Mōrena and welcome to another bitterly cold winter morning. Settle in with a cuppa and catch up on your daily dose of international business and political news.
First, US President Donald Trump warned that Elon Musk could face "serious consequences" if the billionaire businessman backed Democrats in upcoming elections, the ABC reported.
It marked the latest tit-for-tat in the ongoing squabble between the pair since their high-profile fallout took centre stage on social media last week.
Trump was “not interested” in a phone call with the Tesla chief executive. “No. I won’t be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well,” Trump told CNN. “The poor guy’s got a problem.”
Musk said SpaceX would decommission its Dragon spacecraft, the only way of transporting crew to and from the International Space Station. But later Musk said Dragon would not be decommissioned, CNBC reported.
Space agency Nasa’s budget had already faced funding cuts under the Trump administration, but the feud could deepen that after Trump threatened to withdraw federal contracts with Musk's Space X.
Open University space scientist Dr Simeon Barber told the BBC the uncertainty was having a "chilling impact" on the space programme.
"The astonishing exchanges, snap decisions, and U-turns we've witnessed in the last week undermine the very foundations that we build our ambitions on. Space science and exploration relies upon long-term planning and cooperation between government, companies, and academic institutions."
Elon Musk.
In business news, Bloomberg has an exclusive story about social media company Meta Platforms in talks for a multi-billion-dollar investment in artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, according to sources.
The terms of the deal were not finalised and could change. Scale AI’s customers included Microsoft and OpenAI.
The startup was valued at about US$14 billion last year, Bloomberg said. If the details were correct, it would be Meta’s biggest ever external AI investment.
In Ukraine, Russia claimed its forces had reached the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time, an area it had been trying to reach for months, CNN reported. But the broadcaster also quoted a Ukrainian official who said Russia was constantly spreading false information about entering the area.
Bloomberg reported that French vehicle manufacturer Renault held talks with the country’s Defence Ministry to produce drones in Ukraine. Renault exited the Russian market after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The drones could be used by Ukraine and the French armed forces, according to media reports.
Elsewhere, the US added more jobs than expected in May, with 139,000 more people in work. That was ahead of expectations of 125,000. Market commentators said the strength of the labour market put the Federal Reserve in a tricky position because inflation remained sticky.
Asset management firm deVere Group chief executive Nigel Green said hopes of a mid-year rate cut had diminished. “The Fed has said time and again it needs to see weakness in the labour market to move. This isn’t weakness. It’s strength with staying power.”
In the UK, bonuses for 10 water company executives were put on ice because of increasing serious sewage pollution, the Guardian reported. The companies, including Thames Water, Anglian Water, and Yorkshire Water, were responsible for the most serious category of sewage pollution into rivers and oceans.
Sector regulator Ofwat now had powers to ban bonuses for water executives if a company failed to meet proper standards on environmental and financial performance, or if convicted of a criminal offence, the Guardian said.
And, over the Ditch, former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for his services to the country in today's King’s Birthday Honours, the ABC reported.
Morrison thanked Australians for their "courage and resilience" during major natural disasters, especially bushfires and the Covid-19 pandemic. He was in charge from 2018 to 2022.
Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
