Hello from our London newsroom after an unusually busy August week. We had some breaking news on Friday of a new military alliance agreed in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. 

The US war against Iran might not be settled for months, perhaps even years, but just as the 2003 Iraq war reshaped the Middle East, so will the 2026 US war of choice. This week brought one clear signal of the new alignments in the region: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a defence pact, a recognition of the waning reliance on the US, and the growing assertiveness of Iran, even if battered by US and Israeli strikes. While the participants are loath to suggest a new axis and stress the defensive nature of the pact, it’s hard not to see it as at least partly a response to a more volatile US, until now the main guarantor of Gulf security. 

1. Sir Demis Hassabis stepped down as chief executive of Google DeepMind on Wednesday as part of a wider shake-up of the company’s AI leadership. As our West Coast editor Richard Waters argues, the tech giant is still grappling with how best to marshal its considerable resources to keep up in the AI race.

2. Our reporters were the first to reveal details of the US Treasury’s historic intervention in the yen market last week, as well as how Washington’s unusual move to sell euros to boost the yen blindsided the European Central Bank.

3. In another big FT exclusive, we revealed AstraZeneca’s talks to combine with US rival Bristol Myers Squibb. If agreed, the deal would create one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical groups, valued at nearly $400bn.

4. Common ground can be hard to come by in Britain’s five-party politics. But on Romney Marsh in south Kent, one climate issue is uniting Greens and Reform.

5. Progressive challenger Abdul El-Sayed delivered a stunning rebuke of the Democratic Party establishment on Wednesday, when he won a Michigan Senate primary. In an interview with Virginia’s centrist governor Abigail Spanberger, we asked: are the Democrats in civil war?

6. Morocco’s all-powerful monarch and Europe’s most prominent leftwing leader make for uneasy partners. But the migration crisis that erupted at Spain’s north African exclave Ceuta last week has made it clear where King Mohammed VI holds leverage over Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

7. “North versus south is a political rift hard-wired into the world,” writes our international politics commentator Janan Ganesh. And Europe is no different. On migration and defence, the continent’s two sides increasingly inhabit different worlds.

8. The United Arab Emirates is investing heavily in land, ports and influence across Africa. But as our Big Read explains, the Gulf state’s entangled goals come at a price.

9. In the age of AI, what happens to people who sell the human variety, namely strategic consultants? Our US financial commentator Rob Armstrong argues that the threat is big — but not necessarily existential.

10. It’s August and we all need some cheering up. Enter the special summer issue of FT Weekend Magazine. It’s packed full of nerdy puzzles and articles to give your mind a (stimulating) break. Pick up a physical issue — or play online.

Ancient Rome is often depicted as a glamorous empire of power, sophistication and wealth. Yet for most people, the reality of daily life was precarious. On this week’s episode of The Story of Money, host Robin Wigglesworth talks to expert Kim Bowes about how ordinary Romans combined real grit with surprising financial sophistication in order to weather a system that was stacked against them.

Have a great weekend,

Roula