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Good morning and welcome to FirstFT Asia. In at present’s publication:
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Nationwide Guard deployed in Los Angeles
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US deems China’s deliberate London embassy a safety danger
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Duolingo’s CEO discusses AI plans
We begin within the US, the place Nationwide Guard troops have been deployed on the streets of Los Angeles yesterday because the Trump administration took a tough line to quell protests in opposition to raids on suspected unlawful immigrants.
What occurred: President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of troops on Saturday utilizing a not often invoked regulation designed to repress invasions and rebellions. California governor Gavin Newsom decried the transfer as “inflammatory”. It comes after two days of unrest within the second-largest US metropolis that have been prompted by federal brokers arresting dozens of individuals in a sweep of native companies. On Sunday night (native time), Trump didn’t rule out sending in marines after the transfer was first threatened by defence secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump vs California: The deployment of as much as 2,000 guardsmen will take a look at the power of closely Democratic states to withstand the Trump administration’s agenda and defend their residents from its enforcement actions. The president’s choice to “federalise” the Nationwide Guard — or switch it from state to federal management — was extremely uncommon. The final time a president despatched within the Guard and not using a request by the state governor was in 1965, when Lyndon Johnson despatched troops to guard civil rights marchers.
Read more about the protests in Los Angeles.
Right here’s what else I’m preserving tabs on at present:
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Financial information: China stories Might inflation figures and commerce information. Japan publishes a revised first-quarter GDP estimate.
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US-China relations: Excessive-level US and Chinese language officers are set to satisfy in London for a new round of trade talks.
5 extra prime tales
1. The White Home has expressed concern to the UK authorities over permitting China to construct a big embassy in London that safety officers consider would pose a danger to delicate communications infrastructure serving the Metropolis. The 20,000 sq m compound could be more than 20 times the size of Beijing’s current embassy in Marylebone and could be Beijing’s largest embassy in Europe.
2. Coal India, the world’s largest coal-producing firm, is reopening greater than 30 mines and launching as much as 5 extra on greenfield websites this 12 months, saying the nation’s renewables sector is but unable to satisfy its rising power demand. PM Prasad, chair of the state-owned firm, mentioned that India would attain peak coal by 2035. Read the full interview.
3. China’s success in snarling international provide chains by stemming the stream of uncommon earths has shifted the steadiness of energy in commerce talks with the US, analysts and businesspeople say. The hazard for Washington and the EU — each are locked in commerce wars with China — is that Beijing’s newfound leverage may also be replicated in other areas of the high-tech supply chain.
4. Dozens of worldwide enterprise executives will journey to Washington this week to push again in opposition to a plan to lift taxes on overseas investments within the US, warning it might hit tens of millions of American jobs. The lobbying drive is focusing on a provision in Trump’s finances invoice, which if accredited by Congress would enable the US to impose additional taxes on companies and investors from international locations that it deems to have punitive tax insurance policies.
5. Apple is struggling to ship upgrades to its synthetic intelligence voice assistant for the iPhone, with buyers downbeat concerning the potential for main AI bulletins at its flagship annual occasion this week. Just lately departed workers informed the FT that technological challenges have led to delays to the full rollout of the company’s “Apple Intelligence” features.
Interview: Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn
Final month, Duolingo chief government Luis von Ahn shared an e-mail on LinkedIn that he had despatched to all employees saying the language-learning app was going “AI-first”. The transfer generated controversy: “Cancelling my account NOW,” wrote one LinkedIn commenter. “Nicely, there goes my 1,098 day streak,” posted one other. In an interview with the FT’s Emma Jacobs, von Ahn admitted he “didn’t anticipate the quantity of blowback.” Here’s what he said about Duolingo’s AI-first strategy.
We’re additionally studying . . .
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Musk vs Trump: The assembly of company builder and monarch was by no means going to finish nicely, writes Silicon Valley investor Michael Moritz.
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Golden Dome: Trump’s $175bn missile protect mission has triggered a lobbying battle between Silicon Valley and America’s largest defence teams.
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Lay-offs: Dismissing folks by e-mail or telephone remains to be distressingly common and must cease, writes Pilita Clark.
Chart of the day
The rapid deployment of self-driving features on Chinese cars has sparked alarm amongst regulators in Beijing, who’ve made the trade faucet on the brakes whereas they assess questions over security and legal responsibility.
Take a break from the information
Cape City is at a crossroads: these flocking to dwell in South Africa’s second metropolis are powering the economic system, but in addition driving up home costs and exacerbating a strained market and native infrastructure. For a metropolis surrounded by ocean and mountains, the expansionist path forwards is a complex one, writes Mary Holland.
