Russia and China fly bombers close to Alaska for first time

Good morning. As we speak we’re protecting:

• OpenAI’s new search device

• China’s retirement controversy

• Why kids’s luxurious is booming in South Korea

However we start with information on China and Russia’s deepening navy 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, based on 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 isn’t uncommon for Russian bombers flying by the [Alaska] ADIZ to be intercepted,” mentioned Alexander Korolev, an professional on Russian-Chinese language navy co-operation on the College of New South Wales in Sydney.

However the newest patrol was “notable for being the primary intercept of Chinese language navy plane close to Alaska”, Korolev mentioned. Learn extra on the Chinese language-Russian manoeuvre.

Right here’s what I’m conserving tabs on immediately 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 can be held immediately.

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

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

5 extra prime tales

1. OpenAI is launching a web based search device 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 compelled 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 struggle between his kids. The proposed modifications to the belief are designed to cement a politically conservative route for Fox and Information Corp information shops sooner or later, folks aware of the matter mentioned. 

4. The US financial system grew at a 2.8 per cent annualised charge within the second quarter, surpassing economists’ expectation of two per cent GDP development. Yesterday’s information confirmed continued client resilience because the Federal Reserve considers slicing 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 earnings at Stellantis and Nissan have deepened fears that the worldwide automobile business is dealing with a protracted downturn. Shares within the firms 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 social gathering gathering this month, the place leaders referred to as for the retirement age to be raised. China’s demographic decline threatens to depart it with too few employees, 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 associated fee of mitigating the consequences of local weather change on their workforce, and never all of them will be capable to afford it, writes Leo Lewis.

Chart of the day

Is the yen behind the tech sell-off? The hyperlink between the Japanese foreign money 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. Youngsters’s luxurious is booming in South Korea, the nation with the bottom start charge on the earth, as mother and father splurge on Moncler jackets and Burberry shirts for his or her smaller households.

Extra contributions from Tee Zhuo and Harvey Nriapia