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Good morning and blissful Friday. In today’s newsletter:
China appoints a ‘wolf warrior’ to administer Europe ties
The fitting-wing pastor backing South Korea’s Yoon
How Greenland got caught in a clash of superpowers
Nissan has begun trying to find a strategic partner within the tech industry after ending merger talks with rival Honda that might have created the world’s fourth-largest carmaker.
The search for brand spanking new partners can be broad and out of doors the automotive industry, in line with two individuals with direct knowledge of the matter.
Some board members are also open to considering a partnership with Taiwanese iPhone contract manufacturer Foxconn. The Apple supplier approached alliance partner Renault about acquiring a part of its stake in Nissan late last yr, triggering the frantic but fleeting round of merger negotiations with Honda.
The talks between the rival Japanese carmakers fell apart after Honda demanded that Nissan accept a brand new offer to change into a totally owned subsidiary, deviating from the initially agreed structure of a joint holding company. Nissan executives claimed they were blindsided by Honda’s recent proposal, which was delivered as a “take it or leave it” offer.
Read more about Nissan’s seek for a brand new partner.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:
Do you will have questions on India’s economy? Send them to us and we’ll answer them in a special weekend edition of the newsletter. Hit reply or email firstft@ft.com.
Five more top stories
1. China has named one in all its most controversial ambassadors to administer its diplomatic relationship with Europe, an appointment that signals a hardening of Beijing’s stance towards the EU. Lu Shaye, Beijing’s recent special representative for European affairs, is one in all the more distinguished “wolf warriors” — Chinese diplomats known for aggressive and unapologetic rhetoric.
2. Republican attorneys-general from greater than a dozen US states have accused BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan of underplaying the risks of investing in China, including the potential for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. In a letter that focused on BlackRock, the 17 attorneys-general wrote that the asset manager’s prospectuses “universally fail to discover China as a foreign adversary”.
3. Far-right pastor Jun Kwang-hoon is under investigation in South Korea on suspicion of inciting rebellion, after his devotees played a high-profile role in sometimes violent protests against the detention of suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol. Jun’s move from the perimeter of South Korean politics intro the limelight illustrates how Yoon’s martial law decree has electrified the country’s far right.
4. A federal judge has barred the US Treasury from handing data from its payments system to outsiders, in an early legal blow to Elon Musk’s crusade to slash government spending. The order comes after Musk’s team on the Department of Government Efficiency apparently infiltrated the multitrillion dollar system.
5. Australia faces an “acute” challenge in keeping its position as one in all the world’s leading energy suppliers within the face of Donald Trump’s push to extend fossil fuel output, the top of the country’s largest oil and gas producer has warned. Here’s why Meg O’Neill, chief executive of Woodside Energy, argued that Australia “loses on every front” to the US.
How well did you retain up with the news this week? Take our quiz.
The Big Read
Donald Trump’s renewed interest in taking control of Greenland has thrust the vast, frozen landmass of 57,000 people into the highlight. A protracted period of so-called Arctic exceptionalism, during which major powers viewed the region as a low-tension area where rival nations could find common ground over problems resembling climate change, appears to be ending.
We’re also reading . . .
Hongkongers within the UK: Barriers to employment for brand spanking new migrants mean many are overqualified for his or her jobs.
Electric vehicles: Is there some other method to spend money on the long run of EVs and robotics without paying Tesla’s lofty share price? One contender is Hyundai, writes June Yoon.
Transactional world: Long before Trump, China’s rise made the fracturing of the worldwide order into competing power blocs inevitable, writes John Plender.
Graphic of the day
With the US president threatening a world trade war, keep track of the most recent data on imports, exports and trade balances with the FT’s recent interactive Trump tracker.
For more on global trade, enroll for Alan Beattie’s weekly Trade Secrets newsletter here in case you’re a premium subscriber, or upgrade your subscription.
Take a break from the news . . .
Our list of the six movies to look at this week includes September 5, a retelling of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre that raises urgent ethical questions.
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