Friday☕️

Earth Intelligence

25 Jul 2025 — 6 min read

Economics & Markets:

Yesterday’s U.S. stock market:

Yesterday’s commodity market:

Yesterday’s crypto market:

Geopolitics & Military Activity:

On July 24th, 2025, armed conflict erupted between Thailand and Cambodia along their shared border, reigniting longstanding territorial disputes rooted in the 1904 Franco-Siamese Treaty and the 1962 International Court of Justice ruling, which awarded the Preah Vihear Temple to Cambodia while leaving adjacent lands contested. The escalation built from a series of incidents earlier in the year: a February clash at Prasat Ta Muen Thom over Cambodian tourists singing their national anthem, a May skirmish that killed a Cambodian soldier, June's mutual border closures and trade bans, and July landmine explosions—attributed by Thailand to Cambodian forces using Russian PMN-2 mines—that injured Thai troops, leading to ambassador recalls and severed diplomatic ties. This violence echoes past confrontations, like the 2008-2011 clashes that claimed dozens of lives, driven by nationalist sentiments and competing claims over key sites such as the Emerald Triangle and temples including Ta Kwai and Prasat Ta Muen Thom, where bilateral talks have repeatedly failed due to Thailand's opposition to further international arbitration.

As of July 24th, 2025, fighting continues in border areas spanning Thailand's Surin, Sisaket, and Ubon Ratchathani provinces and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces, with artillery exchanges, Cambodian rocket strikes hitting Thai civilian targets like a Sisaket gas station (killing at least eight people), and a hospital, and Thai F-16 airstrikes under "Operation Yuttha Bodin" destroying Cambodian tanks and positions. Casualties include at least 14 deaths, dozens injured, and over 100,000 displaced amid evacuations and sealed borders; Thailand accuses Cambodia of violating the Geneva Convention and Ottawa Treaty, while Cambodia labels the Thai actions as unprovoked incursions and has requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on July 25th. International responses emphasize de-escalation, with ASEAN nations offering mediation and major powers like the US, China, and Russia urging restraint, as social media amplifies divided narratives and real-time footage of military movements raises concerns of further intensification.

Environment & Weather:

On July 23, 2025, a major wildfire ignited in a wine-producing region north of Limassol in southern Cyprus, rapidly growing into one of the island's most significant blazes in over 50 years due to a heatwave with temperatures up to 43-44°C (109-111°F), strong winds, and ongoing drought that has reduced the Kouris reservoir to 15.5% capacity. The cause remains under investigation, with some reports and social media discussions suggesting possible arson; the fire began around midday and spread quickly through forests, agricultural land, and residential zones. By July 24, it had affected at least 100 square kilometers (39 square miles or 24,000 acres), leading to evacuations of hundreds from 14 villages, damage to dozens of homes and vehicles, the deaths of two individuals found in a burned-out car, injuries to at least 10 people (two in serious condition), and the loss of thousands of animals.

As of July 24, 2025, firefighting operations involve more than 250 personnel, 75 fire engines, and 14 aircraft for aerial water drops, which were suspended overnight but have resumed amid challenges from persistent winds, heat, and active fire fronts with no full containment yet achieved. International support through the EU's civil protection mechanism includes two aircraft from Spain arriving today, commitments from Jordan and Israel for additional planes, and offers from Greece, while aid proposed from the Turkish-administered northern part of Cyprus was declined by the Republic of Cyprus government. Visual reports depict flames consuming rural areas, heavy smoke covering communities, and extensive damage, emphasizing the fire's severity and the ongoing requirement for additional resources to limit further impacts.

Science & Technology:

As of July 24, 2025, OpenAI has fully rolled out ChatGPT Agent to all Pro users worldwide, including those in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, following some brief regulatory adjustments. The rollout to Plus and Team users is now mostly complete globally, though a small number of accounts may experience minor delays due to high demand and phased implementation. Pro users benefit from higher usage limits of 400 messages per month, compared to 40 for Plus and Team plans, with options to purchase extra credits. The feature can be activated via the tools dropdown or by typing "/agent" in the chat interface across web, mobile apps, and desktop platforms.

ChatGPT Agent transforms the standard chatbot into a proactive system capable of handling complex, multi-step tasks through integrated tools like browsers, terminals, and third-party connectors for services such as Gmail and Google Drive. It excels at automating workflows, such as planning events, generating reports, or creating editable presentations, while providing narrated progress, pausing for user approvals on sensitive actions, and delivering downloadable outputs with transparency. Despite its strengths in reasoning and execution, the agent remains in early stages, with potential for errors in formatting or data handling, and built-in safeguards to prevent high-risk activities like financial transactions. Future updates aim to enhance autonomy, integrations, and reliability based on ongoing user feedback.

Statistic:

Largest assets on Earth by market capitalization:

Gold: $22.644T
🇺🇸 NVIDIA: $4.237T
🇺🇸 Microsoft: $3.797T
🇺🇸 Apple: $3.192T
🇺🇸 Amazon: $2.465T
Bitcoin: $2.339T
🇺🇸 Alphabet (Google): $2.335T
Silver: $2.216T
🇺🇸 Meta Platforms: $1.797T
🇸🇦 Saudi Aramco: $1.604T
🇺🇸 Broadcom: $1.357T
🇹🇼 TSMC: $1.253T
🇺🇸 Berkshire Hathaway: $1.036T
🇺🇸 Tesla: $983.35B
🇺🇸 JPMorgan Chase: $815.41B
🇺🇸 Walmart: $770.90B
🇺🇸 Eli Lilly: $723.06B
🇺🇸 Visa: $691.48B
🇺🇸 Oracle: $682.06B
🇨🇳 Tencent: $638.50B
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust: $582.25B
🇺🇸 Mastercard: $511.70B
🇺🇸 Netflix: $501.73B
🇺🇸 Exxon Mobil: $477.46B
Ethereum: $442.07B

History:

Ethereum was created to expand the potential of blockchain beyond just sending and receiving digital money like Bitcoin. In 2013, a young programmer named Vitalik Buterin published a whitepaper describing a new kind of blockchain that could run smart contracts—self-executing programs that run automatically when specific conditions are met. This idea became Ethereum. In 2014, a group of co-founders including Vitalik Buterin, Gavin Wood, and Joseph Lubin raised over $18 million through a public crowdfunding campaign to build it. Ethereum officially launched in July 2015. Developers quickly began using Ethereum to build decentralized apps (called “dApps”), and in 2017, Ethereum powered a wave of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), where startups launched their own cryptocurrencies using Ethereum’s platform. However, Ethereum also faced problems like slow transaction speeds, expensive gas fees, and security flaws—especially after the 2016 DAO hack, which caused the Ethereum community to split into two versions: Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.
To solve these issues, Ethereum began a long-term upgrade process. The biggest milestone came in September 2022 with The Merge, which switched Ethereum from proof-of-work (like Bitcoin mining) to proof-of-stake, where users lock up coins to help run the network and earn rewards. This change made Ethereum about 99.95% more energy efficient. Today, Ethereum is the foundation for thousands of blockchain projects—from decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT marketplaces to gaming and digital identity systems. Developers are still improving Ethereum with major updates like EIP-4844, which will help make it faster and cheaper by introducing new ways to handle data. With these upgrades and many tools being built on top of it—like Layer 2 networks (such as Arbitrum and Optimism)—Ethereum continues to be one of the most important and widely used blockchain platforms in the world.

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