Happy Wednesday and welcome to your morning wrap of the latest business and political headlines from around the world.
First up, US President Donald Trump has given Hamas a deadline of “three or four days” to respond to his proposed peace and reconstruction plan in Gaza, The Guardian reported.
He warned the militant group would “pay in hell” if it rejected the deal. “We have one signature that we need, and that signature will pay in hell if they don’t sign,” Trump told US generals and admirals gathered at a military base in Quantico, Virginia.
The proposal seeks a definitive end to the two-year conflict and was announced in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington yesterday.
It calls for the disarmament of Hamas and bans it from any future political role in Gaza, which would be run by a transitional authority headed by Trump himself. It requires the release of the remaining hostages and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli military forces to a buffer zone.
Hamas has not yet issued a response.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
Staying with the US, it appears to be heading towards its 15th government shutdown since 1981 as Republicans and Democrats in Congress were unable to agree on a deal to fund federal agencies, Reuters reported.
The Republican-controlled Senate is expected to vote on a temporary spending Bill that has failed once already, with no sign a second vote will bring success before the midnight deadline on Wednesday (local time).
Democrats want to modify the Bill to extend health benefits for millions of Americans that are due to expire, but Republicans say they must tackle that issue separately.
Federal agencies have issued detailed plans that would close offices and cease activities not deemed essential, sending thousands of workers home if Congress does not agree on a funding fix before it expires.
Wall Street’s main indices were on track to pare their quarterly gains as the looming shutdown risked delaying the release of economic data by government agencies, heightening investor anxiety around the Federal Reserve’s next move.
To Australia, where China’s state iron ore buyer has told major steelmakers and traders to temporarily pause purchases of any dollar-denominated iron ore cargoes from BHP, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
China is the world’s largest iron ore consumer, while BHP is the world's largest listed miner. In August, BHP said its annual profit fell to the lowest level in five years as sluggish demand from China weighed on iron ore prices and it flagged a cut in capital and exploration spending.
In early September, Bloomberg reported that China’s state iron buyer urged the country’s steel mills to suspend purchases of BHP’s Jimblebar blend fines after talks on long-term contracts faltered.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Australia is willing to sell shares in its new strategic reserve of critical minerals to allies, including Britain, as Western governments scramble to end their reliance on China for rare earths and minor metals.
Citing unnamed sources, Reuters reported that shares in Australia’s strategic reserve would be given in exchange for a cash investment and a guarantee on the amount they would take.
In business news, US President Donald Trump has announced an agreement with drug maker Pfizer to voluntarily sell its medication for less, as his administration pushes to link US drug prices to cheaper ones abroad, CNBC reported.
Pfizer has agreed to take measures to reduce US drug prices, including selling its existing drugs to Medicaid patients at the lowest price offered in other developed nations.
As part of the deal, Pfizer has also agreed to a three-year grace period during which its products won’t face pharmaceutical tariffs, as long as the company invests in US manufacturing. Shares in the drug maker were up 4% today.
In other business news, Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley expects demand for all-electric vehicles to be cut in half next month following the end of federal tax incentives, CNBC reported.
EV sales currently have a market share of around 10% to 12%, but Farley expects it could fall to 5% after the incentive programme comes to an end as part of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”.
“I think it’s going to be a vibrant industry, but it’s going to be smaller, way smaller than we thought, especially with the policy change in the tailpipe emissions, plus the $7,500 consumer incentive going away,” he said during a Ford event about promoting skilled trades and workers in Detroit. The company produces a handful of electric vehicles.
Ford’s electric F150 Lightning Truck.
Finally, the controversy surrounding “AI actor” Tilly Norwood continues to grow, after the actors’ union Sag-Aftra condemned the development and said Norwood’s creators were using “stolen performances,” The Guardian reported.
Artificial intelligence “talent studio” Xicoia unveiled Norwood at the Zurich Film Festival, prompting a backlash from actors and the union.
Sag-Aftra said it believed creativity was, “and should remain, human-centred. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics. To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers – without permission or compensation … It doesn’t solve any ‘problem’ – it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardising performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”
Norwood appears in a short film called AI Commissioner, produced by Particle6, whose chief executive, Eline Van Der Velden, said it was 100% AI-generated.
“I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool – a new paintbrush. Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories,” Van Der Velden said.
