BitGou: Britain is about to get a new prime minister

Monday, September 5, 2022

by Linda Noakes

Hello

Here's what you need to know.

Europe's gas price rockets higher after Russia halts Nord Stream flows, Canada hunts suspects in a stabbing spree that killed 10, and South Korea braces for a 'very strong' typhoon

Today's biggest stories

Volunteers dance during the clean-up of the House of a Culture in the village of Ivanivka in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, September 3, 2022

UKRAINE REPORTS WAR GAINS, EUROPE'S ENERGY CRISIS DEEPENS

European leaders sought to ease the impact of high energy prices across the continent after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned of a difficult winter, even as he reported progress in a counter-offensive against Russian troops.

Zelenskiy thanked his forces for taking two settlements in the south and a third, along with additional territory, in the east, citing "good reports" from his military commanders and intelligence head. Here's what you need to know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict right now.

European gas prices rocketed as much as 30% higher after Russia said one of its main gas supply pipelines to Europe would stay shut indefinitely, stoking renewed fears about shortages and gas rationing in the European Union this winter. European stock indexes opened lower and the euro dropped below 99 cents for the first time in twenty years.

The Kremlin blamed European politicians for keeping shut the Nord Stream 1, saying their economic sanctions on Russia had hindered Gazprom's maintenance of the pipeline.

European Union countries' energy ministers will discuss options to rein in soaring energy prices including gas price caps and emergency credit lines for energy market participants, a document seen by Reuters showed.

Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss appears on BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show in London, September 4, 2022

AROUND THE WORLD

Liz Truss is expected to be named leader of the governing Conservative Party and Britain's next prime minister today, poised to take power at a time when the country faces a cost of living crisis, industrial unrest and a recession.

Canadian police hunted for two suspects in a stabbing spree that killed 10 people and wounded at least 15 others mostly in a sparsely populated indigenous community. The stabbings across 13 crime scenes were among the deadliest mass killings in modern Canadian history.

An earthquake in northeastern Afghanistan killed at least eight people, and the toll could rise, the state news agency quoted a regional official as saying. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck China's Sichuan, the strongest to hit the province since 2013, with the shaking felt in the provincial capital of Chengdu and hundreds of kilometers away in the cities of Xian and Changsha.

Typhoon Hinnamnor neared South Korea, forcing flight cancelations, suspensions of some business operations and closures of schools, as the country raised its typhoon-alert level to its highest. In Japan, airlines canceled flights and some companies suspended production at factories in the western part of the country.

Pakistani authorities are struggling to prevent the country's biggest lake bursting its banks and inundating nearby towns after unprecedented flooding, while the disaster management agency on Monday raised its toll of flood deaths by another 24.

Record high temperatures were expected in California's Central Valley from Sacramento to outside of Los Angeles, with officials warning that the dangerous heat wave could afflict the state through the end of the week and test the limits of the electric grid. A rapidly moving fire in Northern California burned about 4,000 acres of land and prompted evacuations of thousands of residents, some of whom were also injured.

Chileans overwhelmingly voted against a proposed new constitution, rejecting what would have been one of the world's most progressive charters.

BUSINESS NEWS

Oil prices rose more than $2 a barrel, extending gains as investors eyed possible moves by OPEC+ producers to cut output and support prices at a meeting later in the day.

European Central Bank policymakers meeting on Thursday have a choice between a big 50 basis point interest rate hike, or an even bigger one to contain record high inflation. Here are five questions for the ECB.

Australian house prices will fall sharply this year and next as rising mortgage rates and cost of living pressures drag on demand, a Reuters poll found, but for many people buying a home will still remain far out of reach. Pandemic-related stimulus and cheap loans have nearly doubled house prices since the 2007-09 global financial crisis.

Bed Bath & Beyond's chief financial officer fell to his death from New York's Tribeca skyscraper known as the 'Jenga' tower on Friday afternoon, police said, days after the struggling retailer announced it was closing stores and laying off workers.

JPMorgan plans to hire a team of retail bankers in Germany as the biggest U.S. lender prepares to expand its international consumer business in pursuit of steadier revenue streams.

Aston Martin is raising $660 million in a rights issue as major investors including Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund keep faith with the struggling luxury British carmaker.