Keir Starmer announces resignation as UK Prime Minister

Good afternoon, friends, and what a way to kick off the week. Egypt beat New Zealand last night, Mo Salah is one goal shy of the national scoring record, and we imagine productivity is suffering accordingly. In today’s issue: the story of Socks, a Korba coffee shop built on the conviction that neurodiverse employees are an asset. Also, House of the Dragon is back for a third season, and we have the recap. All that and last night’s full World Cup roundup below.

But first, the news…

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

🌐 UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation is dominating headlines this afternoon as the country’s sixth prime minister in 10 years announces he will step down just two years after his landslide victory. Starmer will remain in office until a new Labour Party leader is elected, with former mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham already confirming he will stand as candidate to replace Starmer.

Starmer’s announcement comes after he asserted for weeks that he would fight any attempt to oust him amid the UK’s growing political turmoil and opposition from his own lawmakers. In an emotional speech at 10 Downing Street, Starmer says his role as PM had been “the proudest moment of [his] life” and that he accepts with “good grace” that his party no longer supports him.

^^Read more on: BBC, CNBC, CNN, The Guardian, and Reuters.

MEANWHILE- Following “encouraging progress” in the US-Iran talks in Switzerland, Iran has agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back to their country, according to US Vice President JD Vance. Vance says the move marks “the first step in permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.”

^^Read more on: The Guardian.

IN THE BUSINESS PRESS- SpaceX stock fell nearly 5% in premarket trading today, marking the third consecutive drop after a record-breaking IPO. This comes after SpaceX was reported to have been handed the lowest possible ESG rating by MSCI.

^^Read more on: Bloomberg and CNBC.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• Egypt is on track to break two records in the same wheat season — local procurement and imports. The gov’t has already collected more than 4.6 mn tons of domestic wheat since mid-April, surpassing last year’s full-season total of 3.9 mn tons. Egypt also imported 7.1 mn tons of wheat in January-May 2026, up 65% from 4.3 mn tons in the same period last year;
• Majid Al Futtaim is anchoring East Cairo’s Mada City with a USD 3.1 bn+ (c. EGP 155 bn) mixed-use project under a strategic partnership inked with Midar. The Egyptian-Emirati private-sector partnership will build an integrated urban development across 553 feddans inside the New Cairo development;
• Egyptian banks adopted the ISO 20022 international standard for SWIFT financial messaging in interbank transfers. The move follows upgrades to Egypt’s Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system to bring it into compliance with the international standard. This allows richer, more structured data to travel with each payment.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Cairo’s turning up the heat tomorrow with a high of 36°C, following a cool low of 24°C. Up north, the weather remains pleasant with a sunny high of 30°C and a low of 22°C, according to our favorite weather app.