FirstFT: Russia and China fly bombers close to Alaska for first time

Good morning. In the present day we’re protecting:

• OpenAI’s new search instrument

• China’s retirement controversy

• Why youngsters’s luxurious is booming in South Korea

However we start with information on China and Russia’s deepening army co-operation.

The 2 nations have flown a joint strategic bomber patrol close to Alaska for the primary time, highlighting the rising scale and functionality of a partnership that has raised concern among the many US and its allies.

US and Canadian fighter jets intercepted two Russian and two Chinese language bombers late on Wednesday, in keeping with the North American Aerospace Protection Command (Norad).

Norad mentioned the 4 plane didn’t enter US or Canadian airspace however operated within the Alaskan air defence identification zone and didn’t current a risk.

“It is not unusual for Russian bombers flying through the [Alaska] ADIZ to be intercepted,” mentioned Alexander Korolev, an professional on Russian-Chinese language army co-operation on the College of New South Wales in Sydney.

However the newest patrol was “notable for being the first intercept of Chinese military aircraft near Alaska”, Korolev mentioned. Learn extra on the Chinese language-Russian manoeuvre.

Right here’s what I’m preserving tabs on as we speak and over the weekend:

• Financial coverage: Singapore’s central financial institution meets and is predicted to maintain its coverage unchanged. (Bloomberg)

• Trump-Netanyahu assembly: The Republican presidential nominee meets the Israeli prime minister at his Mar-a-Lago Membership in Florida, a day after conferences with President Joe Biden and vice-president Kamala Harris.

• Paris Olympics: The opening ceremony of the 2024 Video games might be held as we speak.

• Venezuela election: Opinion polls predict opposition candidate Edmundo González will win Sunday’s presidential vote in a landslide. However the large query is whether or not authoritarian chief Nicolás Maduro would settle for defeat.

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

5 extra prime tales

1. OpenAI is launching a web based search instrument in a direct problem to Google, opening up a brand new entrance within the race to commercialise advances in generative synthetic intelligence. Right here’s how “SearchGPT” will work.

2. Bangladesh’s clothes business is reeling after authorities imposed a curfew and communications blackout as a part of a lethal crackdown on scholar’s protesting a job quota system. The restrictions have pressured factories to close and delayed shipments from the world’s second-largest clothes exporter.

3. Rupert Murdoch has moved at hand management of his household belief to his eldest son, Lachlan, sparking a bitter authorized warfare between his youngsters. The proposed adjustments to the belief are designed to cement a politically conservative course for Fox and Information Corp information shops sooner or later, folks conversant in the matter mentioned. 

4. The US financial system grew at a 2.8 per cent annualised fee within the second quarter, surpassing economists’ expectation of two per cent GDP development. Yesterday’s information confirmed continued shopper resilience because the Federal Reserve considers reducing rates of interest within the coming months.

• Wall Avenue steadies after tech rout: The Nasdaq Composite rebounded following the higher than anticipated US development figures, though chip shares in Europe and Asia suffered heavy declines.

5. Plunging income at Stellantis and Nissan have deepened fears that the worldwide automobile business is dealing with a chronic downturn. Shares within the corporations tumbled yesterday after the carmakers blamed more and more cut-throat competitors within the US and slowing gross sales development of electrical autos.

Information in-depth

An intergenerational dispute has erupted on Chinese language social media following a flagship Communist celebration gathering this month, the place leaders known as for the retirement age to be raised. China’s demographic decline threatens to go away it with too few staff, however the on-line anger is a reminder to Beijing that that is one space the place even they should tread fastidiously.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Macau’s Portuguese expats: Because the on line casino metropolis approaches the twenty fifth anniversary of its handover to China, its Lusophone inhabitants faces a new set of challenges, writes William Langley.

• Kamala’s ‘memeability’: The presumptive Democratic presidential candidate has resonated with Gen Zers due to an explosion of on-line content material.

• ‘Heatflation’: Companies are counting the fee of mitigating the consequences of local weather change on their workforce, and never all of them will have the ability to afford it, writes Leo Lewis.

Chart of the day

Is the yen behind the tech sell-off? The hyperlink between the Japanese forex and Silicon Valley shares appears greater than a coincidence, writes Katie Martin.

Take a break from the information

Are you higher dressed than a Korean preschooler? The reply might be not. Kids’s luxurious is booming in South Korea, the nation with the bottom start fee on the planet, as dad and mom splurge on Moncler jackets and Burberry shirts for his or her smaller households.

Extra contributions from Tee Zhuo and Harvey Nriapia