The FIFA World Cup finally kicks off today (Thursday) and it's already the most geopolitically charged tournament in recent history. That's saying something when you recall the last two editions were hosted by Qatar (2022) and Russia (2018).
Read this storyIRAN
Answering the latest US strikes, plus President Trump’s claims the US has been secretly escorting oil out to market, Iran has now announced the full closure of Hormuz again. Meanwhile, India has confirmed the death of three nationals aboard a tanker hit by US strikes on Monday — the US argues the tanker had tried to break the US blockade. (Reuters)
CANADA
President Trump has warned he’s “not looking to renew” the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA), which hits a key renegotiation deadline on 1 July. (CBC)
TANZANIA
Singapore’s mostly-ceremonial president (Shanmugaratnam) just used his city’s first state-level visit to Tanzania to sign new deals on double taxation, carbon credits, skills training, and trade facilitation. (AA)
BRAZIL
The key Bovespa stock index out of Sao Paulo just dropped to its lowest levels since January, sliding ~7% in the last month alone. (Investing.com)
CHINA
The Times (of the Financial variety) have declared the Japanification of China’s bond market is complete now that its entire yield curve is below 2% (including for ultra-long holdouts). (FT $)
EUROPEAN UNION
Korea’s President Lee and the EU’s António Costa just used the 11th EU-South Korea summit in Brussels to sign a landmark new digital trade agreement. It basically extends their 2011 FTA into the digital realm, delivering smoother cross-border data, valid electronic contracts, and clearer rules for both sides. (EEAS)
UNITED STATES
Anthropic has released its new scaled-down ‘Fable 5’ Mythos AI model after first deeming the advanced version too dangerous for the general public. The Fable 5 comes with guardrails around sensitive topics like cybersecurity. (TechCrunch)
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