Good morning. Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s meeting with Donald Trump may have paid off. SoftBank makes a $2 billion bet on Intel’s AI revival. And Bristol is now more unaffordable for renters than much of London. Listen to the day’s top stories.
— Victoria Batchelor
Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin and urged him to begin making plans for a summit with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, after talks with the Ukrainian leader and European allies at the White House. Trump proposed that the one-on-one meeting between Russia and Ukraine be followed by a trilateral that includes him, in his push to broker an end to the war.
Zelenskiy turned on the charm during his Oval Office visit, repeatedly thanking the US president for his involvement and handing over a letter for Melania. It paid off with a commitment from Trump, at least for now, to join security guarantees for any peace deal and reserve discussion on territorial swaps with Russia for later. European equity futures gained as investors digested the news.
The UK Treasury is considering replacing stamp duty with a new tax on the sale of homes worth more than £500,000, according to the Guardian. Read our explainer on why tax hikes loom as the government faces a budget dilemma.
Hamas agreed to a Gaza truce proposed by Qatar and Egypt that would free half the hostages it still holds in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a partial Israeli withdrawal. It’s not clear whether Israel received the proposal, nor whether Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will agree to the terms or to a phased deal. Listen to our Big Take podcast on how the hunger crisis in Gaza unfolded.
Corporate roundup: Intel shares surged in late trading in the US after SoftBank agreed to buy $2 billion of the chipmaker’s stock. Former co-head of Goldman’s global commodities trading team Qin Xiao won a $1 billion allocation from Millennium for his hedge fund startup. BHP’s profit fell to a five-year low as prices of its key earners—iron ore and coking coal—came under pressure from softer Chinese demand.
Check out our Markets Today live blog for all the latest news and analysis relevant to UK assets.
With temperatures in some parts of the city’s Underground transport system recently exceeding levels deemed fit for cattle, climate change is transforming the experience of living in Britain’s capital.
The response has been a surge in demand for air-conditioning units in high-end homes. Not all, however, are getting it.
Obstacles to getting AC units installed vary. There can be technical or aesthetic restrictions on attaching units to old buildings. And sometimes, councils simply reject claims of overheating.
But there are real dangers.Overheating at night means poor sleep, which as well as being uncomfortable can lead to long-term health problems like immune system damage and higher risk of heart disease.
It’s UK job weakness, not inflation, thatshould worry the Bank of England, Marcus Ashworth writes. The government should consider broadening the central bank’s mandate to take the labor market into account when setting monetary policy.
Bristol is now less affordable for renters than most parts of London, with typical private tenants shelling out 44.6% of their income on rent in 2024. The city, neighbor Bath and North East Somerset moved into the top 20 least-affordable local authorities last year, along with Barnet, Brent and Greenwich in London.
