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☆ Morning Bid: Long March ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"If it goes down that road it will come at real costs to China," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN. China said on Monday it sought dialogue and peace for Ukraine despite the U.S. warnings. European stocks and U.S. futures recaptured some ground on Monday but the DXY dollar index briefly hit its highest since Jan. 6. The new U.S. interest rate horizon remains jarring, however. Meanwhile, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) on Saturday reported its highest-ever annual operating profit, even as foreign currency losses and rising interest rates contributed to lower earnings in the fourth quarter.

☆ Bill Gates told an AI chatbot he was 'overly intense' and 'didn't believe in weekends' in Microsoft's early days
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said he was "overly intense" and "didn't believe in weekends" early on in his career. He made the comments in an interview with an AI chatbot with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak. I didn't believe in weekends, I didn't believe in vacation. The Microsoft cofounder made the comments in an interview with questions posed by an AI chatbot along with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak. The AI chatbot has been put to a wide range of uses since its launch, including writing code, cover letters and passing university exams.

☆ There's nothing but 'zombie arguments' for not giving Ukraine fighter jets, one of its closest partners says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine has placed advanced Western fighter jets at the top of its military hardware wishlist. He said the way some Western countries approach giving Ukraine weapons needs to be altered, saying there's "certain psychological taboos and I think we need to revise this negative approach." RADOSLAW JOZWIAK/AFP via Getty ImagesAmong the countries that initially rejected the idea of sending fighter jets to Ukraine are the US and UK. On Wednesday, the British government said it would offer to train Ukrainian pilots to fly "sophisticated" NATO-standard fighter jets in the future. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the UK was considering the provision of fighter jets.

☆ The UK plans to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the kind of NATO-standard fighter jets the alliance is refusing to give them
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The UK government plans to train Ukrainian pilots on how to fly NATO-standard fighter jets. Ukraine has long requested advanced fighter jets, but NATO has been reluctant to provide them. The British government will offer to train Ukrainian pilots to fly advanced NATO-standard fighter jets in the future, Downing Street said on Wednesday, even as the military alliance refuses to actually send the physical aircraft to Ukraine. "The training will ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future," it said. Since obtaining the Western-made tanks, Ukraine has pivoted its focus to fighter jets, fourth-generation jets like the American F-15 or F-16.

☆ Tucker Carlson called Boris Johnson a 'terrified old woman,' officially kicking off a feud with the former British PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tucker Carlson has ignited a feud with former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. During his show on Wednesday, Carlson called Johnson a "terrified old woman." During a panel discussion with the Atlantic Council, Johnson accused Carlson of influencing "wonderful Republicans" with anti-Ukraine rhetoric. "I've been amazed and horrified by how many people are frightened of a guy called Tucker Carlson," Johnson said. "Has anybody heard of Tucker Carlson?

☆ Tucker Carlson is infecting the minds of Republicans over Vladimir Putin, former UK PM Boris Johnson says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Boris Johnson accused Tucker Carlson of infecting people's minds with "bad ideas" about Putin. The former UK prime minister said Republicans seem to be "intimidated" by Carlson's perspective. Speaking on Wednesday during a panel discussion with the Atlantic Council, Johnson said: "I've been amazed and horrified by how many people are frightened of a guy called Tucker Carlson. "Has anybody heard of Tucker Carlson? In May 2022, Carlson baselessly claimed that the US government's involvement in Ukraine was aimed at deposing Putin as "payback for the 2016 election."

☆ President of NATO member state says Crimea will 'never again' be part of Ukraine, argues against sending more weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Croatia's president said that Russian-annexed Crimea will never rejoin Ukraine, breaking from NATO. "It is clear that Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine," Zoran Milanovic said, according to Reuters. Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in December that giving Ukraine better weaponry would help to end the war. In recent months Ukraine has pushed Russian forces back in the east, thwarting its efforts to conquer vast tracts of the country. Croatia's president has repeatedly criticized Western help for Ukraine, Reuters noted.

☆ Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with a missile strike in an 'extraordinary' phone call weeks before Russia's invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Boris Johnson said Putin threatened the UK with a missile strike before it invaded Ukraine. He said Putin told him: "I don't want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute." He added that he told Putin that war would be a "utter catastrophe" and that Russia's apparent fear that Ukraine would join the NATO military alliance would not come true "for the foreseeable future." He also told Putin that invading Ukraine would result in sanctions from the West and more NATO troops stationed along Russia's borders, according to his recollection. Johnson was seen as one of Ukraine's biggest allies following the Russian invasion, and has made multiple trips to the country, both during his time as prime minister and after.

☆ JPMorgan reviews oversight of traders amid boom in financial markets - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Stefania Spezzati | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

KPMG is reviewing JPMorgan’s oversight of traders across the bank's markets division globally, the people said. The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX), a measure of market volatility, remains above its pre-pandemic levels. JPMorgan, when asked by Reuters why it had hired KPMG, said: "We invest heavily in our compliance and surveillance systems and often engage third parties to benchmark our capabilities." Under the agreement, which ends this year, the bank committed to enhance its compliance efforts and to report fixes to its oversight, the DoJ said. The volatility in UK government bonds, known as gilts, triggered a flood of compliance alerts from JPMorgan’s traders, one of the sources said.

