Welcome to your Friday dose of business and political news from around the world.
We start in the United States where a manhunt is underway in Utah to find the gunman who allegedly assassinated conservative activist and influential Trump ally Charlie Kirk, the BBC reported.
The 31-year-old was speaking on Wednesday local time when he was hit in the neck by a bullet. The killer's identity and motive were not yet known but US President Donald Trump promised a crackdown on political violence, particularly for “radical left political violence”.
The Salt Lake City FBI shared pictures of a person of interest in the shooting of Kirk. Two pictures posted on social media showed a man in black sunglasses, a baseball cap, a long-sleeved black shirt and jeans, the Guardian reported.
The FBI asked for help to identify the person in connection with the attack at Utah Valley University.
Elsewhere, Trump urged European Union officials to slap China and India with tariffs of up to 100% to try end Russia's war in Ukraine, according to officials, the ABC and Reuters reported.
Trump had so far failed to broker a deal to end the conflict. He made the tariff request to EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan and other EU officials. An EU diplomat said the US had indicated it was willing to impose similar tariffs if the EU followed through with the request.
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was considering a faster phase-out of Russian fossil fuels as part of new sanctions.
The US Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to disband two committees focused on climate change and its impact on the economy and financial stability, Bloomberg reported.
The council voted to revoke the charters of the climate-related Financial Risk Committee and climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee, established when Joe Biden was president.
“By rescinding these charters, the council can better focus its attention and resources on core financial stability issues and our efforts to promote economic growth and security, while maintaining safety and soundness and protecting consumers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves told private equity bosses she planned to shut down more regulators across the UK in an attempt to grow the sluggish economy, the Guardian reported.
“I want to take out more regulators; there’s still too many,” Reeves told the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association summit this week.
She stopped short of saying which regulators could be getting the chop, but said environmental regulations, once viewed as a “blocker of growth”, were being changed.
“We will make it easier to do business in Britain, ripping out those things that have been blocking growth and instead, backing the builders,” Reeves said.
WBD formerly owned and operated Newshub in NZ.
In business news, Paramount Skydance is working with an investment bank to prepare an offer for rival media company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), according to sources, CNBC reported.
WBD shares soared more than 25% on Thursday local time after initial reports of a possible takeover bid. Both Paramount and WBD declined to comment.
WBD recently announced plans to separate its global television networks business from its streaming business and studios. The Wall Street Journal reported the Paramount Skydance offer could be an all-cash offer for all of WBD.
Finally, New Zealand and the UK updated their joint statement on defence co-operation against a backdrop of global instability.
“Russia’s illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, increasing strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific and attacks on commercial shipping in the Middle East are among the issues affecting both of our regions, and it is vital that we stand firm in the face of current and future threats,” Defence Minister Judith Collins said.
Collins and UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey signed the 2025 Joint Statement on Defence Cooperation in London yesterday.
“In a deteriorating global environment, New Zealand is committed to working with like-minded partners to uphold the international rules-based order that is fundamental to our security and prosperity,” Collins said.
