BitGou: Musk begins his Twitter ownership with firings

Friday, October 28, 2022

by Linda Noakes

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Here's what you need to know.

What lies ahead for the 'Chief Twit'? What are the laws of war in space? And who funded Trump’s Truth Social? We have answers.

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A view of the Twitter logo at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, October 27, 2022

TWITTER TAKEOVER

Elon Musk has taken ownership of Twitter with brutal efficiency, firing top executives immediately but providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform.

"The bird is freed," he tweeted after he completed his $44 billion acquisition.

Now Musk must prove why he believes that Twitter is worth 10 times the amount he paid for it and turn around a social media platform that he has spent months ridiculing.

Musk, who once tweeted "I hate advertising", said he wants Twitter to be "the most respected advertising platform", in a bid to gain the trust of ad buyers.

Investors who stuck it out for Musk's Twitter deal are set to reap rewards. Breakingviews columnist Lauren Silva Laughlin looks back at "one helluva ride".

From outer space to social media, we look at Musk's growing universe.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Russian President Vladimir Putin showed no regrets for the war against Ukraine, insisting it was going to plan and playing down any nuclear standoff with the West, while both sides prepared for what could be a key battle in Kherson in Ukraine's south.

Putin had a familiar litany of grievances against "Western opponents" as he addressed a conference in Moscow, accusing the West of inciting the war and of playing a "dangerous, bloody and dirty" game that was sowing chaos.

U.S. President Joe Biden expressed skepticism about Putin's comment that he had no intention of using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused an "epochal break" in Germany's ties with Moscow and the war has shattered former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's dream of a "common European home", President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

A Russian official's threat this week to "strike" Western satellites aiding Ukraine highlights an untested area of international law, raising concerns among space lawyers and industry executives about the safety of objects in orbit.

Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde attends a news conference following the ECB's monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, October 27, 2022

BUSINESS & MARKETS

European Central Bank policymakers stood firmly behind plans to keep raising interest rates even at a cost to economic growth, as data showed rising inflationary pressures.

The Bank of Japan kept ultra-low interest rates and maintained its dovish guidance, cementing its status as an outlier among global central banks tightening monetary policy, as recession fears dampen prospects for a solid recovery.

Over $200 billion in U.S. stock market value went up in smoke in extended trade, after a weak forecast from Amazon added to a string of downbeat quarterly reports from Big Tech companies.

Exxon Mobil smashed expectations as soaring energy prices fueled a record-breaking quarterly profit, nearly matching that of tech giant Apple.

The European Union struck a deal on a law to effectively ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, aiming to speed up the switch to electric vehicles and combat climate change.

U.S. diesel supplies are becoming critically low with shortages and price spikes likely to occur in the next six months unless and until the economy and fuel consumption slow.

After months of reflecting, Credit Suisse's chairman Axel Lehmann revealed an overhaul "to rebuild Credit Suisse as a strong ... bank with a firm foundation, rock-solid like our Swiss mountains". It did not take long for the first cracks to appear.

South Korean Marines take position on a beach during a landing operation as part of the annual Hoguk military exercise in Pohang, October 26, 2022

WORLD

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea's military said, while South Korean forces were wrapping up nearly two weeks of exercises aimed at deterring their northern neighbor.

Heavy rains brought by an approaching storm triggered flooding and multiple landslides in the southern Philippines, killing at least 31 people, as rescuers searched for missing residents.

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan gathered hundreds of supporters in the eastern city of Lahore to join a caravan of cars and trucks heading for the capital Islamabad to pressure the government into calling snap polls.

The British government is to call an election to Northern Ireland's devolved parliament in an effort to break a political stalemate that could leave the region facing direct rule from London.

Disillusionment with politics among Palestinian citizens could help determine next week's election in Israel where former premier Benjamin Netanyahu is bidding to return to power, just a year after an Arab party joined an Israeli government for the first time.

U.S.

Democrats call in their biggest star, Barack Obama, today in the hopes that the former president can excite voters in Georgia and help the party hold onto a critical Senate seat.

Biden contrasted his economic plan with Republicans' in a last-ditch effort days before midterm elections to convince voters that Democrats are best equipped to battle inflation and create jobs. Here's how Congress might look for Biden after the midterms.

The New York Police Department has called for "elevated vigilance" ahead of the midterms, warning that extremists could target political events and polling sites, the agency said in an internal bulletin obtained by Reuters.

Ever since former President Donald Trump launched a new media company aimed at rivaling Twitter, there has been a mystery over who provided the money. Trump didn’t. So who did? Now there are some answers in a cache of documents.

Trump's namesake company urged a New York judge to reject a demand by the state's attorney general to appoint a monitor to oversee its financial practices, after she accused it of "staggering" fraud.