Good morning. Keir Starmer counts on Labour support ahead of a political showdown. South Korea's stock market overtakes the UK's. And the Ray-Ban heir is buying out two siblings for €10 billion. Listen to the day's top stories.
Any hope that Keir Starmer had of putting aside the Peter Mandelson saga will have to wait as the British prime minister braces for another day of parliamentary inquiry into his disastrous appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to the US. Starmer faces a high-stakes vote today on whether to begin an investigation into his assurances to Parliament that due process had been followed in the appointment. The debate will come alongside several hours of committee hearings on the vetting process that cleared Mandelson to take up the post in Washington despite red flags raised by security officials.
Mideast latest. The White House was weighing Iran's latest proposal, but maintained "red lines" on any deal to end the war. The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump and his advisers were wary of Tehran's offer, particularly regarding the country's nuclear program. Meanwhile, an LNG tanker appeared to exit the Strait of Hormuz, the first since the start of the conflict.
Trump welcomed King Charles III to the White House for a state visit. The British monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla, were greeted by the president and First Lady Melania Trump at the start of a four-day trip, his first state visit to the US since becoming king in 2022. The couples exchanged handshakes and posed for a photo at the South Portico of the White House before walking inside.
South Korea has leapfrogged the UK to become the world's eighth-biggest stock market, fueled by a rally in its AI-linked technology companies. The total market capitalization of Korean-listed companies has surged more than 45% this year to $4.04 trillion, while the UK's has climbed about 3% to $3.99 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The size of the UK market was about double that of Korea's as recently as the end of 2024.
Hawkish hold. The yen gained after the Bank of Japan voted 6-3 to keep its key rate unchanged at 0.75% while upgrading its inflation forecasts. Dissenters voiced concerns about price pressures gaining momentum and Bloomberg Economics said the central bank will raise rates at its next meeting in June.
Deep Dive: Back to School
When Cameron Weston-Edwards failed to land an internship at a historical tour company in rural England, he knew something had to change. "If I'm getting rejected for that, the chance of getting a grad job are slim," the 22-year-old politics student says. "I clearly need a more impressive CV."
- Weston-Edwards is among thousands of young people across Europe and the US hoping a master's degree can help them beat the toughest jobs market in decades, with employers slashing vacancies due to global economic turbulence and the expanding promise of AI.
- US law school applications have soared 32% this year to date, compared with the past four-year average, according to official data. In continental Europe, three in four business master's programs attracted more applicants in 2025 than in the prior year, up from about half in 2023, a survey from the Graduate Management Admission Council showed.
- The UK youth jobless rate is at its highest since 2015, and a growing share of youngsters have struggled to find work for at least a year. More than half a million Brits who want a job have left the labor market to study, according to official figures, and students now account for over a quarter of those who are not working but want a job.
- For Weston-Edwards, a postgraduate qualification is essential. The internship that turned him down was given to someone with an MA in history. This pushed him to accept an offer to start a master's in political communications later this year.
The Big Take
Russian Disinformation War's Most Potent Weapon Is Bending Realities
Storm-1516 uses fabricated videos, phony websites and anonymous influencers to spread tales about election fraud, corruption and sexual abuse.
Opinion
European stocks' brief outperformance has faded as war-related energy shocks, weak economic data, and recession risks weigh heavily on the euro-area economy and corporate earnings outlook, Marcus Ashworth writes. Stronger US growth, booming tech-driven markets and more attractive investment opportunities elsewhere are pulling investors away from the region.
Before You Go
EssilorLuxottica heir Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio agreed to buy out two siblings' stakes in family holding company Delfin for about €10 billion, people familiar said. The agreement vaults Leonardo Maria, who turns 31 next week and is an executive at EssilorLuxottica, into a primary role at the family company created by his father, Leonardo Del Vecchio, nearly four years after the eyewear magnate's death.