Good morning. Trump abruptly leaves the G-7 after calling for a Tehran evacuation. Equity futures drop on increased Mideast tensions. And we give you a few reasons to make Denmark your next holiday destination. Listen to the day’s top stories.

Stock futures fell as Donald Trump called for the immediate evacuation of Tehran. The president abruptly left the G-7 summit in Canada, saying his early return to DC has nothing to do with a ceasefire. Earlier, he’d urged Iran to sign a deal to limit its nuclear program and Israel signaled strikes would continue. 

G-7 trade roundup: Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada and America are aiming to strike a deal within a month. Trump said he and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a pact agreed on last month. And Japan failed to reach an accord with the US. 

Wealthy French are intensifying asset-protection efforts after the resurgence of tax-the-rich policies during last year’s election raised fears they’ll be a target. We previously wrote about how French companies have been bracing for inheritance tax changes as well as where rich Brits and French might seek refuge from higher levies. 

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he sees no evidence of illegal financing within the Socialist Party as a corruption scandal that forced the resignation of a top aide continues to roil his government. He’s dismissed calls for an early election. Read more about the scandal here. 

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged and unveiled a plan to slow its withdrawal from the bond market from next year after volatility in government debt rippled across the world. Read our deep dive into how the nation’s once-slumbering bond market has roared back to life. 
 

Deep Dive: The Cost of Cocoa

A cocoa processing plant in Abidjan. Photographer: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Bloomberg

Cocoa smuggled from the world’s largest producer, Ivory Coast, is leading to supply shortages and traceability concerns.

• Prices for cocoa on the global market have nearly tripled since 2023, reaching around $13,000 per ton in December, before falling back to about $9,000.
• Adverse weather and disease outbreaks have exacerbated supply issues caused by decades of underinvestment in major producing countries, leading to severe shortages.
• But as prices soar, farmers in Ivory Coast have found it hard to cash in. 

The Big Take

Opinion

Benjamin Netanyahu ought to follow his Lebanon model in Iran, not his Gaza example, Matthew Champion and James Hertling write. In Lebanon, Israeli troops weakened Hezbollah and then left—they didn’t continue fighting to try to eliminate the leadership entirely.

Before You Go

A look inside the three-star Geranium, whose home is a football stadium in Copenhagen. Source: Geranium

Copenhagen dethroned Vienna as the world’s most livable city in The Economist’s 2025 Global Livability Index, with Zurich capturing third place. Another reason you’ll want to check out Denmark—it dominated Scandinavia’s culinary scene last year with 38 Michelin-starred restaurants. 

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