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Today’s agenda: London’s IPO class of 2021; Meta invests $15bn in Scale AI; Germany’s €500bn investment spree; scientists warn against mirror microbes; and what makes Tesla run?
Israel has launched dozens of air strikes against Iran, targeting its nuclear programme and military facilities and killing senior commanders in a large-scale attack that pushed the Middle East closer to a new war. Here’s what we know.
What happened? After massive explosions rocked Tehran at about 3.30am on Friday, Iranian state television said that Natanz, one of the country’s two main nuclear plants, was struck and several senior military figures and prominent nuclear scientists were killed. Oil and gold prices soared as investors headed to haven assets.
What next: Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said Israel expected Iran to retaliate with “a missile and drone attack”. Israel closed its airspace and banned most non-essential gatherings.
Tehran vowed to retaliate against both Israel and the US, accusing Washington of providing “direct support” for the attack. “Both the Zionist regime and the US will pay a heavy price,” said Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces.
Read the full story, including how markets reacted on the reports of the strikes, and follow our live blog here.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and through the weekend:
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Economic data: The EU releases industrial production figures from April and first-quarter labour market data, while Germany publishes inflation figures.
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UK: A vote on the assisted dying bill is expected today. Also, the King’s Birthday Honours List is announced, which includes retired footballer David Beckham.
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US: A military parade is set to be staged on Saturday, coinciding with the US Army’s 250th anniversary and Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. A sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks was scheduled to take place in Oman on Sunday.
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G7 summit: The annual meeting of international leaders begins on Sunday in Canada. What is Europe’s game plan for handling Trump?
How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.
Five more top stories
1. Exclusive: A quarter of the biggest companies in London’s crop of 2021 listings have since left the stock market, while those remaining have lost £10bn in value, highlighting the exchange’s struggle to retain top-tier businesses. This week, two companies in the 2021 class have succumbed to cut-price takeovers, raising concerns about the London stock market’s health.
2. A US senator was forcibly removed by federal agents at a press conference held by homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles. Democrat Alex Padilla said that he was “almost immediately forcibly removed from the room” after he began to ask Noem a question. “I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested,” Padilla said.
3. The European Commission’s competition directorate is blocking a push that would allow state aid for clean technology production, prompting tensions between EU officials enforcing subsidy rules and industry groups. The internal battle highlights the challenge of supporting Europe’s emerging technologies in a global race with China and the US.
4. Exclusive: Germany plans to make its railway network a priority in its €500bn infrastructure fund designed to lift Europe’s largest economy out of stagnation. The plan is part of a series of measures the coalition government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to adopt this month. Read the full report.
5. Meta has invested $15bn into data-labelling start-up Scale AI and hired its co-founder Alexandr Wang as part of its push to attract talent from rivals in a fiercely competitive market. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been trying to poach top researchers and engineers from rival groups as he seeks to build out a new “superintelligence” team. This deal is one of the biggest of its kind.
News in-depth
Scientists have launched an international campaign to stop the creation of synthetic bacteria that could threaten life on earth. The scale of the danger remains hard to predict but, according to a scientist: “There is a scenario in which a future mirror organism becomes a widely pervasive invasive species and displaces and disrupts many critical ecosystems.”
We’re also reading and listening to . . .
Chart of the day
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Sir Keir Starmer is hoping this week’s spending review will enable his government to hit the targets he promised to meet before the next general election — from raising living standards to cutting NHS waiting lists. Is Labour on track to meet its six main pledges to voters?
Take a break from the news
Lauren Geremia first made her name in the early 2010s, designing offices for the likes of Instagram and Dropbox. But her elegant, offbeat and painterly aesthetic saw her move into private homes. Her style — centred around art — is now attracting the culture crowd and bringing Arts and Crafts to the tech bros.
