Dirk von Mallinckrodt The U.S. and South Korea failed to reach a conclusive trade agreement after the first day of face-to-face talks in Washington, with both sides agreeing to resume talks on Friday, Yonhap News Agency reported. South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan visited the U.S. Commerce Department for negotiations and said he will meet Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick again. "We ...
Dirk von Mallinckrodt The U.S. and South Korea failed to reach a conclusive trade agreement after the first day of face-to-face talks in Washington, with both sides agreeing to resume talks on Friday, Yonhap News Agency reported. South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan visited the U.S. Commerce Department for negotiations and said he will meet Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick again. "We had extensive talks and agreed to meet again tomorrow morning," Kim told reporters after the meeting. "We have not yet reached a conclusion," he added. Talking about the higher tariffs slapped by the Trump administration, he commented, " Not at the point of saying whether it was prevented or not prevented." Kim plans to meet other senior Trump administration officials, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, during his stay in Washington. Kim and Lutnick held the meeting in Washington three days after Trump threatened to raise auto, lumber, and pharmaceutical taxes on South Korea from 15% to 25% due to a delay in Seoul's implementation of investment pledges supporting the trade deal. Later, on January 27, Trump expressed willingness to "work something out," prompting urgent talks. A bilateral trade deal that was first struck in late July and finalized months later, under which South Korea committed to $350B in investments in the U.S., among other pledges, in return for lower reciprocal tariffs. ETFs to track: ( EWY ), ( KORU ), ( FLKR ). Dear readers : We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion. More on South Korea Short Selling And Put Buying Point To Big Tech Rally Dumping U.S. Dollar: Why My Dry Powder Is Now In Swiss Francs Dollar Index Hits 4-Year Low And Traditional Wisdom Can Mislead This Time Trump files $10B lawsuit against IRS, Treasury Department over tax-return leak Market Voices: Trump on Fed nominee, obesity drug warning, Dow layoffs
Charnchai/iStock via Getty Images Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. ( PIAIF )( PNGAY ) and China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. ( CILJF ) provided the highest total returns among the 20 largest insurance companies by market capitalization in Asia during the fourth quarter of 2025, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis. Ping An topped the charts, generating total returns of 26....
Charnchai/iStock via Getty Images Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. ( PIAIF )( PNGAY ) and China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. ( CILJF ) provided the highest total returns among the 20 largest insurance companies by market capitalization in Asia during the fourth quarter of 2025, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis. Ping An topped the charts, generating total returns of 26.2%. The Chinese insurance giant's operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company grew 7.2% year-over-year to 116.26 billion yuan in the first nine months of 2025. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rose 11.5% to 132.86 billion yuan. Life and health's new business value increased 46.2% year-over-year to 35.72 billion yuan. The company is confident in its medium- to long-term business growth and will adhere to prudent operations to ensure business stability, a company representative said on an October 2025 earnings call, adding that Ping An attaches great importance to investor returns. China Life came in a close second to Ping An with total returns of 25.4%. The company reported a net profit attributable to equity holders of the company of 167.80 billion yuan for the first nine months of 2025, up 60.5% from the same period in 2024. China Life's established brand and extensive distribution network underpin its robust competitive position, S&P Global Ratings analyst WenWen Chen wrote in a report. This advantage should support the insurer's continued diversification of distribution channels and its shift toward policies with a floating return, contributing to sustained value generation, Chen added. Chen expects growth momentum from bancassurance to offset the gradual recovery of China Life's agency channel, particularly amid tightening regulatory oversight on commission and continued subdued demand for protection-type policies. At the other end, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. ( TKOMF )( TKOMY ) recorded a negative return of 7.2% for t...
“Assemble!” someone bellowed in the prison corridor, cutting through the silence. Murmurs began echoing off the white walls, and the stairwells filled with people from all over the world: Egyptians, Chinese, Cameroonians, Kenyans, an Italian - all soldiers captured fighting for Russia, now held in a Ukrainian jail. Some joined the Russian military in search of a better life or to escape their home...
