Good morning. Today we’re covering:
But we start in the US, where more details have emerged about the shooter who tried to assassinate Donald Trump at a presidential campaign rally on Saturday.
The Republican candidate yesterday called for national unity in the face of “evil”, a day after he was injured in what the FBI are investigating as domestic terrorism and an attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a town in the battleground state about 40 miles from where the rally took place.
Law enforcement officers searched Crooks’s car yesterday, where they found a “suspicious device” that was inspected by bomb technicians and was later rendered “safe”, FBI agent Kevin Rojek said.
The brazen act of political violence has transformed the 2024 race and threatens to further polarise the country with less than four months to go until polling day in November. Read more of our coverage:
The Republican National Convention begins today in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Trump will be formally selected as the party’s nominee for president this week. Sign up for our US Election Countdown newsletter for the latest updates on the race.
And here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on:
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China: The Communist party’s Third Plenum begins in Beijing, running until Thursday. Here’s what to expect from this key economic policy meeting.
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Economic data: China releases its second-quarter GDP estimate, plus retail sales and industrial production figures for June. India, Indonesia and South Korea report June trade data.
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Monetary policy: The People’s Bank of China announces its medium-term lending facility rate.
Five more top stories
1. The chief of Japan’s stock exchange said fewer companies were listing “aimlessly” as a result of its corporate governance drive and rising shareholder activism. Hiromi Yamaji told the FT that in the past, companies “just kept listing because it was prestigious”.
2. Google’s parent company Alphabet is in talks to buy cyber security start-up Wiz for about $23bn, according to people familiar with the matter. If a deal were reached it would be the largest acquisition in the tech group’s history.
3. Pakistan has reached a deal for $7bn loan deal with the IMF, offering the government a reprieve as it seeks to navigate the crisis-hit country out of soaring public debts and weak economic growth. To meet the IMF’s conditions, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has announced a rash of politically unpopular measures, including tax reforms.
4. Hamas has denied it is pulling out of talks over a ceasefire in Gaza after deadly Israeli air strikes that targeted the Palestinian militant group’s top commander. Izzat al-Rishq, a Doha-based official, said yesterday that reports that Hamas was suspending negotiations were “baseless”, despite what he termed the “massacre” committed by Israel a day before in southern Gaza.
5. Federal Reserve officials have sent the strongest signals yet that they are preparing to cut interest rates. In public appearances last week, US central bankers spoke with a newfound assurance about their grip on inflation and readiness to embark on a policy pivot.
News in-depth
Samsung Electronics is wrestling with an escalating labour crisis that is complicating its efforts to catch up with the competition in the booming market for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence systems. A Samsung chip engineer warned the “atmosphere is gloomy” at the Korean tech giant as it risks losing disenchanted engineers to domestic rival SK Hynix.
We’re also reading . . .
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US-China tech war: Hesai, the world’s biggest producer of laser sensors used in EVs, is suing the US government after it was accused of supporting the Chinese military. The CEO of the Chinese company told the FT why it was fighting back.
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‘Grand Paris’: After a divisive election, this summer’s Olympic Games will fire the starting gun on a vast project to transform the French capital.
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Chinese companies at Euro 2024: An advertising drive by Chinese groups at the European football championships underlined the global pulling power of live sport with domestic and international audiences.
Chart of the day
One of the most successful tech investors said chipmaker Nvidia could be worth almost $50tn in a decade — more than the combined current market value of the entire S&P 500. The company at the centre of the AI boom has seen its shares surge 162 per cent since the start of the year, pushing its market value above $3tn.
Take a break from the news
Scrolling mindlessly through social media may feel like “time out”, but the dopamine hit of smartphones is not the same as relaxation, writes Jemima Kelly. Read her latest column — then put that phone down and give yourself a break!
Read the full article here