The following are some of the news items mentioned in the last few days:

  • Ukraine is ready to accept an immediate 30 day cease-fire in its war with Moscow
  • US Fed spent last month came up to 603B USD
  • India has passed legistlation intended to encourage oil and gas exploration to help meet its energy needs, a move that highlights the difficulty of persuading the world’s most populous nation to phase out fossil fuels
    • India currently consumes 5.5 billion barrels of crude oil per day and 90 percent of it comes from imports
    • Russia is the main supplier to India while Qatar is the largest provider of LNG
  • Taiwan revokes residency status of a Chinese influencer.
  • EU retailiated against Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium within hours of them taking effect
  • Scott Bessent : US economy needs to go through a detox period and there will no longer be a Trump Put
  • Canada’s central bank has cut its benchmark interest rates to the lowest level since 2022 citing a potential slowdown in growth, thanks to the trump tariff war
  • Northvolt, Swedish EV startup files for bankruptcy
  • Scopely buys Pokemon Go for 3.5B USD
    • Pokeman Go was launched in 2016
    • It remains one of hte highest grossing mobile games today, with 30M monthly players spending more than 1B USD in 2024
    • Niantic, the founding company is pivoting to AI
  • Reliance and Airtel have stuck deals with Musk to collaborate and distribute Space X’s satellite internet services
  • Hedge funds are cutting leveraged bets as Trump tariffs hit them hard