Bitcoin hits record high above $124,000 before retreating

• US stocks ended higher Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq reaching new heights this week, contributing to the cryptocurrency's rise
• Bitcoin's value has recently soared, fuelled by US regulatory changes under US President Donald Trump, a strong backer of the crypto sector

‘Putin has only one chance:’ Trump warns of make-or-break chance with Russian leader

• Putin and Trump will meet Friday at an air base in the far-northern US state, the first time the Russian leader has been permitted on Western soil since his invasion of Ukraine
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has refused to surrender territory to Russia, spoke by telephone Wednesday with Trump, as did European leaders

Plastic pollution treaty talks in disarray as dozens of countries reject draft text

• With some 30 hours left to seal a deal among the 184 countries gathered at the United Nations in Geneva, states lined up to slam the text proposed by Luis Vayas Valdivieso
• Five previous rounds over the past two and a half years failed to seal an agreement, including a supposedly final round in South Korea late last year

Lebanon slams foreign interference as Iran security chief visits

• The uncharacteristically blunt remarks hinted at a changed balance of power in a country where Iran has long wielded substantial influence by funding and arming Hezbollah
• The visit by Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani comes after the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise plans to disarm Hezbollah

Israel military says approved plan for new Gaza offensive

• Ismail Al-Thawabta, director general of the Hamas government media office in Gaza, told AFP on Wednesday that "the Israeli forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions."
• AFP footage from Gaza City on Tuesday showed Palestinians fleeing Israeli strikes on the Zeitoun and Asqoola using overladen carts, vans and bikes.

Musk clashes with Altman after accusing App Store of favoring OpenAI

• OpenAI and xAI both released new versions of their AI assistants, ChatGPT and Grok, in the past week.
• App Store rankings listed ChatGPT as the top free iPhone app on Tuesday, with Grok in fifth place.

Perplexity AI offers Google $34.5 bn for Chrome browser

• The sum proposed in a letter of intent by Perplexity is nearly double the value of the startup, which was reportedly $18 billion in a recent funding round.
• Google is awaiting a US District Court judge's decision on how to address its illegal monopoly in online search.

Gulf tourists say Polish mountain town is a cool place

• Up to seven flights fly daily from the Gulf region at nearby Krakow Airport.
• Arab customers constitute up to 30 percent of all summer guests at his five-star hotel in Zakopane.

Palestinian mother ‘destroyed’ after image used to deny Gaza starvation

Passwords under threat as tech giants seek tougher security

• Fingerprints, access keys and facial recognition are putting a new squeeze on passwords as the traditional computer security method
• Although many large platforms are stepping up login security, large numbers of sites still use simple passwords as credentials