Latest news with #theUnion
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump administration finds University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX with trans athletes
The Education Department said Monday it has found the University of Pennsylvania in violation of Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination, for allowing transgender students to compete on its women's sports teams. The department said it had notified Penn President J. Larry Jameson of the finding and distributed a proposed resolution agreement to be signed within 10 days requiring the school to bar transgender athletes from women's athletic programs and send letters of apology to female athletes whose experiences have been 'marred by sex discrimination.' The Education Department did not mention any specific instances of trans athletes at Penn but said the school, as part of the agreement, must erase transgender female students' records, awards 'or similar recognition for Division I swimming competitions,' a clause that applies solely to Lia Thomas, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who competed on the school's women's team for one season in 2022, the year she graduated. Asked whether the department had found Penn to have violated Title IX because it allowed Thomas to swim on the school's women's team that year, an Education Department spokesperson pointed to a February news release that announced Title IX investigations into Penn, San José State University and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. That announcement refers to Thomas by name. It is unclear whether there are any transgender students currently competing in women's sports at Penn. The NCAA, of which the university is a member, banned transgender women from women's sports in February to comply with one of President Trump's executive orders. The University of Pennsylvania has never had a transgender student-athlete policy of its own and has previously said it is following the new NCAA guidelines. In 2022, the year she graduated, Thomas became the first transgender person to win an NCAA Division I championship after winning the women's 500-yard freestyle in swimming. At the same championship meet in Atlanta, Thomas tied for fifth place in the women's 200-yard freestyle with Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer-turned-conservative political activist who frequently campaigns against the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports. Gaines has spoken at length about competing against Thomas on social media, during media interviews and before various state legislatures and Congress. She joined Trump at the White House in February while he signed his executive order to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports and attended his congressional joint address in March as a guest of first lady Melania Trump. Conservative lawmakers, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have invited Gaines to the last two annual State of the Union addresses, and state laws named for her in West Virginia and Georgia ban trans students from school sports teams and facilities that match their gender identity. On Monday, the Education Department said it would refer Penn to the Justice Department if the school did not voluntarily resolve the violations in its noncompliance finding by May 8. 'UPenn has a choice to make: do the right thing for its female students and come into full compliance with Title IX immediately or continue to advance an extremist political project that violates federal antidiscrimination law and puts UPenn's federal funding at risk,' said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education. A spokesperson for the university declined to comment on the department's announcement or findings. The Trump administration said in March it was freezing $175 million in federal funding to the university, Trump's alma mater, for allowing transgender athletes to compete on women's sports teams. A senior White House official attributed the move to the school allowing Thomas, who previously swam on Penn's men's team, to compete on the women's team during the 2021-22 season. Jameson, the university president, said last month in a statement that the school told the Education Department when it launched its investigation in February that Penn 'followed NCAA rules and applicable law as they existed then, and that we now comply with the NCAA policy and the law as they exist today.' The Education Department since February has initiated at least a dozen inquiries into states, schools and athletic associations allowing transgender student-athletes to compete in girls' and women's sports. Earlier this month, the department referred its Title IX investigation into Maine to the Justice Department, which sued the state the following week in a civil lawsuit accusing state officials of 'willfully' violating federal law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
20-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Amy Klobuchar calls on supreme court to hold Trump officials in contempt
Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar warned on Sunday that the US is 'getting closer and closer to a constitutional crisis', but the courts, growing Republican disquiet at Trump administration policies, and public protest were holding it off. 'I believe as long as these courts hold, and the constituents hold, and the congress starts standing up, our democracy will hold,' Klobuchar told CNN's State of the Union, adding 'but Donald Trump is trying to pull us down into the sewer of a crisis.' Klobuchar said the US supreme court should hold Trump administration officials in contempt if they continue to ignore a court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador, the Maryland resident the government admitted in court it had deported by mistake. Klobuchar said the court could appoint a special prosecutor, independent of Trump's Department of Justice, to uphold the rule of law and charge any officials who are responsible for Ábrego García's deportation, or have refused to facilitate his return. The senator's comments came hours after supreme court released justice Samuel Alito's dissenting opinion on the court's decision to block the Trump administration from deporting more Venezuelans held in north Texas's Bluebonnet detention center . In his dissent, Alito criticized the decision of the seven-member majority, saying the court had acted 'literally in the middle of the night' and without sufficient explanation. The 'unprecedented' relief was 'hastily and prematurely granted', Alito added. Alito, whose dissent was joined by fellow conservative justice Clarence Thomas, said there was 'dubious factual support' for granting the request in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union to block deportations of accused gang members that the administration contends are legal under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The majority did not provide a detailed explanation for the order released early on Saturday, only that the administration should not to remove Venezuelans held in the 'until further order of this court'. The court has said previously that deportations under the 1798 law can only proceed if those scheduled to be removed are offered a chance to argue their case in court and were given 'a reasonable time' to contest their pending removals. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Alito further wrote that both 'the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law', but it was not clear whether the supreme court had jurisdiction until legal avenues had been pursued through lower courts. He also objected to the fact that and the justices had not had the chance to hear the government's side. 'The only papers before this Court were those submitted by the applicants,' Alito wrote. 'The Court had not ordered or received a response by the Government regarding either the applicants' factual allegations or any of the legal issues presented by the application. And the Court did not have the benefit of a Government response filed in any of the lower courts either,' Alito said. In his dissent, Alito said the applicants had not shown they were in 'imminent danger of removal'. 'In sum, literally in the middle of the night, the Court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief without giving the lower courts a chance to rule, without hearing from the opposing party, within eight hours of receiving the application, with dubious factual support for its order, and without providing any explanation for its order,' Alito wrote. 'I refused to join the Court's order because we had no good reason to think that, under the circumstances, issuing an order at midnight was necessary or appropriate', Alito added.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fox News' Bret Baier Mimics Trump, Sparking Laughter At Journalism Forum
