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☆ Sunak's swimming pool makes a splash in UK budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In the middle of Britain's worst cost-of-living crisis in generations, special equipment had to be installed to provide enough power for Sunak's swimming pool at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds, the Guardian newspaper reported. Early in his budget speech, Hunt touched on the topic of swimming pools and the costs they and other community facilities faced during a time of high energy bills. "When times are tough, such facilities matter even more," he said, but his words were nearly drowned out by raucous laughter from Labour Party lawmakers set off by the mere mention of swimming pools. Television cameras failed to capture Sunak's reaction, though a reporter for the Daily Mirror said the prime minister maintained a "masterful poker face." "We look forward to the prime minister promoting the swimming pools policy," Starmer said.

☆ Ukraine says it shot down a Russian supersonic bomber over the war's bloodiest battlefield: video
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukraine's forces shot down a Russian Soviet-era bomber, officials said on Wednesday. The feat took place near Bakhmut by the 93rd separate mechanized brigade, officials said. Later in the clip a number of missiles then appear to be shot from the pilot's landing location. The Su-24 is a Soviet-era bomber. As of Wednesday, 352 Russian aircraft had been documented by the site as having been destroyed, damaged or captured during the war.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Moscow defends U.S. drone crash; British and German fighter jets intercept Russian aircraft
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov appeared to blame the U.S. for the downing of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday that the U.S. military blamed on the "reckless" and "unsafe" behavior of Russian fighter jets. Russia's Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov appeared to blame the U.S. for the downing of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday that the U.S. military blamed on the "reckless" and "unsafe" behavior of Russian fighter jets. Antonov, who was summoned by the U.S. State Department on Tuesday to explain the incident, insisted that the Russian fighter jets did not come into contact with the drone and said "the unacceptable actions of the United States military in the close proximity to our borders are cause for concern." The U.S. military said Tuesday that two Russian fighter jets had intercepted the drone while it was in international airspace, harassing it in a possible bid to damage the drone before one of the jets clipped the unmanned aerial vehicle, causing it to crash. — Holly Ellyatt

☆ Why the UK spring budget won't fix the economy's problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —The last time a British finance minister unveiled a “budget for growth,” UK financial markets crashed and mortgage rates shot up, threatening to tip an already weak economy into a deep recession. But he will deliver his budget against essentially the same gloomy backdrop: the UK economy is stuck in the doldrums. John Springford, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform, estimates that Brexit had cost the UK economy 5.5% of GDP by June 2022. SVB could depress UK bank lendingAnother factor that could weigh on the UK economy in the near term: Silicon Valley Bank. “It is likely that UK financial conditions will remain tighter (or potentially significantly tighter) over coming months than they would have been without the US banking troubles,” Pickering said in a research note Monday.

☆ Factbox: What happened to the U.S. drone downed near Ukraine?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW, March 15 (Reuters) - Russia and the United States have offered different accounts of the downing of a U.S. intelligence drone in the Black Sea. The United States said the drone was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by the Russian aircraft. WHAT RUSSIA SAID:Russia said the MQ-9 drone was flying near Crimea - which Russia annexed in 2014 - and heading towards territories which Russia considers its own. "The unacceptable actions of the United States military in the close proximity to our borders are cause for concern," Antonov said. "If, for example, a Russian strike drone appeared near New York or San Francisco, how would the US Air Force and Navy react?"

☆ Hunt, hemmed in by debt, set to focus on growth in UK budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Instead, hemmed in by his promise to lower the burden of Britain's 2.5 trillion pounds ($3.0 trillion) of debt, Hunt will seek to tackle some of the causes of Britain's long-term economic funk. "In the autumn we took difficult decisions to deliver stability and sound money," Hunt is due to say, according to excerpts of his budget speech. "Today, we deliver the next part of our plan: a budget for growth," he adds. Labour's would-be finance minister, Rachel Reeves, sought to keep the heat on Hunt by calling for urgent action now. In an attempt to soften that tax hit, Hunt has hinted at new incentives for business investment.

☆ US summoning Russian ambassador over downing of drone over Black Sea -State Dept
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - The United States has summoned Russia's ambassador to Washington on Tuesday after a Russian Su-27 fighter jet downed a U.S. military drone over the Black Sea, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. "We are summoning the Russian ambassador to the department where we will convey this message." The meeting of Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov with senior U.S. officials at the State Department will take place this afternoon, Price said, without saying who from the U.S. side he would be meeting. He referred reporters to the Department of Defense when asked about the effort to recover the downed drone. Two Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the U.S. military described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone before one of them collided with it.

☆ Russian fighter collides with U.S. Reaper drone over Black Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRussian fighter collides with U.S. Reaper drone over Black SeaCNBC's Eamon Javers joins 'Power Lunch' to report on a Russian fighter jet downing a U.S. drone in international waters.

