FirstFT: UK considers jets for Ukraine after Zelenskyy’s appeal

Britain is now wanting into sending fight plane to Ukraine after Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to as for western fighter jets in an impassioned plea for “wings for freedom” within the UK parliament yesterday.

As Ukraine’s president started a European journey that can even soak up Paris and Brussels, Downing Road mentioned UK defence secretary Ben Wallace had been requested to look at “what jets we would be capable to give” Ukraine, nevertheless it warned that this was a “medium- to long-term” answer.

A global debate is raging over how a lot additional the west ought to go in arming Ukraine, and Zelenskyy thanked the UK for its function in cajoling different allies to offer extra assist.

Throughout a hero’s welcome within the Eleventh-century Westminster Corridor, he mentioned: “I enchantment to you and the world: fight plane for Ukraine. Wings for freedom.”

His pleas prompted UK prime minister Rishi Sunak to make his most constructive remarks about probably supplying jets to Ukraine.

“We’ve been very clear, and we’ve been clear for a very long time, that relating to co-operation and navy help to Ukraine, nothing is off the desk,” he mentioned.

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1. Disney to axe 7,000 jobs Disney chief government Bob Iger introduced plans to cut its workforce by 7,000, or about 3 per cent, as a part of a broad restructuring. The reinstalled chief mentioned the overhaul would save $5.5bn over the following few years. Traders had been ready to listen to Iger’s plan to reinvigorate the corporate since his shock reappointment in November.

2. Adani confronted margin name on $1.1bn mortgage Gautam Adani repaid a $1.1bn share-backed mortgage final week after facing a margin call of more than $500mn. Sources mentioned lenders requested the Indian billionaire prime up the quantity of inventory pledged in opposition to the mortgage, after fraud claims by quick vendor Hindenburg led to a pointy fall in shares of Adani corporations.

3. Erdoğan’s quake response examined as election looms Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a uncommon admission of shortcomings whereas hitting at critics of his authorities’s response to earthquakes which have claimed greater than 11,000 lives in Turkey and Syria. “Now’s the time for unity,” he mentioned, in rhetoric that laid naked the problem of sustaining public assist forward of elections in Could.

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5. Google shares fall after AI chatbot debut stumbles Shares of Google father or mother Alphabet closed almost 8 per cent lower yesterday, wiping billions of {dollars} off its market worth, after consultants identified that its chatbot Bard had made a factual error within the first video demo of its product.

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The day forward

EU summit Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is anticipated to attend a particular summit in Brussels following his go to to the UK.

Financial knowledge Germany, Brazil and Mexico launch their January shopper worth indices, RICS publishes its month-to-month survey of home costs within the UK, the US has unemployment claims and the EU releases its financial forecasts.

Company outcomes AstraZeneca, Bombardier, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Crédit Agricole, Credit score Suisse, Expedia, Kellogg, L’Oréal, PayPal, PepsiCo, Ralph Lauren, Siemens and Unilever report. See the total listing in our publication, The Week Ahead.

Former FBI agent in US court docket Charles McGonigal, who has been charged with working for sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, is anticipated to look in federal court docket in Manhattan.

Be a part of us on February 23 at 1pm GMT for a subscriber-only webinar, Putin’s warfare on Ukraine: when and the way will it finish? with the FT’s Ben Corridor, Chris Miller and visitors. Register on your free ticket at ft.com/ukraine-event.

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Russia’s propaganda machine reshapes the African narrative Within the second a part of a sequence on Russia in Africa, the Monetary Occasions explores how pro-Russia African influencers — some paid however many talking out of conviction — are tapping into real frustrations and sympathies to justify Moscow’s model of occasions. Analysts say “hybrid” warfare instruments, together with propaganda, deception and different non-military ways, are being deployed to unsettle western pursuits on the continent.

Opinion: We have to deliver honour again The concept our behaviour ought to be guided not solely by respect for the regulation, nor even by a sure ethical code, but by a sense of honour is an retro one. However in our present society obsessive about advantage signalling, honouring honour is definitely a greater strategy, writes Jemima Kelly.

How FTX constructed its community of stars Endorsements from celebrities and athletes similar to American soccer participant Tom Brady, basketball star Steph Curry and comic Larry David performed an enormous function within the fast rise of FTX. However behind the star-studded facade, court docket paperwork reveal a web of personal and financial relationships.

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Take a break from the information

In his newest fashion column, Robert Armstrong explains why it’s best to say no to oversized clothes.