Trump fuels speculation of US involvement in Iran

As we speak’s agenda: Huge Tech lobbies towards AI guidelines; US to delay TikTok ban once more; Huge Learn on coal; Martin Wolf on Trump’s “huge, stunning” invoice

Good morning. We begin within the Center East, the place the query because the struggle enters its sixth day is whether or not the US will be a part of Israeli navy motion towards Iran. Right here’s what we all know.

Will Trump become involved? The US president’s current remarks have stoked hypothesis. He referred to as for Tehran’s “unconditional surrender” and mentioned his endurance was “carrying skinny”, and boasted that Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was an “simple goal”. Vice-president JD Vance mentioned Trump “could determine he must take additional motion” to cease Iran enriching uranium. Folks accustomed to the administration’s discussions mentioned officers had been actively debating American involvement. The US has additionally been sending extra navy property to the area.

Why it issues: Whereas Israel’s navy has had early successes since launching its shock assault on Iran final Friday, analysts are uncertain it might be capable to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities with out US involvement. The US is the one nation believed to have bombs highly effective sufficient to wreck the essential Fordow uranium enrichment plant, which is deep underground and shielded by metres of strengthened concrete. To this point, US officers say it has adopted a defensive posture, however this has included serving to Israel to shoot down incoming Iranian missiles and drones.

In the meantime, Israel mentioned it launched a recent spherical of assaults close to Tehran this morning. Follow our live blog for the most recent updates.

• Nuclear catastrophe? Israel’s assaults on uranium enrichment amenities have induced localised radioactivity, however contamination appears limited.

• ‘Iranian lioness’: State TV anchor Sahar Emami has turn into a symbol of resistance after she stored broadcasting amid Israeli bombing.

• Tanker collision: A crash between two oil tankers close to the Strait of Hormuz has raised anxieties about GPS interference within the area.

• Netanyahu: The Israeli prime minister has consistently misread the region for the reason that Eighties, writes Kim Ghattas, dooming it to infinite cycles of violence.

Right here’s what else we’re preserving tabs on right this moment:

• Financial information: The EU and UK publish shopper value inflation information.

• US rates of interest: The Federal Reserve will in all probability be cautious about cutting borrowing costs in its choice right this moment with new financial shocks from the Center East.

• Russia: President Vladimir Putin will welcome attendees to the three-day twenty eighth St Petersburg Worldwide Financial Discussion board.

5 extra prime tales

1. Huge Tech is pushing for a 10-year ban on AI regulation by particular person US states, in a controversial transfer that has break up the factitious intelligence trade and Trump’s Republican occasion. Folks accustomed to the strikes mentioned lobbyists are appearing on behalf of Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta to urge the Senate to enact the moratorium.

2. Trump plans to delay a ban on TikTok for a 3rd time, extending a deadline for the Chinese language-owned platform to divest a stake within the platform by 90 days. The White Home mentioned Trump would signal an government order this week to maintain the favored social media app up and running while a deal is being reached.

3. Unique: HSBC is contemplating forcing workers again to the workplace no less than three days per week. Chief government Georges Elhedery has mentioned the group-wide coverage with executives throughout the financial institution’s companies, individuals concerned within the deliberations mentioned, with some managers frustrated that many employees are still mostly working from home.

4. Unique: Boston Consulting Group pitched the UN company for Palestinian refugees on working for its humanitarian effort in Gaza, months earlier than serving to launch a broadly condemned rival support scheme that sidelined the UN. In line with individuals accustomed to the matter and correspondence seen by the FT, shortly after Israel’s navy marketing campaign started in late 2023, the corporate had offered pro bono work to UNRWA.

• Gaza: Israeli troopers killed 59 Palestinians who had gathered within the hope of receiving support at two areas within the enclave, in response to the native well being ministry.

5. A mayoral candidate in New York was detained by regulation enforcement yesterday whereas attempting to escort a defendant out of immigration court docket, his spokesperson mentioned. The arrest of Brad Lander, who can be town’s prime finance official, highlights the rising political temperature in response to Trump’s deportation push.

The Huge Learn

Instantly after the Paris local weather accord was signed almost a decade in the past, it appeared as if world leaders had been lastly in settlement, with a number of international locations pledging to stop coal totally to restrict international warming. Many individuals from consultants to politicians believed demand for the soiled power supply had peaked. They could not have been more wrong.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Ceaselessly chemical substances: Researchers say a current transfer to relook at how the controversial substances are outlined has been motivated by commercial interests, writes Anjana Ahuja.

• Reform UK: Some within the Labour occasion concern Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s transfer to label Nigel Farage’s populist occasion as “the real opposition” gave it an excessive amount of credibility.

• UK non-doms: Labour should reverse an exodus of the wealthy that can hurt Britain’s financial system, writes our editorial board.

Chart of the day 

Whose curiosity does Trump serve? His “huge stunning” finances invoice is a robust instance of “pluto-populism”, writes Martin Wolf: the rich receive most of the goodies; the poor turn into poorer; and the fiscal deficit stays big.

Take a break from the information

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