PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times - July 18

July 18 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Headlines

- Labour suspends Diane Abbott a second time as Starmer purge fails to quell unrest

- Ex-HSBC currencies chief gets fraud conviction thrown out

- Former Goldman banker Simon Dingemans on shortlist to chair Channel 4

- EU offers Trump tit-for-tat car tariff cuts

- Brussels gives Spain legal warning for blocking BBVA-Sabadell bank merger

Overview

- Diane Abbott was suspended by Labour on Thursday for a second time — becoming the fifth party MP to be ejected this week as Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government moves to reassert its authority and crack down on backbench unrest.

- Former HSBC currencies trading chief Mark Johnson had his criminal conviction for wire fraud thrown out on Thursday, after a US appeals court overturned a major courtroom victory for US authorities.

- Former Goldman Sachs banker and GSK finance chief Simon Dingemans is in the running to take over as chair of publicly owned UK broadcaster Channel 4, joining a shortlist that also includes former Sainsbury's boss Justin King.

- The EU has reverted to offering the US tit-for-tat tariff reductions on cars, with negotiators abandoning the idea of a complex "netting mechanism" first proposed by German carmakers.

- The European Commission has sent Spain a legal warning over its move to block a banking merger between BBVA and Banco Sabadell, a deal that would create one of the region's largest lenders.