“Assemble!” someone bellowed in the prison corridor, cutting through the silence. Murmurs began echoing off the white walls, and the stairwells filled with people from all over the world: Egyptians, Chinese, Cameroonians, Kenyans, an Italian - all soldiers captured fighting for Russia, now held in a Ukrainian jail. Some joined the Russian military in search of a better life or to escape their home countries, while others were persuaded by Russia’s war aims. Some say they were tricked or forced into signing a military contract they did not understand. Advertisement They now face a long wait for a prisoner exchange that may never come. Agence France-Presse spoke to several in a rare visit to a prison in western Ukraine holding captured foreign prisoners of war (POWs). Advertisement Ukrainian authorities requested the specific location of the facility be withheld. Inmates were not under the supervision of guards during the interviews, and Agence France-Presse has changed their names.
These offer British firms "really important access" and are "symbolic of what we're doing with the relationship", he said. "That is the way that we build the mutual trust and respect that is so important."
These offer British firms "really important access" and are "symbolic of what we're doing with the relationship", he said. "That is the way that we build the mutual trust and respect that is so important."
Meanwhile Emma Raducanu is searching for yet another new coach after confirming she has split with Nadal’s former mentor Francisco Roig after her second-round exit last week. Having got through nine different coaches since 2021, she may be reaching a point where it’ll be hard to attract top names because of the perils of taking on the job. Already today there’s been a home win in the mixed doubles...
Meanwhile Emma Raducanu is searching for yet another new coach after confirming she has split with Nadal’s former mentor Francisco Roig after her second-round exit last week. Having got through nine different coaches since 2021, she may be reaching a point where it’ll be hard to attract top names because of the perils of taking on the job. Already today there’s been a home win in the mixed doubles final, with Olivia Gadecki and John Peers coming from behind to defeat the French pair Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard 4-6, 6-3, 10-8. Britain’s Andy Lapthorne and Australia’s Heath Davidson were beaten in the quad wheelchair doubles final, losing 6-3, 6-1 to the top seeds Guy Sasson and Niels Vink. G’day all and with Alexander Zverev taking Carlos Alcaraz to a fifth set in the match of the tournament BY FAR, I’m getting ready to bring you coverage of the second semi-final between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. Djokovic bristled at what seemed to be a reasonable question after his quarter-final, when he was asked what it’s like to be chasing Sinner and Alcaraz at the end of his career having also chased Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the beginning. “I’m always the chaser and never being chased? I find it a bit disrespectful you miss out on what happened in between,” the 38-year-old said. “There’s about a 15-year period where I was dominating the grand slams. I don’t feel like I’m chasing, to be honest.” Perhaps he did simply want more recognition of his achievements. Though perhaps his response betrayed a sense of frustration at what he’s up against in this match against Sinner, the two-time defending champion. And perhaps he was also raging against the passing of time, because how he must wish he could go back to his days of dominance to secure that elusive, record-breaking grand slam title No 25 rather than having two young upstarts ahead of him who are taking men’s tennis to stratospheric levels that didn’t seem possible when the Big Three dissipated. The B...
OpenAI ( OPENAI ) is holding informal talks with banks about a potential initial public offering in the fourth quarter of this year, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The $500B ChatGPT maker is also growing its finance team, hiring Ajmere Dale as its new accounting chief and Cynthia Gaylor as its corporate business finance officer overseeing investor relatio...
