Kia ora and welcome to your Tuesday summary of international business and political news.
First, Nvidia has invested US$2 billion ($3.49b) in chip design software firm Synopsys as part of an engineering and design deal to give the chipmaker greater control over supply, Bloomberg reported.
Nvidia purchased the shares at US$414.79 each. California-based Synopsys is one of the largest providers of software and services used to design electronic components. The new partnership includes integrating Nvidia’s tools into Synopsys’ chip-design applications and joint marketing activities.
Separately, OpenAI said it has taken an ownership stake in Thrive Holdings, an investment vehicle set up earlier this year by Thrive Capital, a major OpenAI investor.
Shares in airplane manufacturer Airbus fell as much as 10% on Monday local time after reports the company had discovered an industrial quality issue with dozens of A320 aircraft, CNBC reported.
Airbus confirmed it had identified a quality issue regarding a “limited number” of A320 metal panels, saying the source of the issue had been “identified and contained”.
That followed a turbulent weekend for Airbus after about 6000 A320 aircraft were affected by a global software glitch and required an update, including for Air New Zealand planes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Elsewhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks on Ukraine with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Tuesday afternoon local time, Al Jazeera reported.
Witkoff is travelling to Russia after weekend talks between Ukrainian and US officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the talks in Florida were “productive” yet “complicated”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been in Paris for talks with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. Zelensky said there were still “some tough issues” to be worked out following the Florida talks.
He said Ukraine’s priorities were security guarantees and maintaining sovereignty. Zelensky hoped to speak with US counterpart Donald Trump after Witkoff had visited Russia, Al Jazeera said.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has urged the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to help his country counter “growing and illegal threats” from Trump, Al Jazeera reported.
In a letter to fellow members of the bloc of major oil-producing countries, Maduro accused the US of trying to “seize” Venezuela’s oil reserves.
“I hope to count on your best efforts to help stop this aggression, which is growing stronger and seriously threatens the balance of the international energy market, both for producing and consuming countries,” Maduro said.
The UK and the US have agreed to a deal to keep tariffs on UK pharmaceutical shipments into America at zero, the BBC reported. Under the agreement, the UK will pay more for medicines through the NHS in return for a guarantee that US tariffs on pharmaceuticals will remain at zero for three years.
Pharmaceuticals are one of the UK's biggest exports to the US, which is also the biggest market for firms including GSK and AstraZeneca.
In Hong Kong, authorities confirmed last week’s high-rise blaze was accelerated by workers using cheaper substandard netting and evading government testing, while police said the official death toll had now risen to 151, Bloomberg reported.
Samples taken from the Wang Fuk Court complex failed safety tests, while lower-floor samples met legal standards.
So far, 13 people had been arrested for suspected manslaughter. Police continued to sweep the seven burnt-out towers. More than 40 people were still missing, CNBC said.
“Some of the bodies have turned into ash, therefore we might not be able to locate all missing individuals,” police said.
Finally, Indonesia called for more action to confront climate change as Asian countries grapple with the aftermath of extreme weather events that killed more than 1000 people, the ABC reported.
Almost 600 people were killed on the island of Sumatra after flash flooding and landslides brought by monsoonal rain and Cyclone Senyar.
Yesterday, the country’s National Disaster Agency said 593 people had been killed, with more than 450 people still missing.
