Greetings! Happy World Smile Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

🇸🇴 U.N. food agency pauses lifeline for 750,000 in Somalia. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it will suspend food assistance next month for roughly 750,000 people in Somalia as funding gaps collide with rising needs. WFP officials warned that the pause follows two consecutive seasons of erratic rains, high staple prices, and insecurity, pushing families into negative coping strategies such as skipping meals or selling livestock. Humanitarian partners estimate that millions remain food insecure, with malnutrition hotspots concentrated in hard-to-access districts where conflict and flooded roadways slow deliveries. The agency said limited resources will be redirected to the most acute cases of child wasting and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, a triage that leaves many households without rations. Analysts note that even brief pipeline breaks can spike local grain prices by double digits and increase displacement into urban centers. Donor appeals have repeatedly fallen short of targets in the Horn of Africa, where overlapping climate shocks and violence compound costs. WFP called for urgent bridging funds to avoid a wider deterioration before the next harvest window.

✈️ India and China to restart direct flights after a 5-year freeze. New Delhi and Beijing agreed to resume nonstop commercial services for the first time since early 2020, a move aimed at easing travel for students, businesspeople, and families scattered across both countries. Aviation officials said initial frequencies will be limited, with carriers adding capacity as demand stabilizes and aircrew logistics normalize. The restart follows incremental diplomatic thawing after border clashes in 2020 that cratered people-to-people ties and froze over 40 weekly routes. Economists expect a modest boost to trade in services, especially education and tourism, though merchandise frictions and tech restrictions remain intact. Travel agents say fares should fall as routings shorten by hours compared with current third-country connections. The decision signals a pragmatic step even as strategic rivalry continues on the frontier and in regional forums. Regulators will monitor schedule ramp-ups, slot allocation, and reciprocity as airlines file for winter timetables.

🏛️ Shutdown grind: health programs pinch while Congress stalemates again. Another funding vote failed in the Senate, extending the government shutdown and forcing agencies to lean on contingency plans that protect “excepted” operations while pausing much else. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance keeps air-traffic control, mail, and essential law enforcement running, but public-health researchers see grant reviews, inspections, and surveillance delayed. Hospital associations warned that prolonged lapses can slow clinical-trial starts and backlog Medicare and Medicaid administrative work, with ripple effects into winter respiratory season. National park access is curtailed in many locations, and civil case dockets are already slipping as courts triage filings. Each week of shutdown typically shaves tenths from quarterly gross domestic product as contractors idle and travel and permitting stall, economists said. Bond desks are watching Treasury auction calendars for stress if appropriations stalemate overlaps with heavy issuance weeks. Leadership remains split on policy riders that have scuttled multiple short-term deals.

🗽 President Trump restores $187 million for New York grants. The administration reversed a planned cut to New York’s anti-terror funding, reinstating $187 million that supports police overtime, intelligence sharing, and critical-infrastructure security. Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City officials argued the earlier reduction would leave vulnerabilities at transit hubs and high-visibility venues. Federal officials did not detail the precise formula change but said the updated allocation reflects current threat assessments. Security analysts noted the swing underscores how grant programs can be political barometers as well as risk tools. Police departments said the restored dollars stabilize hiring and equipment cycles that would otherwise be disrupted mid-year. The episode arrives as large cities re-evaluate crowd management and surveillance tech amid mass-event risks. Budget writers will still face trade-offs if broader fiscal pressures continue into the next appropriations round.

📈 OpenAI’s valuation hits $500B as the most valuable privately-held company. Investors marked up the artificial-intelligence company’s implied worth to roughly half a trillion dollars, a level that would eclipse many S&P 500 names despite OpenAI’s private status. The latest pricing reflects expectations tied to enterprise adoption, model upgrades, and embedded revenue shares. Analysts said valuation math assumes durable margins on inference plus licensing, even as competition from Big Tech and open-source models intensifies. Labor and power constraints loom as persistent costs if data-center buildouts lag demand. Regulators, meanwhile, continue to probe safety, copyright, and market-power issues that could change the economics of large-scale AI. For now, the mark signals investor conviction that AI spending remains on a multi-year up-curve. Secondary-market liquidity and governance will be key tests ahead of any eventual listing.

⚖️ Sean “Diddy” Combs sentenced to four years in federal prison. A federal judge handed the music mogul a four-year sentence after prosecutors detailed a pattern of abuse and the use of charter flights to transport sex workers across state lines. The ruling caps a case that has shadowed the entertainment industry and prompted renewed scrutiny of non-disclosure agreements and power dynamics. Defense attorneys argued for leniency, citing rehabilitation steps, but the court emphasized deterrence and accountability. Victim statements described long-term trauma, with restitution processes to follow. Civil litigation remains pending in multiple jurisdictions, suggesting continued legal exposure. The sentence also triggers supervised-release conditions and travel restrictions after incarceration. Industry responses ranged from solidarity statements for survivors to calls for structural reforms in talent management.

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That’s all for today!

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