Fox News' Bret Baier entertained the audience with his impressions of President Donald Trump during a journalism forum on Wednesday. The 'Special Report' anchor was talking about the 'confidence' of Trump's second administration — and the president's record-setting long address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday — at an event hosted by nonprofit newsroom NOTUS when he suddenly jumped into character as the president. 'Internally, you know, the word went out that [former President] Bill Clinton had the longest State of the Union and joint address at one hour, 28 minutes,' Baier told The Wall Street Journal's Josh Dawsey, who was moderating the event. The Fox anchor suggested Trump was 'looking at the clock' during the speech and then said, in Trump's voice: 'I'm going to get 139.' The audience laughed and Dawsey responded: 'That's not bad. That's not bad.' Baier, still in character, replied: 'Thank you, Josh.' 'I'm not going to do mine,' said Dawsey, prompting Baier to joke, 'I don't get to do it on the show that much.' Watch from the 1-hour mark here: Join us LIVE for Media and Democracy: Covering Trump 2.0 — NOTUS (@NOTUSreports) March 5, 2025 Later during the same conversation, Dawsey asked Baier how he prepares to interview Trump, as he has now done on multiple occasions and most recently for a sit-down that aired ahead of last month's Super Bowl. Baier once again slipped into a Trump impression, mimicking the former president's tendency to go off on rambling tangents. 'I like to do the weave. Sometimes I weave from topic to topic,' he said as Trump. Baier also briefly mimicked Trump to his face during their Super Bowl interview. Watch that here: 'Incredibly Incompetent Clown' Trump Ridiculed After Putting Major Policy Move Into Reverse Trump Tries To Spin His 'Thank You' To Chief Justice John Roberts Democratic Rep. Reveals 'SOS' Message Behind Her Viral 'NOT Normal' Sign At Trump Speech
Bloomberg
05-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Horizons Middle East & Africa 03/05/2025
00:00 This is Horizons, Middle East and Africa. And you've been watching Bloomberg's coverage of President Trump's address to Congress. I'm Paul Allen in for Jamal Shape. Well, let's take a look at how some of the key assets were reacting during that speech. Not a great deal of change for the for yields. The US ten year economy is creeping sideways right now for 2385. The broader trend has been softer. The US treasuries of non factor outperformed equities since President Trump was elected. But whether or not we see those yields continuing to decline could have a lot to do with US payrolls data due at the end of the week. Watching the oil prices well brings back above $70 a barrel, but looking pretty weak. There is the prospect of more supply coming from OPEC plus around April. Also taking a look at gold, a little bit softer, but still hovering close to record highs, $2,912 an ounce. Of course, a lot of concerns around inflation and inflation risk in this high tariff environment. Now, on that note, President Trump has defended his use of tariffs in a prime time address to a joint session of Congress, arguing that they will make the US rich and great again. Bloomberg Economics correspondent Catch Edge Meets Rivet joins us now. So I catch President Trump really doubling down on those tariffs. Louis did say in the speech that could be, quote, a little disturbance. Retaliatory tariffs are coming from China, Mexico, Canada, as well. Where is this hitting? Well, more than just a little disturbance if you're talking to investors or anyone really at this point, given the size and scope of tariffs, it is interesting how the kind of cornerstone or the right in the middle of Trump's address, he really focused on tariffs and not just defending them, but also saying that they're going to bring trillions of dollars into the U.S. and interestingly, not just from China. So in the past, he's used a State of the Union address or addresses to Congress to sort of really hammer on China, which is the second largest economy and often seen as this rival to the U.S. power. But in this case, it's really equal opportunity tariffs. He talked about India, he talked about South Korea, he talked about the auto industry in particular, and how all of these tariffs will actually be quite good and quite positive for the U.S. auto sector. Now, he also announced during the speech that he spoke with the three largest automakers in the U.S. and they all supported his plans and say that it's great for the industry. But, you know, even as early as yesterday or as recently as yesterday, we we know that that was not the case. In fact, the automakers are very worried long term about what these tariffs will do to not just demand but also the supply of their parts in the U.S.. You know, automakers particularly sensitive in this environment. We did hear from the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, earlier as well. He signaled that, you know, there might be some relief on the terror front as early as tomorrow. Now, Bloomberg's going to be speaking to the commerce secretary tomorrow as well. What more do we know about relief that could be on the way? Is it possible pragmatism could force the administration's hand here? It is a total whiplash, right? You had Trump saying Canada and Mexico can't escape. The tariffs went into force and then you had like Nick saying that potentially there's room for negotiation. And we know that Mexico and Canada have taken those steps and address some of the issues that Trump has flagged, like fentanyl crossing the border and migrants crossing the border as well from Mexico. And what Trump says is that also happening from Canada. So it remains to be seen. Perhaps they've sat down and actually had a conversation since then and those tariffs might be rolled back for certain for certain sectors. For example, right now, even though there are these 25% tariffs in for both the countries. There's an exception for energy products from Canada that's taxed at a sort of 10% rate instead of the higher 25% rate. So there could be scope for certain products. But if we just listen to Trump's address, it seems like he's really not not backing down anytime soon. All right. Bloomberg, catch you at Dimitri over there. Thank you. Well, China has once again said its economic growth goal for this year at about 5% as the National People's Congress begins. And Beijing is also targeting a fiscal deficit of about 4% of GDP, and that is the highest in three decades. Also, a sign of stimulus spending to come. Bloomberg's China correspondent in Menlo joins us now from Beijing. So amendment a fairly aggressive spending plans perhaps in the pipeline from China this year. What more do we know about what could be coming? Yes, so we got the set of economic targets for the year, 5% growth target that was broadly in line with consensus. But still it's seen as pretty aggressive because the forecast, the consensus forecast is that China could reach 4.5% growth this year. So to get to 5%, the government will need to unleash a significant amount of stimulus. And that growth, that deficit target 4%, the highest since 1994, even higher than the 3.8% set during 2023 during the post pandemic year, signaling that the government is going to pump in billions more yuan to support the economy, not just on that higher budget, but the off budget items as well. In terms of the quarter for bond issuance, those had been increase as well. Look at the special ultra long sovereign bonds that's increased to ¥1.3 trillion, up from ¥1 trillion. Now that is slightly below estimates because some banks had expected ¥2 trillion, but still pretty significant. A part of that ¥300 billion is going to help support that equipment upgrading program to promote consumption. Local government special bonds has been increased from the 3.9 trillion won last year to ¥4.4 trillion. This is also significant because it will help bolster local government's capabilities to pay back those salaries owed to civil servants, as well as money owed to companies and to support some of the local developmental projects. So pretty strong set of numbers. The unemployment target is 5.5% target to create 212 million urban jobs this year. That's in line with the projection that there will be 12 million new graduates entering the economy this year. And markets likely looking at this quite positively with the CSI 300 up about 3/10 of a percent. Before the lunch break, the Hang Seng as well up about one 1.6% before the lunch break. To what degree of the contents of this year's work report have been informed by by the tariff environment? Yeah, it's interesting that the tariffs were not mentioned at all directly. Of course, there was a not to how challenging the external environment is. There was a like close to the end of the report talking about how China opposes unilateralism and protectionism at all in all