Good morning from the Financial Times.
Today is Tuesday, July 14th, and this is your FT News Briefing.
Ukraine could get drone parts from an unexpected place soon,
and Dubai wants a way around the chaos in the Strait of Hormuz.
Plus, the Trump administration is going after Brazil's popular payment system.
I'm Mark Filippino, and here's the news you need to start your day.
Ukraine is going to be allowed to spend money from an EU defense loan on Chinese drone components.
That's according to people familiar with the matter.
Brussels granted Kiev the carve-out.
It'll be the first allocation from a wider Ukraine support loan.
Europe has been struggling to build up its own defense industry,
and this decision exposes its reliance on China, even though the bloc has criticized Beijing for supplying
Russia with military equipment and accused China of being, quote, the key enabler of Russia's war.
The European Commission and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The price of oil jumped yesterday.
At the time of this recording, Brent crude was up more than 9.5%, almost hitting $84 a barrel.
This was after President Donald Trump said the U.S.
Will reinstate its naval blockade of Iran.
He also said America would charge a 20% fee on cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
All the uncertainty surrounding the Strait has put the United Arab Emirates in a bit of a pickle.