Greece on the brink, African treasure, and Silicon circle

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

Greece continued its lurch towards Grexit over the weekend – banks are now closed until at least July 6 and capital controls are in place. The Athens stock exchange is also shut down indefinitely.

After the government called for a referendum on new terms, eurozone finance ministers refused to extend the current bailout programme. The ECB then said it would cap the emergency funding it provides to keep the Greek banking system afloat, prompting the government to impose capital controls. (The cap means banks can no longer pay depositors who want to withdraw their money but they do not go bust.) Here’s how it all panned out.

This weekend’s events sent the euro below the $1.10 mark in early trading this morning. Here’s what to watch for the rest of today.

So is Grexit inevitable now? Not yet – there are still different paths to a deal. But if Greece does leave the euro, here is what you can expect.

As deals fell apart at the negotiating table, people have been queueing at ATMs and class divides have continued to widen. Tony Barber argues that despite the recklessness of the Greek government and the myopia of its creditors, the priority is to help Greece. Otherwise it will be sucked ever more deeply into political radicalism, possibly even outright war. (FT)

In the news

Low rates holding back growth The Bank for International Settlements warned that loose monetary policy is curtailing growth and fuelling financial instability. Meanwhile, the head of the Reserve Bank of New York said a Federal Reserve interest rate rise will be “very much in play” at the central bank’s September meeting if the recent strengthening of the US economy continues. (FT)

Isdafix investigations New York’s banking regulator is examining the suspected manipulation of Isdafix – a key derivatives benchmark used to set prices for interest rate swaps. The probe is in its early stages and has not yet honed in on specific banks but the scandal emerges after Germany’s financial regulator highlighted Deutsche Bank’s involvement in the Isdafix in a scathing report on its role in the Libor rate-rigging scandal. (FT)

Puerto Rico can’t pay up either The island’s governor says it cannot pay its $72bn in debtand it will have to defer debt payments for as long as five years. US cities and states rely on the municipal bond market to pay for basic needs such as road construction and public hospitals – Puerto Rico has piled on more municipal bond debt per capita than any American state. (NYT)

SpaceXplosion Elon Musk’s space company suffered another major setback when its Falcon 9 rocket broke up shortly after lift-off. It was the third attempt to carry an unmanned cargo capsule destined for the International Space Station. (FT)

It’s a big day for

Chinese markets Asian markets are already gyrating and China’s roller-coaster stocks are in the spotlight after the central bank cut benchmark interest rates to a record low at the weekend – a move seen as an attempt to temper last week’s market meltdown. (FT)

Iran talks Officials plan to stay in Vienna past the June 30 deadline for the final nuclear deal with Iran, warning that there remained a few thorny issues to be resolved. Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif flew to Tehran yesterday evening for consultations with leaders there and will return to Vienna tomorrow. (FT)

Food for thought

African treasure In the first episode of a four-part FT podcast series, Tom Burgis explores the battle over the largest undeveloped iron ore reserves in the world. Some of the biggest beasts in mining are fighting over the Simandou reserve in Guinea. At the heart of the battle is Israeli tycoon Beny Steinmetz, the main financial beneficiary of a mining company accused of acquiring the rights to the mine by corrupt means. (FT)

The marriage equality architect At home in Manhattan with Evan Wolfson, the lawyer who has helped win 65 court rulings in the past two years that paved the way for Friday’s landmark Supreme Court decision legalising gay marriage in the US. Here’s how Edith Windsor, the chief plaintiff in an earlier landmark decision, celebrated. (FT, New Yorker)

Silicon circle As tech groups shy away from IPOs, the wealth created goes only to those with the right access. “All the risks of this tech cycle are being shouldered by a far narrower circle of investors – but so are the rewards.” (FT)

Flirting with the Islamic State The conversations between a lonely young woman in rural Washington state and a British man with ties to radical Islam may provide clues about how Isis recruits new members around the world. Meanwhile a look at sales of antiquities on eBay and Facebook might give some idea of how Isis is funding itself. (NYT, FT)

Ten days in June David Remnick on an extraordinary week-and-a-half in America: “full of savage mayhem, uncommon forgiveness, resistance to forgiveness, furious debate, mourning, and, finally, justice and grace“. That last part is a reference to President Barack Obama’s eulogy for the pastor killed in Charleston – the most religious speech of his presidency – which covered race, history, guns and included, incredibly, the president leading thousands of mourners in singing “Amazing Grace”. (New Yorker, Salon, FT, Slate)

Video of the day

Dying to reach Europe The FT’s Ben Marino visits a migrant camp in Italy and hears from three African men who landed in Europe in search of a better life amid a political storm over illegal immigration that has prompted the UK to build a high security fence around the Channel tunnel port in France. (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: A Greek (R) and an EU flag flutter in front of the temple of the Parthenon. REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis.