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Good morning from the newsroom of the Financial Times.

Today is Tuesday, October 8th, in this Good morning from the newsroom of the Financial Times.

Today is Tuesday, October 8th,

and this is your FT news briefing.

Hong Kong Stock Exchange is dropping its offer

for the London Stock Exchange. The President of the World Bank says global economic growth

is slowing, and GM furloughs hit nearly 60,000 workers as a union strike ranges on.

Plus Donald Trump has given Turkey the green light to launch an operation

against US-backed Kurds in Syria. The F.T.'s Laura Patel explains what this means for the region.

I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

It turns out a bid worth 32 billion pounds and a three-week charm offensive by Hong Kong's stock exchange wasn't enough to seal a deal.

A statement on Tuesday confirmed that the Hong Kong exchanges and clearing dropped its hostile bid for the London Stock Exchange Group.

It said it was, quote, disappointed, it was unable to convince LSE management of its vision.

The Hong Kong Exchange had launched a three-week charm offensive to get shareholders and regulators on board with the merits of its unsolicited stock and cash approach.

There were concerns over whether the Exchange would be able to satisfy antitrust and regulatory approvals,

as well as corporate governance issues.

Plus as pro-democracy protests continue in the territory, there were questions raised about

whether Hong Kong's exchange

could still act as a gateway to China. The LSC board rejected the initial

proposal and Hong Kong's exchange had until the end of Wednesday to make a formal bid.

...