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Good morning. In right now’s publication now we have:
Ukraine consolidates its place in Russia’s Kursk area by blowing up bridges
In an interview with the FT, a high Fed official backs “gradual” rate of interest cuts
The Democratic Nationwide Conference kicks off right now as democrats defend Kamala Harris’s poorly obtained financial plan
However first we flip our consideration to a worrying rise in US start-up failures, which have jumped 60 per cent over the previous 12 months.
Information from Carta, which offers companies to non-public corporations, reveals 254 of its venture-backed shoppers went bust within the first quarter of this 12 months, with the speed of bankruptcies right now greater than seven instances larger than when it started monitoring failures in 2019.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs in venture-backed corporations are in danger, risking spillover to the broader financial system. Regardless of billions of {dollars} gushing into synthetic intelligence outfits together with from big-name buyers, right here’s why founders are operating out of money.
Right here’s what I’m preserving tabs on right now:
Blinken in Israel: The US secretary of state will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier than talks over a Gaza ceasefire deal resume, after an Israeli air strike killed 10 individuals in Lebanon.
Germany: The Bundesbank, CEPR and others begin a two-day convention in Frankfurt on regulating monetary markets.
US presidential race: The Democratic Nationwide Conference kicks off in Chicago, that includes speeches by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Invoice Clinton this week. We’ve got extra on the challenges dealing with the vice-president beneath.
Within the newest version of our US Election Countdown publication, the FT’s reporters focus on what they’re searching for as they cowl tonight’s DNC on the bottom in Chicago. Join the publication right here.
5 extra high tales
1. Democrats rushed to defend Kamala Harris’s poorly obtained financial plans over the weekend. The vice-president’s pledges to ban value gouging and provide new tax reduction for households and homebuyers, which had been unveiled at a marketing campaign occasion on Friday, had been met with criticism that they had been “populist gimmicks” that may fail to deal with inflation.
Jackson Gap: Traders will likely be carefully watching the Fed’s yearly gathering this week for clues concerning the timing of price cuts. Right here’s what to anticipate.
Opinion: The US central financial institution’s subsequent strategic overview wants to have a look at shadow banking and the dangers of sudden capital outflows, writes economist Rebecca Patterson.
2. Ukraine is blowing up bridges to consolidate its positions in Russia’s border area of Kursk because the Kremlin struggles to muster the forces to push them out. Kyiv revealed movies over the weekend displaying two bridges throughout the river Seym being destroyed, which analysts stated would hamper Russian army logistics. Right here’s the newest from the frontline.
Ukraine incursion: Russia has been sluggish to redeploy troops to repel Kyiv’s offensive in Kursk, and as a substitute has cobbled collectively models that embody younger and reluctant conscripts.
3. A high US Federal Reserve official has backed gradual rate of interest cuts forward of an annual assembly of the world’s high central bankers in Jackson Gap, Wyoming this week. Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Fed, instructed the Monetary Occasions that latest information had given her “extra confidence” that inflation was underneath management.
4. Unique: The Securities and Trade Fee has been accused of censorship after forcing an instructional to delay publication of a paper for 9 months. The analysis, based mostly on three years of interviews, highlighted criticism of the US audit regulator overseen by the SEC. Listed here are extra particulars.
5. Greater than half of Fortune 500 corporations see synthetic intelligence as a possible danger to their enterprise, in line with a brand new survey of company filings, a putting bounce from simply 9 per cent in 2022. In contrast, solely 33 of the 108 that particularly mentioned generative AI noticed it as a chance. Listed here are the industries which might be essentially the most apprehensive.
The Large Learn
US Democrats meet right now for his or her get together’s conference after quickly rallying round a brand new presidential candidate. To this point, their wager on Kamala Harris appears to have labored. The vice-president has caught up with Donald Trump, eclipsing the Republican nominee in some polls and raking in contributions from donors. However the second section of her marketing campaign will quickly start as she battles to maintain the surge of assist alive — and the hurdles are far greater.
We’re additionally studying . . .
US army: As high-tech start-ups uncover an urge for food for the defence sector, America’s new military-civil fusion holds each rewards and dangers, writes John Thornhill.
UK prisons: Britain’s new Labour authorities has inherited a dilemma: curb the nation’s ever-longer sentencing mindset or discover extra jail area.
Advert big: The world’s largest retailer Walmart has constructed a large advert enterprise. A lot so it’s now competing with conventional media.
Italian politics: A mural of a gold-winning Olympian born to African migrants was vandalised, sparking a heated debate in Rome over naturalising the youngsters of immigrants.
Chart of the day
Western airways are slashing flights to China as a mix of low demand and the excessive value of flying round Russian airspace saps their skill to compete with native carriers.
Take a break from the information
The longlist for the FT and Schroders Enterprise E-book of the Yr is right here. We filtered and reviewed greater than 600 entries to carry you this listing of 16 vying to be judged the “most compelling and gratifying” enterprise ebook of 2024. From Donald Trump’s funds and Invoice Gates’s affect to the challenges of AI, listed here are the titles nonetheless within the operating.
Extra contributions from Tee Zhuo and Sophie Spiegelberger
