El-Sayed Projection Deepens Democrats’ Leftward Primary Trend

Lilly Opens Early Access to Next-Generation Weight-Loss Drug

Saudi-Led Group Closes Record $55 Billion EA Buyout

AI Earnings Lift Markets as SpaceX Shares Face Scrutiny

Hormuz Deal Hopes Push Oil Lower Despite Ship Attacks

El-Sayed Projection Deepens Democrats’ Leftward Primary Trend

Democratic voters produced a mixed ideological picture Tuesday as primaries in Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, Kansas and Washington state set key matchups for the November midterms. NBC News projected progressive former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed as the winner of Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, but the Associated Press had not called the race early Wednesday as El-Sayed led Rep. Haley Stevens 48.6% to 47.4% with 95% of the vote counted, a substantially narrower margin than several late polls suggested. The eventual nominee will face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, a contest Democrats likely must win to preserve a path to Senate control. If confirmed, an El-Sayed victory would continue a national trend of Democratic primary voters elevating left-leaning candidates; according to some Republican strategists, that trend could produce nominees who are easier to defeat in November.

AP / NBC News / CNN / NPR / Axios / 270toWin

Lilly Opens Early Access to Next-Generation Weight-Loss Drug

Eli Lilly said Aug. 3 that a limited number of adults with severe obesity-related illness may apply for early access to retatrutide, its experimental next-generation weight-loss drug, before the Food and Drug Administration decides whether to approve it. The program is restricted to patients who cannot enroll in a clinical trial, have not benefited sufficiently from the highest doses of existing medicines and have at least two serious conditions related to obesity. Retatrutide acts on three hormone pathways — GLP-1, GIP and glucagon — giving it an additional target beyond Lilly’s approved drug Zepbound and other current weight-loss treatments. Participants receiving the highest dose in an 80-week trial involving severe obesity and established cardiovascular disease lost an average of 22.6% of their body weight, according to Lilly’s topline results. Some longevity advocates also tout incretin-based drugs for possible benefits in people without obesity, but retatrutide has not been studied as a longevity treatment in that population and current evidence has not established that it extends lifespan or lowers mortality. Lilly plans to seek FDA approval in early 2027, making the narrow access program a potential option for seriously ill patients rather than evidence that the drug’s benefits and risks have completed regulatory review.

Reuters / Eli Lilly / Marie Claire

Saudi-Led Group Closes Record $55 Billion EA Buyout

A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund completed its approximately $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts on Aug. 4, ending the video game maker’s 36 years as a publicly traded company. The group, which also includes Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, paid shareholders $210 per share, with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund taking the dominant ownership stake. The transaction uses nearly $20 billion in debt financing and ranks as the largest leveraged buyout on record, creating repayment obligations that could affect future spending and corporate priorities. CEO Andrew Wilson will remain in charge of the Redwood City, California-based company behind Madden NFL, The Sims, Battlefield and EA Sports FC. The deal places one of the largest U.S. interactive-entertainment companies under foreign sovereign-wealth and private-investment control while adding an unprecedented acquisition debt load.

Guardian / Reuters / EA

AI Earnings Lift Markets as SpaceX Shares Face Scrutiny

Strong results from SpaceX, Palantir Technologies and Advanced Micro Devices underscored the scale of the artificial-intelligence investment boom while giving investors different reasons for optimism and caution. SpaceX reported second-quarter revenue of $7.8 billion, up 92% from a year earlier, and narrowed its net loss to $541 million in its first quarterly report since going public, but its shares fell after hours as investors weighed rising AI spending. Palantir said revenue increased 93% to $1.94 billion, including 90% growth in U.S. government revenue to $809 million. AMD said data-center sales more than doubled and that it would begin shipping its Helios rack-scale AI systems to customers including Meta, OpenAI and Oracle. Palantir’s surge helped the S&P 500 rise 1.8% to a record close Tuesday, while the Dow gained 1.7% to another record and the Nasdaq climbed 2.6%. Together, the reports show AI demand driving rapid growth in software, chips and federal contracting even as heavy infrastructure costs test whether that spending can deliver sustained returns.

CNN / CBS News / Yahoo Finance / CNBC / TheStreet / Motley Fool / Reuters / Guardian

Hormuz Deal Hopes Push Oil Lower Despite Ship Attacks

U.S. crude prices fell roughly 6% Tuesday as officials reported progress toward an arrangement between Iran and Oman to reopen commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, while Brent crude slipped to $78.43 a barrel early Wednesday. The emerging plan would route inbound vessels through an Iran-controlled channel and outbound ships near Oman, though U.S. and Iranian officials offered differing accounts of the negotiations and no final agreement had been announced. A cargo ship was struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Al Khasab, Oman, prompting its crew to abandon the vessel and leaving one seafarer reported missing. The same day, an India-flagged cargo vessel sank in the Red Sea after an attack by a remotely operated explosive boat believed linked to Houthi-aligned forces, with all 14 crew members rescued. About one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed through Hormuz before the war, so restored traffic could ease global energy costs and mark a significant step toward de-escalation. The attacks showed, however, that commercial shipping remained at risk even as markets responded to the prospect of an agreement.

Al Jazeera / AP / The Hill / UPI / CNN / ABC News / Yahoo Finance

AUGUST 5, 1858: FIRST TRANSATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE COMPLETED

The United States and Britain successfully laid nearly 2,000 miles of undersea telegraph cable between Newfoundland and Ireland, briefly shrinking communication time across the Atlantic from weeks to minutes. Though the fragile line failed within a month, it marked a pivotal early step toward the global communications networks that now link continents in real time.

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Sources

1. AP / NBC News / CNN / NPR / Axios / NBC Results / 270toWin
2. Reuters / Eli Lilly / ClinicalTrials.gov / Marie Claire
3. Guardian / Reuters / EA
4. CNN / CBS News / CBS News / Yahoo Finance / CNBC — Palantir / CNBC — AMD / TheStreet / Motley Fool / Reuters / Guardian
5. Al Jazeera / AP / AP via KSAT / The Hill / UPI / CNN Live / ABC News / AP via WSLS / Yahoo Finance / CNN Markets