Good morning. UK counter-terrorism police name the perpetrator of yesterday’s attack in Manchester. Air traffic at Munich Airport is disrupted by drones. And Swiss people think they’re too nice to Americans. Listen to the day’s top stories.
— Teo Chian Wei
UK police have named Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, as the perpetrator of yesterday's attack on a Manchester synagogue that killed two people and injured three others. Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned about the threat of rising antisemitism, and authorities are treating the attack as a terrorist incident.
Police and fire services at Munich Airport following drone sightings. Photographer: picture alliance/dpa/picture alliance
German air trafficcontrol said it suspended flight operations at Munich Airport last night after several drone sightings, affecting multiple departures and thousands of passengers at the country’s second-biggest hub. Seventeen departures were grounded, and 15 incoming flights were diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna and Frankfurt.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu will meet with lawmakers for crunch talks today as he struggles to pass the budget and remain in office. The nation's fifth premier in two years is seeking the tacit support of some opposition groups to avoid being ousted by a fractious National Assembly during debate on the 2026 finance bill.
Swiss voters reckon their government is being too amenable to the US after Donald Trump imposed an outsized tariff on their goods. Some 80% of respondents in a poll for public broadcaster SRG SSR said that Switzerland is “too friendly” to the world’s biggest economy.
Check out our Markets Today live blog for all the latest news and analysis relevant to UK assets.
The Barry Callebaut headquarters in Zurich. Source: Bors Baldinger
The names Hershey, Nestlé and Mars instantly signal a sweet indulgence. Yet behind the glossy wrappers, much of what’s inside branded sweets traces back to a company many have never heard of.
Barry Callebaut has grown into the world’s largest bulk chocolate maker, processing at least 20% of global cocoa. Multinationals and boutique dessert makers alike rely on the Swiss company’s cocoa butter, powders and ganache.
But after years of steady growth, Barry Callebaut is navigating one of its rockiest stretches. The company’s shares have nearly halved over the past two years, hit by soaring cocoa prices, higher financing costs and a leadership shakeup.
OpenAI’s Sora is a tool built on the perverse incentives of social media—not truly designed with creativity in mind, but addiction, Parmy Olson writes. Sora may spark a new wave of digital expression, but it’s just as likely to entrench the same attention economy that has warped our online lives already.
A British man will plead guilty to US charges that he swindled nearly $100 million from investors through a fake rare wine scheme. James Wellesley and co-defendant Stephen Burton claimed their company brokered loans backed by valuable vintages, but the wines were nonexistent.