forms. But what really stood out to me is that the number one task in that government report this year is boosting consumption, and that signals a shift from previous years where technology and high quality development had been the top cars this year, and that was bumped down to the number two task. The first task of the government is to boost consumption. Some measures to promote that is to boost income growth. There are also measures to boost social safety net, but pretty meagre numbers there 20 to 30 UN increase, which is about 2 to $4 increase when it comes to pension as well as medical insurance for rural residents. Of course there is the consumption upgrading program. The number two task is to foster these emerging industries like the AI, quantum computing industries, foster large scale, large scale development of AI model applications, developing smart cars, smart robots, smart phones, smart computers. And of course, the other priorities include diffusing the risks in the economy to property sector, continuing with the reforms of the S or E's and the tax reforms as well. All right. China correspondent Min Low in Beijing, thank you. Well, stock markets have rallied after US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hinted at a possible tariff compromise with Canada and Mexico. We've also got Hong Kong shares leading gains in Asia. The Hang Seng better by about 1.6% right now. The CSI 300 also rising by about a third of 1% as China's new economic targets spur bets on further stimulus. Joining us now is senior Asia economist Carlos Casanova. So, Carlos, I just want to get your initial reactions to that work report, particularly the deficit to GDP ratio, the highest in 30 years. Where do you see spending taking place in China and would that motivate you to invest more in Chinese assets? The market is definitely interpreting the news positively as we have seen this morning in Asia. However, I would like to say that the consensus from economists is still a little bit more cautious, and I don't think that that is going to change as a result of the NPC. So indeed, we have seen a much higher fiscal deficit target of 4% of GDP. But if you look at the details, we have a 10% increase on that local government bond issuance target. And a lot of this is going to be utilized to fund debt swap programs for the local government. This is to allow governments to have enough liquidity to pay wages, as M.M. was mentioning. So it doesn't really constitute new spending, in my opinion. If I were to nitpick at the outcome of the NPC. I would suggest that it didn't go far enough when it comes to fiscal stimulus and most more likely than not, in order to keep this optimism going, we are going to have to see additional fiscal support in the months ahead. Yes, some of what was said we have heard before, particularly a pledge to do things like support domestic spending. There was also a pledge to invest more heavily in AI. Do you anticipate that the actions are going to match the rhetoric? The actions are positive, but they have some limitations. So they announced 300 billion to essentially roll over the trading scheme that has benefited consumption of things like EVs and home appliances. But what we saw last year is that that resulted in very lopsided consumption. What we are hoping to see is a broadening of that consumer trend away from just a few items that benefit from the trading scheme towards a more balanced composition of consumption. And I don't know that extending that trading scheme another year is going to get us there because there's only so many washing machines, fridges and TVs that you need households can buy. So a much more effective way to achieve that would be to do more to stabilise real estate prices, at least in Tier one cities. The MPC is not really the platform for longer term structural reforms. We did get a few mentions of the importance of consumption and the real estate sector, but we are not going to see that in consumption until we see that recovery in Tier one prices. In terms of prices, I just want to switch to what we've heard from the US today as well. Of course, the speech from President Trump, he was talking about, you know, potentially a little disturbance from tariffs. But if we take a look at inflation expectations out of the US now, the University of Michigan survey is forecasting a pretty sharp pickup. That's not really in line with what the latest Fed data is saying. What sort of impact do you think U.S. tariffs are going to have on inflation domestically? Hmm. Well, we have seen a little bit of, you know, back and forth when it comes to tariffs. And that has certainly fueled risk on sentiment. 20% on China isn't really going to impact U.S. inflation. Much remember that these goods are still very competitively priced. And so the impact on inflation should be should be manageable. What is quite worrying is 25% on Canada and Mexico, Canada, Mexico, China. We are looking at over a third of U.S. imports and it would be quite, quite a big hit to inflation already without tariffs. We are seeing many waves of inflation and we do expect inflation will remain above target for the year as a whole. That's going to put a pause on the Fed and they might be able to squeeze in one more cut in the second half, but it's going to be challenging. And so anything that potentially stokes inflationary pressures in the U.S. is going to lead to these bouts of risk of sentiment and sell offs in the market. So they have to be very careful about calibrating the rate, the tariff policy going forward. Just quickly, in terms of potential Fed easing, do you have any concerns about growth in the U.S.? We are still expecting growth to remain quite robust in the US. I think contrary to last year, what we are seeing is a bit of divergence across sectors. That's reflected also in some downside momentum in earnings revisions to sectors excluding technology. And so there are some concerns that this could boil over into somewhat of a slowdown in US demand. But for the time being, we are still expecting growth to remain relatively robust and above that potential rate of 2% this year. All right. BP senior Asia economist Carlos Casanova, thanks so much for joining us. Let's take a look at how equity futures are tracking after that speech from President Trump to Congress. We're seeing a bit of positivity there. S & P futures better by about two thirds of 1%, reversing some of the losses that we saw in the previous session. And in fact, treasuries have now outperformed equities since the election of President Trump. A lot of nervousness around that tariff environment that you see the yield on the ten year for 2347 at the moment. And just to reiterate for you, Trump did say tariffs might cause a little bit of disturbance. We shall see. We're going to be hearing from the US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, tomorrow on Bloomberg has already signaled that, well, maybe there might be some relief in the tariff environment between the US, Canada and Mexico coming up in the next hour. Kieran Williams from In-Touch Capital is going to join the show with his macro outlook. I'm Paul Allen in Sydney. This is Horizons, Middle East and Africa. Our top stories this morning. Whatever they terrify us, we tear for them. President Trump doubles down on his trade policy as he addresses a joint session of Congress. But the U.S. commerce secretary hints there could be a pathway for tariff relief for Mexico and Canada. Borrowing for growth. Chinese shares in Hong Kong outperform after Beijing boosts its budget to a 30 year high and again targets GDP growth of about 5%. Plus, Arab nations come together to endorse Egypt's reconstruction plan for Gaza. We'll bring you the latest developments from the Middle East. Good morning to you. It has just gone past 9 a.m. across the Emirates. It's 7 a.m. here in South Africa. I'm Jennifer's ambassador in Johannesburg. Welcome to the second hour of Horizon's Middle East and Africa. And of course, we are coming off of that address from President Trump in the U.S. Markets still trying to digest a lot of the commentary that we got from him, but still not showing much action. If we take a look at where they are right now, especially if you consider a lot of the wild swings that we did see on Tuesday from the markets. So let's just dig in to where they're positioned ahead of the trading day, as you can see from U.S. equity futures pointing towards a higher open rate there. S & P futures up just over 6/10 of a percent. And a lot of the wild swings that we did see on Tuesday happened across asset classes. We actually saw the S & P closing in negative territory, as did some of the other U.S. indices. A lot of that was because of the concern around trade tariff policy. But we mentioned this at the top there. We heard some commentary from U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Potentially we'll