Deals to follow Xi’s UK visit, the ECB’s announcment on quantitative easing and it’s getting hot in here

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

A string of deals is expected to follow in the wake of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the UK this week. On Wednesday, China promised to invest more than £6bn in the first UK nuclear power plant in a generation at Hinkley Point in Somerset — the largest single inward investment ever in the UK from China.

Further deals being lined up included a potential partnership between BP and Chinese state-owned oil group CNPC, as well as plans to build a Legoland theme park near Shanghai. (FT)

In the news

It’s getting hot in here This year is on track to be the hottest year in the historical record, beating 2014 — which was itself record-breaking — by a substantial margin. The report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is likely to be top of mind when delegates meet in Paris for a global climate conference in December. (NYT)

Biden time, no longer US Vice-president Joe Biden has announced he will not run for president, ending months of tortured speculation that he would challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Mrs Clinton’s camp may be breathing a sigh of relief that her biggest potential rival for the bid is opting out — but Mr Biden used his announcement to take a few thinly veiled shots at the former secretary of state. (FT)

Merkel stands firm on Holocaust Germany has said it has no reason to change its view of history after Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Adolf Hitler had beenpersuaded to carry out the Holocaust by a Palestinian leader. “We abide by our responsibility for the Shoah,” said chancellor Angela Merkel. (The Guardian)

Valeant shares plummet The stock, under pressure over the durability of the company’s business model, sunk as much as 33 per cent after a shortseller released a critical research note. The stock was a favourite of hedge funds, which made billions of dollars in paper gains as it soared over the past five years — but now the likes of Bill Ackman are staring at multibillion-dollar losses. (FT, Bloomberg)

Credit Suisse’s strategic shift falls flat Chief executive Tidjane Thiam’s hotly anticipated new plan failed to win the same acclaim as his appointment earlier this year. The bank plans to raise $6.3bn of capital, downsize its investment bank and cut jobs. (FT)

It’s a big day for

Hillary Clinton The Democratic frontrunner will testify before the congressional committee investigating the Benghazi attack. The Republican-led panel’s credibility has been undermined by a series of blunders that have underscored the Democratic argument that it was formed solely to discredit Mrs Clinton and undermine her presidential bid. (NYT)

ECB The European Central Bank is expected to extend its quantitative easing programme as early as December. But president Mario Draghi is expected to use dovish rhetoric at Thursday’s press conference. (Bloomberg)

Read more about upcoming events this week.

Food for thought

Airing Japan’s dirty laundry Self-service launderettes are the same the world over: dreary, strip-lit institutions that should be dying out. But in high-tech Japan, the number of such launderettes has exploded. The reason? A curious mix of economic pressures, social change and soaring levels of pollen. (FT)

Behind the gloss in Moscow The FT’s Guy Chazan returns to the Russian capital to find a city that has been completely transformed. Gone are the clapped-out Lada cabs, the packs of feral dogs and the tacky neon signs; the city now looks smarter, more sophisticated. But beneath the surface lies a deep-seated sadness, a kind of hopelessness that has been hammered home by a long, deep recession. (FT)

Australia’s iron lady After two decades of development and $11bn of investment, Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, is finally poised to achieve her ambition and that of her late father, Lang Hancock, to develop, own and operate an iron ore mine. (FT)

Music start-ups come in through the bathroom window Abbey Road, the London recording studio immortalised by The Beatles’ album of the same name, is launching Europe’sfirst incubation programme focused exclusively on music tech companies. (FT)

A glimpse of Earth’s fate Astronomers have for the first time captured images of the destruction of a solar system that they say could provide a grim glimpse of Earth’s ultimate fate. The images from Nasa’s Kepler 2 space mission reveal a world that is being torn apart as it spirals around its dead star. (The Guardian)

Video of the day

Starbucks and Fiat hit with back taxes The companies face repaying tens of millions of euros after the EU issued a decision this week on tax avoidance by multinational companies. FT tax correspondent Vanessa Houlder and chief leader writer Jonathan Ford discuss the implications. (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with FirstFT. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Image: A flag hangs from the Bank of China offices in the City of London. REUTERS/Toby Melville.