Cuba's electric union said at 18:07 local time on Aug. 1 a power outage hit the grid from Matanzas to Pinar del Río. The union said on social media the outage was caused by a line trip. U.S. sanctions have constrained Cuba's ability to import fuel and power-plant equipment, leaving generation assets aged and national supply tight. Since Oct. 2024 Cuba has experienced multiple nationwide blackouts from plant failures and hurricane damage.

Market reactions to big-tech earnings diverged sharply, signaling investor scrutiny of AI-driven spending. Meta fell as much as 8% in after-hours trade after issuing disappointing revenue guidance and reporting its weakest free cash flow in years, a market read as evidence of rising AI-related costs. Microsoft jumped about 16% post-earnings, adding roughly $450bn of market value, after reporting the fastest cloud growth in four years and saying it will control incremental capital expenditure this year. Amazon rallied about 15% after its cloud revenue posted a four-year high, easing concerns about returns on large AI investments. Explosive Options founder and chief options analyst Bob Long said investors will eventually tire of hyperscalers’ endless spending, so restraint being rewarded is unsurprising. Global AI supply-chain names and firms that provide or adopt AI appear to be back in favor.

GAC said Haobo Aion BU sold 34,987 vehicles in July, up 31.74% YoY and positive MoM, marking its fifth consecutive month of double-digit YoY growth. The brand rolled out a new Ray model series targeting younger buyers on its 10th anniversary.