FirstFT: Biden and Trump issue separate calls for national unity

Good morning. We have the latest on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

In a rare address from the Oval Office yesterday, Joe Biden called on Americans to “lower the political temperature”. “Politics must never be a battlefield, God forbid a killing field,” the US president said during a primetime television address.

Meanwhile, Trump issued his own call for unity in a social media post. “In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” he wrote.

The brazen act of political violence has transformed the 2024 presidential race and threatens to further polarise the country with less than four months to go until polling day in November. Here’s more of our coverage:

Unknown motives: Investigators and neighbours were left puzzling over the motives of the 20-year-old man who tried to kill Trump.

Fallout: There are renewed fears that American democracy is again becoming a cauldron of tension, anger and toxicity similar to the days after the January 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Close to the edge: With people on both sides making unfounded claims, an already existential election is now even more fraught, writes Edward Luce.

The attempted assassination will dominate the four-day Republican convention, which kicks off this evening in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where security will be tight as Trump formally accepts his party’s nomination. Sign up for our US Election Countdown newsletter for the latest updates on the race.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

Economic data: The EU publishes May industrial production figures, while Rightmove has its UK housing index.

Companies: Superdry is set to delist from the London Stock Exchange, while results are expected from BlackRock and Goldman Sachs.

Rwanda elections: President Paul Kagame is expected to win a fourth term as voters head to the polls.

Five more top stories

1. Private equity firms have sharply curbed their use of a controversial debt financing manoeuvre to return cash to investors, with new data showing so-called net asset value loans used to pay dividends falling by about 90 per cent during the second half of last year. The trend comes after institutions raised concerns about how some groups have embraced new forms of leverage to compensate for a lack of deals.

Opinion: The days of easy windfalls from freakishly loose monetary policy are gone, writes John Plender. Now, private capital is much more hazardous terrain for investors.

2. Exclusive: Investors who lost tens of millions of dollars with the collapse of Greensill Capital have challenged UBS’s offer of redress, claiming they have been denied access to crucial documents relating to funds they invested in, which were domiciled in Luxembourg. Owen Walker has the full story.

3. A number of European cannabis start-ups are planning to go public in New York to take advantage of a US proposal to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and decriminalisation in Germany. While share prices among bigger groups in the sector have been depressed, some companies see signs of improvement in the market. Here are the groups planning to list.

4. Google’s parent company Alphabet is in talks to buy Wiz for about $23bn in what would be the largest acquisition in the tech group’s history, according to people familiar with the matter. If reached, the deal would mark a further big push into cyber security for Alphabet, two years after it acquired Mandiant for $5.4bn. More details on the potential deal.

5. A long-awaited artificial intelligence bill is set to be introduced in the UK during the King’s Speech this Wednesday, as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer seeks to follow through on a pledge to create binding rules for the industry expected to focus on large language models. The AI bill is one of 35 currently set to be included in the speech, which outlines the government’s priorities. Here are the other bills on the agenda.

The Big Read

Across China, multiple indicators of social stress are flashing red as weakness in parts of the economy takes its toll. Official and unofficial data show rises in everything from labour market stress and housing foreclosures to labour protests, suicides, crime and random violence. China’s surveillance state, strengthened under President Xi Jinping, has suppressed most unrest in recent decades, but at a crucial economic transition, the party is facing new challenges in terms of maintaining what it values most — social stability.

We’re also reading . ..

Euro 2024: No one can deny Spain deserved its victory at the European Championship as their superior teamwork laid bare England’s limitations.

Paris Olympics: After a divisive election, this summer’s Games will fire the starting gun on a vast project that could forever transform the French capital, writes Simon Kuper.

Drug rules: Femke Halsema, mayor of the world’s most liberal city, speaks to Henry Mance about lessons from Amsterdam’s experience with drug regulation.

Visual of the day

In a brazen act of political violence, a 20-year-old gunman climbed on to a rooftop and fired several shots at Donald Trump, minutes into the former president’s speech at a campaign rally. In the aftermath, Republicans and Democrats have called for an immediate investigation into the US Secret Service, the agency responsible for protecting presidents and presidential candidates.

Take a break from the news

Scrolling mindlessly through social media may be unproductive and feel like “time out”, but emotional numbing is not the same thing as properly relaxing, writes Jemima Kelly. Read her latest column — then put down your smartphone and give yourself a real break!

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm