Daily Buzz: 3 June 2026

Top News

Russian Launches Major Attacks Across Ukraine, Killing 18

Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones on 38 sites across Ukraine, killing at least 18 and injuring 100. The cities of Kiev and Dnipro were among the targets. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two high-rise apartment buildings had been struck, with fears there are still people trapped under the rubble, and the attacks caused fires and blackouts in his city. Moscow last week warned of stepped-up attacks in retaliation for a Ukraine drone attack in late May that Russia claims hit a dormitory in the Russian-held Luhansk region in the east of the country. Ukraine said it struck only a military site there.

Middle East Peace Talks Remain Stalled, Focus Shifts to Lebanon

The Middle East war remained in what has now become a familiar groove: US President Trump says a peace settlement is nigh but none appears; Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Lebanon but continues to bomb parts of the country; and oil prices, uncertain what's ahead, hover near US$100 a barrel. US news website Axios reported that Trump cursed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a heated phone call over Israel's stepped-up bombing of Lebanon that threatens to derail peace talks. Lebanese and Israeli delegations have begun a fourth round of talks in Washington, but Iran ally Hezbollah, target of Israel's attacks, is not party to them. Benchmark Brent crude futures in New York traded around US$96 a barrel. However, most global stock markets are continuing rallies as fervor over AI technology outweighs uncertainty about the war.

UN Warns of El Nino That May Trigger Extreme Weather

The UN warned that what could be a strong return of the natural weather phenomenon El Nino this year, which coming on top of global warming could lead to extreme weather. The World Meteorological Organization said there's a 90 percent change El Nino will arrive before November. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the world "must treat it as an urgent climate warning. El Nino conditions will pour fuel on the fire of a warming world." Scientists said strong El Ninos are usually associated with heavier rain in parts of South America, the southern US, the Horn of Africa and central Asia. Drier conditions typically hit Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean, Australia, Indonesia and parts of south Asia.

Danish Prime Minister to Begin Third Term After Coalition Formed

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, leader of the Social Democratic Party, will form a center-left coalition minority government months after an inconclusive parliamentary election. Her party won the largest number of votes in March but took only 22 percent of ballots in its weakest performance in more than a century. Frederiksen will be serving her third term as prime minister amid a continuing tug-of-war with US President Donald Trump over control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark.

Top Business

Hiasco Pharma Inks US$3 Billion Deal with Eli Lilly

Chinese drug developer Haisco Pharmaceutical signed a US$3 billion deal with US pharma giant Eli Lilly to jointly develop innovative medicines across multiple therapeutic areas, Yicai reported. Under the agreement, Chengdu-based Haisco will conduct drug discovery and early-stage research and development of up to five innovative drugs identified by Eli Lilly. Once developed, Eli Lilly will have exclusive marketing rights outside China. Haisco will receive initial payments of up to US$87 million, with further milestone payments and royalties from product sales to follow. Haisco develops therapies covering anesthetic analgesia, respiratory diseases, cancer, autoimmune disorders and chronic illnesses.

Anthropic Files for IPO in US

US AI giant Anthropic got the jump on rival OpenAI in seeking a public listing, lodging a confidential application in New York. The company didn't disclose how much it aims to raise in the initial public offering, but its valuation points to a hefty share sale. Anthropic, creator of the Claude large language models and AI agent Claude Code, was valued at US$965 billion in late May. Initial public offerings from tech giants at or near US$1 trillion in value will test investor appetite for AI-related stocks. SpaceX, which has a valuation in excess of US$1 trillion, next week begins a roadshow for its IPO this month, which is expected to seek to raise as much as US$75 billion, which would make it the largest public share sale in history. OpenAI is expected to file its IPO application in several weeks.

Economy & Markets

Unitree Breezes Through Chinese Mainland IPO Process in Record Time

Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics, a leading Chinese developer of humanoid robots, cleared its path to an initial public offering in Shanghai in record time, sailing through listing committee approval on Monday. The company filed to list on Shanghai's STAR Market on March 20. The company is seeking to raise 4.2 billion yuan (US$621 million) by capturing investor zeal for AI-related robotics development. It is planning to sell at least 40 million shares. Following on its heels, Dobot, Leju Robotics and Deep Robotics are also planning Chinese mainland listings. Unitree's updated prospectus showed revenue in the first quarter jumped 68 percent from a year earlier to 422.8 million yuan, but adjusted net profit plummeted over 52 percent to 40.3 million yuan on high research and development costs.

