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Good morning. Today we’re covering:
But we begin with TikTok, which was in court yesterday fighting for its survival in the US.
A lawyer for the social media app urged a US federal appeals court to block a law that could soon ban the platform in the country over national security concerns related to its Chinese parent.
Andrew Pincus, a partner at Mayer Brown representing TikTok, argued that the consequences of such a move would be “staggering” for free speech. He added that the government had “not come anywhere near” proving the constitutionality of the law and pushed back against the argument that the video app was controlled by China.
Under the law signed by President Joe Biden this year, TikTok will be banned in the US if it does not divest from its parent ByteDance by January 19, 2025 — the day before the next US president is inaugurated.
US officials have warned that Beijing could compel the parent group to share the personal information of its 170mn American users for espionage purposes or manipulate what users see for propaganda purposes.
Here’s more on TikTok’s legal battle — and why the court appeared sceptical of the app’s argument.
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
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Economic data: The US reports August retail sales while Japan publishes revised retail sales for July.
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Holidays: Financial markets are closed in China and Taiwan for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and in South Korea for the Chuseok harvest festival.
Five more top stories
1. Japan’s yen has strengthened past ¥140 to the dollar for the first time since July 2023 ahead of rate decisions by US and Japanese central banks this week that are expected to weaken demand for the US currency. The yen has risen 13.5 per cent against the dollar since mid-July as investors expect the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates from a 23-year high.
2. US prosecutors have filed gun charges against the man suspected of an apparent effort to kill Donald Trump, the second attempted assassination against the Republican presidential candidate in just over two months. Ryan Wesley Routh was charged yesterday less than 24 hours after he was spotted by Secret Service agents who were protecting Trump as he played golf in Florida.
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Explainer: Here is what we know so far about Sunday’s security incident in West Palm Beach, Florida — and what it could mean for both candidates.
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More on the suspected gunman: Ryan Routh had tried — and failed — to help Ukraine fight Russia after Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. He spoke to the FT last year about the experience.
3. Taiwan’s financial regulator has blocked a hostile takeover of financial group Shin Kong, clearing the way for it to merge with rival Taishin Financial Holdings in a $16.6bn friendly deal. Taishin’s president had called for regulators to block rival Chinatrust’s tender offer for Shin Kong, warning that it could undermine the banking sector’s ability to support the globalisation of Taiwanese tech companies.
4. Iran’s reformist president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has signalled a renewed openness to resuming nuclear negotiations with western nations. In his first press conference with local and foreign media, Pezeshkian also denied that his country had supplied ballistic missiles to Russia since he took office seven weeks ago.
5. The Labour chair of the business select committee has called on his own government to prohibit the import of products made by forced labour in the Chinese region of Xinjiang as he called for greater scrutiny of Shein’s potential listing in London. Here’s what Labour MP Liam Byrne told the FT.
Interview: Natarajan Chandrasekaran
After running the Paris marathon during the Olympics, the chair of India’s Tata Sons took a 12-day trekking trip in the Himalayas to give himself time to think. “My biggest strength, if you ask me, is that I reflect a lot. That’s what I’m good at,” says Natarajan Chandrasekaran. The 61-year-old Chandrasekaran, known as Chandra, has a lot to stew over as the $365bn Indian group undergoes multiple changes he described as “painful” but necessary to prepare for the future.
We’re also reading . . .
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US-China rivalry: The whole world risks losing from the competition between Washington and Beijing, writes Gideon Rachman.
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US interest rates: With fears about inflation giving way to fears about jobs, the Fed is poised this week to announce its first interest rate cut since the pandemic. Colby Smith previews the “momentous” meeting.
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Apollo vs banks: Led by a onetime dealer in death benefit settlements, the asset manager is taking on the biggest traditional lenders in funding highly rated multinationals.
Chart of the day
Home appliance maker Midea is set to raise about $4bn in a secondary listing in Hong Kong, making it the market’s biggest debut in more than three years. But that does not yet signal a broader revival in public offerings, according to analysts, with Hong Kong and Chinese mainland markets mired in one of their worst years for listings in the past decade.
Take a break from the news
Among the many experiences in modern working life that can provoke ire and irritation, the panel discussion elicits a particular form of dread. But fear not: Viv Groskop has proposed a recipe for success so that your next panel isn’t ruined by droning participants or egoistic chairs.
Additional contributions from Gordon Smith and Tee Zhuo
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