EU plans €40bn in loans for Ukraine with out US

Good morning. We start with an unique story on EU plans to lift as much as €40bn in loans for Ukraine with out the US.

Brussels is making ready to offer the brand new financing by the top of the yr no matter US participation, after a G7 proposal to make use of frozen Russian belongings to assist Kyiv faltered.

The unilateral push comes amid concern in Brussels that Hungary will stop the bloc from delivering safeguards that the US wants for it to take part within the frozen belongings scheme, in accordance with three individuals concerned within the talks.

The federal government of Viktor Orbán, the EU’s most pro-Russia chief, has sought to delay a call on the frozen belongings scheme till after the US presidential election on November 5.

However Brussels should begin work on any different throughout the subsequent few weeks since such a transfer would depend on powers that expire on the finish of the yr. Paola Tamma and Henry Foy have extra on the draft proposal.

Right here’s what else I’m maintaining tabs on right now:

• Financial knowledge: ZEW publishes German financial survey outcomes, Canada releases shopper worth knowledge and the US points its month-to-month retail commerce report.

• Ebook award: The Monetary Instances and Schroders Enterprise Ebook of the Yr shortlist is introduced. Atone for the longlist right here.

5 extra high tales

1. Unique: The US and Japan are near a deal to curb tech exports to China’s chip business regardless of alarm in Tokyo about Beijing’s risk to retaliate in opposition to Japanese firms. The brand new export controls embody a measure forcing non-US firms to get licences to promote merchandise to China that might assist its tech sector. Learn extra on the discussions.

• US-China rivalry: The entire world dangers shedding from the competitors between Washington and Beijing, writes Gideon Rachman.

2. Iran’s reformist president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has signalled a renewed openness to resuming nuclear negotiations with western nations and denied that his nation had equipped ballistic missiles to Russia since he took workplace seven weeks in the past. However elevated tensions between Iran and Israel have made signing a recent nuclear settlement much more sophisticated. Learn the complete story.

3. Unique: London-based Revolut is making ready to launch its companies in India subsequent yr, concentrating on tens of tens of millions of the nation’s top-tier customers in a vital take a look at for the expansion technique of Europe’s most dear fintech. The corporate is on track to launch its app, home and multi-currency playing cards on this planet’s most populous nation because it seeks to broaden its revenues exterior Europe. Learn extra of the group’s plans.

4. Unique: SURJ, the sports activities funding agency owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, has entered the sale course of for EuroLeague, as Europe’s high basketball competitors seeks to promote a minority stake at a €1bn valuation. However the sports activities group must contend in opposition to non-public fairness group BC Companions, which can be looking for to broaden its sports activities portfolio.

5. Fund managers have expressed issues that takeover exercise is narrowing the UK inventory market. Thirty London-listed firms acquired agency takeover presents for a mean worth of £1bn within the first half of this yr, knowledge exhibits. However their elimination, coupled with a scarcity of IPOs to interchange them, spells a worrying development of fewer high quality shares buyers can select from.

The Large Learn

Netflix has staged a exceptional restoration for the reason that “great correction” of 2022, after launching a crackdown on password-sharing and investing into advertisements, video video games and dwell “experiences”. Whereas conventional leisure firms battle to generate profits after pouring billions into streaming, Netflix has expanded its lead because of its strategic shift.

We’re additionally studying and listening to . . . 

• UK Funds: Rachel Reeves should present that she is critical about progress by making powerful choices on jobs, productiveness and funding, writes former chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

• Ladies in prisons: The case of feminine prisoners ought to make us re-examine if incarceration is the answer for individuals who have been coerced into crime, writes Stephen Bush.

• The Economics Present 🎧: Soumaya Keynes grills Jared Bernstein, US President Joe Biden’s high economist, on worth caps, jobs and inflation.

Chart of the day

Volkswagen, Germany’s largest non-public employer, is going through a disaster introduced on by slowing demand, excessive prices and difficult competitors from Chinese language start-ups. Plans to shut some German factories have unleashed angst amongst inhabitants in VW’s hometown, the place it employs 60,000 individuals. Our reporter sends a dispatch from Wolfsburg.

Take a break from the information

Among the many many experiences in fashionable working life that may provoke ire and irritation, the panel dialogue elicits a specific type of dread. However worry not: Viv Groskop has proposed a recipe for fulfillment in order that your subsequent panel isn’t ruined by droning contributors or egoistic chairs.

Further contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and Gordon Smith