More than 240 dead after Air India plane crash

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

• Lethal aircraft 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 individuals 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 have been on board. No less than one passenger survived and was taken to a hospital for remedy. 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 security document,” in keeping with an aviation advisor, however has suffered from production setbacks and attention from whistleblowers. Final yr, the corporate rejected allegations concerning the plane’s structural integrity from a longtime in-house engineer.

Read more 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 at the 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 likely be hosted in Canada by PM Mark Carney. What is Europe’s game plan for handling 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 social gathering has struggled to kind 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 may “very nicely occur”. The feedback on Thursday come as US and Iranian officers are as a consequence of maintain a brand new spherical of talks over the Islamic republic’s increasing nuclear programme. Western diplomats say Tehran is keen to avoid military conflict, nevertheless it refuses to just accept a US demand that the nation cease enriching uranium domestically.

3. Western corporations say Beijing’s commerce ministry is demanding delicate enterprise data to safe uncommon earths and magnets. These embrace manufacturing particulars, photographs of merchandise and services, and confidential buyer lists. China has not stated it will 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 vital supplies. Here’s more from businesses on how the controls have affected them.

4. Greater than £185mn price 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 the highest-profile developments but in Bangladesh chief Muhammad Yunus’s effort to trace down overseas belongings.

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

Immediately’s large learn

Stablecoins have been created to spice up buying and selling in cryptocurrency markets, enabling shopping for and promoting with out using a financial institution. Till just 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 development that could have profound implications for the global financial system.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

Chart of the day 

South Korea’s most important inventory index has hit a greater than three-year excessive, as traders wager on the nation’s new left-wing government. 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 continue 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.