[1/2] A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits in a hanger at Amari Air Base, Estonia, July 1, 2020. Two Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the U.S. military described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone before one of them collided with it at 7:03 a.m. (0603 GMT). The U.S. military said the incident followed a pattern of dangerous behavior by Russian pilots operating near aircraft flown by the U.S. and its allies, including over the Black Sea. The Black Sea lies between Europe and Asia and is bordered by Russia and Ukraine, among other countries. "The State Department will be speaking directly with their Russian counterparts, and expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept," said White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden was briefed on Tuesday about an incident over the Black Sea in which a Russian Su-27 fighter jet struck the propeller of a U.S. military "Reaper" surveillance drone, White House spokesman John Kirby said. While there have been other such intercepts, Kirby said, this one was noteworthy because it was "unsafe and unprofessional" and caused the downing of a U.S. aircraft. "So it's unique in that regard," Kirby said. "The State Department will be speaking directly with their Russian counterparts, and expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept," he said. Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Franklin Paul; Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/7] Floodwaters from the Pajaro River are seen flowing under Highway 1, currently closed by officials, in Monterey County, California, U.S. March 14, 2023. read moreNine atmospheric rivers already lashed California in rapid succession from late December through mid-January, triggering widespread flooding, levee failures, mudslides and punishing surf. Massive flooding from failed levees on the Pajaro River in Monterey County this weekend prompted hundreds of evacuations and dozens of water rescues. Mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect for residents in 10 California counties on Tuesday, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Nathan Frandino in Monterey County, California; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK growth demands better-directed fiscal fireworks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Francesco Guerrera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

As a former health minister, Hunt is familiar with the Hippocratic Oath’s principle of “first, do no harm.” That credo didn’t resonate with former finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that borrowing in the current financial year is running 31 billion pounds below the November forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the UK’s independent fiscal watchdog. A further 6 billion pounds will freeze fuel duties, avoiding a 23% rise from April. In November, the OBR forecast that Downing Street would meet that goal with just 9.2 billion pounds to spare. That would still cost 11 billion pounds a year but would boost investment by 5% in the long run.

It was a far cry from the barbs Macron traded with Boris Johnson when he was in Downing Street. The French foreign minister at the time, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said France had been "stabbed in the back". Macron's hardball tactics to ensure French fishermen got a good deal had made him the bete noire of British tabloids. But even before news of the AUKUS deal he was incensed by Johnson's decision to leak details of their conversation to the press, a French official said. A French official let out a sigh of relief after it wrapped up: "It went well, didn't it?"

☆ UK's Hunt to keep tight budget with eye on 2024 election
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

He and Hunt told investors that Britain was not ripping up the economic orthodoxy after all. It's the election timetable," Resolution Foundation chief executive Torsten Bell said in a panel discussion about the budget this week. Until now, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been less pessimistic about growth than the Bank of England (BoE). Last month, the BoE said GDP would show no growth at all over 2024 and 2025 after a 0.5% fall in 2023. Hunt has said he will lay out economic growth measures in the budget, including ways to address the fall in the size of Britain's workforce.

☆ SoftBank's Arm rebuffs London by choosing U.S. listing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The company did not completely rule out an eventual London listing, saying it intended to consider a subsequent IPO there in due course, without providing further details. London worked hard to get the listing, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Arm Chief Executive Rene Haas meeting in Downing Street last month, according to reports. The loss follows a decision by Dublin-based building materials giant CRH on Thursday to move its primary listing from London to the United States. Arm has pushed into markets beyond smartphones, such as data center servers, where its low-power designs can cut energy use. It immediately identified New York as its preferred destination, where the company will join the likes of Intel, Qualcomm and Nvidia.

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - British former Prime Minister Boris Johnson will give evidence later this month to an inquiry into whether he intentionally misled parliament about illegal parties at his Downing Street office and residence during COVID-19 lockdowns. "Mr Johnson has accepted the Committee's invitation to give oral evidence in public in the week beginning 20 March," the Committee of Privileges said in a statement. He argues he was not aware that any of the events taking place at Downing Street broke COVID-19 rules. 'OBVIOUS'The committee said the evidence "strongly suggests that breaches of guidance would have been obvious" to Johnson at the time he was at the gatherings. There is evidence that those who were advising Johnson were concerned he was breaking the rules, it added.

[1/3] The logo for Goldman Sachs is seen on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York, U.S., November 17, 2021. The investment bank will outline the path to profit for its Platform Solutions unit, which houses Goldman's transaction banking, credit card and financial technology businesses, it said. It is also considering "strategic alternatives" for its consumer platforms, Solomon said, without specifying what those options would be. Chief Executive David Solomon's performance and his plans for growth will also be scrutinized by investors and analysts. Observers will focus on his plans to decrease Goldman's reliance on trading and investment banking, which can be whipsawed by market volatility.

