European governments have reacted with anger and dismay to comments by a Chinese diplomat questioning the legal status of former Soviet states and Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who regained their independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, have said they will summon Chinese diplomats on Monday to complain about
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The writer is chair of Rockefeller International Today commentators overwhelmingly agree that a weakening US dollar cannot possibly lose its status as the world’s dominant currency because there is “no alternative” on the visible horizon. Perhaps, but don’t tell that to the many countries racing to find an alternative, and such complacency will only accelerate their
The Labour party has suspended Diane Abbott, a key ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, after she suggested Jewish people had never been “subject to racism” in a letter to a UK newspaper. The swift action comes just weeks after Corbyn was blocked from standing in future as a Labour candidate after his own refusal
The steady stream of European leaders visiting Beijing recently comes with a risk. Europe’s eagerness must make it look increasingly in China’s eyes like a demandeur — the party in diplomatic relations that cannot wait for the other to propose something, but has to come asking. But what exactly is Europe asking for? It is
The UK state-backed insurance scheme designed to help keep the live events sector going through the coronavirus pandemic paid out just one claim of £180,500, while generating almost £6mn in premiums, according to official data. The “live events reinsurance scheme”, which was set up in September 2021 and wound up a year later, paid out
The US military evacuated embassy officials from the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Saturday as nations moved to extract their citizens after a week of battles. Late on Saturday, the White House said it was temporarily suspending operations at its embassy in Sudan and had conducted an operation to remove US government personnel from Khartoum.
Out of exasperation rather than expediency, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of Britain’s armed forces, keeps in his office a copy of JSP 752, the UK military’s expenses manual that runs to 747 pages, about twice as long as Hong Kong’s tax code. “He waves it at anyone who goes in . . . as an example of
It is a phenomenon that has become known as “the flattening”: tech companies which hired middle managers in droves during the pandemic boom are now slicing out the layer as they make mass job cuts. Meta in particular is following a trend set by Elon Musk, who wiped out scores of middle management roles as
China’s largest bank is being sued by Dutch lender ING for losses suffered in a batch of copper deals in a case that highlights the risks of servicing the scandal-plagued world of commodity trading. Amsterdam-based ING is claiming $170mn in damages from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, alleging it breached contract terms by releasing
“Hell opened its doors, now it’s war,” cried Osman Salih as he sheltered at a hospital north of Khartoum. He had just returned from a hair-raising journey to fill a bucket from the river Nile that flows through Sudan’s capital, which has run out of drinking water since fierce fighting erupted last weekend. “Tanks are
Silicon Valley Bank’s new owner is “fighting” to repair its damaged brand, stem deposit outflows and stop dozens more bankers quitting to join rivals as it attempts to rebuild the US technology bank that collapsed last month, according to one of its top executives. “We are in the early days of getting them stabilised and
Within the past few weeks, two rivalrous, chunky primers on the present and future of the global creator economy have landed in investors’ inboxes: one from Goldman Sachs, the other from Citigroup. Both are sublime examples of what happens when Generation X bankers try to quantify the financial opportunities for Generation Z of the offspring
US banks are becoming increasingly worried about falling commercial property valuations and the risk they pose to lenders’ balance sheets, senior executives said this week. Office valuations in particular have been pummelled by rising interest rates and many employees’ preference for working from home since the coronavirus pandemic. However, financial executives sought to reassure investors
At least nine members of Congress sold banking stocks before and during market turmoil last month, including a member of the House financial services committee who sold Silicon Valley Bank stock before it failed. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat and a member of the financial services committee since 2019, disclosed the sale of shares
A lobbying firm is launching a one-year business engagement operation ahead of the next general election in what is likely to be one of multiple attempts to exploit the vacuum left by the crisis at the CBI. WPI Strategy, a public affairs group behind the imminent launch of “BizUK”, insisted that it was not trying
Semiconductor companies have signalled that the industry’s sharpest slowdown in more than a decade is lasting longer than expected, as weakening demand for automotive components compounds slumping personal computer and smartphone sales. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest chip producer, this week pushed back its expectations for a market recovery, as the industry bellwether
The price of insuring against a US government default rose to a fresh high this week as traders began pricing in their concerns that the world’s biggest economy might not meet its financial obligations. One-year US credit default swaps — derivatives that act like insurance and pay out if a company, or country, reneges on
China has launched an urgent intervention against the Philippines’ growing military alliance with the US as Asian nations get dragged into the geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and Washington. On his first visit to Manila, Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang on Saturday urged the Philippines to “continue our traditional friendship . . . keep our promises to each other . . . and inject
Switzerland’s Zürcher Kantonalbank has held takeover talks with GAM, the troubled asset manager that delayed its results as it races to find a buyer this month. ZKB, the largest of Switzerland’s state-owned cantonal banks, has had discussions with GAM in recent months about acquiring the business, according to people familiar with the situation. GAM, which
The British government is set to introduce legislation within days to establish a new regulator to police the growing dominance of big technology platforms, such as Google, Amazon and Facebook. The draft bill will put the digital markets unit within the Competition and Markets Authority, the main UK competition watchdog, on a statutory footing and
The voice of British industry is turning into a whisper. Members of the CBI are bailing out, following allegations of sexual assaults at the business lobby group. On Friday, household names including car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, retailer John Lewis and FTSE 100 insurer Aviva joined the exodus. The loss of members and access to