Fed splits on rates, great resource shift and how fins became hands

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A divided Federal Reserve left open the prospect of a further interest rate rise this year even as policymakers insisted they needed more evidence on the durability of the rebound before feeling confident enough to pull the trigger.

Minutes of the Fed’s latest July meeting revealed a hard-fought debate over when to move rates, with a couple of participants urging an immediate move while others were urging caution amid questions over how rapidly inflation will return to target. (FT)

In the news

Living with negative rates Almost 500m people are living under negative central bank interest rates — an unprecedented policy move which is “a clear sign of desperation” with a host of unintended consequences for the world economy, Standard & Poor’s has warned. In an in-depth study on the impact of sub-zero interest rates across the developed world in the eurozone, Japan and Scandinavia, S&P calculated that a quarter of the world’s GDP is affected by negative rates. (FastFT)

Law and disorder in Rio Two US swimmers have been prevented from boarding flights back to the US by Brazilian police, as doubts swirl about claims that they and two teammates had been robbed at gunpoint at the weekend. Meanwhile, Pat Hickey, the 71-year-old Irish head of the European Olympic Committees, was detained in connection with an alleged ticketing scam. (FT)

Cisco to slash 5,500 jobs The cuts amount to about 7 per cent of its global workforce. The networking equipment maker said sales had been hit by the Brexit vote. (FT)

Russia ups the ante in Ukraine The ceasefire between Kiev and Russian-backed separatists is fraying badly ahead of next month’s G20 summit. Moscow’s sabre-rattling is being interpreted as a way to renegotiate the Minsk agreements in Russia’s favour. (FT)

Controversy over Iran cash US officials wouldn’t allow Iranians to take control of $400m in cash sent to the country earlier this year until three US prisoners had left Iran, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. After a Swiss Air Force plane carrying the three Americans left Tehran on January 17, an Iranian cargo plane with the cash was allowed to return from Switzerland, US officials told the paper. The report is likely to spur new questions from Republicans, who have accused the Obama administration of paying a ransom to free the Americans. (WSJ)

No summer holiday for BOJ Number crunchers at the Bank of Japan are sacrificing their summer breaks to produce a massive analysis of the central bank’s past policy decisions, and will probably guide monetary policy for the months and years ahead. (NAR)

It’s a big day for

Usain Bolt who is aiming to take his eighth Olympic gold by retaining his title in the 200m final. The Jamaican sprinter ran his fastest time of the season to win his 200m semi-final in 19.78 seconds. Arch-rival Justin Gatlin of the US will not race after failing to qualify. (FT)

Spain Political leaders meet as the country struggles to put a government together. (FT)

Food for thought

Great resource shift Tom Nelson of Investec Asset Management spends almost as much time tracking Tesla Motors as he does ExxonMobil or BP. Why? If the electric carmaker upends the auto industry, it will have serious implications for oil demand. Navigating industry transitions is hard for fund managers. Getting on the right side of history isn’t enough, they have to pick winners and judge which of the incumbents can adapt as the landscape changes. Nowhere is the challenge more acute than for energy and commodity investors. (FT)

Goldman Sachs: a play for the 99% As executives hunt for income streams, can the Wall Street bank be a friend to the consumer and small business? (FT)

Volodin’s big test The day Vladimir Putin dismissed his chief of staff Sergei Ivanov last week, another aide vacated his office: Vyacheslav Volodin, the deputy head of the presidential administration. But Mr Volodin is not retiring. He has taken leave to run in parliamentary elections scheduled for 18 September. The burly 52-year-old oversees the domestic politics portfolio, and his candidacy goes a long way to illustrate the significance of the upcoming polls. “Putin will examine whether Volodin is capable of managing the presidential campaign in 2018,” says Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin spin-doctor. “So Volodin is undergoing his big exam.” (FT)

Age of the airship dawns? Above a field in rural Bedfordshire in the UK, a shiny, futuristic craft the size of a football pitch ascends majestically into the evening sky. A hybrid of blimp, helicopter and aeroplane, it can stay aloft for days at a time and has been nicknamed the “flying bum” because of its bulbous front end. This is the maiden flight of the Airlander 10, a helium-filled craft aiming to herald a new age of the airship. (Phys.org, Guardian)

From fins to hands As a fish’s fin grows, cells in its base activate Hox genes and move outwards, creating the fin rays. Delete those genes and the cells don’t migrate, making shorter rays. Scientist Neil Shubin thinks that is what happened as fish made the move to land and fins evolved into limbs: the Hox-activating cells stayed put and shifted from making fin rays into making digits. “It shows us how bodies are built,” says Shubin. “By understanding the biology of fish, we understand the basic architecture of our bodies, and how genes and cells interact to build us, and how we evolve.” (The Atlantic)

Fixing David’s flaws How imperfections could bring down the world’s most perfect statue. A story of how ankles make the man. (NYT)

Video of the day

Wynn doubles down on Macau with second casino Casino magnate Steve Wynn talks to the FT’s Ben Bland about his new hotel and the state of the gaming industry in the Chinese territory. (FT)