On Sunday Donald Trump struck a trade agreement with the European Union. Afterwards the president, pleased with his deal, took a question from a reporter: did he rush to make an agreement to “knock the Jeffrey Epstein story out”? Mr Trump’s mood changed. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said.
The story is still on its feet, weeks after the Department of Justice enraged some of Mr Trump’s conspiracy-minded supporters by deciding there were no documents about Epstein, a convicted child molester who died in 2019, to be released. Some Republicans tried to force the DoJ to unseal them, creating intra-party conflict in the House of Representatives. Administration officials are trying to save face by digging out fresh information. The DoJ has asked three federal judges to make public grand-jury testimony from old investigations. Two judges in New York gave the government until Tuesday to specify what testimony they wanted. The other, in Florida, swiftly denied the request.
AstraZeneca, Britain’s biggest drugmaker, reports half-year results on Tuesday. Analysts expect second-quarter revenues to rise by 10% compared with a year earlier. But more attention is on its corporate future. Pascal Soriot (pictured), the firm’s boss, is reportedly considering shifting its stockmarket listing from London to New York. Mr Soriot is frustrated by Britain’s commercial environment, particularly on the pricing and approval process for drugs.
Still, America brings challenges of its own. Donald Trump wants to cap drug prices at levels charged in other rich countries and has threatened tariffs as high as 200% on medicines made abroad. AstraZeneca is already adapting. Last week it pledged to invest $50bn in America by 2030, expanding its manufacturing and research operations. A new plant in Virginia will be its biggest investment in a manufacturing facility globally. AstraZeneca wants to reach $80bn in total revenue by the end of the decade, with half of that coming from America. The success of its latest investments will be critical.
Boeing’s second-quarter results, out on Tuesday, should show that the American aerospace giant is finally getting back on course after a difficult stretch. Revenues may grow and, although the firm will probably report a quarterly loss, it looks set for its first annual operating profit for several years.
Kelly Ortberg, Boeing’s boss since August 2024, is trying to restore Boeing’s reputation for engineering excellence. Production of both single aisle and long-haul passenger planes is picking up and orders are rolling in. Boeing’s defence arm also got a boost with its selection by the Pentagon to develop the F-47, the next generation of military jet.
Donald Trump’s trade deals often include an order for Boeing passenger jets for countries winning favourable terms. But the firm still faces American tariffs on imported components, and foreign tariffs on finished jets if other countries retaliate against America. That makes plotting its ascent all the tougher.
Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, is struggling politically as his Socialist Party has become embroiled in corruption scandals. Still, the country’s economic health may provide some comfort. Preliminary data for the second quarter, out on Tuesday, are expected to show Spain’s economy more or less repeating its 0.6% growth of the previous three months. That will probably be significantly more than the figure for the whole euro area. The Spanish uplift comes from private consumption, booming tourist arrivals and a growing labour force, helped in part by immigration.
Nonetheless, the numbers show a gentle slowdown from last year’s growth of 3.2%. There are headwinds in the longer-range forecast: European post-pandemic funds must be spent by August 2026; America’s tariffs will hurt exports. And pressure is growing to cut public debt—still above 100% of GDP—more aggressively, while the good times last.
Vince McMahon, who co-founded World Wrestling Entertainment, is one of Donald Trump’s closest friends. His co-founder and estranged wife, Linda McMahon, is Mr Trump’s secretary of education. America’s president has appeared in WWE events, once shaving Mr McMahon’s head in the ring, and often seems to run his administration on wrestling’s central dictum: attention is everything. Cognoscenti long sneered at the “sport” because it is “fake”. Yet that misses the point. Scripted television dramas that do not involve giants in singlets hurling each other around are fake too, but still compelling.
On Tuesday, five days after the death of WWE’s greatest star, Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea, Netflix premieres “WWE: Unreal”, a series that takes viewers into the writers’ room. Even non-fans will enjoy seeing how the writers build and adapt storylines and stars. It is the story of a specific type of dramatic production—and it may enhance viewers’ understanding of the most powerful man in the world.
We will serve you a new question each day this week. On Friday your challenge is to give us all five answers and, as important, tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 BST on Friday to [email protected]. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown three winners on Saturday.
Tuesday: Who is the hapless human protagonist in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series?
Monday: Which British potter and artist is fond of cross-dressing?
Yesterday’s edition did not include a quiz question because of a production error. Sorry. You can see Monday’s question above. Thanks to all our loyal players who wrote in.
The world in brief
