Kamala Harris and Donald Trump clash on abortion and immigration in heated debate

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Good morning. We have a packed news agenda from the US, with the Federal Reserve cutting back planned capital requirements and President Joe Biden weighing Ukraine’s request to use American weapons on Russian territory.

But the top story this morning is on the White House race. Just hours ago, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump engaged in their first — and possibly only — televised debate before November’s presidential election.

Harris had a nervous start as the candidates sparred over high inflation and international trade. But during the rest of the 90-minute face-off, she cast her Republican rival as an extremist unworthy of the presidency and baited him into rabbit holes, with Trump at times struggling to contain his anger and stay on message.

The Democratic nominee said world leaders were “laughing at Donald Trump”, and she delivered blows on issues ranging from abortion to the former president’s fitness for office. Trump fought back, blaming her for a surge in “criminals” and “terrorists” crossing the Mexican border, saying: “They’ve destroyed the fabric of our country.”

Last night’s debate was one of the most anticipated in US political history, with national and swing state polls showing Harris and Trump neck-and-neck. Here’s more from the debate that could define the White House race.

• As it happened: Scroll through our live blog for a blow-by-blow analysis of the debate, including which candidate traders think won the night.

How will this affect the election’s outcome? The FT’s experts including Gideon Rachman and Swamp Notes writer Rana Foroohar will be dissecting the debate in an exclusive live webinar tomorrow. Don’t miss it.

And here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: The US has its August consumer price index, which will be closely watched for signals of how far the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates. The UK publishes GDP estimates for July.

• US Steel deal: Nippon Steel’s vice-chair will meet senior US officials in Washington today in a last-ditch effort to salvage the Japanese group’s proposed $15bn acquisition of US Steel, the Financial Times has learnt.

• 9/11: The US marks the anniversary of the terror attacks on September 11 2001, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Five more top stories

1. Joe Biden has said he is considering a request by Ukraine to use weapons provided by the US to strike deep inside Russian territory. The president’s admission comes as his government is split over the decision, with the state department, which is more open to Kyiv’s request, pitted against the Pentagon and the US intelligence community. Here’s why there are internal disagreements.

2. Rightmove has rejected an initial cash and shares bid from REA Group that valued the UK business at £5.6bn. The initial proposal by REA, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, values Britain’s largest property listings group at 705 pence a share, a 27 per cent premium to its share price prior to the Australian company’s interest being made public. Read the full story.

3. Starbucks’ new chief executive has pledged to restore its status as a “community coffee house” as he detailed some plans to revive the café chain’s faltering sales. On his second day in the job, Brian Niccol set out the priorities for his first 100 days and diagnosed some of the problems that led to his predecessor’s abrupt ousting. More details from his open letter.

4. The Federal Reserve has cut a proposed increase to capital requirements for the largest US banks by more than half after a backlash from the industry and politicians. The revised rules are a blow to Fed vice-chair Michael Barr and marks another retreat among financial regulators globally. Here’s more on the “capitulation” to Wall Street.

5. Exclusive: India’s Tata Group said it was “very close” to securing £500mn in UK state aid to support greener steelmaking at its main British plant. The chair of the Indian group’s holding company urged the government to remain “business-friendly” and told the FT it was committed to investing in the UK. Here’s more on Tata’s plans for its “second home market”.

The Big Read

The UK’s creative sector is worth about £125bn — larger than life sciences, automotive manufacturing, aerospace and the oil and gas sectors combined — and employs about 2.3mn people. Industry executives hope Sir Keir Starmer will keep to his promise of making the sector central to Britain’s national strategy for growth. But as the prime minister’s new Labour government has repeatedly made clear, money is tight.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Europe’s biggest deal: Abu Dhabi’s state oil company Adnoc is set to make a formal €14.4bn offer for Germany’s Covestro, the group that helped “invent chemistry”.

• Statistics in court: The inquiry into the case of Lucy Letby, a nurse who murdered seven premature babies, has renewed debate over the use of scientific evidence, writes Anjana Ahuja.

• Carmakers in China: None of the foreign brands predicted just how fast the country’s own industry would develop in the age of electric vehicles, writes Edward White.

• Middle East roulette: The chances of a ceasefire deal are rapidly diminishing as everyone plays for time and the world waits for the US election, writes Kim Ghattas.

Chart of the day

Why do some countries manage to escape the “middle income trap” to achieve greater prosperity, while others fail? Martin Wolf ponders over this question in his latest column.

Take a break from the news

What are safe (and unsafe) topics to bring up at the dinner table in Madrid? How do you avoid awkward face-bumping when giving the traditional dos besos greeting? FT Globetrotter’s Simon Hunter has got your back with his expert guide to etiquette in Spain’s capital.

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and Gordon Smith