Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) US President Donald Trump keeps repeating that the Strait of Hormuz — through which one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally flow — will reopen by Friday.But on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, where Iran likely dominated Monday’s dinner conversation, it’s clear that his European allies don’t share his optimism. They disagree that trade can resume by week’s end, like Trump promised, and have practical questions about what exactly was agreed before they can commit to de-mining missions and patrols.
2) The UK announced new sanctions on what it said was a Russian intelligence network that has been acquiring Western technology for its military to use in Ukraine, as well as a further clampdown on its shadow fleet and illicit finance programs. Britain’s Foreign Office said it was exposing a front company called LLC Neptune Co Ltd, which it said was controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, and was involved in covertly procuring Western technology for the country’s military.
3) SpaceX shares surged in premarket trading, putting the stock on track to extend a rally following its blockbuster debut last week. The shares rose 11% in New York, poised to build on the more than 40% gain across SpaceX’s first two sessions as a public company. The gains have lifted the market value of the rocket and AI company founded by Elon Musk above $2.5 trillion as of Monday’s close, bringing it within striking distance of Amazon.com Inc.’s nearly $2.7 trillion valuation.
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