FirstFT: Pound surges, Trump fires campaign chief, Mexican justice

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The pound posted its biggest gain in eight years on Monday after a series of polls showed momentum shifting in favour of the Remain camp ahead of Thursday's EU membership referendum. Stock markets also moved higher in the UK and across the globe.

Meanwhile, prime minister David Cameron is channeling his inner-Churchill amid a fight for hearts and wallets, US banks have put regulators on notice of the potential consequences of Brexit, the ECB is huddling to develop a post-Brexit plan and John Major says leaving the EU would be an "irrevocable" mistake. 

Gideon Rachman argues that true democrats must vote Remain, while Janan Ganesh calls the referendum both naive and necessary. Click here to see our special Brexit hub page on the newFT website.  (FT)

In the news

Donald Trump fires campaign manager The former reality TV star is seeking to shake up a campaign that has faltered over the past month after a series of self-inflicted wounds. It remains to be seen whether the departure of Corey Lewandowski will help the candidate pivot toward a general electorate that hasn't warmed to the abrasive, xenophobic style that helped him win the Republican primary. Jonathan Chait argues that it's further evidence that the Trump campaign is a "garbage fire". Keep track of the race with the FT's daily US politics newsletter. Signup here.  (FT, NYMag)

Germany launches probe into ex-VW chief Prosecutors are investigating Martin Winterkorn on suspicion of possible market manipulation related to the VW diesel emissions scandal. (FT)

Refugee figures hit all-time high The number of people displaced by conflict is at the highest level ever recorded, the UN refugee agency says. It estimates that 65.3m people were either refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced at the end of 2015, an increase of 5m in a year, representing one in every 113 people. (BBC)

US Supreme Court hands multinationals relief RJR Nabisco won a big victory in its long-running legal battle with the European Community, with the top court ruling that US anti-racketeering law could not be used to justify civil lawsuits alleging criminal behaviour outside the US. (FT)

Walmart sells China ecommerce arm to JD.com The world's largest retailer by sales sold its China business in exchange for a 5 per cent stake in JD.com, a smaller rival to Alibaba. (FT)

Mitsubishi okay to sell scandal-hit cars The Japanese government plans to allow the carmaker to continue selling four models for which it falsified fuel-efficiency figures. (NAR)

Rome elects first female mayor Virginia Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer, has become the first female mayor of Rome, after an election that delivered a resounding victory to the populist Five Star Movement and a blow to centre-left prime minister Matteo Renzi. Adding to the Five Star Movement’s momentum since its controversial founder Beppe Grillo stepped down earlier this year, another woman, Chiara Appendino, was voted mayor of Turin, ousting the centre-left incumbent.   (FT)

It's a big day for

Fed watchers Chairwoman Janet Yellen will give her semiannual monetary policy testimony to Congress a week after the central bank opted to hold rates unchanged at its June meeting. (FT)

Food for thought

Who will Hillary Clinton choose as VP? One former vice president famously described the position as being "not worth a bucket of warm piss". But the former secretary of state must soon choose a running mate, weighing the pros and cons of a handful of potential partners. (FT)

The shadow doctors The Assad regime has killed almost 700 medical personnel in Syria - a country that didn't have many doctors to begin with. Now there is an underground race to preserve and spread medical knowledge even as the regime tries to erase it. (New Yorker)

Seeking justice in Mexico Mexico has embarked on about a dozen major reforms over the last few years - in everything from the telecoms industry to the energy sector - but it now turns to its closed justice system, which is rife with abuses. As of this weekend, the quasi-medieval inquisitorial system that jurists say has long relied on trumped-up charges and confessions beaten out of suspects is officially gone. (FT)

The hack that could take down NYC A speculative look at the kind of cyber attack that could take down New York City - and the havoc it would wreak to financial markets, banks, the transit system, and every other facet of the city. (NYMag)

North Korea’s safe haven for birds Despite being closed to most foreign visitors, North Korea may ironically be the saviour of one of the world’s greatest international migration routes — the avian East Asian Australasian Flyway. Recent photos reveal how the ecology of the secretive Asian country is preventing the extinction of several once plentiful species of migratory birds. (BBC)

Video of the day

EU referendum outcomes explained