☆ Fact Check-Video showing Tamil celebration in Waterloo, Canada, does not involve UK government officials and staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It does not involve officials or staff from Britain’s defence ministry or the UK Prime Minister’s office. Rather, the video shows a celebration among officials in the Canadian province of Ontario. The earliest version of the clip Reuters found was in a Facebook group named Tamil Culture Waterloo Region. The caption says it shows a Tamil Thai Pongal celebration involving “region of Waterloo politicians, regional chair city mayors, councilors and police chief and staff” (here). The video shows celebrations taking place in the Canadian city of Waterloo, with no British government officials or staff attending.

☆ Ron Klain says Putin using a nuclear weapon is 'not impossible to imagine' and Biden is preparing for the possibility, book
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Biden is preparing in case Putin decides to use nuclear weapons, his chief of staff said in October. Biden is "'very focused on being prepared in case Putin does it, and trying to figure out what we can do to deter him,'" Ron Klain said. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told author Chris Whipple, in an October interview, that the prospect isn't outside the realm of possibility. "Those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction," Putin said at the time. "People argue that we should not escalate and should be wary of doing things that further provoke Putin," Johnson said.

☆ Iran cites Prince Harry's book in defending its decision to execute a British-Iranian citizen
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Iran hit back at UK criticism over its execution of a dual UK-Iran citizen. It said Prince Harry's claim to have killed 25 people in Afghanistan showed the UK could not criticize. "Those who turn a blind eye to this war crime, are in no position to preach others on human rights." Harry wrote in his book "Spare" that he killed 25 "enemy combatants" while serving in Afghanistan. Iran was responding to criticism from the UK government after it executed UK-Iran dual citizen Alireza Akbari on Saturday, after accusing him of being a spy.

☆ Davos draws record crowds, but its relevance is fading
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Data from the World Bank shows that global trade of goods and services as a percentage of total economic output peaked that year. A wooden sign on the waterfront of Lake Davos in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 8, 2023. Just look to Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who was installed in October. Those skipping the gathering this year include US President Joe Biden, China’s Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. That raises questions about whether Davos can hang on to its reputation an essential event for the rich and powerful.

☆ The UK says sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine is a potential 'game changer' in the war. This is how they could impact the conflict.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The UK confirmed it will send a small number of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. The powerful tank would easily outmatch any Russian battle tanks, an expert told Insider. Representatives for Poland said on Wednesday that the country plans to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but needs Berlin's permission to re-export them. The Challenger 2 is far superior to Russia's battle tanksThe powerful Challenger 2 tanks would easily outmatch Russia's battle tanks, mainly the Soviet-era T-72s, Crump said. In the first Gulf War in 1991, a British Challenger tank scored the longest tank-on-tank kill ever, according to reports, after knocking out an Iraqi tank three miles away.

☆ This year's blockbuster IPO is between a rock and a hard place: listing in New York or London won't change Arm's fortunes in brutal downturn
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

ARM is preparing for an IPO in 2023 that couldn't come at a more tricky time. This pushed SoftBank to reposition Arm for the public markets as the Japanese firm seeks to generate profits from assets that can offset losses in its venture capital business. Figures from EY suggest that after a record year of listings in 2021, last year's IPO market went into reverse mode. SpaceX is another big company around which IPO talks have been swirling, the rocket company led by Elon Musk. Chip sector in turmoilArm's other challenge with going public in 2023 lies in the state of the chip sector: it's down.

☆ UK PM Sunak seeks ‘constructive’ union talks as government readies contentious anti-strike laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan. 6: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks to the media as he visits Harris Academy in Battersea. LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is preparing to meet union leaders this week for what he hopes will be "constructive" talks as he seeks to halt nationwide industrial action, even as his government prepares controversial anti-strike legislation. His comments came just a day after his government announced new anti-strike laws in a bid to "enforce minimum service levels" across key public services, including the National Health Service, schools, rail networks, nuclear commissioning and the fire service. The legislation, which Sunak's government plans to introduce in Parliament within the next few weeks, would allow bosses to sue unions for disruption and sack employees who participated in industrial action. The full details of the plan may be laid out as soon as Thursday, according to The Times newspaper, but the initial announcement was met with outrage by union leaders.

☆ Seeking Northern Ireland solution, UK foreign minister hosts EU talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - British foreign minister James Cleverly will on Monday seek to inject fresh momentum into talks with the EU on resolving disputes over a post-Brexit trade relationship when he hosts the European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in London. Technical talks between officials resumed in October on the Northern Ireland Protocol, the part of the Brexit deal that mandated checks on some goods moving to the province from the rest of the United Kingdom. The talks will take place at Lancaster House and the Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris is expected to take part, according to the UK foreign ministry. The Northern Ireland protocol was a key part of the Brexit deal agreed by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but one that successive UK prime ministers have refused to implement. In order to preserve the peace deal and avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, Britain agreed as part of its departure from the EU to effectively leave Northern Ireland within the bloc's single market for goods.

