US President Joe Biden is set to discuss the debt ceiling with congressional leaders at the White House as early outlines of a possible deal emerge. The Tuesday meeting comes as the US Treasury prepares to run out of cash to pay bills as early as June 1, heightening the need for a budget agreement between Democrats and Republicans. Among the ideas being discussed is clawing back some $30bn in unused COVID-19 funds and tweaking work requirements for recipients of government aid. White House and congressional staff have held days of closed-doors discussions to try to thrash out the agreement.
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has stated that the company is unlikely to acquire any other struggling lender, two weeks after the bank acquired the failed First Republic Bank. First Republic was the third major US institution to fail in two months, with JP Morgan agreeing to take $173bn of the bank's loans, $30 bn of securities and $92bn of deposits. At the bank's annual shareholder meeting, four of the eight shareholder proposals secured more than 30% of votes and proposals included an independent board chair, a special shareholder meeting, and a proposal that the bank publishes a transition plan to describe how it intends to align its financing activities with its 2030 sectoral greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
Lidia Bastianich's latest show, "Lidia Celebrates America: Flavors That Define Us," is set to air on PBS. The show focuses on the immigrant experience through food, with Bastianich travelling across America, meeting immigrants and hearing their stories. The show features a Bhutan refugee who has built a new life in Ohio, Cuban immigrants feeding people in Kentucky, Indian Americans creating businesses in California, Afghan refugees helping new arrivals in Texas, and a second-generation Vietnamese American with multiple restaurants, among others.
Wind power generated more electricity than gas over the first quarter of 2023 in the UK, according to figures released by National Grid, and renewable energy sources contributed 46% of the country's total power for April. However, further investment in renewable energy will require a new structure for electricity supply, with renewable sources mitigating gas, but renewables leaving a huge and sudden gap during wind droughts and when there is no solar energy available. There are various options the UK can turn to, including the development of a zero-emission gas plant for the Teesside Carbon Cluster, increased storage for excess renewable energy in Yorkshire salt caverns, and small modular nuclear reactors for a limited window of time. In addition, cryogenic compressed air can store energy for longer durations of time, while governments should continue to set the right tone for renewables energy investment and development.
Swedish director and Cannes Film Festival jury president Ruben Ostlund has expressed his support for the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike, calling strikes a "great" way to bring about changes to working conditions. Speaking at the festival, former Palme d'Or winner Ostlund praised Hollywood writers for their shows of "collegial feeling" and urged them to continue their action. The strike, the Writers Guild of America's first in 15 years, began earlier this month when talks on higher pay between the WGA and film and television studios, such as Netflix and Walt Disney, broke down.
The writers’ strike in the US injected a new element of uncertainty in the television advertising industry, as ad buyers look to clinch more flexibility in their contracts. The strike, which has entered its third week, put contracts at jeopardy and may cause complications leading up to the fall season lineup. It may also be used as a bargaining tool by advertisers during the annual series of glitzy presentations in New York City to stand up for more flexibility in their advertisements.
Prince Harry has five ongoing lawsuits in the UK, including one against the Home Office over the decision to no longer give him full protective security. In addition to his suit against the Home Office, Harry is suing a number of UK newspapers for unlawful information gathering including Associated Newspapers Ltd, News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers. His total legal bills are already considerable, especially given his wife Meghan only had 90% of her legal costs covered when she won her claim against the Mail on Sunday for breach of privacy and copyright.
President Biden is to cut short his trip to Asia to focus on debt ceiling negotiations, with the US again facing the risk of default on its $31.4tn debt if talks fail. Biden, initially due to fly to the G7 meeting in Japan and then to Papua New Guinea and Australia, is expected to return after the summit and meet congressional leaders in Washington, according to CBS. Republican leaders are demanding budget cuts in exchange for supporting the raising of the debt ceiling. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has previously warned that the US could run out of cash by 1 June if the ceiling is not lifted.
The loss of Tucker Carlson by Fox News, America's top-rated cable news channel, has led to not only a drop in the network's viewers but also a rise in ratings for even more right-wing channels such as Newsmax. However, the exit of such a polarising figure could have a greater impact as research suggests the audience for Fox News is open to persuasion. Carlson's audience of 3m people in his final week dropped to 1.5m the following week after he was fired, casting doubt on pundits' beliefs that viewers would simply find a new preferred source of politically biased content.
Kim Petras has become the second transgender woman to feature on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, after the magazine chose her as one of its four cover stars for this year's annual issue. The other three cover stars include Brooks Nader, Megan Fox and Martha Stewart. Actor Leyna Bloom was the first transgender woman to appear on the cover of the magazine in July 2021. Petras said she was "so excited" when she was given the opportunity to feature on the cover, adding that it was "a big dream come true for me". Petras emphasised that while it was important for transgender people to be represented, ultimately people's choices and abilities were "about what's inside of you". Fans said they were delighted with the result.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination soon. Pence seeks to establish a Reagan coalition of evangelicals, fiscal conservatives and national security hawks, taking on his former boss Donald Trump. The former Vice President plans to highlight clear domestic and foreign policy differences with Trump. He is expected to espouse a policy of “free trade with free nations”, support a national abortion ban and differentiate himself from Trump by backing Ukraine against Russia in what he sees as a new “Cold War”.
