposure causes poor respiratory, cardiac, neurological and pregnancy outcomes, but we haven’t understood how . . . Our study fills in this knowledge gap,” senior researcher Dr. Kari Nadeau, chair of environmental health at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said.

 

U.S. News & World Report