Deutsche Bank analysts have been watching Amazon Prime, it seems. Specifically, the “breakout” show of the summer, “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” In the AI sphere, analysts Adrian Cox and Stefan Abrudan wrote, it was the summer AI “turned ugly,” with several emerging themes that will set the course for the final quarter of the year. Paramount among them: The rising fear over whether AI has driven Big Tech stocks into the kind of frothy territory that precedes a sharp drop.
The AI news cycle of the summer captured themes including the challenge of starting a career, the importance of technology in the China/U.S. trade war, and mounting anxiety about the impact of the technology. But in terms of finance and investing, Deutsche Bank sees markets “on edge” and hoping for a soft landing amid bubble fears. In part, it blames tech CEOs for egging on the market with overpromises, leading to inflated hopes and dreams, many spurred on by tech leaders’ overpromises. It also sees a major impact from the venture capital space, boosting startups’ valuations, and from the lawyers who are very busy filing lawsuits for all kinds of AI players. It’s ugly out there. But the market is actually “more sober” in many ways than the situation from the late 1990s, the German bank argues.
Still, Wall Street is not Main Street, and Deutsche Bank notes troubling math about the data centers sprouting up on the outskirts of your town. Specifically, the bank flags a back-of-the-envelope analysis from hedge fund Praetorian Capital that suggests hyperscalers’ massive data center investments could be setting up the market for negative returns, echoing past cycles of “capital destruction.”
AI has captured the market’s imagination, with Cox and Abrudan noting, “it’s clear there is a lot of hype.” Web searches for AI are 10 times as high as they ever were for crypto, the bank said, citing Google Trends data, while it also finds that S&P 500 companies mentioned “AI” over 3,300 times in their earnings calls this past quarter.
Stock valuations overall have soared alongside the “Magnificent Seven” tech firms, which collectively comprise a third of the S&P 500’s market cap. (The most magnificent: Nvidia, now the world’s most valuable company at a market cap exceeding $4 trillion.) Yet Deutsche Bank points out that today’s top tech players have healthier balance sheets and more resilient business models than the high flyers of the dotcom era.
By most ratios, the bank said, valuations “still look more sober than those for hot stocks at the height of the dot-com bubble,” when the Nasdaq more than tripled in less than 18 months to March 2000, then lost 75% of its value by late 2002. By price-to-earnings ratio, Alphabet and Meta are in the mid-20x range, while Amazon and Microsoft trade in the mid-30x range. By comparison, Cisco surpassed 200x during the dotcom bubble, and even Microsoft reached 80x. Nvidia is “only” 50x, Deutsche Bank noted.
Despite the relative restraint in share prices, AI’s real risk may be lurking away from its stock-market valuations, in the economics of its infrastructure. Deutsche Bank cites a blog post by Praetorian Capital “that has been doing the rounds.” The post in “Kuppy’s Korner,” named for the fund’s CEO Harris “Kuppy” Kupperman, estimates that hyperscalers’ total data-center spending for 2025 could hit $400 billion, and the bank notes that is roughly the size of the GDP of Malaysia or Egypt. The problem, according to the hedge fund, is that the data centers will depreciate by roughly $40 billion per year, while they currently generate no more than $20 billion of annual revenue. How is that supposed to work?
“Now, remember, revenue today is running at $15 to $20 billion,” the blog post says, explaining that revenue needs to grow at least tenfold just to cover the depreciation. Even assuming future margins rise to 25%, the blog post estimates that the sector would require a stunning $160 billion in annual revenue from the AI powered by those data centers just to break even on depreciation—and nearly $480 billion to deliver a modest 20% return on invested capital. For context, even giants like Netflix and Microsoft Office 365 at their peaks brought in less than a fraction of that figure. Even at that level, “you’d need $480 billion of AI revenue to hit your target return … $480 billion is a LOT of revenue for guys like me who don’t even pay a monthly fee today for the product.” Going from $20 billion to $480 billion could take a long time, if ever, is the implication, and sometime before the big AI platforms reach those levels, their earnings, and presumably their shares, could take a hit.
