Balance of Power
Israel’s missile strike on Qatar’s capital aimed at killing top Hamas officials adds to a sense among Arab governments that it’s increasingly a threat to regional stability.
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Gulf states are reeling from Israel’s missile strike on a residential compound in Qatar’s capital.

The attack, aimed at killing top Hamas figures, was brazen as well as humiliating for Qatar and Arab neighbors such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Qatar is a major non-NATO ally for the US, a status that’s meant to provide some level of protection. It hosts the biggest US airbase in the Middle East and pledged during a visit by President Donald Trump this year that its huge sovereign wealth fund would invest another $500 billion in America.

It even gifted Trump a luxury jet.

All of that counted for nothing yesterday as the strikes caused plumes of smoke to rise above Doha, led to panic among people on the ground and killed at least one Qatari in addition to a few Hamas officials.

Trump said he learned of it too late to stop the attack and that he was “very unhappy.”

But many in the Gulf are skeptical the US failed to detect Israeli planes on their way to Qatar early enough to prevent the assault.

Those feelings will be reinforced by the fact Trump didn’t specifically criticize Israel or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who later spoke at the US embassy in Jerusalem, winning applause as he apologized for being late because he was “otherwise engaged.”

Qatar said it reserves the right to respond. But it’s far from clear what it can do.

Israel said its actions would hasten the end of the war that’s destroyed so much of Gaza. Yet there’s still no sign Hamas is ready to surrender, or that Israel will pull back from its ongoing offensive on Gaza City.

Coming on the back of regular Israeli attacks on Syria and Lebanon in recent weeks, yesterday’s strike adds to a sense among Arab governments that Israel is increasingly a threat to regional stability. Paul Wallace

Netanyahu visits the scene of a shooting in Jerusalem on Monday. Photographer: Ronen Zvulun/AFP/Getty Images

Global Must Reads

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Sébastien Lecornu will be greeted by mass protests when he takes over as prime minister of France today, underscoring the scale of the challenge his minority government faces to push unpopular spending cuts through a fractured parliament. A former defense minister and the country’s fifth premier in two years, Lecornu will need tacit support from the left or the right to pass a 2026 budget and survive a possible confidence motion, with lawmakers across the political spectrum calling for a new election.

WATCH: Bloomberg TV’s Caroline Connan discusses the outlook for Lecornu’s  premiership.

Trump has told European officials he’s willing to impose broad new tariffs on India and China to push Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table with Ukraine — but only if EU nations do so as well, sources say. Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, pledged to resume trade talks, signaling a possible thaw after weeks of bickering over tariffs and Russian oil purchases.

A judge temporarily blocked Trump from removing US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, allowing her to remain on the job as she challenges his efforts to oust her over allegations of mortgage fraud. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added to pressure on the Fed from the Trump administration to cut interest rates after a government agency revised jobs data to show weaker hiring.

Colombia’s leftist leader, Gustavo Petro, is enjoying an unexpected comeback, with recent polls showing him defying pro-market critics who dismissed him as an unpopular lame duck whose legacy would be crushed in 2026 elections. While Petro himself is ineligible to run again, accelerating economic growth and a strong jobs market, coupled with the passing of a bill to boost workers’ rights and overtime pay, mean his movement suddenly looks like it’s been written off prematurely.

Petro in Bogotá in June. Source: Anadolu

Two Brazilian judges voted to declare Jair Bolsonaro guilty on coup charges yesterday, putting a Supreme Court panel on the brink of reaching a majority to convict the former president and Trump ally.

The Nepali Army deployed troops on the streets of the capital Kathmandu following Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s resignation after protesters stormed his office and set fire to his private residence and other government buildings.

Fire rages through the Singha Durbar palace, which houses parliament and government offices, in Kathmandu yesterday. Photographer: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

The family of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gained global notoriety four decades ago for the extensive corruption of his late father’s dictatorship, but he’s now set in motion an anti-graft drive that could boost his popularity and investor sentiment.

Iran took a step toward breaking the impasse with United Nations inspectors over access to its nuclear facilities, with a top-level meeting in Cairo yielding the groundwork for a return of monitors potentially as soon as next month, sources say.

Trump again denied penning a birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein, seeking to tamp down persistent questions around his interactions with the late disgraced financier.

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Chart of the Day

A measure of France’s borrowing costs exceeded Italy’s for the first time in the euro region’s 26-year history yesterday, demonstrating how investor concerns around budget policy are reshaping bond markets. It’s a remarkable development given that for years Italy was a poster child for fiscal profligacy. Now it’s President Emmanuel Macron’s France that’s apparently worrying investors.

And Finally

The world’s biggest battery project has secured about £750 million ($1 billion) in public and private financing and will begin construction in the UK immediately. Britain is adding record amounts of wind and solar capacity but needs more ways to store it and the 1.4-gigawatt system in northern England could supply more than 785,000 homes. Gas generators help keep the lights on when the weather isn’t cooperating, so battery projects will help change that as the energy sector targets 2030 climate goals.

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