see a reversal of tariffs that helping to at least give a little bit of boost after hours. But again, we heard from Trump doubling down on his strategy of tariffs. So the question is, what does this look like when the markets open in the U.S. seeming like markets right now are shrugging off some of those comments, though, from President Trump, the ten year yield backing off ever so slightly following a Trump's address. Right now, the U.S. ten year yield at 4.24%. Euro dollar also in focus, not doing too much, but the focus right now, though, is on what the next move is for Europe, especially in terms of defense spending. We heard from Germany saying that they do plan to increase funding for defense. And our m life team is actually expecting the eurodollar cross to extend some of those recent gains as we see some movements from Germany. And finally, Brent crude continuing to soften right now down just about 3/10 of a percent. The markets digesting, of course, what is happening with the trade war, but also the decision by OPEC plus to revive production. And right now, Brent crude is trading at about $70.82 a barrel. And a quick check on what we have seen with U.S. equities since Trump was re-elected. It's notable because we, of course, heard Trump saying that the economy is doing well, especially in his first few days. But what we actually saw on Tuesday was that the Trump bump actually erased and we saw Tuesday the S & P index wiping out about $3.4 trillion in gains before paring some of those losses. But still, we've seen the S & P index closing with its lowest level since the U.S. election on Tuesday. And so the question is, where do things go from here? But let's check in on how markets in Asia are faring. It is a busy day over there in Asia. It has been. Abraham is standing by in our Singapore studio with more. April, you've got quite a bit of green on the screen there. What are you watching? Now we're watching what's come out of the US and China from the Chinese NPC. We now have the authorities growth targets inflation targets for the year and they kind of signal that they are willing to take these bold steps in order to support growth in the face of external pressures. Because to meet these growth and inflation target, they would have to ramp up stimulus. And indeed we saw record in terms of the budget deficit target, the special Chinese government bond quotas. We even heard quite a positive tone when it comes to tech and A.I.. So it's that green on the screen, as you say. But it was also interesting how we saw the Hang Seng actually paring gains as Lijiang speech started wrapping up. Of course, that's the Chinese premier because it kind of dovetailed into Trump's start of his speech before Congress and the renminbi. Let's just highlight that as well. The upside seems to be a bit capped because of the reiteration of monetary policy easing to come. Now, as I say, it was also about Trump. And when it comes to the tariffs, we heard how he reiterated reciprocal tariffs. But if you look at the region's benchmark, it actually pair then extended gains as he spoke, maybe still running on the idea that we can see tariff relief. Jen. Hmm. We'll check back in with you in just a bit. Avraham in Singapore for us. Errol, thanks so much. Now let's go back to President Trump's address. He has defended his use of tariffs in a primetime address to a joint session of Congress, arguing that they will make the U.S. rich and great again. Let's bring in bloomberg's bill Faries who is joining us now and watch this address in full. Bill, great to have you on the show. What did you make of Trump's comments, especially after we got those comments on Tuesday from Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick? What is the administration's trade policy right now? Yeah, I think one of the big questions heading into the speech was will there be follow up on what we heard from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who really less than a day after those 25% tariffs came in on Mexico and Canada and the 20% tariffs on China started signaling that maybe they'd start getting reeled in within days potentially. Trump didn't get into any of that. So if you were looking for clarity on whether those were really temporary tariffs, we still don't know. He basically doubled down, saying tariffs are an effective tool, that if other countries tariff the US, the US will tariff them back and the same way. And he talked about aluminum, steel tariffs coming in in April as well. So really no sign that there's a retreat on that front. We're going to be pressing the White House for more details on on the commerce secretary's comments and whether there was more that the president has in store for Canada and Mexico in the days ahead. Bill, what did you make of the president's balance of domestic issues while also confronting a lot of the international issues and namely Ukraine and a lot of the other discussions that he's had on that front? Yeah, there really was a lot in terms of the domestic issues for social conservatives. He took he took a lot of time to discuss immigration and crimes committed by people who had come across the US border undocumented. He talked about gender issues in a way that his base really supports. In terms of foreign policy, it was more it was definitely more muted in terms of the amount of the speech dedicated to that. But it did signal that there is progress being made with Ukraine. He read aloud long excerpts of what he said was a letter he got from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showing a willingness to sign that critical minerals deal that originally we expected to be signed at the White House last week. He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in peace. So he's continuing to push forward on this idea that he can bring an acceleration to to ending the conflict in Ukraine. We'll have to see whether that means that some sort of a deal get signed in the coming days. Yeah, we'll wait to see how that plane fares out. Bloomberg's Bill Faries, thanks so much about for that recap. Now joining us is Kieran Williams, head of Asia effects and macro analysis at In-Touch Capital Markets to dig into some of the market reaction we are seeing. Kieran, thanks so much for joining us. So as we were just talking to Bill, a bit of a muted response if you look across asset classes to Trump's address. What do you make of his comments on on trade and how does it clarify, if anything, where you stand on where this is going next? I think that's the issue really is that there wasn't anything new there. There's no clarification to be found really in what Trump said. You've heard it all before. I actually think that what Nick said to the commerce secretary just muddied the waters of it. And people will really be looking for any clues that there will be any moderation in those Canada and Mexico tariffs and that there is a potentially some disappointment on the cards. I mean, I think with what Trump said, especially that nothing in I'm sorry, there's nothing in that narrative that really made me think he's going to soften his stance on the pirates, especially when he said, you know, Paris is a beautiful words and we're going to make trillions from the tariffs. So I think there's maybe a little bit of cognitive dissonance that. What does that mean then across asset classes? Karen, if we can, we mentioned a lot of the Trump bump that we saw from the initial election has faded. Do we continue to see more weakening on the horizon? I think it's quite possible. Obviously, from a technical perspective, we are getting close to that 200 day moving average in the S & P. I think the thing that we do have to consider is that to frame these moves as extraordinary is maybe a bit of an overreaction. Since 2009 has been around 30 plus 5% pullbacks in the S & P, the average is about 7.6% and life style goes down after that, at the moment, about 6.5%. So I wouldn't call this anything more than really a garden variety correction. And there's even an argument that from could be looking for this kind of correction. So potentially I think more volatility, potentially more downside. But I think to call it a historic event is maybe overreacting to put in a little bit. Dig into that a little bit, Karen. Looking for why would he be looking for this correction? What would that how would that be a benefit to the administration and more broadly, to his goal of making the U.S., U.S. exceptionalism research? Well, I think there's an argument that Trump is actually going to engineer a recession. And also and part of his fun to point out policy, we've already heard from the treasury secretary and he said that we're focusing more on Main Street rather than Wall Street. Obviously, you've seen the ten year yield come down around 70 basis points. So I think that's probably the mechanism that goes used to to appeal to Trump's base. Kieran, let's