Deutsche Bank itself isn’t as pessimistic. The bank notes that the data-center buildout is producing a greatly reduced cost for each use of an AI model, as startups are reaching “meaningful scale in cloud consumption.” Also, consumer AI such as ChatGPT and Gemini is growing fast, with OpenAI saying in August that ChatGPT had over 700 million weekly users, plus 5 million paying business users, up from 3 million three months earlier. The cost to query an AI model (subsidized by the venture capital sector, to be sure) has fallen by around 99.7% in the two years since the launch of ChatGPT and is still headed downward.
Praetorian Capital draws two historical parallels to the current situation: the dotcom era’s fiber buildout, which led to the bankruptcy of Global Crossing, and the more recent capital bust of shale oil. In each case, the underlying technology is real and transformative—but overzealous spending with little regard for returns could leave investors holding the bag if progress stalls.
The “arms race” mentality now gripping the hyperscalers’ massive capex buildout mirrors the capital intensity of those past crises, and as Praetorian notes, “even the MAG7 will not be immune” if shareholder patience runs out. Per Kuppy’s Korner, “the megacap tech names are forced to lever up to keep buying chips, after having outrun their own cash flows; or they give up on the arms race, writing off the past few years of capex … Like many things in finance, it’s all pretty obvious where this will end up, it’s the timing that’s the hard part.”
This cycle, Deutsche Bank argues, is being sustained by robust earnings and more conservative valuations than the dotcom era, but “periodic corrections are welcome, releasing some steam from the system and guarding against complacency.” If revenue growth fails to keep up with depreciation and replacement needs, investors may force a harsh reckoning—one characterized not by spectacular innovation but by a slow realization of negative returns.
Buckle up for a busy week with Apple’s annual iPhone event taking center stage on Tuesday, where we’ll be seeing a bunch of new hardware as well as a final preview of iOS 26 and other operating system updates ahead of their public release.
Rumors are continuing to fly about what we should expect from the new iPhone lineup and other devices, with speculation about price increases running rampant as well, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!
Top Stories
Awe Dropping: Everything Coming at the September 9 Apple Event
Apple is holding its annual iPhone-centric event on Tuesday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. This is the biggest Apple event of the year, and we’ll see Apple unveiling new iPhones, new Apple Watches, the AirPods Pro 3, and possibly some other surprises.
Check out our comprehensive guide highlighting everything that we’re expecting to see at the “Awe Dropping” event based on current rumors.
New iPhone 17 Pro Details: Brighter Display, Best Battery Life, and More
We’re just days away from the big event, but we’re continuing to hear more last-minute details about the upcoming lineup. A fresh report claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max will see a number of significant display, thermal, and battery improvements.
For a recap of everything else we’ve heard about the Pro models, be sure to check out our recent overview covering the chip, camera, and more. And on the accessory front, we’ve gotten an interesting glimpse at an alleged first-party clear case which may not be quite as clear as previous versions.
iOS 26: 5 New Features in the Wallet App
iOS 26 adds several features to the built-in Wallet app on the iPhone, providing a new way to track your online shopping, an update to boarding passes, and more. We’ve outlined everything new in the Wallet app in our dedicated guide, so be sure to check it out.
In a bit of a surprise, Apple seeded new developer and public betas of iOS 26 and other upcoming releases this week. This was an unusually late round of betas with the event right around the corner. Apple should be seeding the final release candidate versions to beta testers immediately after Tuesday’s event, with a full public release likely coming the following week.
Base iPhone 17 Pro Could Cost $200 More But With Doubled Storage
Pricing estimates for the iPhone 17 lineup are all over the place, with some sources expecting price increases for at least the iPhone 17 Pro and potentially for the iPhone 17 Air compared to the current Plus-model price point.
