And Google claims a breakthrough in quantum computing.
Mōrena and welcome to Thursday's briefing of the major business and political headlines from around the world you need to know this morning.
First up, at least seven people have been killed, including two children, following intense Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, the BBC reports.
The attacks, in which a kindergarten in Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, was hit, came hours after US President Donald Trump said his plans for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest had been shelved as he did not want a "wasted meeting".
The BBC reported that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest attacks proved Moscow was not coming under enough pressure, with the Kremlin rejecting calls for a ceasefire. Russian officials claim preparations for a summit between Putin and Trump are ongoing.
US President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Moving to Gaza now, where the director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the territory is experiencing a health "catastrophe" which will last for "generations to come".
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told BBC that a massive increase in aid was needed. Israel has allowed more medical supplies and other aid to cross into Gaza since a ceasefire with Hamas came into effect on October 10, but WHO says those levels are below those needed.
The UN's World Food Programme earlier this week said more than 6700 tonnes of food had entered Gaza since October 10, but that was considerably below its 2000-tonnes-a-day target.
To markets, and stocks fell following renewed concerns about US-China trade relations and disappointing earnings from heavyweights including Texas Instruments and Netflix.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.9%; the S&P 500 fell 1.1%; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.8%.
Reuters overnight reported that the White House was weighing curbs on exports to China made with US software, which weighed on investor optimism. Semiconductor company Texas Instruments, meanwhile, dropped 6% after its earnings were weaker than expected.
Streaming giant Netflix, meanwhile, slumped 10% after its earnings missed estimates, citing a dispute with Brazilian tax authorities. Tesla's earnings are expected later today, NZT.
Gold has also extended its losses, falling as much as 2.9% on Wednesday, US time, following a 6.3% fall on Tuesday. That follows a record-breaking rally in which prices topped US$4000 an ounce. Gold is still up about 55% this year, however.
In China, meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co, or YMTC, is considering an initial public offering next year at a valuation which could exceed US$40 billion. That would make it one of China's biggest listings for years.
Finally today, Google has claimed a breakthrough in quantum computing, saying it has developed an algorithm that performed a task beyond the capabilities of conventional computers, The Guardian reports.
At the same time, however, the company acknowledged the real-world use of quantum computers remained years away.
“This is the first time in history that any quantum computer has successfully run a verifiable algorithm that surpasses the ability of supercomputers,” Google said in a blogpost. “This repeatable, beyond-classical computation is the basis for scalable verification, bringing quantum computers closer to becoming tools for practical applications.”
The breakthrough enables a quantum computer to operate 13,000 times faster than a classical computer.
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