Trump says he has received assurances on Iran protesters

Good morning and welcome back. In today’s newsletter:

Donald Trump says he has received assurances ‘killing in Iran is stopping’
Pimco says ‘unpredictable’ Trump policies to fuel shift from US
US, Denmark and Greenland to form Arctic working group
AI could cause ‘mass unemployment’ in London, mayor warns

We start with tensions in the Middle East. US President Donald Trump has said he has received assurances that Iran has “stopped” killing protesters, striking a more measured tone towards Tehran even as he declined to rule out military action.

Arrested protesters: “We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and it’s stopped. It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions, or an execution,” Trump said in the Oval Office, referring to plans for the Iranian regime to begin executing demonstrators who have been detained. He did not specify the source of his information.

The president made the comments yesterday after the US began evacuating some personnel from its largest military base in the region, as the possibility of a strike on Iran raised fears of a wider conflict.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News yesterday that he had not “heard about” any hangings and that “there is no, any, hanging today or tomorrow or whatever”.

Energy sector reaction: Trump’s remarks eased market concerns that a US attack on Iran was imminent, pushing oil prices lower. Oil prices fell today during trading in Asia with Brent crude, the international benchmark, declining 3.2 per cent to $64.39 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, also dropped 3.2 per cent to $60.01 per barrel. Read the latest.

Waiting for the US: Any action by Washington against Tehran could tip the regional balance further in Israel’s favour.
Echoes of the 1979 revolution: Then, as now, Iranians took to the streets and risked their lives for free speech and economic prosperity, writes Scheherazade Daneshkhu.
Where the protests began: Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, whose shopkeepers helped bring Islamist clerics to power in 1979, once again became a hotspot for anti-regime rallies.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

Economic data: Germany and the UK release GDP figures, while France publishes December inflation data.
Uganda: The African country holds presidential and parliamentary elections as octogenarian President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his 40-year rule.
Results: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock report earnings. See The Week Ahead for a fuller list.

Five more top stories

1. Bond giant Pimco is diversifying away from US assets as it contends with Trump’s “unpredictable” policies and amid worries on Wall Street over the consequences of the president’s attacks on the Federal Reserve. Read remarks from Dan Ivascyn, Pimco’s chief investment officer.

2. The US, Denmark and Greenland will set up a high-level group to discuss the Arctic island’s future but “fundamental disagreement” remains, the Danish foreign minister has said. Yesterday’s talks were held as Copenhagen and Nato allies sent troops and equipment to the Danish territory.

3. Exclusive: Sadiq Khan will warn that AI risks destroying huge numbers of jobs in London and bringing in “a new era of mass unemployment” unless ministers take action. The mayor fears the city will be at the “sharpest edge of change” given its dependence on white-collar jobs.

4. Private equity-owned Asda has been hit by a sell-off of its bonds and loans as investors in the struggling UK supermarket chain grow concerned that sales declines will jeopardise its turnaround. Traders offloaded Asda debt after data showed it suffered a Christmas sales slump.

5. Elon Musk has responded to pressure to stop users of his Grok AI model from generating fake sexualised images of real people. The move follows an outcry over the proliferation of the content on his X social media platform and the separate Grok app. Read the full report.

The Big Read

Montage of a hand holding euro bills and a caregiver assisting an elderly patient — © FT montage/EPA/Getty Images

Across Europe, rising numbers of older people and falling birth rates are straining national budgets and making for difficult political decisions. Can the continent still afford its generous state pensions?

We’re also reading . . .

Is it too late to save the planet from climate change? Join us for a live Q&A today with the FT’s business columnist Pilita Clark and climate correspondent Attracta Mooney.

Chart of the day

Apple is sitting out the costly race to build AI models and infrastructure. The iPhone maker has kept its investment in physical infrastructure at roughly 3 per cent of revenue for the past five years. By contrast, rivals have committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on data centres. Read more on the possible outcome of this cautious approach.

Line chart of Apple an outlier with spend consistently lower over time showing Big Tech capital spending has exploded with AI boom

Take a break from the news . . .

Wikipedia marks its 25th anniversary today. Can the website —perhaps the largest compendium of human knowledge ever created — survive given the myriad challenges from regulators, AI, the far right and Elon Musk?