dig in to the other big story that we're following today, and that is China's NPC meeting. We've heard quite ambitious targets by the nation. What do you make of some of those targets that are set, especially as they're contending with the reality of tariffs factoring and can they actually get there? I think the five cent growth target is up. Obviously there are questions around how accurate the growth estimates of China are. I think I've seen a Bloomberg Surveillance data from 4.5% is the consensus for the growth, and so 5% will be a tough ask to get there. I think that importantly is the fiscal deficit target. So obviously, as you've already mentioned on the show, that's the biggest that we've seen in 30 years of types of serious spending. And the sort of 3% red line in the sand was always there. And I think that g showing willingness to go past that is potentially a sign that there will be quite a lot of stimulus down the line. Another thing to look at is the inflation target. So obviously it was 3% lower to 2%. So that's one of the first sort of tacit acknowledgments from China that inflation is an issue. And I think that acknowledging the issue is probably one of the first steps to addressing it. The issue is with China, as we often see with with these what government meetings and the NPC is that there's a big talk and then not all that much that comes through afterwards in policy disappointment. So I think that I really see some strong follow through, especially in the tech sector. That's where China could really see some growth, especially with the deep state budget and President Xi meeting with some prominent taxi, as I think last week or the week before. Well, it's seeming like Karen, if you just take a look, we just had a board up on some of the asset classes that we're following or the indices. It seems like the markets are convinced that this potentially is the right direction. Are you are you convinced? I think that the proof of the pudding is in the things that it could take a little bit of time to see that yet. But I do think that overall yet, China does seem to be taking a measured approach to the tariffs, obviously, the external pressures that are coming. So that says to me that they can acknowledge those and try and address those. And I think that with the additional fiscal spending, they should be pushing in the right direction. But the economy does still face significant challenges. So the housing market especially is a tough one to overcome. So I think that is definitely an uphill battle. Yeah. All right. We'll leave it there. Kieran Williams, head of Asia effects and macro analysis at InTouch Capital Markets, joining us from London. Karen, great to get your insights on. Thank you so much. Now, coming up, as we just mentioned there, China raises its budget deficit target to the highest in more than three decades as Beijing ramps up spending to counter Trump's tariffs. Details on that next. This is Bloomberg. Welcome back to Horizons, Middle Eastern Africa. I'm Jennifer Zabasajja in Johannesburg. China has set its economic economic growth goal for this year at about 5% with a fiscal deficit target of around 4% of GDP. Bloomberg's chief North Asia correspondent, Stephen Engle is joining us now. Stephen, give us some insight into your takeaways from these initial comments and these targets that were set by China. Yeah. So the leadership here, led by, of course, Premier Li Keqiang, who gave the work report in the building right here, which is the Great Hall of the People, of course, we're just across the street here from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City behind me, they basically beat expectations or met or beat expectations that we had leading into the National People's Congress. And that's why the markets responded the way they did. I mean, that's a pretty bullish outlook for GDP growth of around 5%. It's the same target that they set last year and met by the end of the year, and that's without a Trump trade war. So everyone is kind of saying, well, with this trade pressure coming and tariffs, where are they going to find that growth? Well, that's why, as you mentioned, they did lift the fiscal deficit target to 4% of GDP from 3%. They like to be a lot more prudent. They don't want to run up debt levels. That's been a consistent theme of late. But there are pressures that are facing in the Chinese economy that they have to address and they must find a viable market here domestically for what some have claimed to be overcapacity in many industrial products and a less reliance on export. So they must boost domestic consumption, domestic demand. And to do that, they are going to unleash a fiscal stimulus, trillions of yuan into this economy, as well as alleviate the debt burden at the municipal and provincial level. The central government will take on more sovereign bond issuances and take on more of that debt burden and also, of course, raise that ceiling. So they're still fairly bullish about the economy despite the external and internal. Keep in mind, the property sector is still sluggish and has not necessarily put a floor on there several years long problem. So but they're bullish. Stephen, why didn't we hear any direct targeting of what the Trump administration has said or is planning to enact as far as it goes with them with tariffs on China? What we did from the Ministry of Commerce yesterday. They had the retaliatory measures to the tune of $22 billion on a number of different U.S. products, mostly agricultural products like sorghum and soybeans and corn, beef, wheat, cotton and the like. So the Ministry of Commerce will directly comment on that. I did not expect Lee Chung to mention the United States or the tariffs other than the external situation is quite challenging. I paraphrase. Of course, now, you know, after 2024, they were very bullish about that year. Of course, they met the target. And he did say achieving that growth rate in 2024 did not come easy, quote unquote. And he did mention the headwinds internationally, as well as acknowledging the weak consumer domestic demand. So he didn't go through that hour long speech without addressing the external situation. They just did not name the tariff situation or the Trump administration by name, but obviously is at the backdrop of a lot of this stimulus. Certainly. Bloomberg's chief North Asia correspondent Stephen Engle for us there on the ground. Stephen, thanks so much for your reporting and for joining us. Now coming up, Arab leaders endorse a plan which aims to counter U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial ideas on Gaza. We have the details next. This is Bloomberg. Welcome back to Horizon's Middle East and Africa. I'm Jennifer Zabasajja in Johannesburg. To the Middle East now, where leaders of Arab countries have endorsed Egypt's Gaza reconstruction plan in an effort to counter President Trump's proposal for a U.S. takeover of the strip, an Arab League emergency summit backs the five year, $53 billion plan, but it still faces hurdles, including disagreements over governance, security and the future of Hamas. Joining us now is Sam Dagher. He is Bloomberg's senior Middle East reporter and covered this summit for us. So, Sam, dig into some of the details that were agreed on and where there are still potential gaps and hurdles moving forward. Sure. Good to be with you. I think broadly, they all agreed that President Trump's proposal is unworkable. Even the secretary general of the Arab League called it unrealistic and illegal a B to quote him. And but President Sisi was a bit more conciliatory. And he said this reconstruction plan that they endorsed would be a prelude to comprehensive peace in the region. And he appealed to President Trump to also back it. We don't have a lot of details from what was announced publicly. I mean, they said a committee would run Gaza for maybe six months. It would be under the Palestinian government. It would be made up of functionaries. And that Egypt and Jordan would train a police force. And they called for the deployment of international peacekeepers. But beyond that, we don't have much. But we were able to view a 90 page version of this plan that we Bloomberg News obtained. And there are a lot more details in that. I mean, it talks about this plan, a plan being implemented in phases lasting between six months to five years at a cost of $53 billion, and that Palestinians would be housed in temporary housing on seven sites across Gaza. And and they said these sites would would house about 1.6 million people. They also I mean, in his speech yesterday, President al-Sisi said that that Egypt would host a Gaza reconstruction conference next month and that a fund would be created for reconstruction. And he urged his fellow leaders to contribute to that. But obviously, a lot of challenges remain. Right. And Sam, dig into the challenges and potentially to the the cease