FirstFT: Greater than 240 useless after Air India airplane crash

Good morning and welcome to FirstFT Asia. In right this moment’s e-newsletter:

• Lethal airplane crash close to Ahmedabad airport in India

• US senator detained throughout press convention

• Stablecoins go mainstream

We begin in India, the place the nation is grappling with the aftermath of the worst aviation catastrophe in additional than a decade. Greater than 240 folks died when an Air India flight to London crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on Thursday.

The newest: Air India stated 169 Indian nationals, in addition to 53 British residents, seven Portuguese and one Canadian had been on board. Not less than one passenger survived and was taken to a hospital for therapy. The US transportation chief has stated his division is working with the NTSB to help India with its investigation of the crash.

Boeing: The crash has introduced extra scrutiny to considered one of Boeing’s best-selling plane. The 787 Dreamliner has a “good in-service safety record,” in keeping with an aviation guide, however has suffered from manufacturing setbacks and a spotlight from whistleblowers. Final yr, the corporate rejected allegations concerning the plane’s structural integrity from a longtime in-house engineer.

Learn extra on how Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and world leaders are reacting to the tragic crash.

Right here’s what else I’m preserving tabs on right this moment and thru the weekend:

• Financial information: The EU releases industrial manufacturing figures from April and first-quarter labour market information.

• G7 Leaders’ Summit: The annual assembly of worldwide leaders begins on Sunday and will probably be hosted in Canada by PM Mark Carney. What’s Europe’s sport plan for dealing with Trump?

5 extra high tales

How nicely did you retain up with the information this week? Take our quiz.

1. A US Senator was forcibly eliminated by federal brokers at a press convention held by homeland safety secretary Kristi Noem. Democrat Alex Padilla was wrestled to the bottom and handcuffed, however not arrested, the California politician later stated. The altercation marks a new escalation after days of tensions in Los Angeles following protests over the White Home’s efforts to deport thousands and thousands of undocumented immigrants.

• Division amongst Democrats: The get together has struggled to type a coherent message on immigration. Now, they’re caught between whether or not to criticise the US president’s actions or condemn protesters.

2. Donald Trump has warned an Israeli strike on Iran might “very well happen”. The feedback on Thursday come as US and Iranian officers are because of maintain a brand new spherical of talks over the Islamic republic’s increasing nuclear programme. Western diplomats say Tehran is eager to keep away from army battle, but it surely refuses to just accept a US demand that the nation cease enriching uranium domestically.

3. Western firms say Beijing’s commerce ministry is demanding delicate enterprise data to safe uncommon earths and magnets. These embrace manufacturing particulars, pictures of merchandise and services, and confidential buyer lists. China has not stated it could abandon its export controls and it was unclear if the nation’s newest commerce truce with the US would have an effect on the approval course of for shipments of the essential supplies. Right here’s extra from companies on how the controls have affected them.

4. Greater than £185mn value in properties linked to Bangladesh’s former land minister have been frozen by Britain’s Nationwide Crime Company. The NCA’s freezing orders of greater than 300 properties is one of many highest-profile developments but in Bangladesh chief Muhammad Yunus’s effort to trace down international property.

5. The greenback reached a three-year low after Trump informed reporters he would define new tariff charges to buying and selling companions within the subsequent couple of weeks. Whereas commerce tensions have continued to weigh on the greenback, shares have since rebounded from their April plunge.

In the present day’s large learn

Stablecoins had been created to spice up buying and selling in cryptocurrency markets, enabling shopping for and promoting with out using a financial institution. Till lately, ease of use and anonymity made them a de facto forex reserve for crypto merchants and a conduit for crime together with drug trafficking and cash laundering. With Trump’s return to the White Home, stablecoins have gotten more and more mainstream — a improvement that would have profound implications for the worldwide monetary system.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

Chart of the day 

South Korea’s major inventory index has hit a greater than three-year excessive, as traders guess on the nation’s new left-wing authorities. Throughout his marketing campaign, president Lee Jae-myung promised the nation’s retail traders that Kospi would attain 5,000 factors throughout his time period. The index has climbed greater than 7 per cent since final week. Will it proceed to rise?

Take a break from the information

Excessive above the Swiss alps, “Chrigel the Eagle” is on a historic unbeaten streak. Paraglider Christian Maurer has received each version of the Purple Bull X-Alps since 2009 and doesn’t plan on stopping. He shares with HTSI what it takes to be king of the mountains.