And Nvidia bets big on photonics.
Ata mārie and welcome to your Tuesday morning recap of global business and political news.
First up, US President Donald Trump has promised that the "big wave" is yet to come in the war with Iran.
"We haven't even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn't even happened. The big one is coming soon," he told CNN.
The Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, a group that covers violations in Iran and Kurdistan, told the ABC that at least 1500 people had died so far in Iran, including 200 civilians.
US President Donald Trump.
Iran continues to strike Israeli and US assets as the number of casualties rises across the region amid intensifying bombardment, Al Jazeera reported. Qatar said its air force “successfully shot down” two fighter jets incoming from Iran, as well as seven ballistic missiles and five Iranian drones.
A fourth US service member has now died after suffering injuries during Iran’s initial attack, according to the US military, CNN reported.
“The fourth service member, who was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries.”
BBC chief international editor Lyse Doucet said whoever emerges as Iran's next leader, their goal will be retaining an order that keeps “the clerics and its powerful security forces in power”.
Meanwhile, oil prices surged, US stocks erased earlier losses, and gold rose during Monday trading as financial markets digested the consequences of the conflict with Iran.
Earlier, brent crude oil rose 6% to US$77.20 per barrel, the highest level since US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, CNN said.
UK and European gas prices had also risen by about 40%, after Qatar’s state-run energy company shut down liquefied natural gas production at the world’s largest export facility, after it was targeted in an Iranian drone attack, the Guardian reported.
Economists warned that higher energy prices could drive up inflation, hurting hopes of cuts to interest rates.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In other news, India and Canada announced a series of agreements, including a 10-year nuclear energy deal. Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney also struck agreement in areas such as technology, critical minerals, space, defence, and education.
A comprehensive free tree deal could also be concluded by the end of this year. Both countries want to reduce exposure to punitive US trade tariffs.
Under Carney, the two governments were trying to repair ties that were strained when his predecessor accused India of a link to the 2023 assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, the BBC reported.
Chip maker Nvidia plans to invest US$4 billion in two companies developing photonics technologies, as it looks to secure research pipelines and supply chains, CNBC reported.
The US company announced a US$2b investment in Lumentum and the same amount in Coherent. Both companies develop optics technology – systems that generate or transmit light for sensing and data transfer.
“Together with Lumentum, Nvidia is advancing the world’s most sophisticated silicon photonics to build the next generation of gigawatt-scale AI factories,” Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said.
Finally, Aston Martin confirmed plans to cut a fifth of its workforce, after the firm's net losses jumped by more than 50% last year. The luxury car company blamed Trump's trade tariffs.
The firm employs about 3000 people, meaning job losses could total about 600, the BBC said.
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