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Good morning. Belgium’s intelligence service has been monitoring Alibaba’s important logistics hub in Europe for espionage following suspicions Beijing has been exploiting its rising financial presence within the west.
In particular reference to Alibaba’s logistics arm on the cargo airport in Liège, Belgium’s safety companies instructed the Monetary Instances they had been working to detect “doable espionage and/or interference actions” carried out by Chinese language entities “together with Alibaba”.
Alibaba, which denies any wrongdoing, signed an settlement with Belgium in 2018 to open the hub in Liège, Europe’s fifth-largest cargo airport, ploughing €100mn of funding into the ailing financial system of the French-speaking Walloon area.
However virtually two years on from the positioning being opened, the Belgian State Safety Service (VSSE) has continued monitoring Alibaba’s operations following intelligence assessments, mentioned individuals conversant in the matter. One space of scrutiny contains the introduction of software program programs that collate delicate financial data.
Here’s the full story on the espionage concerns at Alibaba’s European hub.
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Extra on spy scandals: As western governments more and more name out Russian and Chinese language espionage, the risks to travellers in Moscow and Beijing will develop, writes Elisabeth Braw.
And right here’s what I’m conserving tabs on as we speak and over the weekend:
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Financial coverage: Reserve Financial institution of India is extensively anticipated to keep rates on hold as we speak when it makes its bimonthly financial coverage assertion. (Reuters)
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Summit: EU leaders gathered in Granada are anticipated to debate the bloc’s effort to spice up its “strategic autonomy” by lowering its financial dependence on China.
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China: Shanghai Style Week begins on Sunday.
How effectively did you retain up with the information this week? Take our quiz.
5 extra high tales
1. The pinnacle of the IMF has mentioned the “exceptional resilience” of the worldwide financial system this yr has minimize the probabilities of a painful recession within the coming quarters, whilst she warned of weak development over the subsequent 5 years. Kristalina Georgieva highlighted “sturdy momentum” within the US financial system and singled out India as a brilliant spot, saying the odds of a “soft landing” for the global economy had risen as a result.
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A much less rosy view: Mohamed El-Erian argues that the US may no longer avoid a recession, as markets internalise the numerous chance that charges will keep larger for longer.
2. Chinese language developer Sunac has gained court docket approval to restructure round $10bn of debt, marking one of many first resolutions of its sort amongst China’s distressed actual property corporations. The plan, which was set out in March this yr after Sunac missed curiosity funds on a US greenback bond in Could 2022, was accredited by a excessive court docket decide on Thursday at a listening to in Hong Kong. The breakthrough brings some relief to China’s crisis-hit property sector.
3. Sam Bankman-Fried mentioned the large debt owed by his personal buying and selling agency Alameda to clients of his FTX cryptocurrency trade in June 2022, six months earlier than FTX collapsed, in line with testimony from one of many disgraced tycoon’s former roommates. “We had been bulletproof final yr, however we’re not bulletproof anymore,” Adam Yedidia, who had labored at FTX, recalled Bankman-Fried saying. Here’s more from the third day of Bankman-Fried’s trial.
4. A US fighter jet has shot down a Turkish drone in northeastern Syria in what the Pentagon described as a “regrettable incident” that comes at a time of elevated tensions between the Nato allies. Pat Ryder, the spokesperson for the Pentagon, mentioned the motion had been taken in “self defence” by an F-16 jet, however added that there was no indication that Turkey was concentrating on US forces. Read the full story.
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Extra on Syria: Dozens of Syrians had been killed and scores wounded after a drone assault on a navy commencement ceremony in central Syria, in one the deadliest attacks in opposition to the war-devastated state’s military.
5. Disney will supply free cell phone streaming of the Cricket World Cup in India, which is predicted to draw a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of viewers. The US leisure group has unique rights to broadcast the World Cup, and hopes the match will give it some momentum in India because it competes for streaming supremacy with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s JioCinema.
The Massive Learn
![President Joe Biden at the site of TSMC’s new fab in Arizona](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F35ef2d07-d2b1-402c-992e-2f31532afff7.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
A conflict of cultures is going on within the Arizona desert, the place Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm is constructing its first big manufacturing base in the US. The Taiwanese chip big has struggled with the American method to building and labour, and whether or not its Arizona challenge succeeds may make or break the US’s quest to resurrect semiconductor manufacturing on its shores. It may additionally decide if TSMC can remodel itself into a real multinational.
We’re additionally studying . . .
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Obituary: MS Swaminathan, who has died aged 98, was the architect of India’s green revolution, remodeling a chronically hungry nation into one of many world’s largest meals producers.
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Leo Lewis: Japan could also be ageing, however in several critical areas, the nation’s demographics are aligned to work strongly in favour of corporations and traders.
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London Underground: When Sarah de Lagarde fell on to the Tube tracks, no person helped. Why? FT Journal has delved into what happens when the world’s oldest subway system falls behind the remainder of the world’s security measures.
Chart of the day
![Heatmap showing that September 2023 was the most anomalous warm month on record](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F7867e3c0-62d3-11ee-bb6f-1b2370a1ad88-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
The world skilled its hottest September ever final month after surpassing the earlier report by an “extraordinary” 0.5C, the European earth remark company mentioned, including that 2023 was on the right track to be the most well liked on report.
Take a break from the information
Michael Lewis’s Going Infinite traces Sam Bankman-Fried’s journey from friendless nerd to unflappable Wall Avenue dealer, enterprise tycoon and at last accused felon — all by the age of 31. The FT’s Brooke Masters reviews Lewis’s latest book and three others that discover cryptocurrency’s growth and bust.
![FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried at his Hong Kong offices in 2021](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F67627c9e-8cc3-4963-9fc4-05a76ddb461f.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
Further contributions from Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith