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As we speak’s agenda: Nato summit; Monte dei Paschi share sale scrutiny; EU single market, Russia’s unjammable drones and an interview with Delphine Arnault
Good morning. We start within the Center East which is waking as much as Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Right here’s the newest.
What occurred: The US president final evening stated that Israel and Iran have agreed “an entire and complete ceasefire”. He additionally stated the truce can be carried out in phases, by Iran then Israel, over 24 hours.
Iran’s international minister later posted on X that there was no settlement, including that Tehran had “no intention to proceed our response” if Israel stopped its “aggression”.
Israel has not but given a response concerning the ceasefire.
Israeli paramedics in the meantime stated this morning that three folks had been killed in an Iranian missile strike within the south of the nation.
Market affect: Fairness markets opened larger in Asia following the ceasefire announcement. The greenback weakened 0.3 per cent towards a basket of its key buying and selling companions. Oil costs extended declines as merchants responded with reduction. Brent crude, the worldwide benchmark, fell 4.1 per cent to $67.61 a barrel.
Observe our live blog for the newest updates if de-escalation of hostilities materialises and holds. And right here’s extra protection of the battle:
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Trump’s Iran coverage: The head-spinning course changes on Tehran revealed as soon as once more how the US president alternates between blustery threats, efforts to chop offers, excessive measures and sudden victory laps.
Be a part of FT journalists and company for a webinar tomorrow unique to FT subscribers to assist unpack the strategic, diplomatic and financial stakes of the Israel-Iran warfare. Register here.
Right here’s what else we’re preserving tabs on right now:
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Central banks: Financial institution of England governor Andrew Bailey offers proof in Westminster to the Lords financial affairs committee whereas Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell delivers his semi-annual financial coverage report earlier than the Home monetary companies committee.
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Financial knowledge: Germany releases the Ifo enterprise local weather index for June whereas the US experiences on Could state employment and unemployment figures.
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Nato summit: Leaders from member states meet in The Hague for a summit geared toward placating Trump over defence spending. The gathering is vulnerable to descending into acrimony.
5 extra prime tales
1. Unique: Germany will enhance defence spending by greater than two-thirds by 2029, outpacing France and the UK as Chancellor Friedrich Merz drives rearmament of Europe’s largest financial system within the face of an aggressive Russia and a risky America. Anne-Sylvaine Chassany has more on the plans.
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Macron and Merz: As norms erode and outdated certainties are challenged, Europe should act accordingly and arm itself for an unstable world, writes the president of France and chancellor of Germany.
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Nato spending: Sir Keir Starmer will pledge to the alliance that the UK will elevate defence funding to 5 per cent of GDP inside a decade.
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Transatlantic tie-ups: US defence corporations are wooing European rivals as they aim the area’s military spending spree.
2. Unique: The European Fee is analyzing the Italian authorities’s sale of shares in Monte dei Paschi di Siena final yr, following claims that enormous buyers resembling UniCredit, Norway’s oil fund and BlackRock had been shut out of the bidding course of. Read the full report.
3. Currencies, shares and bonds in growing nations are defying Trump’s commerce warfare and the battle within the Center East to outperform world markets in 2025 as buyers search to diversify away from greenback belongings amid considerations over erratic US policymaking.
4. Unique: The chief government of Deutsche Financial institution’s asset administration arm has urged European policymakers to undertake a extra pragmatic stance in direction of investments from China and the Gulf, as Berlin prepares to spend a whole bunch of billions overhauling its creaking infrastructure. Learn the interview with DWS chief Stefan Hoops.
5. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and TV anchor Lauren Sánchez’s marriage ceremony in Venice this week has change into a lightning rod for protest, as locals disgruntled with overtourism be part of local weather activists to rage towards a spectacle that to them epitomises many of the world’s ills.
The Huge Learn

Greater than three many years after it was launched, a whole bunch of boundaries persist inside the EU’s single market. In an period of commerce wars, Brussels believes it may well enhance competitiveness by bettering the move of products, companies and capital. However earlier makes an attempt to unite the bloc have floundered on nationwide sensitivities. Translating a newly discovered political momentum into the mandatory reforms proposed can be the toughest challenge.
We’re additionally studying . . .
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Navy briefing: Russia’s summer time offensive is beginning to achieve floor in Ukraine, with Moscow’s forces aided by drones that cannot be jammed.
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‘Chains of thought’: The world’s main synthetic intelligence teams are struggling to power AI fashions to show how they operate.
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‘Verification drawback’: As expertise turns into higher, a return to face-to-face encounters seems to be extra doubtless, writes Stephen Bush.
Chart of the day
The principle motive to fret about world commerce imbalances shouldn’t be the affect on manufacturing, which, for a rustic just like the US, is a second order situation, however reasonably on monetary stability. That is additionally why fiscal adjustment needs to be a co-operative venture when the individuals are such large economies, writes Martin Wolf.

Take a break from the information

Final month, Dior chief government Delphine Arnault appointed Jonathan Anderson as inventive director to supervise each the lads’s and ladies’s collections. Her resolution to herald the Northern Eire-born designer is her largest wager since she took the helm of the division in 2023. Learn extra on her plans to open a brand new chapter at LVMH’s second biggest brand.