Blackstone Exceeds Target for Latest Asian Fund

US asset manager Blackstone said it raised US$13.1 billion for its latest Asia private equity fund, its largest largest-ever fundraising of its kind in the region. The fund, called Blackstone Capital Partners Asia III, exceeded its original target of US$10 billion before closing subscriptions. Blackstone said it has invested more than US$7 billion in 12 deals in Asia over the past 24 months, including Indian AI cloud platform Neysa, Japanese engineering services provider TechnoPro and South Korean hair salon franchise Juno.

China's Overcrowded Mini-Drama Industry Bodes Ill for Newer Entrants

The rush by newcomers to try to cash in on the Chinese boom in AI-generated mini dramas will likely end up with 99 percent of the wannabes losing money or even facing bankruptcy, Yicai reported, citing industry insiders said. Some 128,000 micro-dramas were released in the first quarter, over 95 percent of them AI-generated, according to China Netcasting Services Association. The market has hit a value of 24 billion yuan, attracting than 280 million users last week. The entry-level cost for producing such dramas is low, but many new production companies are rushing blindly into the industry, which is showing increasing revenue but not increasing profits.

China Raises Childcare Subsidy Funding

China's finance ministry has raised spending on daycare subsidies for childcare this year by nearly 11 percent to 99.9 billion yuan (US$14.8 billion) as Beijing steps up efforts to support families and encourage births amid an aging demographic. The ministry said total spending on subsidies by central and local governments is expected to reach about 110 billion yuan. Families are eligible to receive 3,600 yuan per child every year until the child reaches the age of three. The policy benefits 28 million families.

Corporate

Dajin Heavy Chalks Up More Orders for Shipbuilding

Dajin Heavy Industry, a major Chinese supplier of offshore wind turbine structures, said it secured orders for four bulk carriers from Greek and Norwegian shipowners in two deals valued at US$300 million. The Shenzhen-listed company has been on a roll with new orders after expanding into vessels. It earlier reported three orders in a month. Beijing-based Dajin Heavy will build the four latest ships at its coastal shipyard in the city of Panjin, each with 211,000 deadweight tons, for delivery in 2029.

Online Dating Service Fails to Matchmake Profit With Goals

Nasdaq-listed Hello Group, which operates online dating sites Momo and Tantan in the Chinese mainland, reported net income attributed to the shareholders of the group dropped 18.7 percent year on year to 291 million yuan (US$43 million) on declines in user numbers. Revenue dropped 5 percent to 2.4 billion yuan, mainly on less income from Momo and Tantan. Chinese mainland revenue fell to 2.1 billion yuan from 1.7 billion yuan, and overseas revenue surged 44 percent, largely from the Middle East and Africa. Paying users on its Momo app fell to 3.7 million from 4.2 million, and users on Tantan dropped to 600,000 from 800,000.

Retailer Li Ning Signs Marketing Pact with Stephen Curry Brand

Chinese sportwear retailer Li Ning has signed a deal with US basketball star Stephen Curry to sell his Curry brand sneakers and sports apparel. Li Ning, which has 7,600 points of sale around Asia, didn't disclose financial terms of the agreement, but it was described as a long-term partnership. Curry plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association.

China Mobile Widens the Information Highway

China Mobile announced that it has put into operation the world's first three-band, ultra-low-loss, multi-core optical cable line in the eastern city of Qingdao. The technology combines short-wavelength, long wavelength and conventional communications bands, using a four-core fiber structure. The company likened the development to expanding the information highway from two lanes to three lanes, increasing single-core bandwidth by nearly 50 percent.

General Mills to Grant Häagen-Dazs Rights to China Investors

General Mills, the giant US foods group, has agreed to grant exclusive rights to use the Häagen-Dazs brand for ice cream shops and gift businesses in the Chinese mainland to an investor group that includes lemon tea chain Ningji. The deal, which is likely to be closed by the end of this year, will leave General Mills with ownership and operation of Häagen-Dazs retail and food services on the mainland. Financial details weren't revealed. Häagen-Dazs ranked third among ice cream brands in China last year.