fire and where that stands and how that factors into this potential plan. Absolutely. I mean, that's like the really the number one challenge here. If the whole ceasefire collapses, I mean, it is now pretty on tenuous grounds with Israel wanting to extend phase one of what it was was agreed in January and Hamas insisting that they go to phase two. So if this ceasefire collapses and we go back to war, this whole plan is really moot at this point. The other important challenge here is that nowhere in this plan, at least the part that we saw and also there was another longer version that other people were briefed on that we spoke to. I mean, both versions do not mention Hamas at all by name. In fact, the version we saw says talks about the need to deal with armed Palestinian groups. But that would be tied to the creation of a Palestinian state. So, so very vague. And obviously, that's a nonstarter for Israel and also potentially for the U.S. and European Union as well. And also, there are differences among the Arab themselves with countries like Saudi Arabia wanting to be maybe a little bit more accommodating toward what it calls the more moderate Hamas and countries like the United Arab Emirates saying that it won't put really any money in Gaza unless there's a complete overhaul of the Palestinian Authority. Right. Sam, great reporting as always. Sam Dagher, bloomberg senior Middle East reporter, joining us there from Dubai. Thanks so much, Sam. And a quick read for you. Qatar Airways plans to increase flights to Syria as it builds on growing travel demand to the country. Emerging from more than a decade of civil war, the state owned carrier will add one more daily flight to Damascus from June. The company says the Airbus A330 three zero WIDEBODY jet on the route is operating at 98% occupancy rate. Plenty more ahead. This is Bloomberg. This is Horizons, Middle East and Africa. Our top stories this morning. Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them. President Trump doubles down on his trade policy as he addresses a joint session of Congress. But the US Commerce secretary hints there could be a pathway for tariff relief from Mexico and Canada. Plus, Arab nations come together to endorse Egypt's reconstruction plan for Gaza. We'll bring you the latest developments from the Middle East. And Rwanda demands Britain pays up for its abandoned migrant deportation plan as relations sour over fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's just gone past 9:30 a.m. across the Emirates, 7:30 a.m. here in South Africa. I'm Jennifer Zabasajja in Johannesburg. Welcome to Horizon's Middle East and Africa. And, of course, as we mentioned, markets still digesting that address from President Trump to see where is the tariff policy, especially when we hear from the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick. But it appears at least U.S. equity futures potentially brushing that off. Right now. S & P futures up just over 5/10 of a percent. But we should note that what we did see on Tuesday were wild swings across asset classes. A lot of that is due to the conflicting tariff or the trade tariff policies that we've been hearing in the comments around that. We actually saw the S & P closing in negative territory, but as we can see now, climbing after hours, but still erasing a lot of the Trump bump that we saw initially following the election. The U.S. ten year yield also backing off at marginally right now the yield at 4.23%. Euro dollar also in focus marginally. The euro marginally weaker right now. But the focus as our live team puts it, is that we'll take a look at what we're seeing with Germany, especially as they decide to commit to more defense spending. And finally, Brent crude down just about 3/10 of a percent right now as the markets digest OPEC plus and of course, what is happening with the trade tariff policy. Let's check in, though, on how markets in Asia are faring. Abraham is standing by in our Singapore studio. April, what are you watching over there, especially as we watch the China and PC conference happening? Yeah. I mean, despite the tariff overhang that you just alluded to, we're seeing it positive. That's a reaction to the Chinese NPC economists. I think the consensus among them that it was lacking in positive surprises. But if you look at the performance on the Hang Seng, it is pretty positive. And I thought I'd just rate through because now we have the economic targets, now we have their spending plans. What is being targeted on there, pledging these support measures. Right. For AI development as well as robotics or the chip related stocks like Qualcomm, they're doing well, special bonds for banks. These are the lenders that have been doing the heavy lifting in supporting the economy in the past couple of years and margins have gotten pressure. So these are also the ones that are outperforming in the markets today. And then finally, we're hearing about special bonds for equipment upgrades as well as consumptions trading programs. Zoomlion. This is the equipment maker. It's also revving up today, Gen. Avery Hong in Singapore for us. April, thanks so much. Now, Aramco plans to trim the world's biggest dividend, lowering a key source of funds for Saudi Arabia's budget while relieving stress on its own finances. The oil giant shares fell by more than 2% yesterday on the news for more. Let's bring in bloomberg's mideast energy markets. Reporter that's anthony de paola joining us. So, anthony, what more did we get from aramco's executives about their plans for the dividend? Good morning, John. Yeah. What we got the plan for for this coming year. Basically, Aramco had been paying kind of a double barrel dividend and it had been massive, 24 billion last year. That included a base dividend, which Aramco says is kind of the floor for dividends for shareholders, gives them some some assurance that they will get a payout, which Aramco says it's also going to raise gradually over time. And they did increase that base dividend last year as well for the fourth quarter. So that's going to stay at just over $21 billion for this next coming year. And they had a special performance linked dividend and that was based on the bumper profits that the entire commodity spectrum earned in 2022 after commodity prices surged post the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So so they distributed that kind of upside to shareholders and now they've dialed that back because simply the earnings have not kept up with that with that breakneck pace of 2022, as we've seen production decreased because of Opec+ cuts. We've seen the price go down as well, too. So that's impacted profit and forced them to to dial back that special portion of the dividend, which remains their base as a percentage of free cash flow. But really, we're not looking at having very much free cash flow after that big normal dividend is paid out this year. And so that's what the Aramco execs explained to us yesterday, John. Was this a surprise, Anthony, Especially when you think about the implication for the company and also for Saudi's finances. Yes. So it goes in two different ways. It's the implication for the company is that they've got less strain on the balance sheet because they did go into Internet debt last year because they were supporting this this massive payout. And they did use up some of the extra cash that they had built up. So they're they've swung back into net debt position. But, of course, that big payout does help support Saudi government funds. So so what it means here is that Aramco is going to have a little bit less strain on their budget, but possibly they will increase debt this year anyway. They've got already a very low debt level. And the CFO said yesterday in a conference call with analysts that they would like to do more borrowing this year to kind of increase that relationship between debt and equity, to have a little bit more firepower there. So they will probably go ahead increasing debt this year. Whether that turns out to be additional transfers to the government is unclear. Some people did think that they might issue debt to allow those payments to continue. So there was a little bit of a surprise in the market. But really Aramco specific that that that policy as they had set it out mathematically is what they stood by yesterday, John. Right. Bloomberg's Mideast energy markets reporter Anthony DePaulo covering that for us. Anthony, thanks so much for joining us as always. Now back to the U.S. President Trump says he has received strong signals that Russia is ready for peace. During his address to Congress, the U.S. president also said he received a letter from President Zelensky saying he is ready to come to the negotiating table to end Russia's war on Ukraine. It's time to stop this madness. It's time to halt the killing. It's time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides. Joining