PA may play ‘central position’ in Gaza, Antony Blinken tells Mahmoud Abbas

Keep knowledgeable with free updates

Merely signal as much as the International Financial system myFT Digest — delivered on to your inbox.

Good morning. US secretary of state Antony Blinken informed the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas that the US noticed the PA as “enjoying a central position” in any post-Hamas authorities in Gaza, a US official stated.

The official was talking after Blinken held talks with Abbas within the occupied West Financial institution yesterday throughout his second journey to the area since Israel declared conflict on Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.

However Abbas stated the PA would solely assume energy in Gaza, which Hamas has managed since 2007, as a part of a “complete political resolution” to the Israeli-Palestinian battle, in response to the Palestinians’ official Wafa information company.

Blinken’s Center East tour, which has additionally concerned conferences in Tel Aviv, Amman and Baghdad, got here because the Arab world and a few western capitals stepped up requires a ceasefire within the Israel-Hamas battle. Each Israel and the US have rejected the calls. Learn the complete story.

Right here’s what else I’m protecting tabs on at this time:

• Financial knowledge: S&P International October providers buying managers’ index knowledge is about to be launched for the EU, France, Germany and Japan.

• China: President Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang are anticipated to fulfill the Australian prime minister on the finish of the latter’s three-day state go to to the nation.

• US: Former president Donald Trump is because of testify within the civil fraud trial through which he and his household companies are accused of manipulating asset values.

5 extra high tales

1. Elon Musk’s synthetic intelligence start-up xAI has launched its first AI mannequin, because the tech billionaire seems to be to tackle OpenAI, Google and Meta with a sassy chatbot that’s tightly built-in with X, previously Twitter. Grok, the brand new AI system, has “real-time entry” to data from X, Musk stated.

• Extra tech information: Amazon, Microsoft and Google mother or father Alphabet look set to pour billions into cloud computing capability to serve the expansion of generative AI.

2. Unique: Gallup, the polling and consulting group, is pulling out of China, making it the newest overseas firm to retrench from the nation amid whipsawing geopolitical tensions. In a discover seen by the FT, the Washington-based advisory group suggested clients that it might transfer some initiatives exterior the nation, whereas others could be cancelled. 

3. Unique: The world’s most prestigious consulting corporations have frozen US beginning salaries for brand spanking new graduates, as a conflict for expertise that despatched pay hovering after the pandemic provides solution to harder competitors for jobs. McKinsey and BCG are among the many corporations holding salaries at 2023 ranges for undergraduate and MBA college students taking over positions subsequent yr, in response to individuals accustomed to the matter.

4. Two polls yesterday confirmed Joe Biden trailing Donald Trump as considerations over the financial system and splits throughout the Democratic occasion over the Israel-Hamas conflict drag down the US president’s 2024 re-election prospects. The polls got here a yr earlier than the 2024 vote, as America seems to be heading for a detailed presidential rematch.

5. Turkey’s foremost opposition occasion has ousted its longtime chief Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu following his complete loss in opposition to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a presidential election earlier this yr. Members of the Republican Individuals’s occasion voted yesterday to exchange Kılıçdaroğlu with veteran lawmaker Özgür Özel, who vowed to shake up the organisation’s technique forward of native elections scheduled for March subsequent yr.

Information in-depth

For the previous month, the Japanese authorities has exhorted the general public to devour at the very least 5 scallops day by day to assist draw down shares which have piled up after China banned imports of the delicacy in August. However buyers stated Beijing’s ban — which was launched after Japan started releasing filtered water from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe — may ship an surprising enhance for the trade by making a nationwide champion.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Why the younger ought to go to the workplace: Aside from relationship, there’s no higher training in human behaviour, writes Janan Ganesh.

• The best way to rent the most effective for much less: New analysis suggests employees will settle for decrease pay at environmentally sustainable corporations.

• Lunch with the FT: CNN’s former chief government Jeff Zucker discusses the way forward for the US cable information channel — and sharing eating suggestions with Steve Martin.

Chart of the day

It’s uncommon, anyplace on the earth, that the pinnacle of an alternate would so overtly attempt to reform the behaviour and complacencies of corporations listed on it. However Hiromi Yamaji, the previous Nomura banker and head of the Japan Change Group, is exerting extraordinary affect to unlock company worth in Japan. He defined his plan in an interview with the FT.

Take a break from the information

Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Remaining Months is the Musée d’Orsay’s supremely satisfying present on the artist’s final, productive weeks. Jackie Wullschläger displays on an unforgettable exhibition in Paris.