FirstFT: Today’s top stories | Financial Times

Israel’s opposition parties have banded together to try to form a minority government that could unseat the country’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and head off the country’s fifth election in two years.

The self-styled “change government” must now present its plans to President Reuven Rivlin. If he approves the proposal the 120-seat Knesset must vote on it, a process that will take at least a week to arrange.

There are still potential challenges to the plan: the minority government will need the support of Islamist party Ra’am, which has four seats, to cross the 61-seat threshold to form a government; and if Netanyahu can convince at least one member of the rightwing parties in the planned coalition to defect, he could scuttle the slim majority his opponents are aiming for.

Coronavirus digest

• Vietnam said it had detected a new coronavirus variant that combines features of the variants first identified in India and the UK.

• Malaysia will on June 1 begin a two-week lockdown that will include factories and malls being shuttered.

• Japan is preparing to announce the extension of a Covid-19 state of emergency until June 20, a mere month before the Tokyo Olympics are due to start.

• Businesses desperate for Hong Kong to reopen are offering cash, extra holidays and even lottery winnings to encourage staff and residents to get inoculated.

• Schools across London face budget cuts and possible closure as the pandemic and Brexit have accelerated a drop in pupil numbers. (FT, Straits Times)

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In the news

US regulators signal bigger role in cryptocurrencies market US financial authorities are preparing to take a more active role in regulating the $1.5tn cryptocurrency market, as concern grows that a lack of proper oversight risks harming savers and investors.

“It really comes down to co-ordinating across the agencies,” Michael Hsu, acting comptroller of the currency, told the Financial Times. “Just in talking to some of my peers, there is interest in co-ordinating a lot more of these things.”

Iran’s central bank chief departs over run for presidency Abdolnaser Hemmati was dismissed after the government said his candidacy for next month’s presidential election interfered with his official duties as central bank governor. Akbar Komijani, one of his deputies, has taken over as central bank chief.

Texas to pass tough new voting restrictions Republicans were poised to approve a new law tightening voting restrictions in America’s second-most populous state, in the party’s latest aggressive move to limit ballot access across the country.

Russia releases $500m loan to Belarus Moscow has agreed to release $500m in credit to Minsk and look to increase the number of flights between the two countries as the Kremlin doubled down on its support for Alexander Lukashenko after his forced landing of a passenger flight that has sparked western condemnation.

US demands release of American journalist in Myanmar Washington has called on the military junta to immediately release Danny Fenster, the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, an English-language news publication, who was detained as he was trying to leave the country, saying it was “deeply concerned” about the matter.

GOP blocks probe of deadly assault on US Capitol Republicans in the US Senate have thwarted efforts to form a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 assault on the US Capitol, in a vote that was the latest evidence of Donald Trump’s enduring influence in his party.

Russian group behind SolarWinds spy campaign targets USAID Russian hackers who breached several US government agencies last year have hijacked an email system used by USAID, the development agency, to target more than 150 government agencies, human rights groups and NGOs worldwide, said Microsoft.

The day ahead

India quarterly growth statistics The Central Statistics Office is today set to release its gross domestic product estimates for the March quarter and the full year. Fourth quarter figures from 2020 will also be released. (Mint, India Express)

100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre The Greenwood neighbourhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was once one of the wealthiest black communities in the US. But on May 31 1921, a white mob stormed the neighbourhood, killing at least 38 people as they laid waste to “Black Wall Street” and sidelined the community’s legacy of black wealth. (WSJ)

What else we’re reading

The Hong Kong dilemma: ‘Either you shut up or you leave’ Thousands in the Chinese territory have applied for UK visas after the country pledged a path to citizenship for up to 3m Hong Kongers who hold or are eligible for a British National (Overseas) passport. Now it includes a right to stay in the UK — a U-turn was made in response to China’s new national security law.

Will the workers ever come back? A curious Covid development: a spate of labour shortages in rich countries even though millions are still out of work. As economists debate the causes and consequences of the phenomenon, the rest of us can only marvel at how abruptly the labour landscape has changed from just a few months ago, writes Pilita Clark.

Tokyo tree battle further damps Japanese Olympic enthusiasm The rising indignation that a few dozen trees have to be cut back to make space for an “Olympic Live Zone” offers a neat encapsulation of much (beyond the global pandemic) that has gone wrong with the games at this point, writes Leo Lewis.

Wall Street’s new love affair with China In an era that is increasingly defined by geopolitical competition and a push towards economic “decoupling”, American finance has never been closer to Chinese wealth. Wall Street’s most storied firms are embedding themselves more deeply than ever into the country.

Five lessons from 25 years of corporate wealth creation A new McKinsey Global Institute white paper offers five takeaways for policymakers and corporate leaders to inform the debate over the role of corporations in society. Among them: the rewards of a superstar economy must be shared more equally, writes Rana Foroohar.

Video of the day

Why every dogecoin has its day — crypto explained FT markets editor Katie Martin and markets news editor Adam Samson explain the most speculative asset class and how a token designed as a joke about a picture of a dog online is now worth billions of dollars.