Axios

The Dutch central bank said this week that it was shifting about 86 tonnes of gold bars out of New York and Canada and moving them closer to home.

Why it matters: Countries are rethinking where they stash their gold reserves, as relations with the United States have frayed and geopolitical unrest has risen.

• The move comes at a time when the status of the U.S. at the center of the world financial system is in question.
• Foreign governments also now hold a much lower share of U.S. Treasury bonds.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is conducting an internal review of a civilian casualty incident at a wedding during the strikes in Iran on Tuesday, U.S. officials say.

Why it matters: While it still hasn't been confirmed that the incident was caused by the U.S. strike, it is one of the more significant civilian casualty incidents since the war began six months ago.

The price of wheat is soaring — trading at levels last reached in early 2023, when markets were climbing down from the price shock of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Why it matters: Escalating tensions in the war are again pushing up prices for this critical grain.

Oil prices are heading back toward $100 a barrel, and, perhaps more crucially, the price of diesel fuel futures is now sitting at an all-time high. 

Why it matters: Investors are starting to recognize that higher oil prices from the Iran war aren't something they can continue to ignore.

People 65 and older now outnumber children ages 5 and younger worldwide for the first time in recorded history, according to a new report by the U.S. Census.

Why it matters: A global plunge in fertility — demographers' term for the number of children being born — and increased longevity are creating a demographic inversion that's projected to deepen for decades.

• It's a trend that's shifting the historic balance between working-age people and older adults.

White House Envoy Steve Witkoff met last weekend with the national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates to discuss next steps on Iran, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting.

Why it matters: The talks, which weren't announced by the White House and haven't been reported until now, took place amid the Trump administration's push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while choking Iran economically. Witkoff met with Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed al Nahyan (TBZ) on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.

Israel will build Greece a missile-and-drone defense network similar to its own.

Why it matters: The arrangement, dubbed Achilles Shield, is valued at around €3 billion, or almost $3.5 billion. It's billed as the largest defense export in the history of Israel-Greece relations.

Aitan on Wednesday emerged from stealth, backed by tens of millions of dollars and, by its own tally, hundreds of thousands of hours operating alongside the Israel Defense Forces.

Why it matters: The startup is offering "robotic sovereignty as a service" and "edge AI weapon systems" — giving governments and militaries a backbone to build out their unmanned and autonomous forces quickly and with the lessons of the Middle East and Eastern Europe already digested.

• "Warfare has totally transformed over the past few years," co-founder Daniel Almog told Axios.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who'll preside over a parade of tech tycoons at today's G20 innovation summit, tells me he's confident the U.S. will stay ahead of China in the AI race by continuing to define the frontier.

• "It's teacher-student," Lutnick said Tuesday in a sunny conference room between meetings with Chinese and Turkish officials.
• China's open-weight models, he said, "study off of the large language models of America. ... The teacher is the smartest person in the world, and relentlessly pushing to the frontier. The student ... can't be in the lead, because they're learning from the teacher."

The Pentagon has entered a period of profound institutional turmoil, as a crisis of leadership at home converges with a crisis of capacity abroad.

Why it matters: Six months into the Iran war, Pete Hegseth presides over a Pentagon with fewer senior leaders, fewer critical weapons and less public accountability than at any point in President Trump's two terms.