☆ Smarter taxes could ease UK productivity crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Francesco Guerrera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Britain’s sluggish productivity – the amount of output per hour worked – deters investment and limits growth, in turn depressing wages. After keeping pace with other developed countries for decades, UK productivity has grown by 0.3% a year since 2008. That is a third of the 0.9% averaged by G7 members, and well below the 1.2% rate recorded by the United States, according to figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. In 2021, gross fixed capital formation, a measure of investment, accounted for 17% of UK GDP, compared to 24% in France and 21% in the United States, according to the World Bank. Despite a long-standing scheme for research and development, UK businesses still only fund 55% of total R&D spending, below the 63% of the United States, according to a Cambridge University study.

☆ Global reactions to the death of former Pope Benedict
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MARKUS SOEDER, PREMIER OF THE GERMAN STATE OF BAVARIA:"We mourn the death of our Bavarian Pope. The death of Benedict XVI touches me deeply, as it does many people in Bavaria and all over the world. [1/2] Pope Benedict XVI waves as he appears for the last time at the balcony of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, February 28, 2013. UK PRIME MINISTER RISHI SUNAK:"I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER:"I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Benedict.

☆ 2022 was the year the Overconfidence Man fell back to earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Maureen Tkacik | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Naturally, Elon Musk, the platonic ideal of the peculiar self-aggrandizing, self-parodying personality type that thrived during the Trump years and peaked during the pandemic, tops this list. By 2022, the media had pronounced him variously the next Warren Buffett, J.P. Morgan and Charles Koch. "bye bye @trussliz Congrats to lettuce", tweeted Putin's one-time stand-in Dmitry Medvedev, to which Elon Musk could not resist replying, "pretty good troll tbh." Elon Musk speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition in March 2020. Elon MuskIt's weird to recall now that Elon Musk once seemed like, graded on the billionaire curve anyway, a net positive for a cursed American society.

☆ Incoming GOP congressman accused of lying about his employment history and where he went to college defends himself with a false Winston Churchill quote
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Charles R. Davis | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Long Island Republican George Santos has been accused of fabricating his biography. In a statement Monday night, Santos's attorney quoted Winston Churchill. The statement posted on George Santos' Twitter account attributes a Victor Hugo quote to Winston Churchill. It goes on to quote the former Conservative UK prime minister who led Britain during World War II: "As Winston Churchill famously stated, 'You have enemies? As a representative for the International Churchill Society told the fact-checking website: "Churchill never said it."

☆ UK, Japan, and Italy are joining forces to build a new next-generation fighter jet that can fight with artificial intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Britain, Japan, and Italy are working to build a next-generation fighter jet together. The fighter jet will have cutting-edge weapons and advanced capabilities, such as the ability to work with uncrewed aircraft. Britain's defense ministry said in a release that it hopes to develop the fighter jet with various advanced capabilities such as cutting-edge weapons, innovative data systems, and advanced sensors. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the aircraft's development, and partnership with Japan and Italy, highlights that "the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions are indivisible." In a joint statement with Japan's defense ministry on Thursday, the US Department of Defense said it supports Tokyo's security cooperation with London and Rome.

☆ UK tries to shore up energy supply with US deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN Business —Britain has agreed a new energy partnership with the United States that aims to end its reliance on Russia and lower soaring energy costs. He said the aim was to double the amount of liquified natural gas (LNG) the United States exports to Britain compared to 2021 levels. The initiative with the United Kingdom comes nine months after the United States agreed a deal with the European Union to increase LNG shipments to Europe. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the United States became the world’s largest exporter of LNG in the first half of this year. Under the new partnership, the United States will aim to export “at least” 9-10 billion cubic meters of LNG via UK terminals.

☆ Morning Bid: China, COVID and Crude
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Rare anti-government unrest across China's cities over the weekend has unnerved world markets, weakening crude oil prices and adding fresh political risks to a fragile year-end. Wary that both the unrest and the COVID crunch compound the economic hit to China and the world, the initial market reaction on Monday was to sell Chinese stocks, the yuan and oil - with crude oil prices falling to close to $80 per barrel, their lowest since January. A U.S. regulatory clampdown on Chinese tech giants, citing national security concerns, also weighed on shares of tech firms. As U.S. markets return after the Thanksgiving weekend, attention will return to Federal Reserve tightening, the labour market and inflation picture. The German banking giant said it expected U.S. output to drop 2% over the whole year, euro zone output to decline 1% and world economic growth to slow to a recessionary 2%.

☆ UK Prime Minister Sunak vows to maintain military aid to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to promise on Monday to maintain or increase military aid to Ukraine next year, and to confront international competitors "not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism". British government support for Ukraine has remained unchanged, despite turmoil in recent months as Boris Johnson was succeeded as prime minister by Liz Truss and then Sunak. On Ukraine, Sunak indicated no change with the policy pursued by Johnson and Truss. We will maintain or increase our military aid next year. In September Britain said it was the second largest military donor to Ukraine after the United States, providing 2.3 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) of aid this year.

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