Bloomberg Daybreak: Europe Edition

Your morning briefing. All the news you need to start your day

On today's podcast:

(1) The US and Iran made progress in nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday, with Tehran’s negotiators scheduled to return with a new proposal in two weeks, a US official said on Tuesday, a cautiously upbeat assessment that suggests the chances of an imminent military clash are low.

(2) Japan plans to invest up to $36 billion in US oil, gas and critical mineral projects, the first tranche of its $550 billion commitment under the trade agreement it struck with President Donald Trump.

(3) The ECB says Christine Lagarde hasn't made any decision about leaving her job as President early. That follows a report from the Financial Times - citing one person familiar with Lagarde's thinking - saying she wants to step down before France's Presidential election in April 2027.

(4) Anthropic is releasing a new artificial intelligence model that’s intended to be better at using people’s computers in increasingly complicated ways, building on the startup’s efforts to make AI tools more effective at streamlining tasks.

(5) Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway slashed its stake in Amazon. by more than 75% in the fourth quarter, while also building a stake in the New York Times Co., his last new bet as chief executive officer of the conglomerate.

(6) In the two years since the ban on internal combustion engine vehicles in Ethiopia, EV adoption has grown from less than 1% to nearly 6% of all of the vehicles on the road in the country — according to the government’s own figures — some way above the global average of 4%.

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Your morning briefing. All the news you need to start your day

On today's podcast:

(1) UK unemployment reached its highest since the pandemic and wage growth eased as the labor market continued to weaken, prompting traders to increase bets on further interest-rate cuts from the Bank of England.

(2) Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog in Geneva on Monday, ahead of a second round of nuclear negotiations with the US.

(3) BHP Group posted earnings at the upper end of analyst expectations, as a years-long effort to shore up copper production combined with a historic metals rally to offset a lackluster period for its giant iron ore business.

(4) Elon Musk’s SpaceX and wholly owned subsidiary xAI are competing in a secretive new Pentagon contest to produce voice-controlled, autonomous drone swarming technology, according to people familiar with the matter.

(5) The UK government abandoned plans to cancel local elections scheduled for May in 30 areas, after the move sparked a fierce backlash including a lawsuit from Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party.

(6) Secretary of State Marco Rubio showered Viktor Orban with praise on a visit to Hungary as the US doubled down on its support for the strongman leader before an election that could bring an end to his 16 years in power.

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Your morning briefing. All the news you need to start your day

On today's podcast:

(1) Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog in Geneva on Monday, ahead of a second round of nuclear negotiations with the US.

(2) BHP Group posted earnings at the upper end of analyst expectations, as a years-long effort to shore up copper production combined with a historic metals rally to offset a lackluster period for its giant iron ore business.

(3) Elon Musk’s SpaceX and wholly owned subsidiary xAI are competing in a secretive new Pentagon contest to produce voice-controlled, autonomous drone swarming technology, according to people familiar with the matter.

(4) The UK government abandoned plans to cancel local elections scheduled for May in 30 areas, after the move sparked a fierce backlash including a lawsuit from Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party.

(5) Secretary of State Marco Rubio showered Viktor Orban with praise on a visit to Hungary as the US doubled down on its support for the strongman leader before an election that could bring an end to his 16 years in power.

Podcast Conversation: Why ‘Burnout’ Feminism Is Replacing the Girlboss, Lean In Era
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your morning briefing. All the news you need to start your day

On today's podcast:

(1) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Europe’s fate is intertwined with the US while faulting the continent for what he said was a drift away from their shared Western values.

(2) The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas rejected the picture of the bloc’s decline painted by the Trump administration and urged member states to accelerate Ukraine’s membership bid as a sign of the bloc’s power.

(3) Warner Bros Discovery is considering reopening sale talks with rival Hollywood studio Paramount Skydance Corp. after receiving its hostile suitor’s most recent amended offer, people with knowledge of the matter said.

(4) John Hurley, the Trump administration’s top sanctions official, is set to leave his post after friction with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to people familiar with the matter.

(5) Great Britain took their record gold medal tally to three at the Winter Olympics in Italy over the weekend.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Europe’s fate is intertwined with the US while faulting the continent for what he said was a drift away from their shared Western values.
The double-edged message offered some reassurance to allied leaders gathered at the Munich Security Conference but did little to temper their push for more independence from Washington.
“We want Europe to prosper because we’re interconnected in so many different ways, and because our alliance is so critical,” Rubio told Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait on the sidelines of the conference on Saturday. “But it has to be an alliance of allies that are capable and willing to fight for who they are and what’s important.”
“What is it that binds us together? Ultimately, it’s the fact that we are both heirs to the same civilization, and it’s a great civilization,” he said. “It’s one we should be proud of.”
Rubio’s comments elaborated on a speech he delivered to the event, Europe’s premier annual security gathering, earlier Saturday morning. The speech was the most anticipated of the three-day conference, with fellow leaders eager to hear if he would double down on the contemptuous tone voiced a year earlier by Vice President JD Vance at the same venue.
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