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Explosions shake Damascus as Macron visits

French president is first EU leader to travel to Syria since fall of Assad regime

Officials say move is intended to boost lending and support financial markets in a crisis

Also in today’s newsletter: HSBC’s private credit exposure and Platner takes ‘time to reflect’

RIP 1998–2020?

Office for Budget Responsibility’s annual report says urgent action is needed to cut spending

Handpicked gems for every calendar month

Novak Djokovic is the latest of many athletic recruits to financial services

The artist-activist’s new exhibition at Aviva Studios in Manchester is curiously underwhelming

Uptick in wages alongside inflation is what central bank wants to see to persist with lifting interest rates

Morgan Stanley gives Musk’s AI and rocket stock $300 price target as quiet period ends following record IPO

IT weaknesses could be exploited by frontier models in a ‘matter of minutes or hours’, say ECB and ESRB

Authorities raise quota for offshore Connect scheme in bid to boost international use of renminbi

Gaming unit under pressure from weak margins and the industry’s sharp hardware downturn

Lack of shovel-ready projects is holding back Mark Carney’s plan to double trade with partners outside of the US

England’s councils struggle to source temporary accommodation, enabling some investors to cash in

Al Rekayyat comes under fire close to coast of Oman

Investor concerns about massive investments outweigh April-to-June earnings fuelled by high memory chip prices

The Bank of the United States; AI; GKP; EU; bot farming; and optimised inertia

Proxima Fusion valued at €2.4bn in €400mn funding round as AI boom spurs the race for energy’s holy grail

On Kospi index concentration

Also in this newsletter: Poland joins UK-led push for joint European defence procurement

And the interest-rate reckoning to come

Populist Democratic candidate denies accusation as deadline looms to replace him on Maine ballot