International Security

America’s new supergun, Iraqi forces close in on Isis and which rock star will historians remember?

Silhouetted workers walk in front of office towers in the Canary Wharf financial district in London February 16, 2011. New Bank of England forecasts opened the door on Wednesday for interest rates to rise slowly in Britain but Governor Mervyn King warned against jumping to conclusions about when the central bank would pull the trigger.

Image: REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

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International Security

David Cameron is facing the threat of a leadership challenge following the EU referendum after the Brexit camp turned its sights on the prime minister with a series of highly personal attacks.

Bearing the hallmarks of an orchestrated campaign, Eurosceptic Conservatives piled pressure on Mr Cameron, including a direct threat to oust him immediately after the vote. (FT)

In the news

Iraqi forces close in on Isis Fighting flared across Iraq on Sunday as government and Kurdish forces stepped up efforts to dislodge Isis fighters from strongholds in Fallujah and around Mosul. (FT)

Noble Group CEO resigns Noble Group, the beleaguered commodity trader, announced the resignation of chief executive Yusuf Alireza, and said it plans to sell one of the company’s remaining crown jewels, Noble Americas Energy Solutions. (FT)

The European truck cartel The EU is set to issue the biggest cartel fine in its history, punishing Europe’s largest truckmakers over charges that they fixed prices and delayed the introduction of new emission technologies. (FT)

‘Mentally not fully Indian’ Admiration for Raghuram Rajan, the Reserve Bank of India governor, is not universal: businessmen have complained interest rates are not falling fast enough and now an influential politician from the ruling party has launched a scathing attack. The criticism has worried investors who fear Mr Rajan may soon be replaced with someone more pliant. (FT)

Iran pulls out of the Hajj Iran has cancelled its participation in this year’s holy pilgrimage to Mecca, blaming rival Saudi Arabia, as the regional powerhouses’ troubled relationship reaches a new low. (WSJ)

Chinese company sorry for ‘most racist ad’ A Chinese detergent maker has apologised and withdrawn an advertisement that went viral worldwide for all the wrong reasons. The clip showed a black man being stuffed into a washing machine before re-emerging as a pale Asian in what has been slammed as one of the most racist ads ever. (FT)

It's a big day for

France The country will release quarterly GDP data, with labour unrest threatening a fledgling economic recovery. (FT)

Food for thought

The missing office minority — the over-50s The elimination of the vast rump of fiftysomethings from London’s office spaces is at odds with what is supposed to be happening, which is that people are working longer, writes Lucy Kellaway. “If we live to 100 and have to work until we are 75 to support ourselves, big companies will have to start taking us back.” (FT)

Nicolás Maduro’s endgame Venezuela’s leader is playing for time as the country collapses around him. Food and medicine are scarce. Running water and electricity are luxuries. “The Lamentable Tragedie of Venezuela, now in its final act, runs long and seems increasingly likely to end in violence.” (FT)

America’s new supergun The US Navy’s experimental electromagnetic railgun fires a hardened projectile at staggering velocity — a battlefield meteorite with the power to blow holes in enemy ships and level terrorist camps. Proponents of the weapon say it will transform military strategy and keep the US ahead of advancing Russian and Chinese weaponry. (WSJ)

‘We’re struggling on £200K a year’ Some professional couples, typically mid-career and approaching middle age, are feeling that family finances are much more challenging than they were for the generation before them. They may be in well-paid jobs, but having started a family, are seeing their income sapped by rising property prices, school fees and childcare costs. At the same time, public policy has moved against them. (FT)

Which rock star will historians remember? The most important musical form of the 20th century will be nearly forgotten one day. People will probably learn about the genre through one figure — but who might that be? (NYT)

Why you will marry the wrong personIt’s one of the things we are most afraid might happen to us. We go to great lengths to avoid it. And yet we do it all the same: we marry the wrong person. (NYT)

Video of the day

Bruce Springsteen: still got it? Blue-collar bard Bruce Springsteen is touring his 1980 album The River. After his first UK date in Manchester, FT pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney discusses The Boss’s enduring appeal with Griselda Murray Brown, FT arts journalist.

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