Category: FT

Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. In today’s newsletter: Pakistan and Afghanistan pause hostilities The AI craze taking China by storm Li Ka-shing’s growing cash pile We start with conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan, after the neighbouring countries announced a temporary pause in hostilities yesterday for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr. What’s happening: The pause eased fears of an immediate escalation in the conflict, following an air strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul on Monday night that Taliban officials said was carried out by Pakistan…

Even for a nation almost inured to tragedy, the attack on a drug rehabilitation centre in the heart of Kabul ahead of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr was horrific. The air strike, which Taliban officials said was carried out by Pakistan and killed more than 400 people, left the Afghan capital reeling. Rescue workers were still searching for bodies in the rubble of the drug treatment facility days later and relatives were anxiously waiting for news. But fears of immediate escalation in the conflict between the two Asian neighbours…

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Mining myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Brandon Craig’s career straddling BHP’s old and new worlds — its long-standing cash cow of iron ore and the high-growth areas of copper and potash — paved the way for his elevation to the chief executive role. The world’s largest miner on Tuesday said Craig would succeed Mike Henry, who has led BHP since 2020 and presided over a reshaping that includes reducing its exposure to coal, oil and gas. He…

The artist Shahzia Sikander is behind the wheel of a slush-splattered SUV on a bitter-cold afternoon, driving along winding roads towards the property she is renting in upstate New York. The Hudson Valley has become an increasingly popular rural base for artists in recent years, but finding this particular home and studio felt a bit like fate for the Pakistani-American.  The two structures, she explains en route, were built by Marcel Breuer for the mid-century abstract painter Sidney Wolfson, who convinced the Bauhaus-trained architect to incorporate a silver-hued trailer into…

From the Port of Rotterdam to the retailer Superdrug, and from London’s electricity grid to the mobile network Three, one thing is clear: Li Ka-shing is not sentimental. Hong Kong’s most prominent tycoon has racked up tens of billions in disposals over the past few years, including the planned sale of his global ports, which would have netted about $19bn in cash but has run into a political storm because two of them are on the Panama Canal. All of the wheeler-dealing raises questions about why the Li family wants…