Nigerian Presidency Upholds Right To Peaceful Protest ☮️

Good morning. It's Tuesday, Jul. 30, and we're covering, Tinubu Orders Crude Oil To Be Sold In Naira, Apple Defends Ethical Approach To Training AI Models, Venezuela's Opposition Claims Victory Amid Controversial Election Results, and much more. First time reading? Sign up to get this newsletter: Sign up here.

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MARKETS

Cryptocurrency Prices by Market Cap

• The global cryptocurrency market cap today is $2.39 Trillion, a 3.59% decrease in the last 24 hours.

• The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $80.22B, which makes a 56.07% increase.

• The total volume in Defi is currently $2.2B, 9.68% of the total crypto market 24-hours.

• The volume of all stablecoins is now $73.15B, which is 91.19% of the total market 24-hour volume.

• Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 54.94%, a decrease of 0.53% over the day.

BlackRock Predicts Crypto-Backed ETFs Will Enter Model Portfolios By Late 2024

BlackRock anticipates that crypto-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will be incorporated into model portfolios by late 2024, reflecting growing institutional interest in cryptocurrency investments. ( Read Deeper )

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Tinubu Orders Crude Oil To Be Sold In Naira

President Bola Tinubu's directive for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to sell crude oil to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other domestic refineries in naira, rather than dollars, has been hailed by operators in the downstream oil sector. They believe this move will lead to a reduction in the prices of domestically refined petroleum products. This decision aims to boost the output of domestic refineries, increase Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves, and strengthen the naira.

Why It Matters: The Federal Executive Council adopted this proposal to stabilize the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-naira exchange rate. The Dangote refinery, currently requiring about 15 cargoes of crude oil annually, faced supply issues with International Oil Companies (IOCs) and had to switch to importing crude oil. This directive means the 450,000 barrels meant for domestic consumption will be sold in naira to Nigerian refineries, starting with the Dangote refinery as a pilot project. (Read Deeper)

WeRide Accelerates Global Expansion As AI Drives Adoption Of Self-Driving Technology

WeRide, a self-driving technology company, is expanding its global operations as AI advances push the transportation industry toward greater adoption of autonomous vehicles. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2017, WeRide is known for its robotaxi, minibusses, freight, and sanitation vehicles. Recently, the company began testing autonomous "Robosweepers" and launched a shuttle bus service in Singapore. While U.S. firms like Tesla and Waymo are making strides in autonomous driving, Chinese automakers, including WeRide, are leading in innovation and production.

Why It Matters: The Chinese government has recently approved domestic automakers to test conditionally automated driving technologies on public roads, further highlighting the global shift towards autonomous vehicles. WeRide holds driverless permits in multiple countries, including the U.S., China, UAE, and Singapore, and is now targeting markets like Japan and Europe. The company has filed for a Nasdaq IPO, potentially the largest U.S. listing by a Chinese firm since Didi’s 2021 IPO. ( Read Deeper)

TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

Apple Defends Ethical Approach To Training AI Models

Apple has released a technical paper detailing the development of its Apple Intelligence generative AI features, set to be integrated into iOS, macOS, and iPadOS. The paper aims to address ethical concerns regarding the data used to train its models, emphasizing that Apple did not use private user data. Instead, the training data comprised publicly available, open-sourced, and licensed data.

Takeaway: Apple's training data set, is about 6.3 trillion tokens, includes open-source code from platforms like GitHub, filtered to include only repositories with minimal usage restrictions. The company also used publicly available math questions and high-quality datasets, ensuring they had appropriate licenses for training models. (Read Deeper)

Meta Unveils AI Studio For Custom AI Characters

Meta Platforms has announced the launch of AI Studio, a new tool allowing users to create, share, and design personalized AI chatbots. This tool aims to help users craft custom AI characters that can interact with others on Meta’s platforms, including Instagram. For Instagram creators, these AI characters can handle common direct message queries and story replies, functioning as an extension of the creator’s presence.

Takeaway: AI Studio leverages Meta’s recently released Llama 3.1 model, the largest version of Meta’s AI models, which competes with other high-performance AI models available in the market. The tool supports multiple languages and offers a mostly free alternative to paid models from competitors like OpenAI. (Read Deeper)

AROUND DE WORLD & POLITICS

Venezuela's Opposition Claims Victory Amid Controversial Election Results

Venezuela's opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, declared that they have secured 73.2% of the vote tallies from the recent election, which they claim shows their victory over incumbent President Nicolas Maduro. The national electoral authority, however, proclaimed Maduro the winner, giving him a third term. The opposition’s tallies indicate a lead for their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, with 6.27 million votes compared to Maduro's 2.75 million. International reactions included calls for transparency from the U.S., the European Union, and Brazil, with the Biden administration accusing the Venezuelan government of electoral manipulation.

Why It Matters: Independent pollsters and international observers have expressed skepticism over the official results. Widespread protests erupted across the country, resulting in at least two deaths and numerous clashes with police. Machado called on the military to uphold the true results and urged supporters to protest at the United Nations offices in Caracas. (Read Deeper)

Nigerian Presidency Upholds Right To Peaceful Protest

The Nigerian Presidency has affirmed citizens’ constitutional right to peaceful protest amid pro-government rallies and concerns over potential violence in upcoming demonstrations. The government is addressing youth grievances, including offering jobs and grants, in response to protests against economic hardship. Despite calls to cancel the demonstrations, planned for August 1, the government insists on safeguarding the right to protest while ensuring security.

Takeaway: Civil society organizations and legal advisors emphasize the importance of peaceful demonstrations, while authorities caution against violence and disruption. The Nigerian Bar Association and APC leaders advocate for dialogue and patience, urging citizens to avoid protests that could lead to instability. (Read Deeper)

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

Nigeria Upsets Australia In Olympic Women's Basketball

Nigeria achieved a significant victory in women’s Olympic basketball by defeating Australia 75-62 in their group play opener, marking their first win in the Olympics since 2004. Ezinne Kalu was instrumental in the win, scoring 17 of her 19 points in the first half. Despite Nigeria's struggles in recent Olympics, they outplayed Australia, who came into the game ranked third in the world. The team, which had faced challenges including being denied access to their boat during the opening ceremony, celebrated with their fans and high-fived the Australians post-game. (Read Deeper)

Arsenal Sign Italy Defender Riccardo Calafiori From Bologna For Up To £42m

Arsenal have completed the signing of 22-year-old Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna for a fee potentially reaching £42m, including add-ons. Calafiori has agreed to a five-year contract with the club and has joined his new teammates in Philadelphia. Calafiori, who featured prominently in Italy's Euro 2024 campaign, can play as a central defender or left-back. He made 30 appearances for Bologna last season, contributing two goals and five assists. (Read Deeper)

PODCAST(WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO)

• How I use Reddit and AI to find winning startup ideas. ( Listen )

EXTRA BREVITI

• How Filmora AI features to assist in crafting captivating documentaries (Read More)

• Two children have been confirmed dead, and nine others have been injured following a stabbing incident at a dance workshop. (Read More)

• Microsoft is facing increased scrutiny over its substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI) as concerns mount about the slow financial returns from these ventures. (Read More)