🗞️ Coffee prices set to jump

Good morning. We are nearly two weeks on from the CrowdStrike outage where that blue screen gave you an early weekend. So what's happened since then:

• CrowdStrike's root cause analysis of the faulty software update revealed an error that some have noted could have been avoided by a first-year programming student;

• The outage is estimated to have cost Fortune 500 companies $5.4B causing many investors and affected organisations to sue the cybersecurity company;

• Microsoft and Delta Air Lines are in a legal battle as Delta said the outage (via Microsoft) cost them $500M;

• CrowdStrike employees have slowly been amending their LinkedIn profiles…

All is not lost if you were one of the big partners impacted. CrowdStrike sent out $10 UberEats vouchers with a kind email;

“To express our gratitude, your next cup of coffee or late night snack is on us!” Seems fair.

All the headlines and more below...

PARIS OLYMPICS 2024

• Australia now has its highest total of gold medals after adding 4 gold medals overnight.

• Nina Kennedy of Australia won gold in the pole vault this morning clearing 4.90 metres.

• Australian skateboarder Keegan Palmer successfully defended his Olympic title in the men's park event.

• Matt Wearn also won back-to-back gold by taking out the men's dinghy in the sailing program.

• Australia triumphed in the men's team pursuit for the first time since the 2004 Athens Olympics, defeating Great Britain in the final.

• Matthew Denny is the first Aussie to win an Olympic medal in the men's discus, claiming bronze with a best throw of 69.31 metres.

• Australia claimed bronze in the mixed relay race walk marathon.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Coffee prices hit fresh highs as weather wreaks havoc on crops in Brazil and Vietnam

• Coffee bean prices are climbing due to adverse weather in Brazil and Vietnam, leading to higher costs for Australian roasters and consumers. LINK

• The share of suburbs with median house prices over $1M has surged in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. LINK

• CrowdStrike released an analysis of last month's global IT outage, revealing an error that could’ve been avoided by first-year programming students. LINK

• VIC Police and the Fair Work Commission are investigating the CFMEU for breaking federal law over 2,600 times in 21 years through financial fraud involving “ghost printing”, resulting in $24M in fines. LINK

• Australia is considering importing pineapples from India and Indonesia due to a domestic undersupply. LINK

• The QLD government proposed measures to reduce fuel prices, following WA's example, by requiring petrol stations to release prices a day in advance and capping price rises. LINK

GLOBAL NEWS

Kamala Harris picks Tim Walz as running mate

• Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in the upcoming US election. LINK

• China’s exports growth slowed unexpectedly in July, despite still being up 7% in dollar terms compared to the prior year. LINK

• AI technology used at the Olympics has blocked 4,000 abusive messages targeting athletes, with some senders referred to police for potential prosecution. LINK

COMPANY NEWS

Beyoncé, PlayStation games help Sony post a 10% jump in profits

• Sony reported a 10% rise in Q1 operating profit boosted by its PlayStation, Beyoncé and image sensor business. LINK

• Reddit will test AI-generated summaries at the top of search results to help users discover content and communities, leveraging technology from OpenAI and Google. LINK

• Airbnb's forecasted Q3 revenue fell below estimates due to shorter booking windows amid economic uncertainty. LINK

• Uber beat estimates, driven by steady demand for ride-sharing and food delivery with notable growth in LatAm and APAC regions. LINK

• Disney to raise streaming prices for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ from mid-October. LINK

• Band-Aid, Listerine owner Kenvue saw strong Q2 sales in its essential health products unit. LINK

• Westpac alleged RAMS Financial franchises engaged in kickbacks and faked tax returns, leading to the shutdown of the 33-year-old brand amid an ASIC probe. LINK

• Domino’s Pizza faces pressure to turn around its performance, with its US parent company and local chairman becoming more involved in management amid near-decade low share prices. LINK

• Google is replacing production of Chromecast with Google TV Streamer. LINK

• Honda's Q1 profit increased by 23% to US$3.3B, driven by a weaker yen, higher pricing and growing hybrid vehicle sales. LINK

• Puma is facing currency headwinds, higher freight costs and weak consumer demand, despite new marketing efforts. LINK

• Nivea parent Beiersdorf is seeing a slowdown in China's luxury market hit its La Prairie sales. LINK

• Microsoft rebuked Delta Air Lines’ lawsuit for its prolonged recovery from the Crowdstrike global outage. LINK

• TikTok agreed to withdraw the rewards program from its TikTok Lite app in Europe under the Digital Services Act. LINK

• A YouTuber has sued OpenAI, alleging it used creators’ videos without permission to train its AI models. LINK

• Tasmania's new Spirit of Tasmania ferries will be unable to run at full capacity due to incomplete port infrastructure, with full facilities expected by early 2026. LINK

CHART OF THE DAY

How Commuting Can Be Worse for Your Happiness Than Losing a Limb

BRAINTEASER

It’s Game Time

It's coming around to the end of the week. How much brain power do you have left to solve the below?

In end-of-year tests, the following results were achieved by students taking Maths, Physics and Computing:

• Everyone who passed Physics also passed at least one of the other two subjects.

• No one who passed Maths failed Computing.

• No one passed all three subjects.

• No one failed all three subjects.

Which one of the following is not possible?
A) Luca failed Physics and Maths.
B) Luca passed Physics and Maths.
C) Luca passed Physics and Computing.
D) Luca passed either only Maths or only Computing.

Answers below

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ANSWERS

B) Luca passed Physics and Maths.