Gaza peace plan takes shape

Good morning and welcome back to the final edition of FirstFT this week. Here’s what we have for you today:

• A US peace plan for Gaza

• Pharma industry hit with new tariffs

• Report on conditions inside an iPhone factory in China

• And the divorce capital of the world

Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in the US for an address today to the UN General Assembly after a week of intense diplomatic activity in New York to thrash out a Gaza peace plan. Here’s what you need to know.

What has been agreed? Nothing yet but former UK prime minister Tony Blair is pushing to play a senior role in the governance of Gaza after the war ends, following talks with the White House. Donald Trump held meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders this week on the sidelines of the UN to discuss proposals for a peace plan. The proposals include establishing a Palestinian committee to administer the war-ravaged strip, which would be overseen by an international supervisory board. One of the people briefed on the plans said Blair would like to be on the supervisory board. Another person familiar with the matter said he had been proposed as the chair of the board of a “Gaza International Transitional Authority”. Trump’s proposals include elements of various European and Arab plans that have been discussed in the past month. The US president’s plan also states there would be no forced displacement of Gazans. 

What does Israel think of the plan? That is the big question. A test will come when Netanyahu meets Trump at the White House on Monday. Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to “destroy” Hamas and recently ordered a new offensive on Gaza City. Members of Netanyahu’s right-wing government have also demanded the immediate annexation of the West Bank, something Trump ruled out this week. Israel’s traditional allies — the UK, Canada, France and Australia — formally recognised a Palestinian state this week in a rebuke to Netanyahu amid mounting international outrage over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Read more on Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:

• Economic data: The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure is released in a crucial test for the future path of US interest rates. The Personal Consumption Expenditures index is expected to have risen last month. Brazil’s central bank is expected to report the country’s current account deficit for August while Mexico’s national statistics agency is set to update the trade balance.

• Federal Reserve speakers: Thomas Barkin, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond president, is scheduled to speak at the Peterson Institute for International Economics while Fed vice-chair for supervision Michelle Bowman is expected to participate in an event in New York.

• Golf: The 45th biennial Ryder Cup golf tournament between Europe and the US begins in Farmingdale, New York. The event will run until Sunday.

FT journalists will convene today to discuss the accomplishments of New York Climate Week 2025, its impact on the lead-up to COP30, and share exclusive insights from their discussions with industry leaders and experts. Register here for free.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Chinese factory staff assembling Apple’s latest iPhone face precarious conditions, working many hours of overtime, suffering wage delays and discrimination against ethnic minorities, according to a leading labour rights group. Read Eleanor Olcott’s undercover investigation into Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant.

• TikTok split: The social media app’s US unit will be valued at about $14bn under Donald Trump’s deal to force its divestiture from its Chinese parent.

• ‘Cease and disable’: Microsoft has stopped providing some services to the Israeli military after a probe into the use of its products to surveil Palestinian civilians.

2. The US justice department has filed charges against James Comey after pressure from Trump to prosecute the former FBI director who investigated contacts between the president’s 2016 campaign and Russia. Read more on the case.

3. Donald Trump has said the US will impose 100 per cent tariffs on imports of branded or patented pharmaceutical goods from October 1, in a sudden escalation of his trade war. In a flurry of social media posts Trump also said tariffs on imported trucks and furniture products would be extended.

4. German chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on the EU to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s war effort in a stark reversal of Berlin’s previous scepticism about the proposal. The move could unlock up to €140bn for Kyiv to use to buy military equipment. Read more on the proposal.

5. Accenture has reduced its global workforce by more than 11,000 in the past three months and warned staff that more would be asked to leave if they cannot be retrained for the age of artificial intelligence. Details of the restructuring plan were released alongside the IT consulting group’s annual results.

Today’s big read

A ruling this month paves the way for the biggest divorce case ever heard in the UK. It will also encourage an even greater number of “divorce tourists” to travel to England, say lawyers. Lucy Warwick-Ching and Alistair Gray explain why Natalia Potanina’s victory cements London’s reputation as the divorce capital of the world.

We’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

A study has shown that voters and mainstream politicians have long been aligned on economic issues such as tax and public ownership, writes John Burn-Murdoch. But on sociocultural issues such as immigration and criminal justice there is a gulf. The result is the opening up of a wide “representation gap” into which the populist right is rapidly expanding.

Take a break from the news . . . 

The Lapalala Wilderness Reserve in Limpopo province, three hours north of Johannesburg by car, is a sanctuary for lions, rhinos, giraffes and antelopes. It is also home to Lepogo Lodges, one of the few entirely not-for-profit safari lodges in South Africa. As impressive as the scenery are the retreat’s pioneering efforts in protecting wildlife and indigenous culture.