This Week's Brief

THE STORIES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEK:

(These pins mark the stories with deeply buried, but globally significant signals.)

📌 EU-China Summit - Can Ursula & Xi agree on anything?

📌 Uber pilots female driver choice in the United States

📌 Former Diageo CEO told the company’s chair her position was untenable

📌 Luxury’s Hangover: The party’s over and global tills are quiet

📌 Global Aid Cuts: 11.6 million refugees to lose access to aid, says UNHCR

📌 Global Aid Cuts: U.K. cuts to hit Africa and women & children facing serious health issues most

📌 Global Aid Cuts: US government to destroy $9.7m worth of contraceptives & 496 metric tons of energy biscuits for malnourished children

📌 England’s football team reach Euro 2025 finals

📌 Australia’s basketball team claim their 1st FIBA Women's Asia Cup title

Geopolitics

EU-China Summit

EU leaders have urged China's President Xi Jinping to assist in ending Russia's war on Ukraine, recognising current tensions between Beijing and Brussels as they celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations. The remarks underline ongoing strains, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa visited Beijing after Xi declined an invitation to visit Brussels. Read more at Politico

Business

Uber A Female Driver

Uber is piloting a feature in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit that lets women passengers choose female drivers or share rides with other women. The app will offer a "women drivers" option, but if no female drivers are available, customers can still opt for a quicker pickup with any driver. Read more at CBS News

Another one bites the dust

Debra Crew, one of the few female CEOs in the FTSE 100, stepped down as Diageo’s CEO and told the company’s chair her position was untenable. She lead the company for just over two years. Her turbulent tenure saw shares fall 43%, highlighting ongoing challenges in the global spirits market. Diageo’s loss marks a serious setback for gender diversity in FTSE 100 leadership. It also follows a string of high profile CEO departures like Hershey’s Michele Buck and X’s Linda Yaccarino, in the past few weeks. Read more at The Financial Times

Don’t be fooled by “Influencers”

Despite all the GRWM & Hermes unboxing videos cluttering up your social media feed, don’t be fooled that ‘Luxury’ is going gung-ho in this uncertain global economy. If you aren’t spending on that handbag or sweater you love, you are not alone:

• LVMH and Kering are expected to report another decline in quarterly sales, deepening concerns about a prolonged downturn in the $400 billion luxury market. Both companies face challenges from sluggish demand in key U.S. and Chinese markets and the threat of hefty U.S. import tariffs. LVMH’s fashion and leather goods sales are projected to fall about 6%, while Kering, weighed down by sluggish Gucci sales, faces an expected 13% drop, fueling investor worries.

Chanel experienced a 4.3% drop in sales in 2024, with revenue falling to $18.7 billion, impacted by a slowdown in key markets like China and the Americas. Despite a 30% plunge in operating profit, the company’s CEO Leena Nair is maintaining strong investment levels, planning to open 48 new boutiques globally in 2025, including in China, the United States, India, and Mexico.

Global Aid Cuts

Following major cuts to humanitarian budgets across the globe by major western donors including the United States, U.K, Germany, Canada, Netherlands among others:

• The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR has stated up to 11.6 million refugees and others forced to flee risk losing access this year to direct humanitarian assistance from the organisation. The figure represents about one-third of those reached by the organization last year. Read more at UNHCR
• With violence escalating and record levels of hunger in Nigeria, critical funding shortfalls are forcing the UN World Food Program (WFP) to suspend all emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in the northeast of the country by the end of July. Read more at UN News
• The International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) latest analysis identifies 13 countries most affected by these funding cuts. These nations face a dangerous combination of conflict, climate change, extreme poverty, and crippling debt.

1. Afghanistan
2. Burkina Faso
3. Central African Republic (CAR)
4. Chad
5. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
6. Ethiopia
7. Haiti
8. Mali
9. Mozambique
10. Somalia
11. South Sudan
12. Sudan
13. Yemen

Ten out of these 13 countries are in Africa, where the intersection of conflict, climate crises, and economic struggles creates the most severe challenges. Read more at IRC

Here are this week’s roundup of aid cuts & impact:

The UK government has announced plans to reduce foreign aid, with significant cuts to education and women's health support in Africa. Aid spending will drop by 40%, from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income, to boost defence funding.

Impact

1. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) published its “equality impact assessment” of the policy finding that the cuts will particularly affect Africans facing serious health issues such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and maternal and child health needs.
2. Scientists have issued urgent warnings based on recent government-backed research that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could cost the global economy trillions and cause millions of deaths and cuts to foriegn aid risk millions more deaths by 2050. The UK government’s Thursday announcement that it was axing the Fleming Fund – a major £265 million British programme combating AMR in developing countries.
3. The UK’s World bank funding has been cut by 10%

The United States Congress has passed President Donald Trump’s $9 billion funding cut to public media and foreign aid.

Impact

1. The US government has decided to destroy $9.7m worth of contraceptives stored in a warehouse in Belgium a move that is estimated to cost US taxpayers $167,000. The contraceptives are primarily long-acting, such as IUDs and birth control implants, and were almost certainly intended for women in Africa.
2. With 1,100 metric tons of emergency food rations nearing expiry in a U.S. government warehouse in Dubai after President Donald Trump's aid freeze, it took a warning of "wasted tax dollars" for a top U.S. official to eventually agree to a deal for the supplies to be used, sources told Reuters. The deal saved 622 metric tons of the energy-dense biscuits in June, but 496 metric tons, worth $793,000 before they expired this month, will be destroyed.

In Germany, the Economic Cooperation and Development Ministry (BMZ) is set to receive €10.3 billion ($12.1 billion) — nearly €1 billion less than in 2024. It's the second consecutive year that the budget has been reduced.

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Sports

Roaring to another Final

England’s Lionesses have reached their third straight major tournament final after a dramatic comeback win over Italy in the Euro 2025 semi-final. Amid an investigation into racist attacks on a player, manager Sarina Wiegman becomes the first to reach five consecutive international finals.

The final kicks off at 5:00pm BST on Sunday, July 27, 2025, at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland. The 34,250-capacity venue is home to FC Basel and is the largest football stadium in Switzerland. Read more at Sky Sports

Basketball for the win

Australia’s basketball team claimed their first FIBA Women's Asia Cup title with an 88-79 victory over Japan in China. The host nation secured Bronze, while Iran's women's team reached the Division B final after defeating Thailand. Read more at Olympics