US to set up port on Gaza coast for aid delivery

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Good morning. The US will set up a port on the Gaza coast for large ships carrying humanitarian supplies, senior administration officials said yesterday.

President Joe Biden will announce the decision during his State of the Union address on Thursday evening (local time), as well as the opening of a new land crossing into war-torn northern Gaza in the coming week to deliver assistance by truck.

The dramatic step comes as the Biden administration has been increasingly critical of Israel’s failure to open the way for more humanitarian aid to be delivered via land, which is far more efficient than by sea.

Despite this frustration Biden has been unwilling to use military assistance to Israel as leverage. That has created an unusual situation where the US is delivering aid via air and sea to a population under occupation by a close US ally that is also receiving American weapons.

Michael Wahid Hanna, an analyst at the Crisis Group think-tank, said the initiative would not address the urgent needs of Gazans who face the increasing risk of starvation. “This cannot be the only option, otherwise famine will overtake many more people,” Hanna said. Read the full story.

• Hostage talks: Hamas has said it will continue negotiations to release Israeli hostages and halt its war with Israel, even as its representatives left talks in Cairo without a breakthrough.

Here’s what I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: Japan publishes trade balance figures, the EU releases revised fourth-quarter growth and eurozone employment figures and the US publishes its February job report.

• Hong Kong: The government will send its new national security law to the legislature (Reuters). Analysts have warned the bill would further curb civil freedoms in the city and damage its status as an international financial hub.

• TSMC: Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company reports February sales.

• International Women’s Day: To mark today’s holiday, the FT is hosting a free digital event (at 18:30 HKT) featuring prominent campaigners who will discuss the impact of childcare costs on women’s finances, careers and future earnings potential. Click here to register

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. The US is pressuring Japan and the Netherlands to tighten restrictions on exports of chipmaking equipment to China. Both countries joined the US last year by enforcing export curbs on sophisticated machines and components. But the Biden administration is now pressing for greater controls after a series of technological advances by blacklisted Chinese tech companies Huawei and SMIC.

• More tech news: A Chinese man who worked as a software engineer at Google has been charged by the US justice department with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the tech giant while covertly working for rival China-based companies.

2. A UK campaign group has accused one of China’s biggest fishing companies of environmental and labour abuses. The allegations from the Environmental Justice Foundation target Zhejiang Ocean Family, which EJF said controlled nearly 15 per cent of Chinese tuna production. EJF’s report raises questions for major seafood distributors in Japan and Taiwan that have purchased its catches. Here are the accusations.

3. France and Moldova have signed defence and economic co-operation agreements as part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s push for western countries to support Ukraine and its most vulnerable neighbours against Russian aggression. The bilateral deals come a week after Moldova’s breakaway pro-Russia region of Transnistria asked for Moscow’s help, in a call that echoed separatists in the Ukraine region of eastern Donbas at the outset of the conflict in 2014.

• ‘Nato lake’: Sweden finally joined Nato yesterday, meaning the western defence alliance has nearly ringed the entire Baltic Sea, a significant oil trading route for Russia and home to one of its fleets.

4. The number of problem banks in the US has jumped by 18 per cent, regulators warned, as New York Community Bank was stabilised by a $1bn capital raise led by former US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin. Twelve months after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank shook the regional banking sector, NYCB’s recent struggles have underscored the continuing fragility at some US lenders. 

5. The roadshow for Reddit’s closely watched public debut on the New York Stock Exchange will start on Monday, as it prepares to begin trading the following week. The social media platform is trying to secure an anchor investor ahead of its public debut, which will be closely watched as a gauge of the appetite for tech listings.

News in-depth

When Eddie Middleton and Tiffany Wong worked on the liquidation of Lehman Brothers’ vast Asian operations, it must have seemed like the largest and most complicated task they would ever take on. But 15 years later, China Evergrande collapsed — and they are handling the wreckage. The pair from US law firm Alvarez & Marsal face a completely different challenge with the world’s most indebted property developer.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Hong Kong is not over: The froth of the most recent bull market is gone for now. But Hong Kong will not only survive, but thrive, writes Jonathan Slone, the former Asia chair of Jefferies.

• Corporate Japan: Investors have been highlighting the perils of excessive corporate diversification for decades. But the warnings now have a much sharper edge, writes Leo Lewis.

• Elon Musk vs Sam Altman: The legal battle over OpenAI is more than a row between billionaire tech bros, writes John Thornhill. It’s about the future of AI transparency.

Chart of the day

China’s foreign trade grew faster than expected in the first two months of this year. The improvement was driven partly by electronics and increased exports to emerging markets and Russia, with Beijing’s foreign minister touting “a new paradigm” in relations with Moscow.

Take a break from the news

Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and giant sandworms return in Dune: Part Two. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi sequel is assured in its Machiavellian intrigue, gooey romance and battle aggro, writes FT film critic Danny Leigh.

Additional contributions from Gary Jones and Gordon Smith