Oman proposed a formal truce between America and Iran lasting about 10 days, then a plan in which Iran and the Gulf states jointly manage Hormuz in a consortium. They would charge no tolls, only voluntary fees for services like environmental work, as in the Strait of Malacca. Iran refused it again.

The first paragraph permanently ending the war lasted three weeks before fighting resumed. The sides still argue over Iranian funds frozen abroad, which America will release only in phases after compliance. The 60-day period for a comprehensive nuclear and sanctions agreement ends August 16th and has barely begun, with no high-level face-to-face talks.

Greg Karlstrom says no. Admiral Brad Cooper pushes weeks more airstrikes to degrade Iran's ballistic missiles, but Iran could still use drones and short-range missiles. A US blockade hurts Iran but will take months to shift Tehran, and Iranian escalation against Gulf states would not force America to surrender.

The MOU was just 14 points over a page and a half. Karlstrom calls this the hallmark of Donald Trump's Middle East diplomacy: a vague term sheet with substance promised later. He points to the same gaps in the Saudi-Houthi truce, the Gaza deal on Hamas disarmament, and the Israel-Lebanon agreement on Hezbollah.

A tie-up between a local company and Baidu will launch driverless cabs in Switzerland early next year, and similar services are coming to Singapore, Slovakia and Saudi Arabia. Dozens of Chinese firms are also exporting AI services such as coffee-making and cooking robots, while Waymo remains focused on the American market.

China has too many cab drivers and very low fares, so profits are hard at home. A 10-kilometre ride in Wuhan costs about 23 yuan, or $3.40, while the same ride where Swiss driverless cabs will launch costs $54. Deploying the technology in non-deflationary markets makes it a much better value proposition.

Beijing is happy to see more exports, since services and especially AI services exports are still tiny. Looking 10 to 20 years ahead, it is a promising trend. It may also let China reap AI's benefits while farming out abroad some of the social and economic disruption the technology causes to jobs.

Most countries have no driverless taxis and so no technical standards for them. The first mover's technology usually becomes the standard, so American companies expanding later might have to conform to Chinese standards, reversing decades in which America defined the technologies the world used.

She joined Dr. William Randolph Lovelace's programme at 21 and took the same tests as the men, including needles and ice-cold water in her ears. She floated in a sensory deprivation tank for 10 hours, 35 minutes, when most people lasted two hours, and did better than the men overall.

Jeff Bezos invited her to be his guest on the Blue Origin rocket when she was 82. The trip lasted 10 minutes and went 62 miles up. She was then the oldest person to go into space, and remains the oldest woman to have done so. She died aged 87.