Happy Wednesday and welcome to your morning wrap of the key political and business headlines from around the world.
First up, the United Kingdom has said it will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, Associated Press reported.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is also putting pressure on Israel to allow the United Nations to bring in aid and take further steps towards long-term peace.
AP reported that Starmer was under mounting domestic pressure to act, as scenes of hunger in Gaza had horrified many Britons. His stance follows a discussion with US President Donald Trump, who told reporters he did not mind Starmer taking a position on statehood.
Israel’s foreign ministry said it rejected the British statement:
“The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,” the ministry said on X.
Gaza kids charity organisation distributes food.
To trade news, and a potential extension of a tariff pause between the United States and China will not be agreed upon until President Donald Trump signs off on the plan, CNBC reported.
Top trade officials from both countries recently concluded talks in Sweden.
Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang said earlier that both sides had agreed to continue pushing for an extension of the pause on most of the US “reciprocal” tariffs on Chinese goods, as well as Beijing’s retaliatory measures. The current pause is set to expire on August 12.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that if an extension was not reached by the deadline, US tariffs would revert to their April levels. He said Trump “has the final say on all the trade deals” and the pending truce.
Scott Bessent.
The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its forecast for global economic growth this year, after the US stepped back from some of its more extreme tariff measures, The Guardian reported.
It now expects global growth to reach 3% in 2025, up from its April estimate of 2.8%.
IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the tariffs would still reduce economic activity and gradually lead to higher prices in the US.
In business news, consumer products giant Procter & Gamble has forecast its annual results largely below estimates and announced plans to raise prices on some products in the US, Reuters reported.
The company, which makes household staples from paper towels to dietary supplements, forecast net sales growth of between 1% and 5%, with the midpoint falling below analysts’ expectations of 3.09% growth.
P&G’s leadership told the market that economic volatility and “consumer anxiety” over US trade policy had forced shoppers to stretch their household budgets.
The company said it planned to raise prices on about a quarter of its US product range starting this month.
To India, where the world’s most populous country has, for the first time, overtaken China in smartphone exports to the United States, CNBC reported.
According to research firm Canalys, smartphones assembled in India accounted for 44% of US imports of such devices in the June quarter, up from 13% in the same period last year.
Canalys principal analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said Apple drove the shift, as the company moved more of its production to India amid heightened US-China trade uncertainty.
US smartphone imports from China fell to 25% in the June quarter, down from 61% a year earlier.
And finally, a painting bought at a house clearance sale in the UK for £150 has been identified as a work by Salvador Dalí, worth between £20,000 and £30,000, The Guardian reported.
It was purchased by a Cambridge antiques dealer, John Russell (not his real name), who spotted Dali's signature in the bottom right corner.
“Most of the time, I buy stuff that I like. On this occasion, I was really taking a bit of a punt, because I wasn’t sure I’d have it on the wall, to be honest … I do like some unusual art, but you’d have to love it, wouldn’t you?”
A few months later, Russell tracked down the relevant Sotheby’s catalogue, which confirmed the work had previously been identified as a Dalí, and then approached a valuer.
The painting, Vecchio Sultano, is a mixed media piece created using watercolour and felt-tip pen. It is one of 500 illustrations produced by Dalí.