Those price increases could, however, see some storage capacity bumps at those starting prices to help cushion the blow for some customers.
Under One Week Until iPhone 17: Here’s What We Know
The base iPhone 17 will be the cheapest of the new flagship lineup, and while it should get some welcome upgrades, it will probably the tamest update Apple has in store.
While we should get some new color options, the overall form factor should be nearly identical to the iPhone 16. It will get the usual chip and camera upgrades, potentially a display update for 120Hz ProMotion, and a range of additional improvements. Read up on everything we’re expecting in our dedicated overview.
Foldable iPhone Coming in 2026, Foldable iPad to Follow in 2028
Apple plans to release a foldable iPhone in 2026, and will then follow it up with a foldable iPad in 2028, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said this week.
Multiple sources have now confirmed that Apple is planning to release its first foldable iPhone in 2026, with the device coming as part of the iPhone 18 lineup. Launch timing on a larger-screened foldable device has been more uncertain.
Lighter, Cheaper Vision Air Coming in 2027
Apple plans to release a lighter weight and more affordable version of the Vision Pro in 2027, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
The upcoming device, which he refers to as the “Vision Air,” will supposedly be over 40 percent lighter than the current model. The Vision Pro weighs in at round 1.375 pounds, so a version that’s 40 percent lighter should come in at under a pound.
Kuo also says the Vision Air will be over 50 percent cheaper, which could make it much more attractive to prospective buyers. The Vision Pro costs $3,499, which means a half-priced version would be $1,750.
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Mel Erwin is pragmatic about what it took to get her on a bike. “I have one and a half lungs. I’m on a treatment drug. I don’t identify as sporty. I wouldn’t have done it without a goal.”
This Sunday the 57-year-old will roar up the Campsie Hills north of Glasgow in a “camp as Christmas” sparkly cape alongside her partner, Sarah, and 3,000 other participants.
It’s all part of the inaugural Tour de 4, a charity ride conceived by Sir Chris Hoy with the aim of challenging assumptions about those living with stage 4 cancer.
The roaring is literal: during months of training, Erwin has found vocalising “really helps” on steeper inclines. And the pink and gold sequins encapsulate the spirit of celebrating each day woven through the event, a hallmark of Hoy’s approach to his own stage 4 prostate cancer.
The six-time Olympic gold medallist stunned the UK late last year when he revealed that his cancer was incurable, with a prognosis of between two and four years to live.
Hoy’s honesty and grace in sharing his circumstances moved Erwin, who has been living with stage 4 lung cancer for five years. “It’s rare that people speak out about having stage 4 cancer. The shame, the confusion, it’s not something we speak about,” she said.
Hoy describes this unique event, where those living with stage 4 cancer will cycle alongside their loved ones to raise funds for cancer charities across the UK, as “an opportunity to push limits”.
Different routes and levels of participation are tailored to the individual’s physical capacity – from riding a static bike for as little as one minute in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, to three outdoor routes of increasing length and elevation.
Chris Hoy in 2008. His ‘honesty and grace’ about living with stage 4 cancer moved Mel Erwin to take part. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA
“This is not about being the fastest,” Hoy has reassured participants. “It’s about preparation, about showing up, riding your way and being part of something bigger than all of us.”
This notion of it being a movement inspired Erwin, who lives in east London, to get involved. “It’s about being part of a community. It’s really isolating having cancer – stage 4 cancer in particular,” she said.
Hoy’s motivation is “to shine a spotlight on what a stage 4 cancer diagnosis can look like and demonstrate that it is possible to live well and lead a happy life alongside this devastating diagnosis”.
It’s an attitude that resonated powerfully with Christine Lote, from Bristol, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bone cancer on her eldest daughter’s third birthday last June. In the “whirlwind of overwhelm and heartbreak” that followed came Hoy’s announcement and his memoir All That Matters. Lote, whose daughters Sophie and Chloe are now two and four, appreciated how Hoy had written about “navigating your diagnosis as a family”.
