Emmanuel Macron tries to ease riot-hit New Caledonia

Good morning. We have several stories today you won’t want to miss:

• The billionaires snapping up Singapore ‘shophouses’

• JPMorgan’s ‘tough going’ in China

• Big Food’s ferocious campaign against junk food regulation

But we start in the Pacific — 1,500km east of Australia, to be precise — where French President Emmanuel Macron made a brief visit to New Caledonia yesterday aimed at easing a political crisis that sparked deadly rioting. 

Speaking in the capital Nouméa, Macron promised not to immediately force through a controversial electoral reform in the territory, which is strategically important to the French military and is also home to vast nickel reserves.

The Pacific archipelago has been riven with unrest since mid-May when French lawmakers voted to expand the right to vote in New Caledonian provincial elections to all citizens who have lived there for more than a decade.

The change is opposed by much of the indigenous Kanak population who fear it would dilute their political influence in favour of the non-indigenous population that began to arrive during the colonial period. Here’s more on where the situation stands after Macron’s 18-hour visit.

And here’s what I’m keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:

• Economic data: Japan and Malaysia report CPI inflation rate data for April.

• Cross-Strait tensions: China continues its largest military exercises around Taiwan in more than a year, which it called “punishment” for what it claimed was a “provocation” from Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-te.

• India: The country’s staggered election enters its sixth phase Saturday with voting in Delhi.

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

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Ray Dalio’s family office bought two “shophouses” in Singapore for about S$25.5mn (US$18.9mn) in 2021, according to people with direct knowledge of the deal. The Bridgewater Associates founder’s Dalio Family Office announced it was moving into the Asian financial hub during the pandemic. Here’s why billionaires are snapping up the city-state’s heritage properties.

2. JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said yesterday that parts of its investment banking business in China had “fallen off a cliff” in recent years. His comments to attendees at the bank’s flagship conference in Shanghai highlight to the challenges western institutions face to retain a foothold in China’s vast but largely closed-off financial markets.

3. The chief executive of Chinese electric-car maker Nio said an EU investigation of EV imports from China did not “make sense”. William Li, who is often referred to as China’s Elon Musk, said the company will continue to push ahead with its plans to expand in Europe and would consider partnering with a local manufacturer to build a factory there.

• The real Elon Musk: The billionaire’s AI start-up has secured new backing from Silicon Valley venture capital giants Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and Tribe Capital.

4. Segantii Capital Management has told investors it will hand back their money, weeks after Hong Kong authorities announced a criminal insider dealing case against the hedge fund and its founder Simon Sadler. Employees were told yesterday that the decision may mean the fund would shut down, according to one person close to the firm.

5. Global brand fast-food franchise owners in India have suffered plunging profits as consumers struggle to cope with rising living costs. Sustained inflation since the coronavirus pandemic has forced many people to cut back on eating out or turn to cheaper street food, despite strong economic growth.

The Big Read

Nearly two decades of scientific research has linked the consumption of ultra-processed foods to obesity, cancer and diabetes. Studies show that such products — from snack bars to breakfast cereals — encourage overeating but may leave the eater undernourished. This growing body of evidence presents a concrete threat to the food industry, for which UPFs are extremely profitable. Big Food has hit back with a ferocious campaign in a strategy one expert has called “deny, denounce and delay”.

We’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

Spain attracted more than 85mn tourists last year, a record number that was nearly double its population as it competed to steal France’s title as the world’s top tourist destination. But the surge in visitors is provoking angry outbreaks of “tourism-phobia”.

Take a break from the news

Architecture is becoming reduced to gigantic flashing billboards, writes Edwin Heathcote. Once the ultimate art of three dimensions, the medium is taking a new shape. Sphere in Las Vegas, a vast dome of LEDs clad in 54,000 sq m of lights, naturally directs our gaze towards its screen, but, perhaps, it is watching us as well.

Additional contributions from Nora Redmond and Tee Zhuo