us now is Greg Sullivan, Bloomberg's Russia government and economy editor. Greg, thanks for joining us. What a difference a few days make. Talk to us about Trump's mention of Ukraine and Zelensky's letter. Is this enough to actually bring back talks and bring all the parties to the table? Well, that's right. Trump did bring this up in his State of the Union address last night. He said he appreciated that Zelensky had sent him this letter, which apparently mirrored a social media post in which he said that he regretted how the Oval Office meeting went last week. Now, Trump stopped short of actually announcing that he would reinstate U.S. support for Ukraine, and he obviously did not announce a new mineral deal. But clearly, the door is still open to both. And indeed, we did hear from other senior officials, such as Vice President J.D. Vance, that the deal for the door for a minerals deal will still open and that reinstating U.S. military support for Ukraine was on the table. Now, whether that means that we're going to see another Trump and Zelensky meeting remains to be seen. It was a pretty bad showdown in the in the White House. The two don't have a particularly warm relationship, but there is still apparently room for engagement between Ukraine and the White House. Greg, if we don't actually see the U.S. reinstating that aid, will that affect what we're seeing on the battlefield and eventual negotiations? Because we've mentioned the harm that this is doing already to the conflict at this point. That is the key question here. Now, what we do know is that allied officials believe that Ukraine can continue fighting for months and they will face certain problems. There are certain ammunitions, certain weapons, certain capabilities that the European partners just can't provide, that the U.S. can. Most important of these are probably air defense. One thing that we could start to see is that Russia intensifies its campaign sensing Ukrainian weakness. They've been making slow, grinding progress at great cost in the East, but they see that as strengthening their hand at any future negotiating table. So they're likely to try to capitalize on that if Ukraine is suddenly weaker or has less ability to defend itself. So there's definitely going to be an impact on the battlefield, but it won't necessarily be catastrophic, at least in the short term, and that will eventually trickle up to the negotiating table, either strengthening one side's hand over the other or compelling a side to the negotiating table that had previously been reluctant. So very important there and something we're watching very closely. Yeah. Greg Sullivan, Bloomberg's Russia government and economy editor. Greg, thanks so much for joining us and for that update. Let's turn back to the region here. South Africa's economy expanded at the slowest pace in four years in 2024. GDP grew 6/10 of a percent compared to 7/10 of a percent in 2023, the worst performance since the height of the pandemic in 2020. Most sectors failed to contribute to growth because of logistical constraints, weak consumer spending, a drought and poor fixed investment and sticking in the region. Discovery has posted a 34% increase in first half headline earnings on growth in its South African Health Insurance Business and Vitality franchise in the UK. I spoke to CEO Adrian Gore about the results as well as the outlook for South Africa. Take a listen. The business is offshore. Our Chinese business ping on health, a UK insurance business, all of them have performed well. So it's kind of an amalgam of all of these coming together that has driven strong profits, strong cash generation. It's been actually a remarkable period. I'd say to you also just the the the vitality share value model that incentivizes people to be healthier and get kind of engagement behaviour change that has been at the core of all of the performance. So, you know, kind of manifests in different businesses. But the truth is the power of that model has been at the core of the performance. And Adrian, you were mentioning there the UK and China, obviously they're they are among a number of the countries that are facing a significant amount of headwinds into 2025. How does that then affect the business performance in your mind? You know, it's a great point. But the you know, if you think about health insurance in many markets, I think in most markets around the world, the complexities of increasing chronicity, as you say, Congress, fiscal room, all of that pressure manifests in a much more complex insurance market, often more demand for private insurance, private health insurance. And so to an extent that can be counter-cyclical. So these are complicated markets. But but I think with the right products and that strategy we're dealing with, with industries where there's an intrinsic demand that's in fact increasing. And in the UK, the NHS having difficult times has created a kind of pressure for for private medical insurance in China as you populations A-listers on to fund private health care. So those kinds of trends are complex and they create headwinds, but at the same time they create their great growth potential Pacific businesses. Would you say the same that, Adrian, about the national health insurance bill here in South Africa, does that create another opportunity? Or do the revised changes actually get to what it was that you and other private operators were seeking? There's still a lengthy debate on the on the nature, as it's called, in South Africa. This is a kind of a a decade long process. But it is the same issue where you've got a demand for health insurance, you've got demand for health care, less fiscal room in South Africa, very little government capacity to fund more public sector health care. So it's it's similar. It's similar with different complexities. But I think directionally the same you'll see you'll see increasing spend on health care and we'll see the same kind of debate, some kind of an amalgam between public and private. The debate here is is a complex one, a lot of complex political issues, but I think it will settle in the right place over time. That's optimistic. Adrian, I also want to ask you about South Africa's GDP. We just got those figures out for 2024, coming in slightly weaker, weaker than most economists had anticipated. What what do you think about the direction of travel right now for the economy? Is it trending in the direction that you had anticipated at this point in time in the year? Well, I think the growth is weak, as you say, but but in reality, there's been a huge amount of work done by business and government in a partnership around a few key areas energy, logistics, climate, corruption, etc.. And I think we've made amazing progress. So there's been a strong focus on how we get growth, how the growth is to jobs. And we have kind of aim for a 3% growth rate by way of set at the moment. But I think we're turning the fulcrum slowly. That was Discovery CEO Adrian Gore speaking with me yesterday about the South African firm posting a 34% jump in profit. Now, coming up, Rwanda is demanding the UK pay up after scrapping a controversial migrants deal. The details on that next. This is Bloomberg. Welcome back to Horizon's Middle East and Africa. I'm Jennifer Zabasajja in Johannesburg, Rwanda. Once the UK to pay over $60 million for cancelling a controversial migrants deal, the relations between the two countries soured after Britain suspended financial aid over the East African nation's backing of the M23. Rebel groups conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Let's bring in Bloomberg's Indira Gandhi, who is joining us now from Kigali and reported on the story. Indira, what more do we know about this latest exchange between Rwanda and the UK? Hi, Jen. So what we know is that the government spokesperson, Yolande McCullough, took to Twitter to say that UK had asked some wonders to quietly forgo the payment due to the trust and faith that has been existing between the two countries. But now that the UK is imposing sanctions on Granda, then that trust has been breached and Ronda will be pursuing additional payment. On the other hand, the UK standing its ground saying no additional payment will be made to run relation to relocating asylum seekers into the country. If anything, Rhonda already waived additional payments and this comes a week after the UK announced that it will be imposing measures on Granda joining countries like Belgium, Canada and the US that have begun imposing not only political but economic pressure on Granda due to the fighting of the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Rwanda is being accused of backing M23 rebels. So some of these measures by the UK include limiting trade activity, with Rwanda also opposing bilateral and financial aid, except for the poorest and most vulnerable and most importantly, suspending future defence trading assistance