Polkadot News
Mandala Chain has won the most recent parachain lease auction. https://parachains.info/auctions
Sub0 Asia 2024 has begun in Bangkok, Thailand. You can also obtain a free virtual ticket to watch online here: Polkadot | Freedom to build at Web3 scale
Gavin Wood’s keynote was on Jam, a new paradigm for how Polkadot can increase scalability and versatility. @Alice_und_Bob has provided a good overview here: https://twitter.com/alice_und_bob/status/1767454972806074693
Web3 Summit is returning to Berlin, 19 - 21 August. Tickets and more information are available here: https://web3summit.com/
Referendum 487, proposing an on-chain Polkadot Ambassadors program, is passing with 96.1% in favor. Polkassembly - Referendum #487
Kusama News
Karura is in the lead in the current parachain auction, but Basilisk has also been in the lead for part of the Ending Period. https://parachains.info/auctions/kusama
This means that either could win this auction, as this is a candle auction and the ending block is unknown. For details, see Web3 and Polkadot - Polkadot Wiki