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    China’s navy builds large new wartime command centre

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    This text is an on-site model of our FirstFT e-newsletter. Subscribers can signal as much as our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas version to get the e-newsletter delivered each weekday morning. Discover all of our newsletters right here

    Good morning and comfortable Friday. In in the present day’s e-newsletter:


    China’s navy is constructing a large advanced in western Beijing that US intelligence believes will function a wartime command centre far bigger than the Pentagon, in line with present and former American officers.

    Satellite tv for pc pictures obtained by the FT which are being examined by US intelligence present a roughly 1,500-acre building web site 30km south-west of Beijing with deep holes that navy consultants assess will home giant, hardened bunkers to guard Chinese language navy leaders throughout any battle — together with doubtlessly a nuclear conflict.

    A number of present and former US officers mentioned the intelligence neighborhood is carefully monitoring the location, which might be the world’s largest navy command centre — and 10 instances the dimensions of the Pentagon.

    One China researcher aware of the photographs mentioned: “This fortress only serves one purpose, which is to act as a doomsday bunker for China’s increasingly sophisticated and capable military.”

    Learn the total story and examine a satellite tv for pc picture of the location.

    Right here’s what else we’re conserving tabs on in the present day and over the weekend:

    • Financial information: Australia publishes December producer value index inflation price information and Japan releases the most recent labour drive survey.

    • Outcomes: Samsung Electronics, Tokyo Fuel, ExxonMobil, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Komatsu report earnings.

    • Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal: Three Israeli hostages are as a result of be launched on Saturday in trade for dozens of Palestinian prisoners.

    5 extra prime tales

    1. OpenAI is focusing on a $300bn valuation in a large new SoftBank-led funding spherical. SoftBank is ready to speculate between $15bn and $25bn into the ChatGPT-maker, an funding that would be the centrepiece of a wider funding spherical which may result in the synthetic intelligence firm elevating as a lot as $40bn. The unprecedented dimension of the most recent spherical suggests investor willingness to again the highest US AI start-ups has not been undermined by China’s DeepSeek.

    • Extra AI information: Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to spend “hundreds of billions” on AI to propel Meta to a dominant place, even after DeepSeek’s revelations shook markets this week.

    2. India’s authorities is underneath strain to flip round a slowing economic system because it prepares to current one of the vital consequential budgets since Prime Minister Narendra Modi got here to energy greater than a decade in the past. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil the primary full finances of Modi’s third time period on Saturday — right here’s what to anticipate.

    • Have questions concerning the finances? Ship them to us and we’ll reply them in a particular weekend version of the e-newsletter. Hit reply or e-mail firstft@ft.com

    • Extra India information: The billionaire Ambani household has received the bidding battle for a stake within the first of eight English cricket groups being put up for public sale by the game’s governing physique.

    3. Rescuers don’t imagine there are any survivors among the many 67 passengers and crew aboard a business jet and navy helicopter that collided on Wednesday evening outdoors Washington earlier than plunging into the Potomac River. Right here’s what we all know concerning the crash.

    • Trump’s response: With out citing proof, Donald Trump blamed Democrats and variety, fairness and inclusion insurance policies for the deadly collision.

    4. The US economic system grew at an annualised price of two.3 per cent within the fourth quarter, a weaker than anticipated finish to a 12 months dominated by the resilience of American shoppers. Yesterday’s GDP determine comes after Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell mentioned there was no hurry to chop rates of interest.

    • European economic system: The European Central Financial institution minimize rates of interest by a quarter-point to 2.75 per cent, a call that got here hours after new figures confirmed the Eurozone economic system unexpectedly stagnated within the fourth quarter.

    5. The Trump administration’s embrace of cryptocurrencies helps gas a speculative mania that would trigger “havoc” when costs collapse, hedge fund Elliott has warned. The $70bn-in-assets agency took goal on the US authorities’s obvious enthusiasm for property which have soared in value however have “no substance”, in line with an investor letter seen by the FT.

    The Large Learn

    © FT montage

    Simply final 12 months, Mistral was hailed as a possible international chief in AI know-how. However this week, China’s DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley by releasing a cutting-edge open-source mannequin with what it claims is a tiny fraction of OpenAI or Meta’s assets and computing energy — beating the French start-up at its personal sport. Has Europe’s nice hope for AI missed its second?

    We’re additionally studying and listening to . . . 

    Chart of the day

    Donald Trump this week ordered work on essentially the most bold missile defend in US historical past to start. Dubbed the “Iron Dome for America”, the missile defend will probably be constructed to destroy hypersonic missiles and stop nuclear annihilation. Nonetheless nuclear consultants additionally warned the initiative may provoke China and Russia to embark on an accelerated arms race with a purpose to retain nuclear parity. Right here’s the way it will work.

    Diagram illustrating three types of offensive missiles

    FT information quiz 

    How properly did you observe the information this week? Take a look at your data in this week’s quiz.

    Montage to illustrate the FT news quiz

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