Good morning. Keir Starmer faces a major test today. The EU is said to accept Donald Trump’s 10% tariff, but wants exemptions. And the latest Jurassic reboot may have you wishing you were extinct. Listen to the day’s top stories.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is girding for what could be the most consequential vote of his premiership, with Labour rebels warning that the government’s welfare overhaul still risks defeat despite huge concessions to push it through parliament. Read about how the party’s “Starmtroopers” mounted a rebellion against their leader.
The EU is willing to accept Donald Trump’s 10% universal tariff, but wants lower rates for drugs, alcohol, chips and planes. The bloc is also pushing for quotas and exemptions to effectively lower Washington’s 25% levy on automobiles and car parts as well as its 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, according to people familiar. Separately, European policymakers struck a new trade deal with Ukraine.
Trump threatened to impose a fresh tariff level on Japan, while his top economic adviser said the White House aims to finalize deals with partners after the July 4 holiday. The president cited Japan’s unwillingness to accept US rice exports despite a massive shortage of the grain in the country, which you can read about in our explainer.
BBVA decidedto keep its takeover offer for Sabadell alive even though the Spanish government’s decision to ban a merger for several years has cast doubt over how it will pan out. Read more about what’s at stake for the €14 billion bid.
US Senate Republican leaders continue to scrounge for votes to pass Trump’s $3.3 trillion tax and spending bill as lingering intraparty fights threaten to upend the legislative centerpiece of the president’s domestic agenda. Separately, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio called for a bipartisan solution to address America’s “deficit/debt bomb” problem.
The TerMIT set up for logistics, to carry wounded and fallen soldiers or deliver ammunition and food. Photographer: Julia Kochetova/Bloomberg
After more than three years of all-out war with Russia, Ukraine has turned into a factory of weaponry that’s redefining the battlefield.
Ukraine is still dependent on US intelligence and on allied air defenses to intercept Russian missiles. But Kyiv now gets about 40% of its weapons from its own sources, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The country says it can offer a model for how its allies in NATO can ramp up production for a more dangerous and volatile future.
The first anniversary of Starmer’s election this week finds him at the nadir of his premiership, Rosa Prince writes. Even if he wins today’s vote on benefit spending, his struggle to corral one of the largest parliamentary majorities in history represents a humiliation.
Jurassic World Rebirth.Photographer: NBC Universal
Thrills so weak you’d wish you were extinct. Jurassic World Rebirth is a reboot of the reboot that trudges along at a deathly dull pace toward making millions of dollars at the box office, our critic Esther Zuckerman writes. Despite some heavy-hitting talent, this latest entry reveals a franchise more brain-dead than ever.
