News

The mayor of Kyiv: The city's water supply has been disrupted following the Russian airstrikes.

According to the Iranian news agency IRNA: Saudi Foreign Minister and U.S. Secretary of State Rubio met in Atlanta, USA, on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting to exchange views on the latest situation in the region and related issues.

According to the Financial Times, OpenAI has lowered its funding target by $10 billion as tech anxiety intensifies.

Alphabet (GOOG.O) is in talks with the Pentagon to join President Trump's $185 bln "Golden Dome" missile-defense program, focusing on data security, storage, networking and cybersecurity to harden military command-and-control data transmissions, sources said. Discussions are at an early stage; Alphabet's network unit Aalyria is participating in consortium preparations. The Pentagon said it has not made a final decision on forming a new consortium or on participating firms.

Apple (AAPL.O) closed Friday with a market value of $5.03 trillion, surpassing NVIDIA (NVDA.O) at $4.93 trillion to become the world’s largest listed company for the first time since late July. Apple shares fell 1.2% while NVIDIA dropped 4.2%. Recent results from Intel (INTC.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) have heightened investor concern over returns on large AI capital expenditures; Alphabet (GOOG.O) and Meta Platforms (META.O) faced earlier selling. Apple’s relatively restrained infrastructure spending and stronger free cash flow have underpinned its resilience amid the tech sell-off. Year-to-date Apple is up about 27%; NVIDIA is down over 10% in the past month.

According to White House correspondent Fraser Jackson, a source said the $2.1 billion Patriot missile procurement agreement between Ukraine and the United States involves newly produced missiles, with deliveries expected to begin after 2030. Therefore, these 500 missiles will not come from existing U.S. stockpiles and are not currently in production.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the White House will nominate Mulfarig, the former head of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, to serve as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.

Fitch: France’s rating is supported by several factors, including GDP per capita above the 'A' median and governance metrics well above the rating class median.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski: Discussed joint projects with US Secretary of State Rubio, and expects more Polish-US initiatives to emerge on the international stage.

Bank of America (BAC.N): It is not expected that the costs of anti-money laundering rectification and compliance in future periods will have a significant impact on non-interest expenses.

Fitch: The negative outlook for France reflects weak growth, rising borrowing costs and widening deficits.

Fitch: Recent protests in France and limited fiscal space have weakened the authorities' ability to buffer the economy from a new round of energy shocks.

Fitch: The prospects for achieving full and sustained mid-term fiscal consolidation after the 2027 French presidential election and possible parliamentary elections remain uncertain.

Fitch: The French political landscape remains highly fragmented, making it difficult to reach and implement a credible fiscal strategy.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski: The United States has proposed that Poland become a permanent member of the G20, and Poland is lobbying for this.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski: The United Kingdom, which will assume the G20 presidency next year, has invited Poland to participate in the 2027 G20 summit.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski: If Russia wants to sell energy to Europe again, the war in Ukraine should end in a fair manner.

Fitch revised its outlook on France's rating to negative; it affirmed the rating at "A+".

Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, stated that 10 proposals to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) have been signed by a majority of members, and the proposals are ready and under review. He also advocated raising Iran's uranium enrichment level from the current 60% to 90%, stating that it must retain its nuclear capabilities, but asserted that Iran has no right to determine whether it should develop nuclear weapons. Rezaei accused the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of providing the West with intelligence on Iranian nuclear facilities and scientists, opposed the resumption of inspections, and argued against negotiating with the United States on the nuclear issue. He also claimed that the US military's previous operation in Isfahan was aimed at seizing nuclear materials, not rescuing pilots.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski: Poland hopes to see a ceasefire in the Black Sea so that food supplies from Ukraine and Russia can be shipped out.