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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Standard Chartered has announced a $1.5bn share buyback, its biggest ever, after pre-tax profits rose in the second quarter.

The UK-based bank on Tuesday reported pre-tax profits of $1.6bn during the quarter, up from $1.5bn a year earlier and above analysts’ estimates of $1.5bn.

Growth was driven partly by the bank’s wealth business, which caters to affluent clients, where operating income rose 27 per cent.

The bank’s chief executive Bill Winters said it was a “strong set of results” and he had “confidence in our performance and robust capital position”.

The emerging markets-focused bank, which makes most of its money in Asia, has been under pressure to improve shareholder returns and previously pledged billions of dollars worth of share buybacks as well as higher dividends.

Winters, who has run StanChart since 2015, has sought to cut costs and respond to criticism that the bank is too bureaucratic and spreads itself too thinly across a range of countries, products and clients. He said in February that he took those challenges “to heart”.

Operating expenses rose 4 per cent on a constant currency basis, which the bank said was driven by inflation and business growth.

StanChart’s shares have risen since the start of this year but are down 17 per cent since Winters took the helm.

The bank’s reported return on tangible equity, a key measure of profitability, was 10.4 per cent for the quarter, down from 10.8 per cent a year earlier.

Reported net interest income fell to $1.6bn in the second quarter, from $2bn the same time last year, as the benefit from higher interest rates tailed off.

The bank took total credit impairment charges of $73mn in the second quarter, linked partly to its wealth and retail banking business.

StanChart has previously been hit by its exposure to mainland China, one of its most important markets, taking impairment charges relating to commercial property in the country and its stake in China Bohai Bank.

Project 2025

Referencing Project 2025, Shapiro told the audience that a second Trump administration presents more danger.

“He’s told us what he wants to do,” he said.

Democrats are asserting Trump’s campaign is linked with Project 2025, an initiative by The Heritage Project to provide a blueprint for a second Trump administration to employ “day one” in the pursuit of a conservative agenda.

More than 100 other conservative political groups were involved in the development of the project, which includes plans to prop up the executive branch through giving the president greater power beyond what currently is proscribed by the constitution. The project aims to replace many of the federal government’s civil service employees with political appointees, placing the Department of Justice completely under White House control, eliminating entire federal agencies like the Department of Education, ending carbon gas emission reduction efforts, removing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market, banning pornography and terminating the legal status of 500,000 Dreamers.

Trump has distanced himself from the plan.

“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump wrote on his social media website Truth Social. “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

However, many planks in the Trump 2024 platform are identical to Project 2025, and scores of former Trump White House officials have been involved in the plan’s development. Additionally, according to Heritage Foundation president Dr. Kevin Roberts, as recently as last year, Trump was thoroughly briefed on the plan.

“It’s scary what he’s proposed in this Project 2025,” Shapiro said before adding that he was optimistic that a Harris ticket would protect democracy much the same way the Founding Fathers did at Independence Hall a few miles away.

A light, 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck in Southern California on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 1 p.m. Pacific time about 14 miles northeast of Barstow, Calif., data from the agency shows.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

Aftershocks in the region

An aftershock is usually a smaller earthquake that follows a larger one in the same general area. Aftershocks are typically minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.

Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.