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Christine Lote, who was stage 4 bone cancer, will take to Scotland’s Campsie Hills in the Tour de 4. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/The Guardian
“Looking back, I’d like my girls to see I was part of something that did challenge me, at a time where I could have easily not been so willing,” she said. “I want to set that role model for them – to be positive and you can still achieve things.”
A particular achievement for Lote, who trained on the Bristol and Bath railway path, has been re-learning to pedal with a prosthetic after her right leg was amputated below the knee.
“It’s been such a focus this year,” she said. “Obviously, I can’t completely forget about the cancer when I’m out there cycling, but I’m not thinking too much about the ‘scan-xiety’ and other stuff, I’m thinking about the cycling.”
Many people who have experience of cancer describe a brutal loss of trust in their own bodies – because cancer can often hide undetected. For Erwin, the training has eased this. “There’s something about keeping the wheels turning, the fact that my muscles, thighs, heart, lungs, everything is working in synchronicity.”
Hoy, Lote and Erwin acknowledge that not everyone with stage 4 cancer can manage a physical challenge like this, and the event is organised around inclusivity. Lote has gathered a list of names from her Instagram page of people who would have loved to have taken part but are now too sick, and will carry it in her cycle jersey.
“Unfortunately, many people I know and love aren’t well enough to do this challenge,” said Erwin. “Me and Christine both know one day that will be us. We’re doing what we can now to raise awareness and to celebrate. But it’s also painful, that’s the reality. On the day, there will be tears because we’ve lost people along the way and one day people will lose us.”
Business: PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies, with a portfolio of some of the most iconic brands in food and beverage. Its brands include: Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker and SodaStream. Its segments include Frito-Lay North America (FLNA); Quaker Foods North America (QFNA); PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA); Latin America (LatAm); Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia (AMESA), and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region (APAC). FLNA makes, markets, distributes and sells branded convenient foods, which include branded dips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos tortilla chips, Fritos corn chips, Lay’s potato chips, and others. QFNA’s products include Cap’n Crunch cereal, Life cereal, Pearl Milling Company syrups and mixes, Quaker Chewy granola bars, Quaker grits, Quaker oatmeal and others. PBNA makes, markets and sells beverage concentrates and fountain syrups under various beverage brands, including Aquafina, Bubly, Diet Pepsi, Gatorade and others.
Stock Market Value: $211.28 billion ($154.32 per share)
Activist: Elliott Investment Management
Ownership: ~1.9%
Average Cost: n/a
Activist Commentary: Elliott is a multistrategy investment firm that manages about $76.1 billion in assets (as of June 30, 2025) and is one of the oldest firms of its type under continuous management. Known for its extensive due diligence and resources, Elliott regularly follows companies for years before making an investment. Elliott is the most active of activist investors, engaging with companies across industries and multiple geographies.
What’s happening
On Tuesday, Elliott sent a presentation and letter to the board of PepsiCo detailing the company’s opportunity to reaccelerate growth and improve performance through greater focus, improved operations, strategic reinvestment and enhanced accountability.
Behind the scenes
PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies, with a portfolio of some of the most iconic brands in food and beverage. Globally, the company is the number one player in snacking and the number two player in beverages trailing only Coca-Cola.
Pepsi is divided between its North America business (60% of revenue) and International (40%). Within North America, its segments are PepsiCo Foods North America and PepsiCo Beverages North America, each of which account for about 30% of the company’s total revenue. Frito-Lay North America, which makes up about 90% of PFNA, is the dominant leader in salty snacks and a consistent growth driver. PBNA has a portfolio of iconic brands, like its flagship Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Gatorade, and a reach that rivals Coca-Cola in a very attractive and high-margin end market. Despite its scale, brand strength and track record of growth, Pepsi’s stock has underperformed, losing almost $40 billion in market cap over the past three years and trailing its benchmark, the S&P Consumer Staples Index, by 169 percentage points over the past 20 years.
Strategic missteps in the company’s core North America businesses are at the root of this underperformance. In 2010, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi acquired most of their bottlers. However, while Coca-Cola moved to refranchise its bottling business, Pepsi kept these vertically integrated. This decision has proven to be a costly mistake for the PBNA segment.
Prior to this strategic divergence, PBNA’s operating margins were 300 bps higher than Coca-Cola. Now, PBNA’s operating margins are 1,000 bps lower, reflecting the cost pressures that come with keeping these cost-intensive and lower margin operations in house.
PBNA’s second misstep was its response to the changes in consumer soda preferences. As soda consumption declined in the early 2000s, PBNA shifted its focus away from soda and towards healthier categories. While this was justified at the time, soda preferences have since stabilized, yet PBNA has not been reinvesting into soda. This lack of focus on its core products has had serious repercussions, including the delayed launch of Pepsi Zero Sugar and reduced investments in core brands like Mountain Dew. Moreover, instead of putting money into these proven brands and products, Pepsi has overextended into weaker brands like Starry, Rockstar, and SodaStream, while also expanding into other stock-keeping units, or SKUs, including limited-time offerings and flavor extensions, resulting in higher manufacturing and distribution costs. As a result, PBNA has around 70% more SKUs than Coca-Cola despite generating about 15% less in retail sales.
PBNA’s weaknesses have forced Pepsi to become increasingly dependent on PFNA, and its FLNA core, to sustain overall growth and meet performance targets.
In 2020, expecting increased demand from Covid, Pepsi began to pursue aggressive investment in PFNA, with capital expenditures rising from $3.3 billion in 2018 to $5.2 billion in 2022. There was some logic to this decision at the time, but the Covid-fueled growth didn’t last. Yet capex has continued to rise to $5.3 billion in 2024, despite FLNA sales actually contracting 0.5%.
To make matters worse, Pepsi was not just increasing capex, but selling, general and administraive costs as well and PFNA’s operating margins fell from 30% to 25% over this time period.
These problems have heavily weighed on Pepsi’s overall performance, as it has caused the market to largely overlook its prosperous international business, which is growing quickly with expanding margins. Once a premium growth offering, Pepsi currently trades at 18x P/E versus a ten-year average of 22x, and an over 4 turn discount to its benchmark compared to a historical 1.4 turn premium.
Elliott, who has announced a $4 billion position in PepsiCo, issued a letter and comprehensive presentation detailing its opportunity to reaccelerate growth and improve performance through greater focus, improved operations, strategic reinvestment and enhanced accountability. For PBNA, Elliott believes the first step is refranchising the bottling network. This move makes a lot of sense – returning to a system that historically outperformed its closest competitor – from the time PepsiCo refranchised its bottlers in 1999 until it repurchased them in 2010, the PepsiCo system significantly outperformed the Coca-Cola system.
Next is portfolio optimization. PBNA simply has too many products and needs to rationalize its SKU count and divest from underperforming brands. Elliott points to the recent sale of Rockstar to Celsius as a prime example of the opportunities that exist to simplify the portfolio.
Both of these steps should free up PBNA’s spending power, which Elliott believes should be reinvested in the core soda franchises and select new growth categories (i.e. protein and probiotics). For PFNA, given its significant deceleration in top-line growth, Elliott believes it is time to halt this aggressive growth strategy and realign its cost base and optimize the portfolio.
Elliott specifically points to Quaker as a potential divesture, highlighting its center of the plate products that rest outside FLNA’s snack core. Moves like these would allow PFNA to concentrate on areas where it has true competitive advantage, specifically in its FLNA products, as well as help restore margins and free up capital for reinvestment in both organic growth and accretive bolt-on M&A. Elliott believes that these changes to the North American business would not only improve the company’s operations but also help reset the greater Pepsi investment story.
