Good morning. Germany said no to the European Commission’s €2 trillion budget proposal. Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz will sign a new treaty in London. And about 1,000 people join the waitlist every night for fried chicken.

The boss of insurer Allianz has warned that Germany risks becoming the “sick man of Europe” and predicted its social security system could collapse within a decade unless the government cuts spending.

Germany’s new government imposed border checks to demonstrate toughness on migration, though crossings started slowing years ago.

These and a thousand other memorials and rituals are expressions of Germany’s Erinnerungskultur, a “memory culture” built up over decades. Lately they have been overlaid by a more familiar sight: the markers of bitter rows over Gaza.

Berlin is awaiting a final call by the Trump administration to honor a Biden-era agreement under which U.S. missiles are to bolster Germany’s deterrence.

The landmark treaty builds on a defense pact the U.K. and Germany, two of the biggest European supporters of Ukraine, signed last year committing to closer co-operation against the growing threat from Russia.

BENGALURU] European shares snapped a four-day losing streak on Thursday (Jul 16), boosted by gains in industrials ABB and Legrand after they reported positive earnings news. Read more at The Business Times.

Europe's commercial real estate market is defying expectations of a recovery as investor caution pins property sales to near-decade lows.

Germany has rejected the European Commission’s €2 trillion ($2.3 trillion) budget proposal, hours after it was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels.