Good morning. Ukraine said it had launched a counter-offensive against Russian forces near the city of Kherson, in a shift that has forced the Russian military to move resources to the southern part of the country, according to a top White House official.
A senior Ukrainian government adviser confirmed Kyiv had begun a major operation aimed at retaking the strategically important southern city that was captured by Russian forces early in the war.
“The next phase of the counteroffensive is beginning,” the adviser said. “It started with massive attacks on Russian military infrastructure and logistics.”
The long-anticipated assault on Russia’s forces is aimed at recapturing territory Moscow seized in the early weeks of president Vladimir Putin’s invasion, when troops swarmed in from the Crimean peninsula to the south. Keep up with the latest on the counter-offensive with our live blog.
In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s benchmark electricity price has risen to 10 times its decade-long average, in line with a 14-fold increase in the cost of gas, with fears growing of shortages this winter. In response, the EU is preparing emergency measures to curb the price of electricity by separating it from the soaring cost of gas.
More news from Ukraine: A team from the UN’s nuclear watchdog is heading to Ukraine to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has come under repeated fire, raising fears of a catastrophic accident.
Thanks for reading FirstFT Asia. — Emily
Five more stories in the news
1. Honda and LG to build $4.4bn US battery plant The Japanese carmaker and South Korean battery maker are teaming up to invest $4.4bn for a new battery plant in the US, amid increasing pressure from Washington to cut China out of supply chains for electric vehicles. It will be Honda’s first manufacturing facility for EV batteries in the US.
2. Ambani says India can rival China in green tech Billionaire Mukesh Ambani said India can become a “credible alternative” to China for green energy production, as he outlined the details of Reliance Industries’ $10bn investment in renewables at the company’s annual general meeting.
3. Singapore to tighten retail access to cryptocurrencies Singapore’s financial regulator has announced it will further restrict retail investor access to digital currencies after a series of scandals in the city state. Ravi Menon, managing director of Singapore’s monetary authority, said that cryptocurrencies are not a “viable form of money or investment asset” owing to their extreme price volatility.
4. US officials finish initial review of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago documents In a court filing on Monday, prosecutors disclosed that the US justice department has completed a review of the documents seized from Donald Trump’s Florida estate earlier this month.
5. Global equities drop as Powell’s comments drag markets lower Global stocks weakened and Treasury yields climbed after central bankers warned investors to prepare for a sustained period of higher interest rates. US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank policymakers used speeches at last week’s annual meeting to reiterate their commitment to fighting inflation, despite the risk of recession.
The day ahead
Vostok military exercises Russia and China will embark on a series of military exercises this week, a sign of Moscow’s deepening ties with Beijing and of the Kremlin’s desire to project a “business as usual” image despite the mounting costs of its war in Ukraine. The Vostok war games are held every four years in Russia’s far east.
Results Today is a bumper day for corporate earnings in China. Those reporting results include Air China, Baidu, Bank of China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
What else we’re reading
Inside Missfresh’s hunt for investor cash ahead of collapse Court filings, investor presentations and interviews with several people involved reveal the dangers of investors too readily believing the hype of a company supposedly at the vanguard of the Chinese tech start-up scene in the hopes of making quick returns.
Kishida turns Japan’s energy problems into nuclear opportunity In a 27-page document that accompanied last week’s announcement of Japan’s biggest U-turn in nuclear policy in 11 years, the word “crisis” was used seven times. The single word encapsulates why Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has risked political capital to end a paralysis that has hung over the country’s energy sector since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Liz Truss’s not-so-special relationship Britain’s foreign secretary, on the cusp of becoming prime minister, has at times irked US officials with a not-so-diplomatic style that has been described as blunt, binary and assertive. Some say Truss is quick to take maximalist positions without thinking of the consequences.
Can web3 help get us to net zero? A mass of tech ventures are exploring how to fuse concerns about global warming with the public’s interest in web3 technology. From the mundane to the outlandish and wacky, these projects are promising variously to “green” bitcoin, make NFTs sustainable and solve niggling problems in carbon markets once and for all. Can they work?
Boom chief fights supersonic travel headwinds The makers of Overture have claimed they can cut flight times from New York to London from 6.5 hours to 3.5 hours, while Tokyo to Seattle would drop to 4.5 hours from 8.5 hours. But the absence of an engine-maker for the supersonic jet is one of several factors fuelling aviation industry doubts about the claims.
Gardens
Adrian Fisher wants you to get lost. So much so, he’s made a career out of it. For the past 43 years, he’s been designing mazes and labyrinths in the quiet village of Durweston near Salisbury. Click here to explore Fisher’s maze.
Source: Economy - ft.com