Several letters published in The Telegraph this week have seen landlords from across the UK complain about the negative impact they believe the Renters’ Reform Bill, proposed by UK Housing Secretary Michael Gove, will have on the private rented sector. Criticisms include that the bill will favour tenants over landlords and will lead to fewer landlords entering the property market, thus causing a shortage of rental properties for those looking to live in the sector. Previously, rents had steadily risen at rates around the same as inflation, however, following recent legistlation, rental prices have begun to soar, with one landlord claiming that his most recent let was 45% higher than its going rate several years ago. It is thought the RRB is a way of coercing more young voters into leaning towards the Labour party as the proposed legislation was thought to be more appealing to them and thus unlikely to secure Conservative support in the general election. A spokesperson for Gove has yet to make an official statement regarding the criticisms.
Meanwhile, academics at the University of Oxford have condemned the decision by the Oxford University Student Union to sever its relationship with the Oxford Union, which was due to the latter’s decision not to back down on an invitation it made to feminist Kathleen Stock. Saying that Professor Stock’s views were “illicit” had dangerous connotations, and calling outright for her prohibition was an “unacceptable” alternative, the academics argued. Instead, they said universities needed to remain places of open discussion, even for contentious views that could be questioned and debated.
Professional golfers playing in the 2023 PGA Championship avoided talking about the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, suggesting the heat on the issue has cooled. Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy suggested he was making a conscious effort to avoid "LIV talk" when questioned on the issue. Third-ranked player Jon Rahm said he had "never had any negative feelings toward any player that went over to LIV", but admitted he could not predict where professional golf would be in the future. The fledgling LIV Tour was launched only 11 months ago and has encountered criticism from players and rival tours, leading to a back and forth between the Saudi-backed league and existing tournaments. PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh, the former boss of Deutsche Bank Americas, last week raised concerns about LIV Golf's business model, further complicating the official world golf rankings' decision on whether to recognise the tour.
The Republican Party is clashing with US corporate America as conservatives rally around social issues. Companies have been caught up in the culture wars before, but legislative moves targeting firms represent a new frontier for Republicans who are traditionally allied with big business on matters such as lower taxes and light regulation. Dozens of US states are considering proposals aimed at stopping governments from doing business with financial firms that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when making investments, moves that have cost BlackRock more than $4bn in customer funds. However, the financial impact of the conservative backlash has been limited so far.
According to reports, multinational banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, are reportedly scaling back their goals and expansion plans in China due to the "deteriorating geopolitical climate" and the increasingly authoritarian direction of President Xi Jinping's government. In particular, the banks are struggling to compete against China's state-owned enterprises, which are "well-entrenched" in the market, making it difficult for global banks to compete. In the face of slowing growth for its economy, China has introduced the most sweeping changes to its financial services, including full ownership of insurers, banks, brokers, and asset managers by foreign firms.
However, the country's ongoing geopolitical nuances have caused Wall Street firms to become more cautious about the China market; publicly, everyone is saying the same thing - China is still a massive opportunity, and they have no plans of withdrawing, particularly since such considerable money has already been spent. Privately, Wall Street executives told Bloomberg that it's challenging to maintain the confidence of both sides as tensions escalate, which is expected to intensify as the US election cycle approaches.
Many Wall Street giants are considering more drastic job cuts as there is a realization that a fundamental rethink on the world’s No. 2 economy is necessary due to the weakened business climate, fewer opportunities for outsized profits and China's approach to the financial market. While planning to build onshore brokerage, Morgan Stanley is focusing its efforts on its derivatives and futures businesses.
The Quad, an informal alliance of democracies consisting of the US, Japan, India and Australia, has been given new momentum under President Biden, who is set to visit Japan this month. The last summit of Quad leaders, held in Tokyo, led to a programme aimed at curbing illegal fishing across the Indo-Pacific. The group initially came together as a “core group” in response to the devastating Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, while its origins as a formal Quadrilateral Security Dialogue go back to a call by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. The Quad essentially fell apart the following year, amid concerns that it would alienate China. However, nationalist governments in Japan and India have renewed interest in the group in recent times. China has dismissed the Quad as a means of undermining its interests, with Beijing warning that it contains the “obsolete Cold War and zero-sum mentality”.
"Canada's Got Talent" has announced that its top prize for the competition's third season will be $1m, the largest cash prize in Canadian television history. In addition, six Golden Buzzer acts will be awarded $25,000 each by CIBC.
US president Joe Biden’s decision to bypass the Quad summit in Sydney is a major victory for China, which loathes the informal grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the US, which seeks to present an alternative to China’s authoritarianism. The Quad’s power lies in what it represents, with its goal being to offer an alternative to Beijing’s whims. “Beijing has concluded that the Quad represents one of the most consequential challenges to Chinese ambitions in the years ahead”, according to Kevin Rudd, Australia’s man in Washington.
Jordan Spieth, who withdrew from last week's AT&T Byron Nelson due to wrist pain and an injury that required rest and limited movement, underwent a full-range session on Tuesday, easing concerns that it would force the American to miss the US PGA Championship and delay his quest to achieve the career grand slam for at least another year. He was seen practicing comfortably despite his arm being heavily taped. If he does tee off for the championship, this will be Spieth’s seventh attempt at a grand slam win.
JJ Watt is determined to win over sceptics of Americans buying English football clubs, following his purchase of Burnley alongside his footballer wife Kealia Watt last month. American businessman Todd Boehly and his consortium took over Chelsea last May, while Michael B. Jordan purchased a stake in Bournemouth in December 2022. Watt is conscious of upholding Burnley’s traditions and history, saying that “it’s just a matter of doing right by the supporters and doing what you can to help shepherd it into the next chapter in a better place than you found it."
