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Boeing has started certification flight testing of its long-delayed 777-9 with U.S. aviation regulators onboard, the U.S. planemaker said in an emailed statement. The company said it conducted its first flight on Friday night after receiving Type Inspection Authorization (TIA). The development is a boost for Boeing, which has been grappling with production and legal issues since a Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane.

diamond exports have been faltering due to weak demand from the key market, China, and they are unlikely to stabilise unless the government provides support to the industry, the head of a leading trade body said on Thursday. India is the world's largest centre for cutting and polishing diamonds, accounting for nine out of 10 diamonds polished globally. «We're battling weak demand, particularly due to China's slow recovery from COVID-19. As a result, demand continues to fall,» Vipul Shah, chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), told Reuters.

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday as crude stocks fell after U.S. refineries ramped up processing and as gasoline inventories eased, signalling stronger demand. Brent futures rose 35 cents, or 0.4% to $85.43 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $82.47 a barrel.

Envestnet has confirmed that it will soon be purchased by Bain Capital and Reverence in what promises to be a seismic take-private deal.

Hamas has accepted a U.S. proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday. The militant Islamist group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

OpenAI is working on a novel approach to its artificial intelligence models in a project code-named "Strawberry," according to a person familiar with the matter and internal documentation reviewed by Reuters. The project, details of which have not been previously reported, comes as the Microsoft-backed startup races to show that the types of models it offers are capable of delivering advanced reasoning capabilities.

Ozempic and Wegovy may have an increased risk of sudden and irreversible vision loss and blindness, a new study has found.However, doctors say there’s no reason for patients who take the uber popular drugs to panic or discontinue taking their prescriptions.The study, conducted by Harvard researchers and published Wednesday in JAMA Ophthalmology, analyzed data from 16,827 patients over a six-year period at the Mass Eye and Ear Harvard teaching hospital.Published in @JAMAOphth: Semaglutide, taken for diabetes or obesity, was associated with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). Further study would be needed to clarify if this drug causes NAION associated with visual loss.https://t.co/mT9PVyEoRO pic.twitter.com/L3bDzVC2Dy— JAMA (@JAMA_current) July 4, 2024Of those, 710 had type 2 diabetes, with 194 being prescribed semaglutide medications, marketed under brandnames like Wegovy and Ozempic, that belong to a class of medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists.Another 975 patients in the study were overweight or living with obesity, 361 of them being prescribed semaglutide.Among those prescribed semaglutide, an eye problem known as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, was eventually diagnosed in a small percentage of patients.

Bank's next interest rate cut is still a relatively easy decision, but subsequent moves should only come once inflation is clearly heading towards the 2% target, ECB policymaker Pierre Wunsch said in an interview. The ECB cut rates in early June but made no commitment about any further moves, arguing inflation was still too high and it lacked the confidence that 2% was within reach.

Hezbollah, has been using some low-tech strategies to try to evade its foe's sophisticated surveillance technology, informed sources told Reuters. It has also been using its own tech — drones — to study and attack Israel's intelligence gathering capabilities in what Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has described as a strategy of «blinding» Israel. The sides have been trading fire since Hezbollah's Palestinian ally in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, went to war with Israel in October. While the fighting on Lebanon's southern border has remained relatively contained, stepped-up attacks in recent weeks have intensified concern it could spiral into a full-scale war.

Narendra Modi & Co may have a few speed bumps on their road to a 'Viksit Bharat'. The recent meeting between Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu, a key ally of the NDA government, and BJP's top-brass has sparked concerns after the Andhra Pradesh CM has listed his state-specific demands. Further, a Bloomberg report has stated that Naidu has sought more than Rs 1 lakh crore handout for Andhra Pradesh in the forthcoming Budget 2024.

Private equity firm Bain Capital is reportedly on the verge of finalizing a deal to acquire Envestnet, the enterprise wealth tech provider.

BEIJING — China's imports fell in June, missing expectations for slight growth, while exports grew more than expected, customs data released Friday showed.

A lawsuit challenging a Biden administration rule permitting socially conscious investing by employee retirement plans will test the courts’ approach to federal regulations following a pivotal Supreme Court decision.

Modarres military base and the Khojir missile production complex near Tehran, as reported by Reuters. Key Sites and Developments The imagery from Planet Labs shows structures surrounded by large dirt berms, which are typical for missile production to prevent explosions from spreading. Jeffrey Lewis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey noted that construction at Khojir began in August last year, while Modarres' expansion started in October.

Reuters on Wednesday reported that India plans to increase state subsidies on rural housing in the upcoming federal budget by as much as 50% from the previous year to more than $6.5 billion. “The rural development ministry has proposed to aid construction of another 20 million houses under Awas Yojana (rural) in the next five years.

The founder of a firm that is being acquired by BlackRock is sharing the success with his staff.

Spot gold was up 1.1% at $2,380.91 per ounce as of 11:08 a.m. (1508 GMT). Bullion is up more than 2% for the week so far. U.S. gold futures gained 0.8% to $2,389.10.

BRUSSELS: European manufacturers of hydrogen equipment have urged the European Union to step in to help the industry compete with cheaper Chinese producers, in a letter seen by Reuters on Monday. The companies, among them Thyssenkrupp Nucera, Siemens Energy, and Nel Hydrogen, want Brussels to do more to ensure Europe-made equipment powers the EU's plan by 2030 to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen using electrolysers, machines that use electricity to split water to produce the green fuel. China is rapidly expanding its production of hydrogen equipment and is now home to 40% of the world's electrolyser manufacturing capacity, up from 10% last year, the letter said, adding that state subsidies were giving Chinese firms an edge.

Gold prices extended gains on Friday to their highest level in over a month following key U.S. jobs data that showed the labor market was softening, lifting expectations around a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September. Spot gold was up 1.3% at $2,385.63 per ounce as of 2:10 p.m. (1810 GMT). Bullion is up more than 2% for the week so far.

Amazon.com said on Wednesday it would discontinue its security robot, Astro for Business, for small- and medium-sized businesses as it shifts its focus to household robots. The e-commerce giant initially launched the canine-like robot for household use in 2021. Astro for Business was launched last November for a range of customers including retail, manufacturing, health and wellness.

hacker gained access to the internal messaging systems at OpenAI last year and stole details about the design of the company's artificial intelligence technologies, the New York Times reported on Thursday. The hacker lifted details from discussions in an online forum where employees talked about OpenAI's latest technologies, the report said, citing two people familiar with the incident.