Qatar Investment Authority has agreed to buy a 5% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment — the parent company of the NBA's Washington Wizards, WNBA's Washington Mystics and NHL's Washington Capitals — from owner Ted Leonsis at a reported enterprise value north of $4 billion.
Why it matters: This would be the first time a sovereign wealth fund has purchased part of an NBA team, but there are questions as to if the league will sign off.
Italian oil major Eni has agreed to buy most of London-based oil and gas company Neptune Energy for $4.9 billion in cash from a group of private equity firms.
Why it matters: This is the largest all-cash European energy merger in years, and comes amid two countervailing trends: The need to replace lost Russian imports, and the need to reduce carbon emissions.
Tropical Storm Cindy formed over the central tropical Atlantic on Thursday night, becoming the third named storm of the season.
Why it matters: It's the first time on record that two Atlantic tropical cyclones have formed in June in the area known as the Main Development Region (MDR), as Tropical Storm Bret remains active in the Caribbean, meteorologist Eric Fisher noted.
OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operated the missing Titanic tourist submersible, said Thursday it believes the pilot and four passengers aboard the vessel have died.
The latest: After the sub's disappearance on Sunday, the U.S. Navy detected sounds it suspected to be the Titan imploding using a military acoustic detection system, multiple outlets reported, citing a senior American Navy official.
Driving the news: While officials from the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards worked for days to locate the vessel, debris discovered in the search area ultimately led them to believe the vessel's pressure chamber suffered a "catastrophic loss."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who rarely takes questions from reporters, issued an emphatic defense of India's democracy in a press conference on Thursday alongside President Biden.
Why it matters: The Biden administration sees Modi's state visit as a launchpad to a deeper relationship with India, a rising economic power that is central to Biden's strategy to contend with China. But India's crackdown on dissent and persecution of minorities on Modi's watch cast a shadow over the proceedings.
Guatemala's young democracy will be further tested during Sunday's elections, which experts say have been plagued by illegal use of government funds and secretive rulings on which candidates qualify to run.
What to know: Guatemalans will also choose 160 members of Congress, 340 mayors and 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament amid what human rights experts say is a democratic backsliding that includes widespread corruption in the country's main institutions.
A majority of Latinos in a new survey say it's important to shift to electric vehicles to minimize climate change damage, but they expressed more interest in buying gas-powered cars over EVs.
Why it matters: Experts say that illustrates a lack of access to electric vehicles, which can be more expensive, as U.S. leaders push toward widespread adoption.
The Bank of England said it would raise interest rates by a half percentage point Thursday, surprising economists and traders that anticipated a smaller move.
Why it matters: The central bank returned to hiking rates by an outsized amount as the U.K. faces the worst inflation pressures of any major developed nation.
India is undercutting President Biden's strategy on Ukraine and backsliding on the human rights and democracy issues at "the core" of Biden's foreign policy — but U.S. officials are anxious to demonstrate this week that relations have never been better.
Why it matters: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit underscores the stakes of the bet the U.S., and some major U.S. companies, are placing on the world's most populous country.
Editor's note: The Titan sub’s passengers are believed to be dead. See Axios’ latest coverage.
The massive search for a tourist submersible carrying five people that went missing in the North Atlantic during a diving trip to the wreck of the Titanic entered its fifth day Thursday, as oxygen supply concerns grow.
Driving the news: Capt. Jamie Frederick, the response coordinator from the First Coast Guard District, said during a news conference remotely operated vehicles (ROV) were searching an area where underwater noises were detected Tuesday and Wednesday.
