FirstFT: Putin launches retaliation over Crimea bridge explosion

Vladimir Putin has described Russia’s air strikes on Ukraine, its most in depth for the reason that early weeks of his seven-month invasion, as retaliation for the bombing of the bridge linking Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

Talking at a gathering of his safety council yesterday, the Russian president accused Kyiv of a “terrorist assault” on the Kerch bridge, broken by an explosion on Saturday, and mentioned “leaving such a criminal offense with no response is simply inconceivable”.

Although Putin claimed the targets had been army, power and communications property, early footage and proof of the injury confirmed {that a} playground and a bridge in central Kyiv had been hit, in addition to civilian infrastructure throughout the nation. Russia’s defence ministry mentioned its strikes “hit all of the assigned targets”.

The Russian military has been shedding floor in areas of south-eastern Ukraine that Putin unilaterally claimed as a part of Russia final month. On Saturday, Moscow suffered a blow to its status after the assault on the bridge, an emblem of the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, which it had claimed to be nicely guarded.

The strikes killed not less than 10 individuals and injured not less than 60, Maryanna Reva, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s police, mentioned on state tv, citing preliminary particulars.

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Thanks for studying FirstFT Asia. Now, right here is the remainder of as we speak’s information — Emily

5 extra tales within the information

1. China chip shares fall onerous owing to US export controls Shares in prime Chinese language chipmakers shed $8.6bn in market worth yesterday as new US export controls threatened to impede Beijing’s plans for technological self-sufficiency.

2. EY accused of whitewashing suspicious trades Whistleblowers have accused EY of whitewashing suspicions of cash laundering and tax evasion in an investigation it carried out this yr for longstanding consumer Leonteq. The fintech firm mentioned it had “a strict zero tolerance coverage relating to non-compliant enterprise behaviour” and that each one allegations had been “managed, monitored and reported with due care and course of”.

3. Tesla hits China gross sales document Tesla’s gross sales in China have hit a brand new month-to-month excessive, reportedly promoting 83,000 vehicles in September, simply as Elon Musk garnered reward from Beijing for proposing to resolve the geopolitical disaster over Taiwan by putting it in a particular administrative zone just like Hong Kong.

4. Iranian celebrities fan flames of anti-regime protests Protests over the dying of Mahsa Amini have widened to incorporate requires a secular, democratic authorities. The unrest has been amplified by social media and, in some instances, celebrities with massive on-line followings.

5. Ex-Fed chair Bernanke wins Nobel economics prize Ben Bernanke, the previous US Federal Reserve chair, has been awarded this yr’s Nobel prize in economics along with Douglas Diamond of the College of Chicago and Philip Dybvig of Washington College, for his or her work on the position of banks within the economic system and monetary crises.

• Extra US economic system information: JPMorgan Chase chief govt Jamie Dimon predicted the US economic system will most likely tip right into a recession subsequent yr, warning the downturn threatened to spark “panic” in credit score markets.

The day forward

G7 name with Ukrainian president Leaders will maintain an emergency assembly with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to debate Monday’s Russian missile assaults on Ukrainian cities.

UAE president to fulfill Putin Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan will journey to Moscow to fulfill his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as we speak, the UAE state information company has reported. The go to comes days after Opec’s oil output minimize, which was made despite US strain in opposition to the transfer.

Meta Platforms’ Join occasion The corporate will maintain its annual showcase of new augmented and digital actuality merchandise, together with the a lot touted headset codenamed Mission Cambria. (TechCrunch)

World Monetary Stability Report IMF publishes its report assessing the worldwide monetary system and markets.

What else we’re studying

The risk to freedom of expression in India India’s clamorous public sq. and disquisitive journalistic and mental tradition has been a degree of pleasure for a lot of residents. However some now decry a clampdown on freedom of expression that, they are saying, has widened past media organisations and journalists to public intellectuals, think-tanks and comedians, too.

Why I’d moderately have Liz Truss than Xi Jinping as a frontrunner The twentieth nationwide congress of the Chinese language Communist occasion might be every thing that the Tory occasion convention was not: choreographed, disciplined and united in assist for an omnipotent chief. However the democratic British mess is preferable to China’s authoritarian mannequin, writes Gideon Rachman.

The brand new guidelines for enterprise in a post-neoliberal world Over 40 years in the past, the Reagan-Thatcher revolution was born. Taxes had been slashed, unions had been squashed, markets had been deregulated and world capital unleashed. However financial pendulums swing and, over the previous couple of weeks, it’s change into fairly clear that something remotely associated to trickle-down principle is now political Kryptonite, writes Rana Foroohar.

Chinese language tech teams financial institution on digital influencers Digital idols are having a second. Over the previous yr, Chinese language funding and tech teams have ploughed lots of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} into corporations that develop digital influencers, which thought of a safer choice than human celebrities who might be deemed too politically outspoken or having questionable morals.

Why Musk didn’t exit his Twitter bid Earlier than immediately indicating final week that he wished to finish the buyout on the unique phrases, Elon Musk had apparently been wavering on his deal to purchase Twitter. However the US courtroom ruling over generic drugmaker Akorn serves as a lesson of how onerous it could be for any company acquirer in related circumstances, to stroll away, writes Sujeet Indap.

Podcast

The Prince, Sue-Lin Wong’s chilling collection in regards to the Chinese language president Xi Jinping, is “a Machiavellian story of energy”. The brand new podcast from the Economist charts Xi’s rise by the ranks and the primary world occasions, from the Tiananmen Sq. bloodbath to the autumn of the Soviet Union, that helped form his world view.