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Good morning and welcome back. In today’s newsletter:
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Lakshmi Mittal’s energy venture bought Russian oil
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Donald Trump to cut China tariffs over fentanyl
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JPMorgan’s digital bank plans for Germany
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WHO’s dependence on the Gates Foundation
We begin with an exclusive story on Lakshmi Mittal’s energy joint venture in India, which has bought Russian oil transported on sanctions-listed vessels, according to a Financial Times analysis.
What we know: The Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Punjab, a major oil refinery co-owned by the steel tycoon’s Mittal Energy, received at least four crude shipments worth almost $280mn this year. They had been transported most of the way from Russia on sanctions-listed vessels, satellite imagery, shipping data and customs records show.
The oil was transported on the US-blacklisted vessels between July and September from the Arctic port of Murmansk to as far as the Gulf of Oman. The final leg of the journey into India was undertaken on the Samadha, a tanker that is not on US sanctions lists, though it was blacklisted by the EU.
Why it matters: The revelations come as the US is seeking to raise the pressure on Indian companies not to buy Russian oil. Washington last week imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Moscow’s two leading oil producers, in an effort to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in negotiations with Ukraine. Read the full report.
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Putin’s reading list: The Russian leader is obsessed with history, but there is a reason he does not like to cite his sources, writes Peter Frankopan, professor of global history at the University of Oxford.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:
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Monetary policy: The US Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates by a quarter-point.
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UK: FT Live’s Energy Transition Summit begins in London. Register here.
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Netherlands: The country holds parliamentary elections.
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Results: Adidas, Airbus, Alphabet, Boeing, GSK, Mercedes-Benz, Meta, Microsoft, Santander, Starbucks and UBS report earnings. See our Week Ahead newsletter for a fuller list.
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Five more top stories
1. US President Donald Trump said he would cut tariffs imposed on China over the flow of chemical ingredients for fentanyl, as he arrived in South Korea ahead of a high-stakes meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Read more on what to expect from the summit.
2. Israel launched a wave of air strikes across Gaza last night after accusing Hamas of repeatedly violating a ceasefire, in a significant threat to the fragile deal to end the two-year war.
3. Exclusive: JPMorgan’s digital retail bank aims to become a top five lender in Germany after it enters the market next year, its country chief has said. The plan is part of the US company’s push into retail banking abroad.
4. The World Health Organization’s agenda is being skewed by a reliance on the Gates Foundation as the US and others cut funding, a study has said. Washington’s planned exit from the health body would make the foundation its largest backer.
5. Exclusive: A Citigroup investigation into complaints about the conduct of a top executive was completed without interviewing some of the most high-profile employees who left the Wall Street bank after expressing concerns about him, raising questions about its credibility. Read the full story.
The Big Read
© Sara Hussein/AFP/Getty Images
China’s production of solar panels and batteries has pushed down prices, making renewable rollouts a compelling business case around the world. The US however is backtracking on renewable power, which some say is putting the country’s competitiveness at risk.
We’re also reading . . .
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Fed chair race: US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has a shortlist of five candidates vying to replace Jay Powell. Who are they?
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Capital rules: The Trump administration’s deregulation agenda will pour extra fuel on the private credit bonfire, writes Brooke Masters.
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Upheaval: Smooth-talking graduates may take over from banking “nerds” as AI takes up more of the grunt work, writes Craig Coben, managing director at Seda Experts.
Chart of the day
Britain risks losing major projects and talent overseas without “decisive action” to fix “systemic weaknesses” in its research and development infrastructure, a task force has warned.
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Take a break from the news . . .
The Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris is said to be the world’s most visited and the French capital’s most haunted place. Spirit mediums sneak in at night to chat to the ghosts of the dead and famous. Simon Kuper takes a tour.
The tomb of immersive horror theatre pioneer Étienne-Gaspard Robertson at Père-Lachaise © Julien Liénard
