Trump orders more US forces to Gulf
The US is dispatching 1,000 more troops to the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalate; 1,500 were sent last month. Washington blames Iran for a series of oil tanker explosions, which Tehran strenuously denies. Iran said it would breach its international nuclear control agreement by 27 June. Sources: BBC, Deutsche Welle, Financial Times, Guardian and Reuters.
Morsi dies during trial
Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, died after collapsing in court. The 67 year old had been jailed since a military coup in 2013 and reportedly suffered a heart attack. Sources: BBC, Guardian and Reuters.
Global population expected to grow by 2bn
The UN forecast the world’s population will rise to 9.7bn by 2050, with half living in just nine countries, and could reach 10.9bn in 2100. Sources: Deutsche Welle, NBC News and SBS.
Drahi wins Sotheby’s bid
The Franco-Israeli entrepreneur Patrick Drahi bought Sotheby’s auction house for $3.7bn. Drahi founded the telecoms group Altice, which has an international hub in Luxembourg and is best known for its SFR brand. Sources: Financial Times, France 24 and Guardian.
Pfizer acquires Array
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer agreed to pay $11.4bn ($10.64bn in cash plus assuming debt) for Array Biopharma, which develops cancer drugs. Sources: CNN, Financial Times and Reuters.
Boeing faces more pressure from Airbus
Airbus introduced its A321neo jet, a rival to Boeing’s troubled 737 Max, at the Paris Air Show. Sources: CNN, Guardian and Reuters.
Later today
11am: National railway CFL presents its 2018 results. 3:30pm: The Luxembourg directors institute (ILA) elects a new board and chairman during its annual general meeting, which also features a talk on post-Brexit financial market governance. 6:45pm: Pitch Craft for Entrepreneurs, the public speaking club geared for entrepreneurs and freelancers, holds a demo meeting.
Looking ahead
Wednesday 19 June, 6:45pm: The Network, the professional women’s networking group, holds a “speed mentoring” session. Thursday 20 June, 12:30pm: The EIB Institute hosts a seminar on “Rethinking the future of plastics”. Thursday 20 June, 6:30pm: Startalers holds a beginners workshop for women investors.
Here are 3 data privacy stories you have missed
Rekognition: Amazon’s chief technology officer, Werner Vogels, told the BBC it wasn’t the firm’s responsibility to make sure its facial recognition software is used ethically; he said “societal discourse” was needed. Octopus cards: Hong Kong protesters paid cash on the metro instead of using their transport passes, so police could not track them, per Quartz. Spyware: Spain’s data protection watchdog fined the country’s top football league for releasing an app that made secret audio recordings of users (in an attempt to catch pirated match broadcasts), per Gizmodo.
Gloria Vanderbilt
The US fashion icon Gloria Vanderbilt died, following a fight with cancer, at the age of 95. Sources: BBC, NPR and People.
Cat filter marks livestream
A Pakistani politician appeared with feline ears and whiskers during a broadcast of his press conference on social media after a staffer somehow switched on a cat filter. As CNN put it: “It didn't take long for commentators to pounce on the error”. More: Gizmodo and The Verge.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald