Clinton to battle Trump on economy, drone taxi and Mecca goes mega

Sign up to receive FirstFT by email here

Hillary Clinton plans to put Donald Trump’s business record and economic agenda at the centre of her campaign, she told the Wall Street Journal. Mrs Clinton said she would deliver an economic speech soon contrasting Mr Trump’s record with her own. “While he may have some catchy soundbites, his statements on the economy are dangerously incoherent,” she said. “They are deeply misguided, and they reflect an individual who is temperamentally unfit to manage the American economy.”

The economy is an issue in which Mr Trump has a big lead over Mrs Clinton, notes James Pethokoukis. A new Gallup poll gives the businessman a 10-point edge on “the economy” and a seven-point lead on “employment and jobs”. “Trump seems unable to see it, but a lousy economy remains the greatest threat to Clinton’s White House hopes, and thus the greatest aid for Trump’s presidential bid.”

For Clinton advisers, what really should worry them is the threat of a recession , writes Robert Samuelson: “If there’s a recession, the election’s outcome may depend on whose name gets attached to it.” (WSJ, The Week, WaPo)

In the news

Germany concerned over China deals Chinese investors have sought to buy German companies at a rate of roughly one a week this year, fuelling concerns about the country losing hold of its most innovative and technologically advanced companies. Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s economy minister, has urged the European Union to intervene to ensure an international “level playing field” in foreign investment. Mr Gabriel drew a distinction between open markets and what he called “a state-capitalist interventionist market”, a clear reference to China. (WSJ, Reuters)

Bangladesh tackles Islamist assassins Bangladesh police have shot dead five suspected members of a banned group in three days, including one on Wednesday, as security forces step up the hunt for Islamist militants behind a series of attacks on liberal bloggers, academics and members of religious minorities. Police have identified two outlawed groups, Ansarullah Bangla Team and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, as behind the violence. (Reuters)

Drone taxi cleared for testing The world’s first passenger drone capable of autonomously carrying a person in the air for 23 minutes has been given clearance for testing in Nevada. Chinese firm Ehang, which unveiled the electric Ehang 184 passenger drone at CES in Las Vegas in January, has partnered with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to put the drone through testing and regulatory approval. (Guardian)

Negative rates stir bank mutiny Lenders in Europe and Japan are rebelling against their central banks’ negative interest rate policies, with one big German group going so far as to consider storing deposits in vaults. (FT)

The beautiful (and lucrative) game Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest earning athlete, gathering $88m from wages and endorsements over the past year. The striker topped Forbes’ annual list, beating Lionel Messi’s $81.4m and LeBron James’s $77.2m. (FT)

Jokowi’s reform efforts begin to pay off About 19 months into Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s term, improvements to the country’s creaking infrastructure and other structural reforms are finally beginning to bear fruit. Jakarta airport’s state-of-the-art Terminal 3, now about to open, is one sign of the progress. (NAR)

It’s a big day for

The Democratic party Bernie Sanders is set to meet Barack Obama and Senate minority leader Harry Reid. Is the Vermont senator ready to drop out and unite the party? Gideon Rachman, for one, salutes Mr Sanders, but believes it is time for him to give it up. (FT)

Mario Draghi, ECB president, who has stepped up his call for Europe’s political leaders to make root-and-branch reforms of their economies to create more jobs, warning them it was their duty to save the region from its ageing crisis. (FT)

Food for thought

Brexiteers’ ugly campaign to vilify Turks In the US, the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says all Muslims must be treated as suspect, writes Philip Stephens. In the UK, the Brexit campaign led by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove has chosen to cast the entire Turkish nation as the enemy. “The crude calculation is that demonising Turks adds a useful xenophobic edge to a populist campaign against the Brussels-backing elites, but by stoking prejudice “they throw away the liberal tolerance that has long defined Britishness”. (FT)

Mecca goes mega Italian photographer Luca Locatelli, visiting Mecca this year, captured how radically the city has changed to accommodate growing numbers of pilgrims. Today, all a visitor would recognise from older images of Mecca are the Ottoman domes of the Grand Mosque, its minarets and the Kaaba. The ancient hills, the old stone homes and many of the sites linked to the life of the Prophet Muhammad have been obliterated by towering shopping malls, hotels and apartment blocks. (NYT)

Bridging the gap between business and military tech Allied Minds scans thousands of scientific discoveries a year and has so far turned 23 into start-ups, ranging from a new type of high-speed, low-power semiconductor technology developed at New York University to a pipeline of fluorine-based drugs discovered at Harvard. Its portfolio approach to commercialising intellectual property was pioneered in the UK, but what sets Allied Minds apart is that its scope stretches beyond academia to the US government defence research base. (FT)

North Sea oil: The £30bn break-up Next year, the Pioneering Spirit, a catamaran the length of five jumbo jets, will sidle up against a Shell oil platform in the North Sea and in a single motion lift the 24,000-tonne platform off its legs before carrying it back to shore. Thus begins an expected wave of decommissioning across the North Sea, as oil companies struggling with low prices shut down production and pack up one of the UK’s most successful industries of the past 50 years. (FT)

‘No money, but have a good day!’ During a walkabout in Crimea, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s prime minister, was confronted by a pensioner who complained about the government’s failure to index pensions. “There is no money. But be strong. All the best. Have a good day, and good health,” he replied, before turning and leaving. Since the incident, the video on YouTube has been watched over 3.5m times, and the phrase has gone viral, spawning dozens of memes on the internet. (BBC)

Video of the day

Singapore warns on Pink Dot sponsorship In a sign of increasing conservatism in Singapore, the government has warned big business against their sponsorship of a gay pride rally. Pink Dot’s sponsors include global corporate powerhouses such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Barclays and Google. (FT)