CNBC International

The World Robot Conference 2024 kicked off this week in Beijing, showcasing China’s newly-developed humanoid robots. CNBC's Evelyn Cheng gave us a tour. ➡️ The conference has attracted 169 companies, showcasing more than 600 products.   ➡️ Humanoid robot on display demonstrated playing music, cooking, and even serving food.   ➡️ Most estimates say the global robotics market will be worth more than $100 billion by the end of the decade.

5 big stories we were watching today #CNBCMarkets Europe market moves European stocks closed higher Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell firmly signaled interest rate cuts ahead. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/3T0gt8G #CNBCEconomy BoE's Bailey: 'More restrictive policy' may still be needed Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will hail the progress made in dampening inflation in the U.K. in a Friday speech. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/3T2DKaa #CNBCTech Body of final person missing from sunken yacht found off Sicily Divers found the body of the final person missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of northern Sicily, the Italian fire service said. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/3T2epNx #CNBCClimate Europe’s wineries battle to survive extreme heat Extreme weather is threatening production at southern Europe’s wineries, with one fine wine grape variety at risk of extinction. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/3yTvqTg #CNCPro Gold miners ‘ripe’ for a break out Gold continues to be red hot, with prices repeatedly hitting record highs. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/46XxSEG

Two Japanese companies have teamed up to achieve one big goal: producing hydrogen on the moon. Takasago Thermal Engineering has designed a mini electrolyzer that can adapt to low gravity and endure a rocket’s intense vibrations during liftoff. Once in space, the hydrogen-making machine will be operated remotely from ispace, inc.’s Mission Control Centre in Tokyo. “We started to study hydrogen almost 20 years ago. Now, we are developing a large-scale electrolyzer. What we do in space would give us definite technology and skills to... differentiate from the competitors,” said Hiroyuki Muraoka, Takasago Thermal Engineering’s executive officer, in an interview with “CNBC Tech: The Edge.” For the mission scheduled to launch by the end of 2024, Takasago is bringing a small amount of Earth water for the electrolysis. If the experiment goes as planned, the company will scale up and eventually make hydrogen from lunar water on upcoming missions. “The most difficult point is adaptation for the low gravity. On the moon, gravity is one-sixth compared to that of Earth,” said Atsushi Kato, manager for Takasago Thermal Engineering. “This is an experimental mission. Once we've obtained the data, then we start thinking not only by ourselves, with companies who have interest in doing business with us,” Muraoka said. The electrolyzer will be travelling in Ispace’s lander, an improved version of the company’s first model which took off in 2022 but failed to land on the moon. The lander will also carry a rover, which will explore the lunar surface and collect data, and it will supply solar-generated power to the electrolyzer. “We just completed all final system and environmental tests. All payloads are also ready for rolling. We carefully selected our landing site to avoid a similar issue in Mission 2. And of course, we also improved our software too,” Ispace’s chief technology officer Ryo Ujiie told CNBC’s “The Edge.” If the mission proves successful, it could lay the groundwork for using hydrogen as a propellant for spacecraft, as well as broaden opportunities for space exploration. “If we make a moon gas station, we can live right far away like on Mars and so on,” Ujiie said. Mission 2 is due to launch in a SpaceX rocket in the fourth quarter of 2024. Ispace aims to increase its frequency of the lunar landings and is already looking into Mission 3.

On this week's 'CNBC Tech: Beyond the Valley' newsletter, we look back at UK tech mogul Mike Lynch's life, the world's first airport to require biometric boarding and the EU's slashed tariffs on China-made EVs.

Extreme temperatures are threatening production of the indigenous Assyrtiko grape, critical to the Greek island of Santorini’s internationally recognized fine white wines. ➡️ Global wine production fell 10% in 2023 to 237.3 million hectolitres, the lowest level in over 60 years, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. ➡️ “We thought we had seen the worst. But no, we hadn’t: 2024 has gone beyond all expectations,” Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, co-founder of Greece’s GAIA WINES, told CNBC. Read more: https://cnb.cx/3T0dxZS

Saudi Arabia is moving full steam ahead with its focus on domestic investment — and with that, higher requirements for foreigners coming to the kingdom to take capital elsewhere. ➡️ The fund’s investments in domestic infrastructure and real estate development grew 15% year-on-year to 233 billion riyals, while its foreign investments increased 14% to 586 billion riyals. ➡️At the same time, the Saudi government introduced laws and reforms to facilitate and even mandate investment in the country as it builds out its Vision 2030 plan to diversity its oil-reliant economy. Read more: https://cnb.cx/3XhJTBX

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open lower on Friday as investors await U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s comments at Jackson Hole. ➡️ In Asia, data from Japan showed the country’s headline inflation at 2.8% in July, unchanged from the previous month. ➡️ However, the so called “core-core” inflation rate, which strips out prices of both fresh food and energy and is tracked by the Bank of Japan, fell to 1.9% in July from 2.2% in June. ➡️ This is the lowest the “core-core” inflation rate has reached since September 2022. Read more: https://cnb.cx/4dwRpyw

Self-driving technology company WeRide delayed its plan for an initial public offering in the U.S., citing its need for more time to complete documents. ➡️ It has been a dry market for Chinese IPOs in the U.S. in recent years, and many were watching WeRide’s potential listing for signs of a pickup. ➡️ WeRide was expected to offer 6.5 million ADS (American depositary shares) in the range of $15.50 to $18.50. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eeEqigej

5 big stories we were watching today #CNBCTech British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch found in yacht wreckage The body of Mike Lynch, known as the “British Bill Gates,” has been retrieved from the Bayesian superyacht that sunk off the coast of Sicily. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/3Ax3TY5 #CNBCPolitics What a Kamala Harris election victory could mean for Europe If Harris were to win, political analysts told CNBC they expect a broadly similar approach to Biden’s policy platform — albeit with some subtle differences on major international issues such as the Russia-Ukraine war. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/470o11e #CNBCBanks Deutsche Bank settles with bulk of Postbank claimants  Deutsche Bank has reached settlements with nearly 60% of plaintiffs in a long-running case alleging the German lender underpaid for its acquisition of Postbank more than a decade ago. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/3Awn2ts #CNBCMarkets Europe market moves European stocks moved higher as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s latest comments on the future path of interest rates. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/46ZCSIU #CNBCPro Rising Tesla Megapack sales are a boost for this renewable stock: BofA Grenergy, a Spain-listed renewable energy company, is a promising investment opportunity in the rapidly expanding energy storage sector, according to Bank of America. ➡️ https://cnb.cx/3YVniw1

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protestors have converged in Chicago, the midwest city currently hosting the Democratic National Convention. ➡️ Activists are hoping to send a message to President Joe Biden and the party's nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, demanding they address the conflict in Gaza. ➡️ Protests have mostly been peaceful, though police arrested a reported 56 people on Tuesday.