FirstFT: ‘I am prepared to speak’ to Putin about ending Ukraine war, says Biden

US president Joe Biden has mentioned he’s “ready to talk with” Vladimir Putin in regards to the warfare in Ukraine if Russia’s chief reveals an curiosity in bringing the nine-month conflict to an end.

“I’m ready to talk with Mr Putin if the truth is there’s an curiosity in him deciding he’s in search of a solution to finish the warfare,” Biden mentioned, including that he would solely accomplish that after consulting Nato allies.

The remarks, made at a press convention in Washington, DC, throughout a bilateral summit with Emmanuel Macron, president of France, mark the furthest Biden has gone in expressing an openness to debate the warfare with Putin.

The US president mentioned he had “no fast plans” to contact Russia’s chief, including that he had not seen any indications from Putin that he was prepared to deliver the warfare to an finish.

“He hasn’t executed that but. If that’s the case, in session with my French and Nato associates, I’ll be comfortable to take a seat down with Putin to see what he has in thoughts,” Biden mentioned.

5 extra tales within the information

1. Blackstone limits withdrawals at $125bn property fund The US personal fairness group has limited withdrawals from its actual property funding fund following a surge in redemption requests and as considerations develop in regards to the business property market’s long-term well being. Blackstone accredited solely 43 per cent of redemption requests within the fund final month.

2. Ramaphosa’s presidency below menace South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa is below mounting pressure to resign after a parliamentary report concluded he abused his workplace within the fallout from the theft of greater than $500,000 from his personal sport farm. Ramaphosa wouldn’t be “rushed” into a choice, his spokesperson mentioned yesterday night.

3. Inflation overwhelms Europe’s meals banks Throughout Europe, meals financial institution use is hovering as the best inflation in a technology hits the area’s poorest. However with thousands and thousands extra folks struggling to make ends meet, many organisations have been pressured to shut their doors to new applicants.

4. Visa executives obtain bonuses regardless of lacking development goal The cardboard firm’s executives have obtained millions of dollars in bonuses this 12 months regardless of lacking a “transactions development” goal which the board mentioned may have been met if not for the warfare in Ukraine. Chief govt Alfred Kelly obtained a $6.2mn bonus for 2022.

5. Defence start-up Anduril raises virtually $1.5bn Established 5 years in the past by Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey, Anduril has raised nearly $1.5bn within the 12 months’s second-biggest enterprise capital spherical within the US, marking a milestone for younger tech corporations making an attempt to interrupt into the notoriously troublesome area of defence procurement.

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The times forward

Financial knowledge and earnings Germany publishes October commerce steadiness figures and UK coaching consultancy Thoughts Health club releases first-half outcomes at this time.

Prince William and Kate to satisfy Joe Biden The Prince and Princess of Wales are in Boston at this time for the Earthshot Prize ceremony. They’re expected to meet US president Joe Biden on the John F Kennedy Presidential Library. (CBS)

Opec+ assembly Oil ministers and their allies will meet just about on Sunday, a day earlier than the European embargo on seaborne Russian crude goes into impact. Premium subscribers can learn extra in regards to the conundrum dealing with Opec+ on this week’s Energy Source newsletter.

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What else we’re studying

Simon Schama: artwork versus the tyrants With the streets of China and Iran not too long ago “alive with infuriated, chanting crowds, so uninterested in being institutionally deceived”, the historian displays on how poetically charged phrases, photographs and music will be deployed as unlikely weapons. “Tradition can do that as a result of it might join with human habits, wants and intuitions in ways in which expose the inhuman hollowness of official propaganda,” he writes.

Contained in the Covid revolt in ‘iPhone Metropolis’ Managers on the world’s largest iPhone manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou, China, breathed a sigh of aid when native officers lifted a five-day lockdown on a lot of the metropolis this week. However the troubles are far from over for Apple’s contract producer Foxconn, which is struggling to workers meeting strains for the pre-holiday excessive season.

Incendiary claims in regards to the UK census ‘don’t mirror actuality’ The most recent tranche of knowledge from the UK’s 2021 census, which incorporates figures on race and ethnicity, was promptly met with a volley of incendiary responses. However virtually all of those claims are unfaithful, writes our chief data reporter John Burn-Murdoch.

What to anticipate from the Wirecard trial On Thursday, a German felony court docket will start dissecting the collapse of disgraced funds firm Wirecard. Three former senior managers, together with chief govt Markus Braun, face costs of fraud, embezzlement and accounting and market manipulation in a trial that’s anticipated to proceed into at the very least 2024.

Soccer’s VAR is a lesson in flawed expertise The usage of video help expertise within the World Cup provides an intriguing case study of how troublesome it may be to realize optimum product-market slot in a extremely pressured setting that issues massively to thousands and thousands of fanatical followers, writes John Thornhill.

Vacation items

Yinka Ilori, Brendon Babenzien, Tata Harper, Jody Williams, Rita Sodi and others share their secrets for buying the best gifts for trend, magnificence and the house this vacation season.