Germany’s Merz backs using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine

This text is an on-site model of our FirstFT publication. Subscribers can signal as much as our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas version to get the publication delivered each weekday morning. Discover all of our newsletters hereToday’s agenda: Inside China’s mega iPhone manufacturing facility; Blair’s postwar Gaza function; UK’s two-child profit cap; and Russian spy ship stalking Europe’s waters.Good morning. We begin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has referred to as on the EU to make use of frozen Russian property to finance Ukraine’s struggle effort.New monetary impetus: Writing within the Monetary Occasions, Merz insisted the bloc should discover a authorized mechanism to make use of the property and “make these funds obtainable for the defence of Ukraine”.He argued the transfer might unlock a €140bn mortgage for Kyiv and present “endurance” towards Russian aggression, including that it was crucial to “systematically and massively elevate the prices of Russia’s aggression”.Change of tune: In a reversal of Berlin’s earlier scepticism about tapping seized Russian property, Merz stated the mortgage must be used to fund navy gear, with EU governments deciding on procurement alongside Kyiv. Member states, together with Germany, have lengthy resisted confiscating the property, citing monetary and authorized dangers.The enchantment from the chief of Europe’s largest financial system and Ukraine’s greatest backer comes because the European Fee examines choices to leverage the €194bn value of Russian property held at Euroclear, Belgium’s central safety depository. Learn the complete story.Right here’s what else we’re protecting tabs on immediately and over the weekend:UN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ready to offer a speech on the UN Common Meeting in New York immediately, adopted by a gathering with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday.Latvia: Two-day Nato navy committee convention begins in Riga immediately.E3: Deadline expires tomorrow on the 30-day course of for Britain, France and Germany to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.Moldova: Parliamentary elections are held on Sunday.UK: Labour celebration convention begins in Liverpool on Sunday till October 1.How nicely did you retain up with the information this week? Take our quiz. 5 extra prime stories1. Unique: Chinese language manufacturing facility workers assembling Apple’s newest iPhone face precarious circumstances, working many hours of extra time, struggling wage delays and discrimination towards ethnic minorities, in response to a number one labour rights group. Learn extra on Eleanor Olcott’s undercover investigation at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant.TikTok break up: The social media app’s US unit will likely be valued at about $14bn beneath Donald Trump’s deal to drive its divestiture from its Chinese language dad or mum.‘Stop and disable’: Microsoft has stopped offering some providers to the Israeli navy after a probe into the usage of its merchandise to surveil Palestinian civilians.2. The US justice division has filed fees towards James Comey after stress from Trump to prosecute the previous FBI director who investigated contacts between the president’s 2016 marketing campaign and Russia. Learn extra on the case.3. Sir Tony Blair is searching for to play a senior function in operating postwar Gaza beneath a peace plan being developed by the Trump administration, in response to folks briefed on the proposal, with one saying the previous UK prime minister wish to be on the supervisory board. Learn extra on Blair’s potential function.4. Germany’s new deregulation tsar has vowed to be extra refined than his former US counterpart Elon Musk, whose Division of Authorities Effectivity wreaked havoc shutting down state-funded programmes. Karsten Wildberger’s appointment comes as Chancellor Friedrich Merz has made reducing purple tape a cornerstone of his plan to revive the financial system. Learn the complete interview.Sweetener from Milan: Italian financial institution UniCredit is open to creating its board extra German if it helps swing a takeover of Commerzbank, a cross-border deal that has been fiercely opposed by Berlin.5. Unique: UK ministers are analyzing plans to both overhaul or scrap the two-child profit cap, amid rising stress from Labour MPs to jettison some of the contentious welfare insurance policies of the previous decade. Listed below are the approaches being debated on and the prices.FT Investigation© FT montage/PA/Planet Labs/CIARussian espionage operations across the British Isles and off the coast of Scandinavia pose a grave risk to crucial undersea cables, presenting a dilemma for Nato allies on tips on how to reply. Learn extra on the spy ship stalking Europe’s waters.We’re additionally studying . . . Nicolas Sarkozy: The previous French president has been sentenced to 5 years in jail for legal conspiracy in a trial over accusations that he took marketing campaign contributions from Libyan dictator Muammer Gaddafi. Commerce curbs: Taiwan has suspended chip export controls on South Africa days after it made unprecedented use of the island nation’s technological dominance for diplomatic retaliation.Local weather tirade: Trump’s geoeconomic power battle with China spells extra upheaval for enterprise and danger for the planet, writes Gillian Tett.World’s break-up capital: A current court docket ruling is predicted to deliver a brand new flood of “divorce vacationers” to London searching for larger payouts. Chart of the dayA research has proven that voters and mainstream politicians have lengthy been aligned on financial points comparable to tax and public possession, writes John Burn-Murdoch. However on sociocultural points comparable to immigration and legal justice there’s a yawning gulf. The result’s the opening up of a large “illustration hole” into which the populist proper is quickly increasing.Some content material couldn’t load. Examine your web connection or browser settings.Take a break from the information . . . The Lapalala Wilderness Reserve in Limpopo Province, three hours north of Johannesburg by automotive, is a sanctuary for lions, rhinos, giraffes and antelopes. Additionally it is house to Lepogo Lodges, one of many few fully not-for-profit safari lodges in South Africa. As spectacular because the surroundings are the retreat’s pioneering efforts in defending wildlife and indigenous tradition.© Dana Allen