Top headlines from across today’s paper
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FINANCIAL TIMES
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
 
 
 

Top Headlines from the UK Edition

 
 
 
US Senate passes Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax and spending bill
 
Landmark legislation to extend tax cuts and reduce spending on healthcare now returns to the House
 
 
Starmer guts UK welfare reforms to avoid Commons defeat
 
Government wins vote but watered down measures will leave a multibillion-pound hole in public finances
 
 
How the ‘rebel alliance’ took on Starmer over welfare — and won
 
Plans to cut £5bn from Britain’s spiralling benefits bill lie in tatters after U-turn
 
 
UK visa revamp allows lower-skilled office workers to come to Britain
 
Rules aimed at tightening regime will at first make provision for temporary shortages in non-graduate occupations
 
 
Donald Trump’s big, beautiful act of self-harm
 
Many Republicans could lose their seats in Congress as a result of the president’s reverse Robin Hood budget
 
 
 

Top Headlines from the International Editions

 
 
 
Donald Trump threatens to raise tariffs again on Japan
 
US president not intending to extend July 9 deadline before hitting trading partners with more levies
 
 
Is Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ a political curse for Republicans?
 
A legislative win for the president could hurt his party given the tax and spend measure’s low popularity
 
 
US banks announce big shareholder payouts as Fed eases stress tests
 
Wall Street titans to raise dividends and buy back shares on back of lighter oversight
 
 
Peter Thiel joins tech billionaires backing new lender Erebor to rival Silicon Valley Bank
 
Start-up named after the dragon’s mountain in ‘Lord of the Rings’
 
 
What is in Donald Trump’s giant tax-cutting bill?
 
Package would cut levies by $4.5tn over 10 years while slashing welfare spending and green subsidies
 
 
 

Markets

 
 
 
Germany launches insurance crackdown on Russian ‘shadow fleet’
 
Berlin increases controls on vessels heading eastward through the Fehmarn strait
 
 
Citadel outshone by smaller hedge fund rivals in trade war turmoil
 
Ken Griffin’s flagship fund was up 2.5% in the first half of 2025, lagging behind Balyasny and ExodusPoint
 
 
The risks of funding states via casinos
 
It is easy to imagine conditions in which money simply dries up, perhaps in response to large movements in bond yields
 
 
Saks divisive debt reshuffle shows a retail sector under strain
 
US department store chain has made some of its creditors very unhappy with their unequal treatment
 
 
Gilts rally as Andrew Bailey hints at reduction in BoE debt sales
 
Central bank has come under pressure to slow quantitative tightening amid global bond sell-off
 
 
 

Companies

 
 
 
Qantas hit by cyber attack after FBI alert on ‘Scattered Spider’ group
 
Australian airline investigating whether hacking group that targeted M&S are behind customer database breach
 
 
Call for entries: High-growth companies Asia-Pacific 2026
 
Register now to be considered for our latest list of the region’s fastest-growing businesses
 
 
Abolish ‘triple lock’ on UK pensions to prevent financial cliff-edge, says IFS
 
Millions of private sector workers will see sharp drop in living standards under current system, study finds
 
 
NHS hospitals can use any approved medical kit under plans to cut admin
 
Ten-year plan for health service will include ‘innovator passport’ to prevent duplication of testing
 
 
Santander to buy UK high street lender TSB for £2.65bn
 
Spanish bank beat British rival Barclays which also put in a formal bid for the Sabadell-owned unit
 
 
 

Opinion

 
 
 
A new front in Trump’s war on the global economy