🎖️ Russian reshuffle

• The greatest risk for the global economy in the near future is the cost-of-living crisis while the biggest long-term threats remain climate-related, according to the Global Risks Report published by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. The annual poll of 1,200 government, business, and civil society professionals suggests there will be little respite in the next two years as countries grapple with "energy, inflation, food, and security crises."

^{via Bloomberg}

• Looking ahead… The WEF will hold its annual meetings next week in Davos, Switzerland, where the business, political and academic elite will share insights and start framing plans for the year ahead.

• Short-time work, the government-backed 'Kurzarbeit' facility, remained at a low level in December, suggesting a "very mild" recession in Germany this winter, the Ifo economic institute said on Wednesday. The number of workers on shortened hours eased to 186,000 in December from a seasonally adjusted 188,000 in November, Ifo said, citing estimates based on data from the Federal Employment Agency.

• The French economy continued to grow in the final quarter of 2022 and should avoid a contraction despite headwinds from surging energy prices, according to a Bank of France survey. Business activity advanced more than expected in December, bringing economic growth for Q4 to 0.1%. Supply-side difficulties also decreased in industry, and especially in construction, the institution said.

^{via Bloomberg}

• The quote: "Activity in France is resisting rather better than predicted," Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said in an interview. "It’s slowing. We have slightly positive growth. But overall, it’s holding up." He said the country will avoid a “hard landing” as had been feared back in September.
• A step back: The report on Europe’s second-largest economy adds to indications that 2023 may not turn out as bad as expected. On Tuesday, economists at Goldman Sachs dropped their forecast for a recession in the single-currency bloc.

• Sweden’s new center-right government wants to build new nuclear plants to boost energy security amid a fierce debate over high electricity prices and the need to generate carbon-free energy. PM Ulf Kristersson said a new law would be proposed to lift current restrictions that limit the number of Swedish nuclear reactors to 10 in only three locations across the country.

• Zoom out: Sweden is the latest European country to look to nuclear power to increase its renewable energy generation. The UK plans to start work on eight reactors by 2030, while Germany and Belgium recently extended the life of some reactors beyond their original shutdown dates after policy U-turns.

• Turkey’s current account deficit grew less than expected to $3.7 billion in November, with the 12-month rolling deficit showing a loss of momentum in the pace of widening, amounting to $45 billion and translating into 5.2% of the country’s GDP.

• LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault promoted his daughter Delphine to run the fashion brand Dior and named Pietro Beccari, who has run Dior since 2018, the new CEO of the group’s flagship brand Louis Vuitton. The moves are part of a larger management reshuffle as the 73-year-old Arnault looks to facilitate leadership succession at the group he built into the most valuable company in Europe.

^{via FT}

• The founder and chief executive of Cellnex, the largest mobile tower company in Europe, resigned on Wednesday as tower groups around the world prepare for a period of retrenchment due to rapidly rising interest rates driving up capital costs. Tobias Martínez, who has been at the helm of Cellnex for eight years, will step down on June 1, the company said.

• The German car industry called on both Brussels and Berlin for a European industrial policy to counter the US green subsidy regime in order to ensure the sector’s competitiveness in the future. German car lobby VDA’s president Hildegard Müller on Wednesday said, "The US has recognized what they have to do for their [country] — Germany and Europe must do the same."

^Volkswagen

• Zoom out: She was referring to the US Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $369 billion of subsidies for green technologies and has sparked controversy in Europe. Müller described the IRA as a "wake-up call" for European regulators, arguing that the policy was a "protectionist and discriminatory regulatory approach that is at odds with open trade."
• On a related note: South Korean manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells plans to spend $2.5 billion to expand solar power equipment production in the US, a sign that the IRA is sparking new clean energy investment. The move marks the largest foreign direct investment in US solar manufacturing, according to fDi Markets.

• Russia's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday it appointed the country's top general, Valery Gerasimov, as the overall commander of its "special military operation" in Ukraine— the biggest reshuffling of its military command structure after months of battlefield setbacks. The Chief of the General Staff's order to rescue the stuttering campaign comes as Moscow struggles to seize Ukraine's eastern town of Soledar in the Donbas after taking heavy casualties.

^{via Reuters}

• On a related note: Ukraine's Defense Ministry denied claims that Russia's mercenary Wagner group had taken over Ukraine's eastern town of Soledar, saying that intense fighting continued in the small mining town in the Donbas region.
• More support: Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said they will send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, in a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Meanwhile, the UK is discussing "accelerating" support for Ukraine, including the provision of tanks, according to a government spokesperson on Wednesday.
• In response: Russia's Ambassador to the US said the Pentagon's decision to start training Ukrainian soldiers on the Patriot missile system confirms Washington's "de facto involvement" in the war.

• Hundreds of police in Germany on Wednesday began clearing climate protesters gathered in the tiny eastern village of Luetzerath to defend it from being bulldozed to expand a nearby opencast lignite coal mine. Protesters, who were wearing masks and bio suits, formed human chains and made a makeshift barricade. Climate activist Greta Thunberg is planning to join the protests on Saturday, Reuters reported.

^{via Reuters}

• Around 20,000 ambulance workers in the UK held a strike over pay, as the National Health Service (NHS) advised patients to use services "wisely" and to call 999 for life-threatening emergencies only. Meanwhile, 14 health unions have made it clear that they will not discuss pay for next year until their demands for this year are met, putting pressure on ministers.

• An attacker stabbed and wounded six people at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, leaving one person with serious injuries, before being shot by police, Frances Interior Ministry said. Ministry added that the unnamed attacker stabbed travelers with a seemingly homemade weapon at the entrance and inside the station.

• China's air travel regulator is preparing to allow airlines to fly more routes between China and the US after Beijing lifted anti-Covid traveling restrictions, state media reported. The Civil Aviation Administration of China will talk to US regulators to "promote the smooth resumption of flights," the report said.

• Contrary perspectives: Japan and South Korea protested China's move to stop issuing new visas to the two countries for putting Covid-19 traveling restrictions on China, with Japan's chief cabinet secretary criticizing Beijing for implementing"one-sided" restrictions.

• More than 7,300 flights across the US were delayed and 1,100 canceled on Wednesday morning following a system outage of the Federal Aviation Administration system that provides pilots with notices before flying. Flights then slowly resumed departures as the FAA lifted the ground stop, but officials said the outage could cause delays through at least Thursday.

^{via CNN}

• 43 former Twitter workers in the UK have accused the social media company of subjecting them to "unlawful, unfair and completely unacceptable" treatment during a "sham" redundancy process. The law firm representing the workers said Twitter's downsizing procedure under Elon Musk broke UK's unemployment law by treating affected employees as having already been dismissed before consulting and immediately suspending them from internal company systems.

• FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried invested $20 million in a large venture capital fund by Paradigm, a crypto and Web 3 investment company, highlighting close links between the fallen billionaire and some of his backers. That same Paradigm One fund then invested in the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX with an investment of about $215 million, according to disclosures made this week in bankruptcy court.

• Russia will send up a new capsule next month to bring back three International Space Station crew members whose original ride home was damaged, officials said Wednesday. The two Russians and one American will stay several extra months at the ISS as a result of the capsule switch, possibly pushing their mission to close to a year.

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