Daily flyovers
Latest news for 6 August 2025
Quick hits of consequential news from all corners of the world.
- 01
UNITED STATES
Open up.
US artificial intelligence leader OpenAI is publicly sharing two AI models that can mimic human reasoning to complete complex tasks (but not produce images or videos). That means companies and governments will be able to tweak and run these AI models on their own secure systems. It comes months after China’s DeepSeek made waves by first sharing its own advanced AI models. (OpenAI)
Comment: OpenAI’s closed strategy was becoming a rhetorical vulnerability for the US — we wrote about how it featured at last week’s big summit in Shanghai. But this is probably more about locking end-users into OpenAI architecture that’s just behind the leading edge, lest those same end users be tempted to defect to more open rivals.
- 02
TAIWAN
Hold it right there.
Authorities have arrested current/former engineers at the world-leading Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), on allegations they tried to steal TSMC secrets for its next-generation 2-nanometer tech — those chips are expected to debut in Apple’s iPhone 18 range from late next year. (MacRumors)
Comment: TSMC is so far out ahead, yoinking the occasional secret won’t bridge the gap. Still, the main thing surprising about this story is how rare it is. Prosecutors haven’t yet outed the end buyer, but they’re using a law referring to “foreign hostile entities”, which is widely understood to mean firms in mainland China.
- 03
THAILAND
Luxury living.
Bangkok has approved the commercial breeding of Thailand’s native Asian water monitor lizard, with an eye on the luxury leather market. (Straits Times).
Comment: Pre-empting activist objections, the industry is highlighting that these big reptiles have a lower carbon footprint than rival cattle and buffalo hides.
- 04
LITHUANIA
Air traffic control.
Vilnius is (again) asking fellow NATO allies to help bolster its air defences after a second Russian military drone violated its air space in less than a month. (Euractiv)
Comment: Lithuania’s Russian or Soviet neighbours have invaded several times since the 1700s, so you might forgive any perceived border sensitivity here. NATO’s main air defences, however, can cost billions and take years. It’s really the Ukrainians now figuring out (the hard way) the most effective way to counter Russian drones.
- 05
CHINA
Covid flashbacks?
China is battling its largest chikungunya outbreak on record, with ~8,000 cases of the mosquito-borne virus reported in the last month alone, mostly in Foshan (near Hong Kong). It’s prompted some Covid-style measures like patient tracking, plus mass mosquito control efforts. (SCMP)
Comment: The virus is not usually fatal, and its spread is limited by the range and behaviour of its two main mosquito vectors (the same ones that spread dengue and zika). This outbreak has coincided with seasonal typhoons and high-density urban living, together leaving more stagnant water for breeding.
- 06
COLOMBIA
Hey, that’s mine!
President Petro has ruffled a few feathers after accusing neighbouring Peru of annexing the disputed Santa Rosa island on the Amazon River, announcing he’ll head there for Colombia’s independence celebrations later this week. (AP)
Comment: The tried and tested method for any beleaguered politician (like Petro, according to polls): find a nationalist grievance to help fire up and distract your base. Peru’s sin was a June law incorporating the long-administered island into one of its provinces.
- 07
RWANDA
Irregular migration.
Rwanda has become the latest (after Eswatini and South Sudan) to sign a deal accepting US deportees, providing an initial cohort of up to 250 with "workforce training, health care, and accommodation to jump start their lives in Rwanda". (BBC)
Comment: Word is Rwanda will receive a US grant in return. We’re curious if these deportees will be housed in the facilities the UK financed for its own third-country Rwanda plan that ultimately collapsed amid legal and political challenges.