The announcement follows weeks of uncertainty over Bolsonaro’s choice, as the senator struggled to build alliances beyond his own Liberal Party (PL) and failed in an attempt to add a woman to the vice-presidential slot to broaden support

International News via Reuters:

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the leading right-wing challenger to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in October’s presidential election, named conservative Congressman Alfredo Gaspar as his running mate on Wednesday in a surprise choice that underscored his campaign’s challenges.

The announcement follows weeks of uncertainty over Bolsonaro’s choice, as the senator struggled to build alliances beyond his own Liberal Party (PL) and failed in an attempt to add a woman to the vice-presidential slot to broaden support.

A PL member, the 55-year-old Gaspar has represented the northeastern state of Alagoas in the lower house of Congress since 2023. He previously served as Alagoas’ secretary of public security.

“I am a simple person, but one willing to fight. I will have the courage for us to confront corruption, organized crime and this shattered economy,” Gaspar said at an event in Brasilia. “We will move beyond rhetoric and tackle the nation’s problems.”

Gaspar led a probe in Congress into the National Social Security Institute (INSS), the government agency responsible for Brazil’s public pension and social security system.

Lula’s son, Fabio Luis Lula da Silva, is being investigated over allegations he received improper payments linked to a scheme involving deductions from pensions administered by the INSS.

“He has the authority to discuss a subject that makes Lula uncomfortable. He also talks a lot about public safety,” said Lucas de Aragao, a partner at political consultancy Arko Advice, adding that Gaspar was a surprise pick.

Gaspar on Tuesday launched a Senate campaign in Alagoas.

The lawmaker emerged as an internal PL pick to be Bolsonaro’s running mate after others touted by the senator for the role — such as Senator Tereza Cristina and Daniella Marques, the former head of state-owned savings bank Caixa Economica Federal — failed to secure support from their parties to join the ticket.

Despite leaning to the right, some major Brazilian parties, including Cristina’s Progressives and Marques’ Republicans, have declined to nationally endorse Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Those parties have calculated that remaining neutral in the presidential race is the best strategy to maximize their representation in Congress, hoping to appeal to voters who oppose Flavio Bolsonaro in northeastern Brazil and other Lula strongholds.

Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia, Gabriel Araujo and Luciana Magalhaes in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Isabel Teles; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Paul Simao

Europe, the world’s fastest warming continent, has been ravaged by record-breaking heat and destructive wildfires this summer, with France and Spain particularly hard hit in recent weeks

International News via Reuters:

The temperature in Austria climbed to a record high on Wednesday, while Hungarians curbed power use as the latest heatwave and drought took their toll on central and southern Europe.

Europe, the world’s fastest warming continent, has been ravaged by record-breaking heat and destructive wildfires this summer, with France and Spain particularly hard hit in recent weeks.

The focus of the heatwave has shifted further east, with Italy placing its major cities under a red heat alert as temperatures climbed to around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas. In Albania, emergency services battled a wildfire in the southern region of Mallakaster.

The heat prompted the Vatican to move Pope Leo’s first weekly general audience after the July break indoors rather than hold it in St. Peter’s Square. Visitors to Rome welcomed the decision as they sought relief from the sweltering conditions.

“I suppose it’s better to hold it indoors because of the heat,” a tourist from Mexico, Diego Amaya, said.

AUSTRIA HAS RECORD HIGH AGAIN

The temperature hit a record 41.2 C (106.2 Fahrenheit) in the Austrian town of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg near the border with Slovakia, national weather service GeoSphere Austria said. The previous record of 41.0 C was set on Tuesday in nearby Vienna.

Across the border in Hungary, companies and households cut power consumption this week after a government appeal to ease pressure on the grid amid the severe drought. The capital Budapest is facing the peak of the heatwave over the next two days, with temperatures rising close to 40 C on Wednesday afternoon.

Dwindling water levels on the Danube have forced Hungary to largely shut down its sole nuclear plant, which uses the river’s waters for cooling, creating an energy crisis that has stretched power supply capacity to its limits.

Slovenia’s only nuclear power plant, Krsko, which supplies neighbouring Croatia as well, said on Wednesday it would begin reducing reactor output overnight due to exceptionally high temperatures and low flows on the Sava River, which flows into the Danube. The plant will initially cut generation to 80% of capacity.

Further west, water levels on the river Rhine in Germany have hit new lows, with some cargo services stopping and other sailings continuing but with greatly reduced loads. The Rhine is a route for commodities including grains, ores and petrol.

WILDFIRES BURN IN ALBANIA

In Albania’s southern Mallakaster region, wildfires forced the evacuation of about 15 families along with their livestock and pets, while ground and aerial crews fought to stop the flames reaching homes near a village.

Efforts continued to tame another wildfire, likely caused by lightning, in rocky, mountainous terrain south of the Albanian city of Gjirokaster.

In neighbouring Greece, a wildfire, possibly caused by vibrating electricity conductors and fanned by gale-force winds, has burned thousands of hectares of farmland near a popular holiday destination northwest of Athens.