with Rwanda. All these measures run two times them as punitive. Yeah, and many experts saying that financial pressure is what would take two seas fighting. And when we think about Congo's effort to find strategic international partners, though, how is that going for the DRC? So Congo is now asking the U.K. to allow them have access to their minerals in exchange for security partnership. In a letter written to the Democratic Republic, in a letter, rather, written by the Democratic Republic of Congo to the US. Congo says that they are the biggest producers of lithium, cobalt, tantalum, which are minerals very integral for US industrial competitiveness and also their national security and in exchange for exclusive extraction and also export rights. Congo wants the US to give them training equipment for the army and also direct security assistance. And this just speaks to the growing desperation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. M23 is growing stronger, the army is weaker, the country is getting divided by the day. And even though President Donald Trump and the US administration might be open to discussing this partnership, a deal is still a long way off because Congo has always had trouble attracting US companies because of issues like corruption, labor issues, and also environmental degradation. Bloomberg's Indira Gandhi reporting from Kigali. Indira, thanks so much for joining us, as always. And Nigeria LNG is increasing production after a security related outage disrupted supplies, delaying shipments from the exporter by as long as two weeks. The company says five out of the plant's six trains plants, six trains are now in operation. Vandalism and sabotage have curtailed its operations and exports in the last few years, with the impact intensifying more recently. Now coming up, Dubai woos hedge funds with a dedicated building in the financial district. The details on that next. This is Bloomberg. Welcome back to Horizon's Middle East and Africa. I'm Jennifer Zabasajja in Johannesburg. Dubai is opening a building dedicated to hedge funds, startups looking to expand into the city. The 10,000 square foot DFC Hedge fund center will open by the end of April. Joining me now is Bloomberg's Mohammed Palmer, who reported on this story. Hamoud, tell us a bit about this hedge fund dedicated building and the significance of it, really. Yes. So it's the first hedge fund dedicated space in Dubai. Hedge funds have been flocking to the region and they're set up in a number of different buildings here. This is the first one that will be really focused on hedge funds and not just any type. The smaller emerging startup funds is going to provide space that's a little bit more of a plug and play situation with desks set up. And so emerging managers can come here when smaller groups get a lay of the land, test it out, and then if they do want to scale up further, then they can grow into more space later. Does this mean? Dubai is shifting their thinking about hedge funds and the role in which they play in the nation? I think it shows really a maturation as well and a growth in the kind of hedge funds that are eyeing the space and the kind of hedge funds that Dubai is looking to attract. So we've seen the huge giant hedge funds really flock to this space. A lot of the biggest names in New York now have outposts here. But what this is showing us is that the smaller emerging funds, these newbie startup funds, are looking at the region, considering moving over. And, you know, the DFC, the Dubai Financial Center, they went on a roadshow to New York and to Miami and found a number of newbie emerging funds that were interested. And so this space already has a wait list of funds looking to move here. And what it shows is the next step in the kind of funds that are looking at the region and some material moves and them shifting here. And we see similar plays happening in Abu Dhabi as well as Dubai. What is the what's the draw really hammer for these hedge funds? Yes, a number of things. The tax free environment is very attractive to these spaces and to these players. They make a lot of money. They will be able to do so tax free. And this region, it's also, you know, the lovely weather. You got a lot of perks for moving out here. And you can trade across a number of regions very easily. And so those things together are really, really attracting both the big managers. And now as we're seeing the smaller new ones to. All right. Bloomberg's Hemmer Palmer joining us there from Dubai. Thanks so much. Great to get your reporting on things. Now for a look at some of the other stories we're following this morning. Bloomberg has learned a Goldman Sachs is set to start its annual round of job cuts, moving the exercise earlier in the year after previous reductions took place in the second half. The lender is said to be cutting between three and 5% of staff in line with prior moves. The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the bank will focus on reducing vice presidents after it added too many in recent years. The governor of New Zealand's Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr, has resigned. The surprise announcement that he's departing three years early, sent the Kiwi lower or says he leaves with consumer price inflation at Target and an economy in a cyclical recovery. And Turkish authorities are reported to have detained 17 people as part of an investigation into allegations of manipulative price moves in the country's stock market. According to local broadcaster NTV, the probe is focused on alleged attempts to artificially influence share prices. Turkey launched the investigation following a sharp stock market drop on February 21st. And a quick check at where markets are positioned ahead of the trading day. As you can see, some green on the screen, at least for U.S. equity futures as well as Euro Stoxx 50 futures. We did see at least US indices closing in negative territory on Tuesday, but getting a bit of a relief rally after we heard from commerce secretary Howard Lutnick about trade tariff reversal. Now the question is, where does this go from here after President trump made some different commentary during his address? So we'll see how that pans out for the rest of the trading day. But that is it for Horizon's Middle East and Africa. I'm Jennifer Zabasajja in Johannesburg. Stick with us for DAYBREAK. Europe, This is Bloomberg.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
VA Secretary Is Designated Survivor For Trump Speech
Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins on Jan. 21, 2025. Credit - Samuel Corum—Getty Images Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, is reportedly serving as the designated survivor during President Donald Trump's joint congressional address on Tuesday night. The designated survivor is a person in the presidential line of succession—often a low-level Cabinet member—chosen to be kept separate from other executive branch officials when the government is all gathered in one place in the event of a catastrophic event. Collins was revealed to be the designated survivor, according to multiple media reports. The practice ensures that the government can still run even if all those present at a large governmental event are wiped out—which is why some members of Congress also are kept separate to ensure that the legislative branch can continue to function. The practice began during the Cold War, when the idea of nuclear warfare was heavy on the minds of the U.S. government. In the event of a nuclear event wiping out the presidential line of succession in one go, the designated survivor is chosen so that they are eligible to be president, and could take up the mantle to lead the United States if need be. There are very few times in which all of America's governmental leaders are in the same place, and thus it is rare that the designated survivor must be tapped—only a handful of times during each presidency, usually. The American Presidency Project at the University of California-Santa Barbara keeps a running list of designated survivors dating back to 1984 when Ronald Reagan was president. In Politico Magazine in 2017, Dan Glickman, former United States Secretary of Agriculture under Bill Clinton, wrote about his experience as designated survivor, and spending the State of the Union address at his daughter's apartment in New York City. 'I don't recall getting any specific instructions on what to do if the doomsday scenario happened. All I knew is that if necessary, I could turn to that military officer accompanying me, holding that 45-pound bag, and trigger a military response, including a nuclear strike,' Glickman wrote of his experience. 'It felt like an awesome responsibility to put on one man's shoulders, even if it was exceedingly unlikely the president—or in this case, the secretary of agriculture—would ever have to use it.' Contact us at letters@
