Crypto News: Rex in crisis

Hello, it's Harry here in Sydney. Here's the news you need to start your day.

Today's must-reads:
• Rex enters voluntary administration
• BHP and Canva deals
• Rio earnings

Rex has entered into voluntary administration, the second domestic airline to fail this year in a market dominated by Qantas. Regional Express Holdings Ltd., as Rex is formally known, has appointed Ernst & Young as administrators. Domestic flights on Rex's fleet of Boeing 737 jets have been canceled, while regional flights operated using Saab 340 aircraft are unaffected.

BHP swooped to buy Filo Corp., teaming up with Lundin Mining in a $3 billion deal to gain South American copper assets. Growth in copper has been a focus for much of CEO Mike Henry's tenure.

Mike Henry, chief executive officer of BHP Group in Melbourne on Aug. 22, 2023. Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

Canva is buying image generation startup Leonardo.ai in its second acquisition this year, accelerating a charge into artificial intelligence to take on creative software leader Adobe. The deal lets Canva integrate the smaller firm's video and image generation models into its own products.

Rio Tinto's first-half underlying profit edged higher, even after iron ore prices came under pressure from China's economic slowdown and property crisis. The company reported underlying earnings of $5.8 billion in the six months to June 30, up 1.8% from the year before.

The world's largest technology companies extended losses in late hours as Microsoft's results fueled concern the AI frenzy that has powered the bull market might have gone too far. Microsoft's Azure cloud service posted a slowdown in quarterly growth, disappointing investors anxious to see a payoff from huge investments in artificial intelligence products.

Venezuela cracked down on resistance to Nicolás Maduro's self-declared election victory, arresting 749 people and detaining Freddy Superlano, a prominent backer of opposition leader María Corina Machado.

Israel targeted a senior Hezbollah commander with an airstrike on Beirut, in retaliation to a rocket attack in the Golan Heights that killed 12 young people over the weekend.

All times Sydney
• 11:30 a.m.: Australia 2Q CPI
• 11:30 a.m.: Australia June Retail Sales

Kamala Harris has wiped out Donald Trump's lead across seven battleground states, as the vice president rides a wave of enthusiasm among young, Black and Hispanic voters, according to the latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll.