Markets

Social media influencer Zhang Jingwen, known as “Shining Little Wen,” passed away on June 26, 2025, at the age of 20, after battling late-stage gastric cancer. The Shandong University student, diagnosed in 2024, documented her fight online. Gastric cancer, often detected late due to symptoms mimicking common ailments, can lead to rapid decline. The importance of early medical evaluation for persistent gastrointestinal issues is emphasized.

Tamboran Resources Corporation announced Dick Stoneburner as interim CEO, succeeding Joel Riddle, and the appointment of Scott Sheffield and Phillip Pace as Non-Executive Directors, replacing John Bell Sr. These changes maintain a nine-member board. Sheffield and Pace bring extensive energy expertise. The company entered an agreement with Sheffield Holdings, its major stockholder. Tamboran reaffirms its commitment to the Beetaloo Basin development and thanked Riddle and Bell for their service.

KKR will invest A$500 million in CleanPeak Energy, marking KKR’s first Asia-Pacific investment under its Global Climate Transition strategy. The partnership aims to expand CleanPeak’s distributed energy platform, focusing on solar, battery storage, and microgrids for commercial and industrial sectors in Australia. CleanPeak, a specialist in renewable energy, provides integrated solar-and-storage systems to blue-chip companies. The investment is expected to be finalized in the latter half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals.

Jeff Bezos has completed the sale of 25 million Amazon shares, netting roughly $5.7 billion, according to an SEC filing. The sales, part of a prearranged plan initiated earlier this year, concluded on July 24th. Bezos’s divestitures coincided with his recent wedding in Venice. Amazon’s stock has risen 38% since late April. He has a history of selling Amazon stock to fund ventures like Blue Origin and plans to sell more shares before January 2025. Bezos currently ranks third on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

At WAIC 2025 in Shanghai, DEEP Robotics showcased its embodied intelligence advancements, highlighting industry applications of its quadruped robots. A miniature power inspection site featured the Jueying X30 robot autonomously inspecting equipment and recharging. The “Intelligent Inspection System” manages multiple robots and maintains high accuracy. DEEP Robotics also presented its product line, including the Jueying Lite3 with AR-based human-machine interaction, and the Leaper robots demonstrating advanced movement. Their solutions are deployed across various industries worldwide.

At WAIC 2025, Kuaishou’s Kling AI launched “Ling Animation Canvas,” a creative workbench with infinite visual space and real-time collaboration. It also upgraded its “Multi-Image Reference” feature, improving consistency and style maintenance. Kling AI boasts over 45 million global creators and has generated over 200 million videos. Since releasing “Kling 2.0,” B-end merchant usage has surged. Over 20,000 enterprise clients globally have integrated with the Kling AI API, extending its reach to 149 countries, highlighting the increasing demand for AI-powered content generation.

Tencent’s Robotics X Lab and Futian Lab launched Tairos, a modular embodied AI open platform designed to advance robotics in China. Tairos uses large-scale AI models, offering a “plug-and-play” system with development tools and data services. The platform empowers robots to perceive, plan, and autonomously make decisions. Tairos includes multi-modal perception, planning, and perception-action joint models, improved by a cloud simulation environment and Tencent Games’ scene generation tech. Initial partners will help improve real-world applications of embodied AI tech through collaboration.

At WAIC 2025, Alibaba’s Quark showcased its “AI Super App” and a range of AI features, including AI Writing, Image Generation, and a Deep Research tool capable of generating complex reports. The Quark AI Glasses, integrating the Tongyi Qianwen model, also drew significant attention. Notably, Quark’s AI Camera and “Chief Physician-Level AI Doctor” integrated into its AI search proved popular, highlighting Quark’s versatility in addressing diverse user needs from work to healthcare.

During extreme rainfall in Beijing on July 26th, a 65-year-old resident of Dashuiyu village heroically guarded a flooded road section overnight. Driven by concern for community safety, he used his vehicle to block the road, preventing potential accidents. The region experienced severe, localized precipitation events, with some areas recording extraordinary rainfall levels. This event highlights the challenges of managing extreme weather and the importance of community resilience and effective disaster preparedness. The highest rainfall reached 315.3 mm in Huangtuliang, Miyun.

The article discusses a new trend: “refer an ex,” where people recommend their former partners for dating, mirroring job referrals. Originating from a lighthearted online post, it evolved into a structured system with testimonials focusing on attributes like appearance, wealth, and emotional stability. The phenomenon reflects anxieties about modern dating and a desire for reliable partners, highlighting a complex interplay of motivations from genuine goodwill to exposing past flaws. This trend reveals a societal tendency to treat exes as resources in a relationship marketplace, objectifying potential partners.