Australia to toughen gun legal guidelines after lethal assault on Jewish pageant

Good morning and welcome again to FirstFT Asia. In immediately’s e-newsletter:

• Australia agrees on gun regulation reform

• The elite British non-public college that misplaced its means in Singapore

• Xi assaults ‘reckless’ authorities spending

• Is there a proper means for CEOs to give up?

We begin in Australia, which has agreed a string of measures to toughen nationwide firearms legal guidelines, a day after gunmen killed 15 individuals in an assault on a Jewish pageant in Sydney.

What to know: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese mentioned his cupboard and state leaders had agreed to speed up the creation of a nationwide firearms registry and would supply A$100mn ($66mn) to the states and territories. Different measures embody limits on what number of firearms a single particular person can personal and making it a requirement that gun patrons are Australian residents. “Leaders agreed that sturdy, decisive and centered motion was wanted on gun regulation reform as a direct motion,” a joint cupboard assertion mentioned.

Talking earlier within the day after visiting the scene of Sunday’s assault at Bondi Seashore, Albanese mentioned authorities would do “no matter is important” to guard Australia’s Jewish group, saying antisemitism was “a scourge and we’ll eradicate it collectively”.

Earlier reforms: Australia adopted a few of the world’s most stringent gun legal guidelines after 35 individuals had been killed by a lone gunman in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. The measures included a gun amnesty and buyback scheme because the nation moved to ban the kind of semi-automatic weapon used. Nevertheless, there at the moment are considered extra weapons in circulation than in 1996, with highly effective long-arm rifles and shotguns widespread with hunters. Learn the complete story.

• ‘A end result of hate’: Bondi Seashore has develop into a spot of heartache for the nation’s Jews — and the main focus of fury over its authorities’s dealing with of rising antisemitism.

• ‘Hero’ who tackled Bondi gunman: Ahmed al Ahmed drew worldwide reward for disarming one of many shooters within the lethal assault. His dad and mom, who moved to Australia from Syria two months in the past, spoke to native media about their son.

Right here’s what else we’re protecting tabs on immediately:

• Financial knowledge: The US and Hong Kong report November employment knowledge.

• Volkswagen: The carmaker will cease manufacturing autos at its web site in Dresden after immediately, marking the primary time within the firm’s 88-year historical past that it’ll shut manufacturing at a web site in Germany.

5 extra high tales

1. A Hong Kong courtroom discovered media billionaire Jimmy Lai responsible on nationwide safety costs, in probably the most carefully watched trial since Beijing’s crackdown on town’s pro-democracy motion six years in the past. The trial has been considered as a barometer for political and media freedoms within the semi-autonomous Chinese language territory. Lai faces as much as life in jail.

2. Donald Trump mentioned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin had introduced a peace deal in Ukraine “nearer now than now we have ever been”, whilst European officers mentioned delicate territorial points had but to be resolved. Trump was talking simply hours after officers from Ukraine, Germany and the US claimed progress in drafting a deal to finish Russia’s invasion.

3. The US has backed a $7.4bn funding in a vital minerals processing plant to be constructed by Korea Zinc as Washington tries to counter China’s dominance over the provision chain for strategic metals. The venture comes after South Korea agreed to take a position $350bn within the US in return for decrease tariffs as a part of a commerce deal signed in late October. Learn the complete story.

4. Brussels plans to scrap the EU’s 2035 combustion engine ban, permitting carmakers to proceed making a restricted variety of petrol and diesel-fuelled autos after the prohibition was meant to come back into impact. The European Fee is ready to suggest a revision of the regulation immediately.

5. Federal Reserve governor Stephen Miran has mentioned that “phantom inflation” is distorting the US central financial institution’s decision-making and inflicting it to maintain rates of interest too excessive. Miran, a staunch ally of Trump and a vocal proponent of decrease charges, mentioned that when “noise” was stripped out, underlying inflation was near the Fed’s goal.

FT Investigation

Former employees allege bullying, misogyny and safeguarding lapses on the Singapore department of an elite British college, saying revenue was prioritised over schooling and welfare. Consultants warn the state of affairs reveals the dangers of franchising prestigious college manufacturers with out ample oversight.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

Chart of the day

Chinese language funding declined additional final month whereas retail gross sales weakened sharply, as President Xi Jinping launched an unusually blunt assault on “reckless” authorities spending that Beijing believes is constraining progress.

Take a break from the information . . . 

The significance of choreographing an orderly management succession has been highlighted by latest turmoil at firms reminiscent of Diageo and HSBC. FT administration editor Anjli Raval asks: is there a proper means for CEOs to give up?