Baton Rouge shootings, crackdown in Turkey and the ideal face for meetings

The attack on police officers in Baton Rouge has cast a grim mood over the opening of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, as Donald Trump responded to the killings with a “stark warning that the country was falling apart”. While Republicans often run on law-and-order themes, an indelicate approach could carry considerable danger at a moment of such unusual political instability.

In a thinly veiled rebuke to Mr Trump, Barack Obama condemned violence against law enforcement and called on Americans to “temper our words and open our hearts”. He added: “We don’t need inflammatory rhetoric. We don’t need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda.”

Authorities in Baton Rouge described the attack as an ambush. The city has been on edge since the July 5 death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was shot and killed while being arrested by two white police officers.

Montrell Jackson, one of the slain police officers, had written in a Facebook post on July 8: “Please don’t let hate infect your heart. This city MUST and WILL get better. I’m working on these streets so any protesters, officers, friends, family, whatever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer, I got you.” (NYT, CNN, FT, Chicago Tribune)

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In the news

SoftBank bets big The Japanese telecoms group has agreed to acquire Arm Holdings, the UK’s pre-eminent technology company, for £23.4bn in an enormous bet that the Cambridge-based smartphone chip designer will make it a leader in one of the next big tech markets: the internet of things. (FT)

Turkish crackdown Suspicion about who was responsible for Turkey’s abortive coup moved into the heart of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inner circle as the number of those arrested neared 6,000, including at least 29 generals and more than 20 colonels including Ali Yazici, Mr Erdogan’s aide-de-camp. Washington rejected Turkish accusations that it was behind the coup and Fethullah Gulen, the exiled preacher Mr Erdogan blames for orchestrating the plot, told the FT he believed Mr Erdogan’s ruling AKP party had staged the uprising. (FT)

UK aims to have trade deals in place pre-Brexit Theresa May’s new government is setting in motion a number of informal trade talks with countries including Australia and is preparing to have agreements in place in time for Britain’s formal departure from the EU. (FT) Read our new daily Brexit Briefing, or forward to other FT subscribers who can sign up to receive it daily by email here

Two more arrested as details emerge of Nice killer Reports suggested that the truck driver who killed 84 people in Nice and who was described by Islamist militant group Isis as one of its “soldiers” may have become radicalised shortly before committing the attack. (FT)

It's a big day for

Republicans The party convenes in Cleveland for the crowning of Donald Trump as its nominee. He is scheduled to accept the nomination on Thursday. Keep track of the 2016 race with our daily US politics newsletter. Sign up here.(FT)

UK nuclear defence British MPs are expected to vote to renew Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons programme. Emily Thornberry, shadow foreign secretary, called it reckless in the post-Brexit vote financial climate for the government to choose the most expensive route to renewing Britain’s nuclear deterrent. (BBC, Guardian)

Boris Johnson, who is due to meet his European Union counterparts for the first time in Brussels later. (BBC)

Keep up with the important business, economic and political stories in the coming days with the FT’s week ahead.

Food for thought

Asset managers in crisis Asset management remains an uncommonly profitable business, with operating margins of 37 per cent in 2015 and profits that topped $100bn globally, according to Boston Consulting. But growth appears to have stalled. A majority fail to beat the index over any significant period, and most of those that do ultimately find their outperformance to be fleeting. New competitors are claiming any insight they actually possess can be replicated by a computer. (FT)

Do cities cause psychosis? Scores of studies have found links between living in cities and higher rates of mental illness. This prompted the debate: do cities cause psychosis or do those affected just tend to end up in cities? (The Atlantic)

Healthy diet, healthy mind Exercise and meditation are often cited as effective ways to combat depression, but one oft-overlooked option is food. Researchers say a diet heavy on amino acids, Omega-3, Vitamin D and fatty acids could be ideal. That means more eggs and avocados. (Quartz)

The man who made Trump Donald Trump, facing a crowd in the lobby of Trump Tower, on Fifth Avenue, claimed: “We need a leader that wrote ‘The Art of the Deal’.” If that was so, thought Tony Schwartz, then he, not Trump, should be running. The book, ghostwritten by Mr Schwartz, made Mr Trump an emblem of the successful tycoon. Edward Kosner, the former editor and publisher of New York, where Mr Schwartz worked as a writer at the time, says: “Tony created Trump. He’s Dr Frankenstein.” (New Yorker)

The Theresa May strategy “To go through meetings looking exasperated but poised is as good as it gets,” writes Lucy Kellaway. “It is superior but never rude. It is powerful but not dishonest. It is a bit forbidding. A little regal. It is just perfect.” (FT)

Video of the Day

Week Ahead — Trump’s coronation, Brexit fallout The FT’s Daniel Garrahan previews some big stories in the coming days, including Donald Trump’s coronation at the Republican national convention, economic data that could show how Brexit is affecting the European economy and US earnings season in full swing. (FT)