Currently, this is a story of underperformance and poor execution, which has weighed down on the company’s valuation and left the international business overlooked and at a discount.
Specifically, Elliott believes that if this plan is implemented effectively, it can provide at least 50% upside to shareholders. Elliott is one of the most prolific activist investors today and has the resources and track record to influence meaningful change at these types of megacap companies.
But track record and resources are meaningless if you do not present a comprehensive plan that demonstrates a thoughtful path for long-term value creation, and Elliott’s 74-page presentation does just that.
Additionally, while activists are often unfairly stereotyped as short-term investors due in part to some who are occasionally correctly characterized that way, this presentation should be viewed as “Exhibit A” in how activists like Elliott have evolved over the years to be long-term minded in alignment with shareholders. Elliott’s plan includes recommendations like: “Reinvest to Revitalize Core and Grow with Focus,” “Pursue Organic and Inorganic Investment To Drive Long-Term Growth,” “then use the incremental proceeds from these actions to reinvest to drive long-term growth,” and “By right-sizing costs and shedding non-core assets, PFNA can unlock capital to reinvest both organically and inorganically to fuel long-term grow.”
In fact, in 74 pages, Elliott uses the word “reinvest” 54 times and not once uses the word “buyback” despite acknowledging how undervalued Pepsi shares are now. Yes, share buybacks now might be great for the short-term, but Elliott’s reinvestment plan is what will be best for the long-term.
For all of these reasons, it is hard to argue with Elliott’s analysis or recommendations and we would expect that shareholders and management agree with much, if not all, of it. Assuming that, the next step is execution of the plan and this might be the most understated, but important, part of Elliott’s presentation.
A good activist and good board members support management in executing their plan but holds them accountable if they fall short. That is exactly what we expect Elliott to do here. At this early stage, Elliott’s plan appears straightforward enough that we do not expect there to be much pushback, and governance changes do not seem necessary at this point to make an impact. That being said, we expect Elliott to continually monitor the situation and progress of management and hold them accountable if they fail to deliver on strategic actions and updated financial targets.
Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist 13D investments.
Some overbought stocks could face pressure in the near term, especially after a record-setting week on Wall Street. The S & P 500 touched a fresh all-time high Friday as traders mounted bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates following a lackluster August jobs report . That enthusiasm turned to worry quickly, however, as the benchmark quickly rolled over to end the day on a down note. Still, the S & P 500 eked out a small gain for the week and sits about 1% from its all-time high. But while the benchmark is near record levels, certain individual names have become overbought — making them vulnerable to declines. CNBC Pro scanned LSEG data to find stocks that are overbought based on their 14-day relative strength index. Stocks that have a 14-day RSI above 70 are considered overbought. Conversely, a reading below 30 signals that a stock may be oversold, indicating a potential bounce from here. Shares of Alphabet have surged more than 9% this week, bring its 14-day RSI to 84.1 — the highest on the list. A favorable ruling in the company’s antitrust case with the U.S. Department of Justice helped add more than $230 billion to the company’s market capitalization this week. A federal judge ruled that Google can keep its Chrome browser, which was a key reprieve for investors given its importance to Alphabet’s revenue. GOOGL YTD mountain Alphabet stock in 2025. Data storage firms Seagate Technology and Western Digital also made the overbought list. Shares of Seagate have gained more than 10% this week, while Western Digital stock has climbed roughly 15%. WDC 5D mountain Western Digital stock has been on a tear this week. Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring named Seagate a top pick in a note to clients this week, noting “increased confidence” in the company’s technology trajectory. He also said a more than 20% valuation discount to peers is “unwarranted.” The stock’s 14-day RSI of 75.4 indicate that shares may have run to far too fast, however. Among oversold names, discount retailer stock Dollar Tree made the list. Shares slipped more than 8% this week after the company’s dull-year guidance fell short of Wall Street’s estimates — which also overshadowed better-than-expected second quarter results. DLTR YTD mountain Dollar Tree stock in 2025.
