** The morning after being called out on national television by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain during the Democratic National Convention, Stellantis has confirmed it is delaying plans to reopen the shuttered Belvidere Assembly Plant.
** Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will no longer make all-electric three-row SUVs and will instead produce hybrid SUVs, among other actions aimed at making its electric vehicle business profitable sooner. The Dearborn-based automaker said it will prioritize the introduction of a new, all-electric commercial van in 2026.
** BlackRock Inc. reduced its support for shareholder proposals on environmental and social issues for a third straight year, arguing that many of the efforts lacked merit and harmed long-term financial interests while doing little to improve companies.
** U.S. railroad operator Union Pacific has warned that a potential rail strike in Canada will have “devastating consequences” on the North American economy. More than 2,500 Union Pacific cars per day would not move across the border, CEO Jim Vena said in a letter to Canadian Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon on late Monday.
** Gov. Mark Gordon said Wyoming is studying ways to support Utah in its quest to gain control of federal land in that state. Utah filed a U.S. Supreme Court case Tuesday aimed toward gaining control of 18 million acres of its federal lands reported the Cowboy State Daily.
World
** A Greek-flagged oil tanker traveling through the Red Sea came under repeated attack Wednesday, leaving the vessel “not under command” and drifting ablaze after an assault suspected to have been carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the British military said.
** Volkswagen has attacked Brussels over its decision to impose “incomprehensible” tariffs on electric cars made in China. The German car giant lashed out after the EU revealed plans to charge Volkswagen higher import tariffs than rivals in China, as well as Elon Musk’s Tesla.
** Approvals for new coal-fired power plants in China dropped sharply in the first half of this year, according to an analysis released Tuesday, after a flurry of permits in the previous two years raised concern about the government’s commitment to limiting climate change.
** Australia approved on Wednesday plans for a massive solar and battery farm that would export energy to Singapore, a project billed as the “largest solar precinct in the world”. Authorities announced environmental approvals for SunCable’s US$24 billion project in Australia’s remote north that is slated to power three million homes.