☆ A risk taken, UK's Sunak announces the Windsor Framework
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Elizabeth Piper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

But it was secrecy that fostered suspicion among two big hitters in the years-long Brexit debate - the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Northern Ireland's biggest unionist party, and the pro-Brexit Conservative European Research Group (ERG). "I am pleased to report that we have now made a decisive breakthrough, together we have changed the original protocol and are today announcing the new Windsor framework," Sunak told a news conference. Then both former leaders had threatened to rip up the Northern Ireland protocol with legislation in parliament and their administrations had regularly criticised the EU for being overly legalistic and inflexible. Pressing pause on the Northern Ireland Protocol bill which would all but rip up the earlier agreement, he saw solving the Northern Ireland standoff as a concrete "win" for his administration which has struggled to establish itself. But Sunak still has to win over not only some of his lawmakers in the ERG, but more importantly the DUP.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks on outside Number 10 Downing Street, in London, Britain, January 25, 2023. LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday signed a new trade deal with the European Union designed to remedy problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added that the framework "respects and protects our respective markets and our respective legitimate interests. Sterling hit a session high of $1.2051, up 0.9%, shortly after the announcement. He said lawmakers would get to vote on the new agreement "at the appropriate time," adding that vote will be "respected."

☆ Soft, hard, or no landing at all: Here's what 5 Wall Street experts are saying about the fate of the US economy in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Here's what five Wall Street experts are saying about the fate of the economy this year. Here's what five Wall Street experts are saying about the fate of the economy this year. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan CEOJamie Dimon REUTERS/ Larry DowningA soft landing is possible, but markets are facing some "scary stuff" ahead, according to the JPMorgan boss. Kevin O'Leary, "Shark Tank" investorKevin O'Leary Mark Davis / Staff / Getty Images"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary remained optimistic on the market in 2023, and made the case for a soft landing. "We may actually get what people keep saying is impossible … a soft landing.

☆ Russia shot down several of its own planes in the early days of invading Ukraine, leaving it with few willing pilots, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia downed some of its own planes at the start of the war in Ukraine, a former US official said. As a result, Russia started running out of experienced pilots willing to fly, officials told the FT.A lack of pilots scuppered Russia's ability to control the skies, per several earlier reports. The FT in a Thursday report cited two Western officials and a Ukrainian official who spoke of the friendly-fire incidents. A view of destroyed armored SU-34 fighter jet belonging to Russian forces after Russian forces withdrawn from the city of Lyman in Donetsk. The think tank said Russia began committing instructor pilots to combat operations, hindering its ability to train anyone else.

☆ Yellen says U.S. to resume discussions on economic issues with China at 'appropriate time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday the United States would resume discussions with China on economic issues "at an appropriate time" but is continuing to warn Beijing of the consequences of violating U.S. sanctions on Russia. At a news conference ahead of a G20 financial leaders meeting in Bengaluru, Yellen said communication between the United States and China was important for "the sake of the entire globe." Yellen said she did not have any details on timing of her visit focused on economic and financial issues, but said: "I believe we will resume at an appropriate time those discussions." Turning to U.S. sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, Yellen reiterated Washington's warnings. Reporting by David Lawder; Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by Alex Richardson and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ATP roundup: Andrey Rublev escapes for win in Doha
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

February 23 - Top-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia staved off three match points while rallying for a 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6) win over the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor in the second round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Wednesday in Doha. Rublev knocked off three match points and broke serve. In the decisive tiebreaker, Rublev needed three match points of his own to advance to the quarterfinals. Third-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev topped British qualifier Liam Broady 6-4, 6-3. In the tournament's final two first-round matches, French wild-card entrant Arthur Fils topped Russia's Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-3, and Sweden's Mikael Ymer handled Moldova's Radu Albot 6-3, 7-6 (5).

☆ As G20 finance chiefs gather, Yellen calls for more economic aid to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Continued, robust support for Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion during my time here in India." Yellen said that previous U.S. military, economic and humanitarian aid totalling $46 billion has allowed Ukraine to preserve economic and financial stability under "extraordinary circumstances." In the coming months, we expect to provide around $10 billion in additional economic support for Ukraine." Yellen said that G20 countries, especially China, need to work to ease the debt overhang that is putting more than half of low-income countries in debt distress. The United States intends to put forward a candidate for the World Bank presidency "very quickly", she added.

☆ China, Japan square off at first security talks in four years
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Sakura Murakami | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Japan in December said it would double defence spending over the next five years to 2% of gross domestic product - a total of $320 billion - to deter China from resorting to military action. Beijing, which increased defence spending by 7.1% last year, spends more than four times as much as Japan on its forces. China is Japan's largest trading partner, accounting for around a fifth of its exports and almost a quarter of its imports. “While relations between Japan and China have a lot of possibilities, we are also facing many issues and concerns," Yamada told Sun. He pointed to their territorial dispute over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, Beijing's recent joint military drills with Moscow and the suspected Chinese surveillance balloons spotted over Japan at least three times since 2019.

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