Bloomberg Daybreak: Europe Edition

Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.On today's podcast:(1) The US’s pursuit of a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela has intensified a blockade that the Trump administration hopes will cut off a vital economic lifeline for the country and isolate the government of President Nicolás Maduro. (2) Gold rose to an all-time high, as escalating geopolitical tensions and bets on further US rate cuts added momentum to the best annual performance in more than four decades. (3) US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Trump administration officials held “productive and constructive” meetings with Ukrainian and European counterparts in Florida as part of ongoing efforts to end the war. (4) Justice Department officials were protecting victims of Jeffrey Epstein when they removed several images from agency’s release of files tied to the notorious sex offender, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. (5) Uber Technologies and Lyft are each teaming up with Baidu to trial driverless taxis in the UK, as ride-sharing companies race to deploy autonomous services around the world. Podcast Conversation: Last-Minute Gift Guide for Whiskey, Wine and Spirits LoversSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week. In the US – a look ahead to U.S GDP data and a tech outlook for 2026. In the UK – a look at UK politics and what 2026 may hold in store for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In Asia – a look ahead to the challenges facing China’s economy in 2026. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes. On today's podcast: (1) European Union leaders reached an agreement to loan Ukraine €90 billion ($106 billion) for the next two years, aiming to strengthen Kyiv’s hand at the negotiating table and keep the war-torn country afloat. (2) The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest in 30 years and said more increases are in the pipeline if conditions allow, in a sign of growing conviction that it can attain the stable inflation target it has pursued for more than a decade. (3) The Bank of England cut interest rates but joined a wave of other central banks in warning that the speed and scale of future reductions is now in the balance. (4) Officials have found the dead body of the suspected shooter in a Brown University rampage and the murder of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor in his Boston-area home. (5) TikTok’s long-delayed plan to separate from Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. was put in motion Thursday when the video sharing sensation said it’s being bought by a group of buyers led by Oracle. (6) Wells Fargo was sued by a former manager who says he was fired for pushing the bank to create a more diverse workforce and objecting to its practice of interviewing minority applicants for jobs that were already filled. (7) As shoppers at London’s renowned Selfridges department store soaked in the festive mood ahead of Christmas in 2021, the billionaire Weston family were closing in on the sale of the landmark. But instead the family got caught up in the collapse of Benko’s €23 billion empire less than two years after the Selfridges deal. Podcast Conversation: Blackstone Parodies ‘Midlife Crisis’ in Annual Holiday VideoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says it's a "crucial" moment for Ukraine's future, as European leaders meet in Brussels to decide on how to financially support Kyiv. "Putin is banking on us to fail, and we shouldn't give them that," she told Bloomberg's Stephen Carroll in Brussels.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes. On today's podcast: (1) The Bank of England will likely deliver a pre-Christmas interest-rate cut on Thursday as concerns shift away from inflation and toward the UK’s struggling economy and jobs market. (2) Central banks hike when there is a risk of inflation re-accelerating or when policy is judged to be too loose. Neither condition applies right now, tilting risks to hawkish disappointment weighing on the euro. (3) BP appointed Meg O’Neill as its new chief executive officer, making her Big Oil’s first female leader, as the company struggles to revive its fortunes after a botched pivot toward renewable energy. (4) OpenAI has held funding talks with investors to raise tens of billions of dollars at a valuation of $750 billion, according to a report in the Information. (5) Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that German troops could participate in a coalition to secure a demilitarized zone in Ukraine after a possible peace agreement with Russia. (6) Driven by a funding vacuum caused by post-financial crisis banking regulations, private credit has evolved from a relatively niche form of financing to become an important part of Europe's property lending landscape Podcast Conversation: Where to Eat in Brussels from Business to ValueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.