Iran’s president dies in helicopter crash

We apologise for the delay in at the moment’s FirstFT to carry you breaking information.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash, state media reported this morning.

The helicopter carrying the president got here down yesterday in a distant and mountainous area of the nation’s north-west, in line with Tasnim Information Company, which is carefully linked to the elite Revolutionary Guard. Rescue groups battled for hours to succeed in the crash website, with fog and snow hindering efforts.

Iran’s overseas minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was additionally on board the helicopter as a part of Raisi’s entourage. We have now the most recent updates right here.

• Instantaneous Perception: The loss of life of Raisi, a person central to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s plans to cement the affect of hardliners, has dealt a blow to the supreme chief and his Islamic regime, writes Center East editor Andrew England.

And right here’s what else I’m retaining tabs on at the moment:

• UK: A last listening to is held at London’s Excessive Court docket for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s enchantment towards his extradition to the US. Sir Brian Langstaff, chair of the contaminated blood inquiry, publishes his last report on the healthcare failure, whereas Rightmove has its home value index for the month.

• Central banks: Financial institution of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent speaks at a workshop on financial coverage in London, forward of UK inflation figures later this week, whereas the Federal Reserve co-hosts a convention on the worldwide roles of the US greenback in Washington.

• Holidays: Markets are closed in Germany for Whit Monday and in Canada for Victoria Day.

• Outcomes: The Huge Yellow Group, Kainos, Ryanair and Zoom report.

5 extra prime tales

1. G7 allies have warmed to a US plan to hurry help to Ukraine earlier than Donald Trump’s potential return to the White Home, in line with western officers. Underneath the plan, an upfront mortgage to Kyiv can be backed by future earnings generated by about $350bn in Russian belongings. Right here’s why sentiment on the plan has shifted.

• Nato: Sending troops to Ukraine to prepare its troopers doesn’t danger dragging the army alliance into warfare with Russia, Estonia’s prime minister instructed the Monetary Instances.

• Ukrainian economic system: Ladies staff are in demand on the nation’s metal crops, as they more and more tackle roles as soon as occupied by males now wanted on the battlefield.

2. Unique: The European Central Financial institution is dealing with union calls to introduce nationality quotas for recruitment after an Irish member of the financial institution’s government board urged Dublin to protect his nation’s outsized presence among the many financial institution’s employees. Union representatives known as chief economist Philip Lane’s behaviour “very disturbing” in a letter to the ECB board seen by the FT.

3. The US has urged Israel to simply accept a political resolution to the warfare in Gaza and a regional cope with Saudi Arabia in talks with the Israeli prime minister over the weekend. Nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan made the push throughout a whirlwind journey to the Center East, which included talks on Saturday with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince earlier than assembly Benjamin Netanyahu and different prime officers yesterday. Listed below are extra particulars from his journey.

4. Audit corporations failed to lift the alarm earlier than three-quarters of huge UK company collapses since 2010, in line with analysis on the 250 largest publicly listed corporations. Auditors are required to incorporate a “material uncertainty related to going concern” in the event that they imagine there’s a danger that an organization could go bankrupt. Right here’s how every of the Huge 4 carried out.

5. Unique: The UK’s Metropolis minister has criticised plans to power banks and cost corporations to reimburse fraud victims as much as £415,000 from October, within the newest signal of rising tensions between the Treasury and regulators. Bim Afolami and chancellor Jeremy Hunt concern watchdogs are stifling progress of their willpower to bear down on danger. Listed below are a few of the “significant problems” Afolami flagged.

Visible story

Taiwan occupies a strategically very important place for China and the US. For Beijing, Taiwan and its islands are a part of its territory, which it needs to unify with the mainland and within the course of push US army energy ever additional away from jap Asia. Three a long time of funding means China’s army is now near with the ability to combat a Taiwan warfare. The FT has recognized 5 key army contests that may assist outline the end result of a battle.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Robert Fico: As their prime minister recovers from the try on his life, Slovaks marvel if he’ll he search revenge and cement his grip on energy.

• UK overseas college students: Dealing with racism and fraught geopolitics, the rising cohort of Chinese language college students at British universities discover their personal sense of group.

• Asynchronous work: “This meeting could have been an email” is now a tenet for some corporations as they ditch common hours and consider new methods to collaborate.

• Taxing the super-rich: After the latest miracle of worldwide company tax reform, a international billionaire’s tax doesn’t appear so unimaginable, writes Martin Sandbu.

Need extra on the most recent international financial coverage debates? Enroll for Martin’s Free Lunch e-newsletter in the event you’re a premium subscriber, or improve your subscription right here.

Chart of the day

Environmental, social and governance programs are among the many hottest topics provided by prime enterprise faculties world wide, the most recent evaluation of the FT’s government rankings exhibits. Working with Coursalytics, greater than 4,200 programs throughout 163 faculties had been examined, offering insights into matters, codecs, value and instructing.

Take a break from the information

How a lot enjoyable do you might have at work? There are severe causes for having fun on the job, writes Pilita Clark, however jokes at work must be deployed with ability and care.

Further contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm