Zero's Briefs

News — France, hottest July on record — July 2026 saw France record an average temperature of 24.9°C, the highest figure since records began, also ranking as the third driest. The conditions fuelled wildfires that burned 120,000 hectares of land. The news comes from a single source (The World Now), which aggregates French weather and civil protection data. Source: The World Now

Technology — Anthropic in talks with Samsung for custom chip — Anthropic is in preliminary talks with Samsung to develop a custom artificial intelligence chip, reducing its reliance on Nvidia in the wake of a similar move by OpenAI with Broadcom. The news comes from a single source (Crescendo AI). Source: Crescendo AI

Culture — British Museum opens exhibition on Korean art — A new exhibition opening in October at the British Museum in London will trace over two thousand years of Korean art and culture, from 300 BC to the present day, featuring historical and modern objects including ceramics, ritual bronzes and video art. It will run from 1 October 2026 to 31 January 2027. Single source (The Past). Source: The Past

Sport — Barcelona, friendly with Basel and transfer market open — Hansi Flick’s Barcelona will face Basel on 16 August at St. Jakob-Park. On the transfer market, Atlético Madrid have rejected the blaugrana’s interest in Julián Álvarez despite the player’s wish to leave the club, while LA Galaxy have signed former midfielder Sergi Roberto on a two-year contract. Single source (Yahoo Sports). Source: Yahoo Sports

Film and Entertainment — Guadagnino to receive career achievement award in Venice — Luca Guadagnino will receive the Glory to the Filmmaker award at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, a recognition awarded by the festival’s artistic direction. Single source (Screen Daily). Source: Screen Daily