Lando Norris brought his Friday form forward by topping the timesheets during Free Practice 3 ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.
After setting the pace in second practice, Norris again held the quickest lap in the weekend’s third and final hour by pumping in a time of 1m 19.331s at the wheel of the McLaren, putting him 0.021s clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – who had a couple of big moments during the session – in P2.
Oscar Piastri slotted into third in the other McLaren, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen placing in fourth while the Mercedes of George Russell and Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto followed in fifth and sixth respectively.
To watch all the action from Free Practice 3 at Monza, hit go on the video player above.
Arsenal have revealed their stance on selling Leandro Trossard amid strong links with Besiktas. The Belgian midfielder joined the Gunners in 2023 from Brighton and last month, he signed a new contract extension that will keep him at the Emirates Stadium until the summer of 2027. Trossard had earlier attracted interest from Fenerbahce when Jose Mourinho was still in charge of the club.
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham hinted that he expects his star forward Lionel Messi to continue playing as the hunger for success still burns brightly within him.
Doubts over Messi’s future have been raised for years. The 38-year-old has already twice retired from international soccer only to return to win his first major honors for Argentina. Messi will be out of contract when his deal with Miami expires in December and is yet to commit to an extension.
The wriggling forward didn’t do much to quell speculation surrounding his uncertain future after appearing in his final competitive international on Argentinian soil earlier this week. In the immediate aftermath of an emotional 3–0 victory over Venezuela, Messi admitted: “I don’t think I’ll play in the next World Cup. Given my age, the most logical thing is that it won’t happen. I’m excited, eager, but I’m taking it day by day, match by match.”
When pushed on his involvement in the 2026 World Cup, Messi insisted that no decision had yet been made. He was similarly non-committal when it came to his future at club level. “We finish the season at the end of the year, and hopefully we can be MLS champions,” he added. “Then preseason comes, and I’ll have six months left. I’ll see how I feel.”
Beckham, however, appears to believe that Messi “still wants more.”
“A special night for a special person…” Beckham wrote on Instagram. “Everything has been achieved but he still wants more, not for himself but for his country… Last night Argentina celebrated Leo in the way he truly deserves… felicitaciones leo.”
Despite his seniority, Messi hasn’t shown too many signs of ageing. In the space of just 17 MLS starts this year, Inter Miami’s captain has racked up 19 goals and eight assists. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is his side’s most prolific scorer and creator, orchestrating almost every attacking move his side put together.
The slower pace of international soccer hasn’t yet passed Messi by. Surrounded by a fleet of enthusiastic and energetic young forwards for Argentina, the veteran skipper is the team’s undisputed talisman. Since leading his nation to a second successive Copa América triumph in 2024, Messi has directly contributed to eight goals (five scored, three created) in seven appearances.
READ THE LATEST SOCCER NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MATCH REACTION
Toddler evacuated from Gaza with rare disease recovers from malnutrition in Italian hospital
NAPLES: Since arriving emaciated in Italy from Gaza, little Shamm Qudeih has celebrated her second birthday and gained weight on a new diet that includes a special porridge — progress welcomed by doctors treating her for severe malnutrition worsened by a genetic metabolic disease.
Just weeks ago, the toddler was all skin and bones as she clung to her mother in a hospital in southern Gaza, after months of being unable to get the food and treatment she needed because of an Israeli blockade aimed at pressuring the Hamas militant group to release hostages. Then she was evacuated to Italy for medical treatment, along with six other Palestinian children.
A striking photo of Shamm wincing in her mother’s arms, with her hair matted and ribs protruding from her chest, was taken by Associated Press freelance journalist Mariam Dagga just days before the child left Gaza on Aug. 13. It was one of Dagga’s last images. She was among 22 people killed in an Aug. 25 Israeli strike on the same hospital in southern Gaza.
