Podcast:FT News Briefing Published On: Wed Aug 13 2025 Description: The White House walks back expectations for Friday’s meeting between the US and Russian presidents, and Norway’s oil fund is pulling its money out of Israel. Plus, inflation stayed flat in the US in July, and storm-hit beach towns are struggling to shore up amid sand scarcity.Mentioned in this podcast:White House downplays expectations for Trump-Putin Alaska summitUS inflation holds steady at 2.7% in July despite Trump’s tariffsNorway oil fund sells out of a fifth of Israeli firms amid fierce criticismCan the world’s beaches survive a sand shortage?Crypto founder Do Kwon pleads guilty to US fraud chargesToday’s FT News Briefing was produced by Fiona Symon, Katya Kumkova, Michaela Seah, and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Kelly Garry, Michael Lello, and Gavin Kallmann. Our acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.