Happy Wednesday and welcome to your morning wrap of the latest business and political headlines from around the world.
First up, Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in Moscow for talks on ending the war in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported.
Prior to the meeting, Putin accused Ukraine’s European allies of sabotaging US-led efforts to end the war. “They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of war,” he said.
He accused Europe of amending peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia” that were “blocking the entire peace process”.
Putin reiterated that Russia has no plans to attack Europe. “But if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away. There can be no doubt about that.”
Trump’s peace plan relies on Europe to provide the bulk of the financing and security guarantees for post-war Ukraine, even though no Europeans appear to have been consulted on the original plan. That’s why European governments have pushed to ensure that peace efforts address their concerns about Russian aggression.
In tech news, Sam Altman has declared a “code red” at OpenAI to improve ChatGPT amid mounting competition from rivals.
Tech news website The Information reported that the chief executive of the San Francisco-based start-up told staff in an internal memo: “We are at a critical time for Chat GPT.”
As The Guardian reports, OpenAI has been rattled by the success of Google’s latest AI model, Gemini 3, and is devoting more internal resources to improving its own chatbot.
Marc Benioff, the chief executive of the US$220b software group Salesforce, wrote last month he had switched allegiance to Gemini and was “not going back” after trying Google’s latest release.
To Hong Kong now, where leader John Lee has called for an independent committee to be set up to investigate the cause of a devastating fire that killed at least 151 people, the BBC reported.
Last Wednesday, seven of eight tower blocks at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex went up in flames. The building had been undergoing extensive renovations, and investigators have since found that the protective netting used around the building failed to meet safety standards.
At least 13 people have been arrested for suspected manslaughter, including the construction company’s directors, as the fire is the deadliest the city has recorded in more than 70 years.
Lee said the committee would be led by a judge and would conduct “comprehensive reform”.
Hong Kong chief executive John Lee.
To Europe now, where Eurozone inflation ticked up to 2.2% in November, slightly ahead of economists’ expectations of a 2.1% rise, CNBC reported.
The main components of the increase were higher prices for services, which rose to 3.5% from 3.4% in the prior month.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, was at 2.4%, unchanged from the previous month.
In the United States, consumers spent a record amount during the holiday shopping season known as Cyber Week (which covers the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday), Reuters reported.
According to a report from Adobe Analytics, consumers spent US$14.25b on Cyber Monday alone, pushing total online sales over the holiday period to $44.2b, which was 7.7% higher than a year ago.
A record 202.9 million US customers shopped during the period, compared with 197 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
"This year's record turnout reflects a highly engaged consumer who is focused on value, responds to compelling promotions, and seizes upon the opportunity to make the winter holidays special and meaningful," NRF chief executive Matthew Shay said.
Analysts have noted that even though big discounts from the likes of Amazon, Walmart and Target prompted a few customers to take on short-term debt, consumers remained savvy and watched price tags carefully to avoid impulse buys.
Staying in the US, the chief executive of Dell Technologies and his wife have announced they are donating more than $6b to fund investment accounts for at least 25 million American children, CNN reported.
The pledge from Michael and Susan Dell will go toward “Trump Accounts”, which were established as part of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and are set to launch in 2026.
The Treasury Department is set to deposit $1000 into the account of every eligible US citizen child born from January 2025 through to December 31, 2028.
The Dells’ charitable gift will go towards children aged 10 and under who were born before the cut-off for the Treasury’s funding, thereby depositing $250 into investment accounts for at least 25 million children.
