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The World
The EU’s top diplomat called for a pause in hostilities “in order to allow aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip and hostages held there to be released.” High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said, “I think a humanitarian pause is needed in order to allow humanitarian support to come in and be distributed.” (Financial Times)
The U.S. warned China “that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack under a 1951 treaty.” Chinese ships blockaded and collided with two Filipino vessels over the weekend. No injuries were reported “but the encounters damaged a Philippine coast guard ship and a wooden-hulled supply boat operated by navy personnel.” (Associated Press)
“Argentina’s economy minister Sergio Massa defied expectations to win the first round of the country’s presidential election, and now faces a runoff with Javier Milei, the far-right libertarian candidate who was viewed as the favorite.” Massa took 37% of the vote to Milei’s 30%. The runoff will take place on November 19. (Semafor)
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has officially submitted a bill for Sweden’s NATO membership to the Turkish parliament, “putting a possible end to more than a year of negotiations with the Nordic country. The bill is expected to be discussed at a parliamentary committee and then voted on in the assembly,” where Erdoğan’s party holds the majority of seats. (Semafor)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban kicked off his campaign for next year's European parliamentary elections with criticism of the bloc's leaders on Monday, calling Brussels a "bad contemporary parody" that he said can still be fixed. Distrust of Orban has been running high in Brussels after bitter run-ins during his 13 years in power over the rights of gay people and migrants in Hungary, as well as tightening state controls over NGOs, academics, the courts and media. (Reuters)
International migration to rich countries reached an all-time high last year, driven by global humanitarian crises and demand for workers, the OECD said. The Paris-based organisation estimated 6.1mn new permanent migrants moved to its 38 member countries last year, 26 per cent more than in 2021 and 14 per cent higher than in 2019, before the pandemic brought an enforced pause to much cross-border movement. (Financial Times)
The Biden administration said that it had chosen 31 regions as potential recipients of federal money that would seek to fund innovation in parts of the country that government investment overlooked in the past. The announcement was the first phase of a program that aims to establish so-called tech hubs around the country across a variety of cutting-edge industries, like quantum computing, precision medicine and clean energy. In the coming months, the regions will compete for a share of $500 million, with roughly five to 10 of the projects receiving up to about $75 million each, the administration said. (New York Times)
Economy
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to a 16-year high “after billionaire investor Bill Ackman said he was ditching his bearish bet on long-term Treasuries. Yields fall as prices rise.” Ackman posted on X, “There is too much risk in the world to remain short bonds at current long-term rates.” (Financial Times)
“The billionaire hedge fund manager first disclosed his bearish position on 30-year Treasurys in August, betting on elevated yields on the back of ‘higher levels of long-term inflation.’ The 30-year Treasury yield has risen more than 80 basis points since the end of August, making Ackman’s bet profitable.” (CNBC)
The Biden Administration “is launching new efforts to tout private sector investments in climate-friendly power generation — and make the information accessible at the project level.” Officials are “adding ‘clean’ generation projects — like solar, wind and storage — to the Invest[dot]gov site launched in June that maps various kinds of investments.” (Axios)
Chevron has announced an all-stock deal to buy Hess for $53 billion, “with a total deal value of $60B including debt. It comes on the heels of Exxon's blockbuster Oct. 11 deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources in an even larger transaction.” If approved, the deals would reshape the U.S. oil industry “as the two largest U.S. companies, flush with cash after a long stretch of high prices, snag giant independents.” (Axios)
Dealmakers see Chevron-Hess tie-up as the start of oil ‘arms race’: The $53bn deal has sparked speculation that BP and Shell may feel forced to respond. (Financial Times)
The United Auto Workers has “added another factory to its strike against the Detroit Three automakers, bringing the total number of workers on strike to more than 40,000.” Roughly 6,800 workers walked out of the Stellantis plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on Monday “in a surprise expansion of the historic labor stoppage.” (Axios)
“The expansion is a sign that the strike is becoming a slog, with the UAW continuing to reject the automakers’ offers — a scenario President Joe Biden is eager to avoid as his reelection effort gets under away amid an unpredictable economy.” (Politico)
The Department of Homeland Security wants “major changes to the H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign professionals, after the government found earlier this year that companies had colluded to try to increase their chances of winning a coveted visa.” The government found that in recent years, some applicants entered their names into the visa lottery as many as 10 times each. Under the proposed change, “each person applying for a visa will be weighed equally, no matter how many entries they submit.” (Wall Street Journal)
Technology
“Technologists and advocates are again set to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to discuss with Senate leaders the perils and promises of artificial intelligence.” Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and John Doerr will be among the 21 attendees at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s second AI Insights Forum. The session is a continuation of Schumer’s effort to get the Senate “up to speed on AI to determine how best to approach AI regulation. And it will likely include very different viewpoints on what the government’s role should be in regulating AI.” (CNBC)
Tesla says the Justice Department has sought documents related to the driving range of its vehicles as well as “its self-driving feature, personal benefits and personnel decisions, in a move that marked intensifying regulatory scrutiny of the Elon Musk-led company.” (Reuters)
Toyota is close to being able to manufacture “next-generation solid-state batteries at the same rate as existing batteries for electric vehicles.” Solid-state batteries “have long been heralded by industry experts as a potential ‘game-changer’ that could address EV battery concerns such as charging time, capacity and the risk of catching fire.” Toyota says the batteries would let its EVs have a range more than twice that of existing models, with a charging time of 10 minutes or less. (Financial Times)
Nvidia is designing CPUs that would run Windows. In a push to come after “Intel’s longtime stronghold of personal computers,” Nvidia is working with Arm Holdings as “part of Microsoft's effort to help chip companies build Arm-based processors for Windows PCs. Microsoft's plans take aim at Apple, which has nearly doubled its market share in the three years since releasing its own Arm-based chips in-house for its Mac computers.” (Reuters)
Smart Links
Goldman Sachs predicts U.S. home prices will grow a modest 1.3% next year. (Bloomberg)
Venture capital pours big money into AI startups. (Axios)
Okta cybersecurity breach wipes out more than $2 billion in market cap. (CNBC)
Data analytics firm Databricks will acquire enterprise date company Arcion for about $100 million. (CNBC)
Bitcoin hits three-month high, buoying crypto stocks. (Reuters)