Letter: Why Britain needs a national commission on electoral reform
From Dame Joan Ruddock, Former Labour MP and Minister, London SE3, UK
Letter: Where a circular economy is no longer an indulgence
From Patrick Schröder, Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House’s Environment and Society Centre, Brighton, East Sussex, UK
Letter: Pinocchio to ‘Star Trek’ — the journey to become human
From Tim Page, Director, Industrial Paradigm, Reading, Berkshire, UK
Letter: OECD-mediated talks on digital tax are fool’s errand
From Rasmus Corlin Christensen, Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark
Letter: A good company secretary is more than a note taker
From Bernadette Young, Chief Executive, Indigo Governance, Westcliff on Sea, Essex, UK
Letter: Breakthrough ideas remain key to the investment cycle
From Emmanuel Vallod, Partner and Head of Venture & Research, Hivemind Capital, New York, NY, US
Letter: Isn’t it time to relax rules on tenures of CEOs and chairs?
From Duncan Reed, Director, Condign Board Consulting, London SW1, UK
Correction: UniCredit’s takeover bid for Commerzbank
A headline on an article wrongly stated that the regulator BaFin had opened an investigation
FT Crossword: Number 18,402
Ex-Citi executive says bank sacked her after raising Trump concerns
Former employee claims in lawsuit that she identified issues with risk-management practices
Russian warship fires warning shots towards yacht in English Channel
UK says incident is not linked to Britain’s interception of an oil tanker that is part of Moscow’s shadow fleet
Snap defies investor pressure with ‘Specs’ smart glasses launch
Chief Evan Spiegel describes $2,195 eyewear as his ‘life’s work’ as he faces increasing criticism over costs of project
FirstFT: Oil falls below $80 as traders bet Strait of Hormuz flows will return
Also in today’s newsletter: Bank of Japan raises rates to 1%, and India temporarily blocks Telegram
Poland and World Bank agree end to development loans
Deal to graduate from main borrowing programme marks milestone in country’s economic transformation
Transcript: Notes from the FT Global Bond Summit
Robert Armstrong speaks to Katie Martin
SpaceX leapfrogs Amazon to become world’s fifth-most valuable company
Elon Musk’s AI, rocket and satellite group also announces $60bn deal for AI coding app Cursor
Yum Brands sells struggling Pizza Hut in bet on faster-growing businesses
KFC and Taco Bell owner to offload bulk of fast-food chain to private equity group as part of $2.7bn sale
Notes from the FT Global Bond Summit
The reordering is happening in the asset class, too
Oil sinks below $80 as traders bet Strait of Hormuz flows will return
Brent crude has tumbled to three-month low following agreement to extend US-Iran ceasefire
BMW cuts profit guidance as Iran war adds to challenges in Chinese market
Carmaker expects operating margin in its automotive division to be 1-3% in 2026, a sharp fall from previous projections
The White House’s capricious controls on Anthropic
An opaque approach to US policy risks hampering AI development
UK examines steps to stop children circumventing social media ban
Government considers putting age limits on virtual private networks to help enforce restrictions
GM and Lockheed Martin partner on boosting weapons production
Pentagon requested tie-up to help defence group boost its output of critical munitions