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Good morning. Today we’ll be covering:
Trump’s deliberation on whether to attack Iran
France’s plan to topple the dollar
The SEC’s regulatory about-face
And Mark Zuckerberg’s macho makeover
Donald Trump has said he will decide whether to join Israel’s attack on Iran “within the next two weeks”, as the shadow of the 2003 Iraq invasion and the president’s promise to end America’s “forever wars” during the election campaign hang over US foreign policy strategy.
What we know: Trump appeared to signal that he was delaying his decision about entering the war, even as American military assets are being sent to the region. European stocks rose and Brent crude prices fell on the news.
How are other countries responding? Britain, France and Germany are set to hold the first high-level, face-to-face talks with Iran’s foreign minister today in Geneva, with aims to agree a framework to restart monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme. They will also discuss whether Tehran could cut its ballistic missile stockpile.
You can follow the latest updates on the FT’s live blog.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:
Economic data: The European Central Bank issues its economic bulletin, while the UK reports on public sector finances. The US Conference Board publishes leading indicators.
Results: Accenture, Berkeley, CarMax, Darden Restaurants and Kroger report.
How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.
Five more top stories
1. The new Securities and Exchange Commission chair has withdrawn 14 rules proposed by his predecessor, embracing a light-touch approach to regulation and reversing the aggressive style of Gary Gensler. The rules scrapped by Paul Atkins range from climate disclosures to cryptocurrency exchanges and artificial intelligence.
2. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will impose measures to counter the oversupply of steel and aluminium imports, including potentially increasing levies on the US. Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on the two metals has been “catastrophic” for a domestic industry already buffeted by production shutdowns and widespread job losses.
3. France has lobbied EU countries to pledge additional measures aimed at raising the euro’s profile as a global reserve currency, as part of Paris’s campaign to encourage the bloc to commit to more joint borrowing. Trump’s policies have weakened the dominance of the dollar and challenged the safe-haven status of US Treasuries, providing a generational opportunity for the EU.
4. The BBC is threatening legal action against AI search engine Perplexity, in its first effort to clamp down on tech groups scraping its vast troves of content to develop the technology. The broadcaster told the US start-up to delete stored material used for AI training and asked for compensation for alleged IP infringement.
5. Inditex’s chief executive says the conditions for its return to Russia are “certainly not” in place, more than two years after the Zara owner sold its local business following the invasion of Ukraine. Moscow previously claimed that western companies would begin coming back by June this year.
FT Magazine
Mark Zuckerberg’s transformation, from a computer nerd skulking around in grey T-shirts to a martial artist advocating for more “masculine energy” in the corporate world, shocked liberals at Meta. But his closest allies say this is who he was all along. Hannah Murphy delves into the truth about the Big Tech chief’s macho-man makeover.
We’re also reading . . .
Chart of the day
Labubu, a collectable elf doll taking TikTok by storm, has sent its Chinese maker, Pop Mart, stratospheric. The company’s market capitalisation is now far ahead of competitor toymakers, such as the US’s Mattel and Hasbro.
Take a break from the news
Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park is flourishing after years of devastation during the country’s civil war. David Pilling takes you on a tour through the world’s most ambitious conservation project.
