Qatar’s response to its recent feud with its Persian Gulf neighbors is to “dramatically increase” its natural gas production—an “awkward time” to do so by most measures – NYTimes and WSJ

And speaking of Qatar, former Barclays execs and the bank itself appeared in court yesterday to face charges that they conspired to misrepresent dealings with that country in 2008 as the bank tried to avoid financial cratering – NYTimes

The latest from our Fed watchers (with June minutes due out later today), including an anticipated fall announcement on a balance-sheet-reduction plan and the possibility of waiting until December for another rate hike – WSJ and Bloomberg

A few thoughts on the existential crisis facing fintech technologies (despite all the hype) – LSE Business Review

British payment processor Worldpay Group disclosed yesterday that it’s received preliminary takeover approaches from both JPMorgan and from American rival Vantiv. Worldpay “provides payment processing for mobile, online and in-store transactions in 146 countries,” and processes 35.8 million transactions daily – NYTimes and WSJ [including details on the significance of JPMorgan’s interest]

The European Commission has given its official nod to a 5.4 billion euro state bailout of Italy’s Monte dei Paschi bank – Law360

Libor’s a mess. But finding an alternative is no bargain, either – Bloomberg

We may be a day late (literally) and dollar short for this, but for you dog owners beset by fireworks-induced canine terror, there’s some measure of hope for you (and your pup) – NYTimes