The blaze appeared largely contained on Wednesday, but hundreds of firefighters remained in the area to prevent flare-ups as six helicopters doused scattered smoking spots.

The hot, dry summer is having a worrying impact on agriculture.

Britain’s cereal harvest is on track to be the worst since comparable records began in 1984, according to an analysis published on Wednesday, as crops wither after one of the driest and hottest spring-summer periods on record.

Reporting by Francois Murphy, Florion Goga, Krisztina Than, Veronica Altimari, Matteo Negri, Ivana Sekularac and Michael Hogan; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou and Keith Weir; Editing by Mark Potter, Alex Richardson and Ros Russell

Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway

International News via Reuters:

Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, and a joint announcement is being finalised, provided certain third parties did not interfere, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday.

Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway.

The proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters on Wednesday, in one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.

Despite the apparent step towards yielding to Iranian demands, the sources pushed back against assertions by U.S. President Donald Trump that a deal reopening the strait was imminent, saying important details still had to be agreed.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the negotiations between Tehran and Muscat as “professional” and “moving forward”, saying “the two sides had reached a mutual understanding on the geographical parameters of the route under discussion”.

Baghaei added that, if some third parties do not obstruct the process, the joint statement between the two countries, containing the main considerations and key points of understanding, was in the final stages of review and drafting.

Reporting by Elwely Elwelly and Menna Ala El DinEditing by Ros Russell and Alison Williams

The Danish drugmaker raised its full-year profit and sales outlook, but investors focused instead on slightly weaker-than-expected sales for its new Wegovy pill and another setback for next-generation obesity drug CagriSema

International News via Reuters:

Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar sought to reassure investors on Wednesday that the drugmaker can strengthen its pipeline, pledging faster research and bolt-on acquisitions after an upgraded 2026 outlook failed to lift sentiment.

The Danish drugmaker raised its full-year profit and sales outlook, but investors focused instead on slightly weaker-than-expected sales for its new Wegovy pill and another setback for next-generation obesity drug CagriSema.

Novo is under pressure after losing ground to U.S. rival Eli Lilly in the obesity drug market that analysts expect will be worth over $100 billion a year by 2030. Its new pill and pipeline of new drugs are a key focus for investors.

Novo’s stock was down over 4% while Lilly’s rose more than 7% after it delivered strong earnings.

“Because of the setback, we need to have more shots at goal. We need to be faster and we need to learn from the failures and reinvent ourselves again,” Doustdar said, referring to recent trial results.

NOVO NEEDS A STRONG PIPELINE AS PATENT CLIFFS LOOM

Doustdar, a year into the top job, is trying to convince investors Novo can find new blockbuster obesity drugs before semaglutide, the active ingredient in its Wegovy and Ozempic treatments, loses patent protections by early next decade.

A string of late-stage trial setbacks has intensified investor calls for deals and put scrutiny on Novo’s R&D.

“They need to have a strong pipeline to withstand the pressure when semaglutide hits the patent gap,” said Morten Gregersen, chief portfolio manager at Danish asset manager and Novo shareholder Formuepleje.

“There is another disappointment from CagriSema, and it probably underlines the biggest strategic problem for Novo.”

Novo’s Copenhagen-listed stock has recovered some 30% from a March low but remains at less than a third of its 2024 peak, when Novo temporarily became Europe’s most valuable listed company.

Doustdar said the Wegovy pill, launched this year in the U.S., Britain and the United Arab Emirates, had captured around 90% of the oral obesity market despite competition from Lilly’s pill. He said Novo planned to launch the drug in Germany “soon”.

Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen said the upgraded outlook was driven by stronger GLP-1 sales and growth outside the U.S., while Novo still expects U.S. sales to decline this year. He said pricing of the pill was “in the right place”, though it would depend on competition and consumer behaviour.

LIFE BEYOND WEGOVY AND OZEMPIC?

The failure of cardiovascular drug ziltivekimab and recent setbacks for obesity and diabetes drug CagriSema would prompt Novo to move faster rather than changing course, Doustdar said.

Novo would accelerate research, pursue bolt-on acquisitions and broaden its focus beyond obesity and diabetes, he said.

One of Doustdar’s first moves as CEO was to combine Novo’s R&D units under a single executive rather than two, which has sped up decision-making and development timelines, he told Reuters in an interview.

Doustdar said Novo would reveal more early-stage projects at its September investor day, acknowledging that investors remained sceptical because many programmes had yet to be disclosed.

Novo is also looking beyond diabetes and obesity. Doustdar said the biology behind GLP-1 medicines could unlock treatments for conditions including addiction and skin diseases. Novo would “follow the science,” he said.

For now though, investors remain focused on the disappointing trial results for CagriSema, a drug Novo still plans to launch next year.

“This puts the spotlight on Novo Nordisk’s pipeline and its robustness,” AL Sydbank said in a note to clients, adding that while Novo’s earnings should have prompted a sigh of relief from investors, the latest data and impairment charges had dented sentiment.

Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, Maggie Fick, Louise Rasmussen, Bhanvi Satija; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Rashmi Aich, Mark Potter, Elaine Hardcastle