GfK's July consumer confidence index was -29.2 (consensus -27.6); June was revised to -29.7. The index remains deeply weak; July's modest improvement reflected a small uptick in income expectations while purchase intent and saving propensity were unchanged. GfK said confidence is stable at low levels: easing inflation worries from peace talks and lower oil prices have slightly lifted economic expectations, but there is no sign of a return to pre-war levels.

Multiple UN agencies on the 24th released the Tracking SDG7: Energy Progress report, saying 655 million people still lack access to electricity. The report warns that without urgent, larger-scale action the world will miss SDG7 — universal, affordable, reliable and sustainable modern energy access by 2030. While most regions are close to universal electrification, progress in Sub-Saharan Africa is slow: more than 560 million people lack electricity and 970 million lack access to clean cooking energy.

Two leading AI researchers at Alphabet's Google plan to leave to join competitor Anthropic, people familiar with the matter said. Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel, both seen internally as key contributors to Google's GEMINI model, are expected to move to Anthropic. Adler worked on the company's AI programming projects; Pritzel worked on training AI systems. The moves add to a series of high-profile departures and could weaken Google's position in AI.