OpenAI ( OPENAI ) is holding informal talks with banks about a potential initial public offering in the fourth quarter of this year, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The $500B ChatGPT maker is also growing its finance team, hiring Ajmere Dale as its new accounting chief and Cynthia Gaylor as its corporate business finance officer overseeing investor relations. The report comes as the AI race is heating up, with Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) expected to break even for the first time in 2028 — two years earlier than OpenAI ( OPENAI ). Executives at OpenAI ( OPENAI ) have privately expressed concerns about Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) beating the company to an IPO. Anthropic ( ANTHRO ), which is behind the Claude AI assistant, is laying the groundwork for an IPO this year . Anthropic made several finance hires — including Andrew Zloto, who leads capital markets, and Blackstone investor Kevin Chang. Both AI startups are also raising new funding. OpenAI ( OPENAI ) is seeking to raise over $100B in a deal that could value it at $830B, with SoftBank ( SFTBY ) looking at investing an additional $30B and Amazon ( AMZN ) eyeing a $50B investment. Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) closed its latest funding round at a $350B valuation, raising $10B-$15B, CNBC reported this week. That figure could still grow if Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ) decide to contribute, sources said . More on OpenAI, Anthropic 2027: Defense Boom As The AI Trade Unwinds Wall Street Lunch: SoftBank Finishes $40B OpenAI Investment A Decline Is Coming, But Think 2021, Not Dot-Com Amazon in talks to invest as much as $50B in OpenAI - WSJ Anthropic raises 2026 revenue forecast by 20% to $18B
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez defended his plan to welcome a half-million undocumented immigrants after Elon Musk joined critics of the initiative on the billionaire’s X social-media platform. “Mars can wait. Humanity can’t,” Sanchez wrote on X late Thursday, after the world’s richest man retweeted a user’s post that “Spain just legalized 500,000 illegal aliens to ‘defeat the far-right.’” M...
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez defended his plan to welcome a half-million undocumented immigrants after Elon Musk joined critics of the initiative on the billionaire’s X social-media platform. “Mars can wait. Humanity can’t,” Sanchez wrote on X late Thursday, after the world’s richest man retweeted a user’s post that “Spain just legalized 500,000 illegal aliens to ‘defeat the far-right.’” Musk concurred with the user, adding simply, “Wow.” The Spanish government has drawn worldwide attention this week for its decision to grant legal status to about half a million undocumented migrants. The plan runs counter to an anti-immigrant wave that has caught on in European politics and helped propel Donald Trump ’s return to the White House — a campaign in which Musk, who leads SpaceX and is committed to colonizing Mars, played a key role. Spain’s policy move was carried out as images flood social media of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting people and confronting protesters in Minneapolis and other US cities. Growing Economy Sanchez, a socialist, has taken an alternate route in a country with nearly 50 million inhabitants. Spain’s economy has outperformed its euro-area peers in recent years, while unemployment has been falling. GDP is forecast to expand 2.2% in 2026, compared with 1.2% for the euro area as a whole, while unemployment rate dipped below 10% at the end of 2025, the lowest level in almost 18 years. Spain has seen a rising number of immigrants since the pandemic, including undocumented people from Latin American countries like Colombia, Peru and Honduras. Immigration has been a key element of the economic expansion, with migrants helping to fill empty roles. The 53-year-old prime minister and Musk, 54, have exchanged views before over social media. Four years ago, when the platform was called Twitter, Sanchez invited Musk to visit after the billionaire urged Spain to build a “massive solar array.” Sanchez said Musk should “come and se...
Spain’s economy grew by a strong 0.8% Q/Q in the final three months of 2025, marking its fastest pace of growth in a year and accelerating from 0.6% in the previous quarter. The result also beat market expectations, which had pointed to a more modest 0.6% expansion. On an annual basis, GDP rose 2.6%, slightly slower than the 2.8% recorded in the third quarter and just below forecasts of 2.7%, sugg...
Spain’s economy grew by a strong 0.8% Q/Q in the final three months of 2025, marking its fastest pace of growth in a year and accelerating from 0.6% in the previous quarter. The result also beat market expectations, which had pointed to a more modest 0.6% expansion. On an annual basis, GDP rose 2.6%, slightly slower than the 2.8% recorded in the third quarter and just below forecasts of 2.7%, suggesting some moderation but still solid momentum. More on Spain EWP: Moderating Inflation, AI Investments, And American Tensions Bode Well For Spain EWP: Spanish Stocks To Benefit From Solid GDP Growth In 2026 Spain's service sector growth hits 12-month high in December Spain's manufacturing sector enters contraction territory Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on iShares MSCI Spain ETF