More than half a million people in Gaza, a quarter of the population, are experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger because of the blockade and ongoing military operations, the world’s leading authority on hunger crises said last month. Gaza City, in the north, is experiencing famine, it said.
Toddler perks up
By this week, Shamm was sitting up, alert in a hospital crib in Naples, her fine blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail. She wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “cute.” Her wide eyes gleamed as her older sister and mother called her name from across the room, and she broke into a smile.
Weighing around 4 kilograms (9 pounds) when she arrived in Italy, Shamm was “in a serious and challenging clinical state,” said Dr. Daniele de Brasi, a pediatric genetic disease specialist who is treating her at Santobono Pausilipon Children’s Hospital in Naples.
She now weighs 5.5 kilograms (just over 12 pounds), which is still no more than half of the median weight for a child of her age, de Brasi said.
The doctor said “a big part” of her undernourishment was due to a genetic metabolic disease called glycogen storage disease, which interferes with the absorption of nutrients, particularly carbohydrates, and can cause muscle weakness and impede growth. The condition is primarily managed through a high-carbohydrate diet.
So far, “We are very satisfied with her progress,’’ de Brasi said.
A mother’s struggle.
Israel military offensive on Gaza has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians in nearly two years of fighting. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and run by medical professionals, does not say how many were civilians or combatants but that around half of those killed were women and children.
The family was forced to move more than a dozen times, and Shamm’s mother, Islam, struggled to get her proper medical care, visiting many hospitals and clinics. Doctors suspected the rare condition but could not test for it, much less treat it properly. They sometimes offered antibiotics.
“It became worse as a result of the lack of food, treatment and possibilities,” Islam said in an interview with Shamm resting on her shoulder. “We have been displaced maybe about 15 times, from tent to tent. We walked long distances and, along the way, it was hot, and the sun was hitting us.”
For a while, doctors administered a special formula, but Shamm would not take it, having lost the habit of drinking milk after supplies in Gaza became scarce.
The UN warned last month that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began. Nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found to have acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are likely an undercount.
A final photograph in Gaza
It was at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis that Dagga photographed Shamm for the last time on Aug. 9. During the visit, Shamm cried in pain in her hospital bed. Her arms, legs and ribs were skeletal, her belly swollen.
Islam had gone to school with Dagga, who visited the hospital, and remembered her fondly.
“She was always coming to the hospital to check on me and Shamm,” right up to the day of their departure for Italy, Islam said. “She stayed until the last step of the stairs to say goodbye to me.”
After arriving in Italy, Islam learned that Dagga had died in an attack that killed four other journalists.
“I was upset when I heard and knew that she had died,” Islam said.
Ongoing treatment
Shamm is among 181 Palestinian children being treated in Italy, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry. About one-third of those have arrived since March, when Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas and imposed the 2 1/2 month blockade on all imports, including food and medicine.
Israel denies there is starvation in Gaza, despite accounts to the contrary from witnesses, UN agencies and experts. It says it allowed enough aid to enter before and after the tightened blockade and has allowed increased supplies in recent weeks.
In Naples, Shamm now has a feeding tube in her nose to ensure she gets the right mix of nutrients overnight. Doctors aim to remove the tube in about a month. During the day, she is free to eat solid food, including meat and fish. A cornerstone of her diet is the carbohydrate-rich porridge.
Her current intake is around 500 calories a day, which doctors are gradually increasing.
“In these cases, growing too fast can cause problems,” de Brasi said.
Her 10-year-old sister, Judi, was brought to Italy as an accompanying family member, and doctors began treating her after noting that she was at least three or four kilograms underweight, de Brasi said. She has gained two kilograms (nearly 5 pounds) and is in good condition.
With both daughters improving, Shamm’s mother is allowing herself to experience relief. But it is too soon to think about going back to Gaza, where Shamm’s father is.
“Now there is no way to go back, as long as the war is going on. There are no possibilities for my daughters,’’ she said.
