Good morning and welcome to FirstFT. In today’s newsletter:
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India’s ‘Cockroach’ protests
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Andy Burnham becomes UK prime minister
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Will a tight-lipped Fed chair fuel market volatility?
We begin in New Delhi, where police cracked down yesterday on one of the largest protests seen in the capital in years.
What to know: Police repeatedly fired tear gas and beat protesters with sticks and plastic batons as Indian authorities tried to disperse thousands of supporters of the youth-led “Cockroach” movement who were protesting near parliament over problems in the education system.
Security forces charged protesters after they breached some barricades near parliament, where legislators were gathering for the start of a new session. Images shared on social media showed police beating demonstrators with sticks and batons as they chased them away.
“Students have been beaten,” said opposition MP Dimple Yadav. “Today will be remembered as a black day for democracy and for our history.”
A challenge to Modi: The demonstration threatened to spill over into a broader challenge to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite its recent regional election victories.
Protesters had responded to a call by the upstart Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) for a big demonstration, pouring into central Delhi on foot from early on Monday, carrying flags and placards demanding the government “wake up and listen”.
Tension rose in the afternoon when security forces used tear gas shells across the routes to parliament to disperse demonstrators. Protesters responded by shouting slogans such as: “Whenever Modi is scared, he puts forward the cops.”
Jyotsna Singh and Michael Stott report from New Delhi.
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
Five more top stories
1. Andy Burnham has become Britain’s seventh prime minister since the 2016 Brexit vote, vowing to build a “new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity”. The new prime minister began assembling his cabinet yesterday. An early casualty was Rachel Reeves, chancellor, who said she was stepping down and would leave the government entirely.
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Who is in Burnham’s new cabinet? His top team includes ministers who served under Sir Keir Starmer as well as close, longtime allies.
2. China’s “national team” of funds has bought close to $9bn in equities as Beijing seeks to support the stock market following a bruising sell-off on Friday. China’s benchmark CSI 300 rose 1.5 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 2.4 per cent yesterday while other regional indices, including Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi, fell.
3. A federal judge has temporarily paused Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, siding with a dozen Democratic-led states that said the $110bn deal would smother competition in Hollywood. The order calls into question whether the billionaire Ellison family, which controls Paramount, can complete the deal in its ideal timeframe.
4. US petrol prices have risen back above $4 a gallon as the resurgent Middle East conflict reverberates across the world’s biggest economy. The higher prices represent a growing liability for President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections in November as voter fatigue with the conflict grows.
5. The European Commission has fined Chinese online marketplace AliExpress €550mn for failing to do enough to prevent the sale of illegal products on its platform, the largest penalty yet under the bloc’s Digital Services Act. The fine comes amid a broader push against Chinese online retailers, particularly over low-cost imports.
Warsh’s quiet revolution at the Fed
After more than a decade in which the world’s most important central bank has taken great pains to telegraph its next moves — for fear of market-shaking surprises — a new, more tight-lipped era has arrived.
Little more than 20 minutes into his first public appearance as Fed chair in June, Kevin Warsh set out his intention to be “very curt” in response to questions about his plans for one of the world’s most important economic levers — US interest rates.
The question is whether Warsh’s taciturn approach to public policy will soothe volatility in the bond market or stoke it.
We’re also reading . . .
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Taking on Netanyahu: Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot is the main opponent running against Israel’s divisive prime minister in October’s elections.
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Bean to cup: Coffee drinkers are buying “less but better” as prices soar, according to Italian roaster Lavazza, fuelling demand for whole beans.
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Getting into Berghain: The mystique of Berlin’s notoriously selective club still convinces people to fly in from all around the world, writes Anne-Sylvaine Chassany.
Chart of the day
Europe is facing an even tighter squeeze on helium supplies as China cuts off exports of the industrial gas that is vital for manufacturing microchips and the functioning of medical devices including MRI scanners. Beijing earlier this month announced export controls on the natural gas byproduct, which has been in scarcer supply since the conflict in the Middle East cut off exports from the Gulf.
Take a break from the news . . .
In politics and business many old leaders stay on even when impairment strikes. But a few have mastered the art of knowing when to step down, writes Pilita Clark.
