Trump says decision on Iran attack will come ‘within the next two weeks’

Good morning and welcome again to FirstFT Asia. In the present day we’re overlaying:

• Trump hints at Iran talks

• Why Large Tech can not agree on AGI

• China’s drone push

• Zuckerberg’s macho-man makeover

Donald Trump has stated there may very well be new talks with Iran within the “close to future” and that he would resolve whether or not to affix Israel’s assault on the nation “throughout the subsequent two weeks”.

What to know: Trump appeared to sign that he was slowing down his decision about entering the war, whilst American army belongings pace to the area. The US president’s assertion yesterday stated there was a “substantial likelihood of negotiations that will or could not happen with Iran within the close to future”. White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt additionally confirmed that the US had saved open its negotiations with Tehran throughout days of missile exchanges between Iran and Israel.

Gulf nervousness: Arab monarchies are seeking to stay close to their regional rival Tehran, as they worry turning into targets for retaliation if the US strikes Iran. They worry US involvement would put Gulf states that host American army bases within the line of fireside, and will even strangle their oil and fuel exports if Iran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz. In the meantime firms in monetary centres resembling Dubai and Abu Dhabi are readying contingency plans in preparation for any potential spillover of the warfare.

Follow our live blog for the latest news — and see extra protection beneath:

• The dangers of Iranian retaliation: As Trump and his advisers weigh whether or not to affix Israel in hanging Iran, the US president will even be contemplating how Tehran might respond.

• Iran’s exiled royal: “That is the primary time in all these years that we see the taking part in subject being extra even for a possibility for change,” Reza Pahlavi tells the FT.

• Opinion: A weakened Tehran would possibly settle for a face-saving deal and sanctions reduction to avert a US assault, writes Richard Haass.

Right here’s what else we’re maintaining tabs on in the present day and over the weekend:

• Financial information: Japan and Hong Kong report Could CPI inflation information. South Korea experiences PPI figures for the month.

• Financial coverage: The Folks’s Financial institution of China makes its mortgage prime charge announcement.

• Vladimir Putin: The Russian president is ready to seem in the present day at an financial convention in St Petersburg — a gathering that has failed to attract western companies.

• Japan: IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva begins a go to to Japan on Sunday.

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

5 extra prime tales

1. The Boeing Dreamliner jet in final week’s lethal Air India crash had a “clear historical past” and two just lately serviced engines, the airline’s chair has stated. N Chandrasekaran, who can also be chair of the service’s proprietor, Tata Group, pushed back on “speculations” about what prompted the nation’s worst air catastrophe in nearly three a long time.

2. X chief govt Linda Yaccarino has stated that customers will “quickly” be capable to make investments or trades on the social media platform, as she outlined a push into monetary providers in proprietor Elon Musk’s quest to construct an “the whole lot app”. Yaccarino informed the FT: “You’ll be capable to come to X and be capable to transact your entire monetary life on the platform.” Read the interview.

3. Japan’s Nippon Metal has stated it might situation fairness to fund billions of {dollars} of promised funding in US Metal, after its almost $15bn takeover of its American rival closed following a 12 months of political wrangling. “Given the large quantity of capital required, [a capital raise is] actually one thing we’re maintaining in thoughts,” stated vice chair Takahiro Mori at a press convention in Tokyo yesterday. Read the full story.

• ‘Stick-holder capitalism’: Nippon Metal’s takeover of US Metal is the primary massive cross-border settlement below Trump’s new genre of capitalism, writes Leo Lewis.

4. A former Janus Henderson analyst who used working from residence as a canopy for insider buying and selling has been discovered responsible in some of the high-profile UK insider dealing circumstances in recent times. Redinel Korfuzi, who made profits of nearly £1mn, was convicted of insider buying and selling and cash laundering alongside his sister.

5. New Zealand has suspended funding to the Prepare dinner Islands over the Pacific archipelago’s deepening relationship with China. The transfer marked the most recent occasion of what analysts have known as Wellington’s more assertive approach to smaller Pacific island nations in response to Beijing’s rising diplomatic and financial affect within the area.

The Large Learn

Synthetic normal intelligence has been tipped as the subsequent massive breakthrough out of Silicon Valley, with proponents from OpenAI to Google DeepMind predicting it may well turbocharge the financial system, treatment ailments and “elevate humanity”. However is AGI a scientific objective — or simply a marketing buzzword?

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Chinese language drones: Beijing has pushed the nation to provide thousands and thousands of unmanned plane. Now, it needs the “low-altitude economy” to develop into a driver of progress.

• FT Journal: Mark Zuckerberg’s macho-man makeover shocked liberals at Meta, however his closest allies say that is who he was all along.

• Asia-Pacific local weather leaders: The area’s demand for vitality has made it harder to fulfill the challenges of decarbonisation. Here are the companies that top our list.

Chart of the day 

Chinese language, Indian and south-east Asian universities had a strong showing in the latest QS world rankings, whereas nearly all of UK establishments dropped down the listing for a second straight 12 months. The rankings replicate the next schooling arms race.

Take a break from the information

“Trains in Japan are so good that few folks take into account driving by means of the nation,” writes David Coggins. The Peninsula lodge group’s Japan Driving Expertise has set out to change that.