Live news update: Germany posts first monthly trade deficit since 1991

Welcome to Independence Week. The big celebration — celebrating 1776 and all that — kicks off across the United States on Monday. But from Algeria to Venezuela, Argentina to South Sudan, separation from former colonial powers is a potent topic — and a source of public holidays around the world — for the next seven days.

For those of us trying to get in (or work), this isn’t going to be a week of celebrations.

French railway workers begin a strike on Wednesday, days before the country’s school holidays begin.

Then there is the British summer drama of exasperation. Solicitors in England and Wales will resume tomorrow.”Crime does not pay preachersOn Tuesday they will be joined by the Financial Conduct Authority’s banking regulators – represented by Unite – who have pulled out again in defiance of the latest payment offer. Moreover, the range of workers taking action is growing. Also on Tuesday, the makers will be voted on. Whirlpool washing machines are on strike for what union bosses have called a “humiliating” pay offer.

This seems to be a good point to point out that the Financial Times is surveying about cost-of-living pressures – how do you deal with higher prices? To share, tap over here.

After last week’s NATO summit in Madrid, the focus of Western efforts trying to help Ukraine this week will shift to Lugano in Switzerland. The Ukraine Recovery Conference is the latest in a series of high-level political gatherings that first took place in London in 2017, and were originally intended to discuss reforms that could unlock foreign investment at a time of relative peace for the nation. The Russian invasion gave new urgency to such support.

Is there anything to lighten the mood? Well, the summer season has begun – and by that I mean the summer season of FT Live for stimulating conversations and gatherings. This Thursday’s event, “Take advantage of disruption to create jobs,” is free to attend and you can do so by clicking over here.

economic data

The main question at the moment is whether, or in some cases when, the major Western economies will push into recession. A batch of business surveys this week will highlight areas of interest for business owners. The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest rate-setting meeting on Wednesday and the US labor market report on Friday will also be watched.

comp

We are in another week of UK corporate news dominated by retailers. Trading update from J Sainsbury on Tuesday will be effective Restart Tesco A couple of weeks ago, as he also made a strategic decision to accept lower rates that would reduce profits in order to retain customers.

Curry may be interesting given that the British electrical goods retailer is the clear market leader, but market value has dwindled, margins are tight and there is a sense that the pandemic has been the high water mark for the company.

Read the full calendar for the next week over here