Axios

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday said it gave Paramount the green light to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

• It comes following assurances from Paramount that it would preserve editorial independence, invest in U.K. programming and protect children's networks..

Why it matters: It's a major regulatory win for Paramount, which is facing a more contentious approval battle back home.

Apollo Global Management on Thursday agreed to buy EasyJet for around $7.7 billion, beating out private equity rival Castlelake.

Why it matters: EasyJet is one of Europe's largest airlines, and its second-largest budget carrier.

The leaders of America's biggest companies are much less optimistic than they were before the start of the war earlier this year, according to a survey of Fortune 500 leaders out Thursday morning.

Why it matters: When leaders are feeling optimistic, they push for more hiring, capital investment and dealmaking, and that drives growth in the economy and markets.

• And all of that is critically important right now — businesses' AI infrastructure spending is a key driver of GDP growth. Regular folks, meanwhile, are struggling in the face of rising prices.

The FBI opened an investigation into whether President Trump was acting as a Russian asset after he fired FBI Director James Comey in 2017, newly declassified memos show.

Why it matters: The release of the files on the probe, known as "Oxferd Comma," revives one of the most consequential episodes in the Trump-Comey saga and comes months after Trump's Department of Justice again put the former FBI director under criminal indictment.

The U.S. Air Force recently deployed laser weapons to help combat drones overseas, according to an announcement that has flown relatively under the radar.

Why it matters: Employment of directed energy, whether laser or microwave or some combination of the two, is still relatively rare.

• That's despite decades of research and billions and billions of dollars spent.

At least a dozen states are reportedly responding to cyberattacks against local water systems.

Why it matters: This appears to be one of the broadest known coordinated cyber campaigns against U.S. municipal water systems to date, validating years of warnings that poorly secured utilities could become attractive targets.

The U.S. and Japanese governments have acted together to try to prop up the value of the yen on global currency markets. The way they did it contains a clue about U.S. goals — and has some worrying implications for global markets.

The big picture: Headline indicators have been steady across global financial markets this summer. Yet there are some signs of strains beneath the surface, particularly in the form of rising long-term borrowing costs at a time of elevated debt worldwide.

Private equity just met its match: International soccer.

Driving the news: FIFA has dropped plans to form a commercial subsidiary backed by up to $4.2 billion in private investment, led by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Eternal, less than a week after they became publicly known.

America has been napping or distracted by trivialities while China is racing toward the future, in part by taking advantage of President Trump's trade, immigration and budget policies.

• That's the eye-opening reality that Evan Osnos unfurls in a 12-page piece for The New Yorker, "The Future, Made in China."

Why it matters: China could beat the U.S. to the future on a host of fronts, including engineering a cure for cancer.

Nearly eight months after President Trump predicted U.S. companies would "rapidly rebuild Venezuela's dilapidated oil industry" to boost production, no new petroleum deals have been finalized there with American firms.

• The U.S. Department of Energy is largely to blame, a dozen oil industry professionals, senior U.S. officials and Venezuela insiders tell Axios.

Why it matters: The price of oil is climbing as the Iran war squeezes global supplies, spotlighting the absence of finalized deals in Venezuela — a nation with the highest estimated petroleum reserves on the planet.