Sky News: WPP finance chief Joanne Wilson in line for Diageo CFO post
Sky News said on Tuesday that Joanne Wilson is expected to move from WPP, Britain’s largest advertising group, into the top finance role at Diageo, the maker of Guinness.
Sky News said on Tuesday that Joanne Wilson is expected to move from WPP, Britain’s largest advertising group, into the top finance role at Diageo, the maker of Guinness.
Donald Trump’s summit with China’s Xi Jinping will draw a strong group of US corporate leaders, but China will not send a comparable delegation of executives, raising questions about the prospects for reaching new deals.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra is expected to attend President Donald Trump’s Thursday state dinner at the White House for Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to two sources familiar with the matter. U.S. automakers are warning against allowing Chinese manufacturers into the market, while Trump signals he may be open to it.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker sharply criticized Donald Trump’s planned treatment of Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Washington this week. The rebuke marks a significant public break by a key member of Trump’s own party just before a high-stakes summit.
China’s ambassador to the United States warned on Wednesday that Beijing has “red lines” on Taiwan, human rights and other issues that must not be crossed, ahead of this week’s meeting between the two countries’ leaders in Washington.

Xi Jinping is expected to visit Washington from September 23 to 25 for his second meeting this year with Donald Trump. Experts anticipate an extension of the trade truce but little substantive progress on disputes including rare earths, AI regulation, technology exports, arms sales to Taiwan and Iran. The two sides are seeking stability, not reconciliation, amid deep mistrust.
Chinese President Xi Jinping begins his first state visit to the United States in 11 years on September 23, with talks with President Donald Trump expected to center on stabilizing bilateral ties. The agenda includes fentanyl precursors, expiring mutual moratoriums, rare earths, tariffs, China’s access to advanced AI chips, and US arms supplies to Taiwan. The leaders are also expected to discuss Ukraine, US-Iran tensions, Hormuz shipping, sanctions and militarization of space.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is due in Washington on Sept. 23 for a closely watched one-day summit with President Donald Trump the next day. The leaders of the world’s two largest economies are expected to seek warmer personal ties and common ground on trade, artificial intelligence, the Iran war and Taiwan’s future.

As Xi Jinping prepares for a state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25, experts say competition and cooperation will coexist as a normal feature of China-US ties. They identify room for practical cooperation in global governance, law enforcement, AI, trade, climate change and people-to-people exchanges, while urging safeguards around competition and greater youth contact to build trust.

CGTN’s Mike Walter revisits 13 years spent covering diplomacy between the United States and China while Xi Jinping and Donald Trump ready themselves for another high-stakes encounter.
Asian shares were on course for a sixth straight session of gains on Wednesday, supported by signs that consumer demand for AI applications was continuing to lift technology stocks. Oil prices weakened amid reports of increased supply from the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump said his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held three hours of talks with Iranian officials in New York during the UN General Debate. Iran reportedly said reopening the Strait of Hormuz would require lifting the US naval blockade, unfreezing Iranian assets and ending the regional war. Trump warned he could “annihilate the Islamic Republic” without a deal.


Oil prices fell Wednesday as hopes grew for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in the Middle East after Iran and the United States held talks for hours at a UN meeting.

President Trump says US officials held a “very good” meeting with the Iranian delegation at the United Nations on Tuesday.

The 81st UN General Assembly opened with US President Donald Trump threatening to ‘annihilate’ Iran. Despite the threat, US and Iranian officials held three hours of talks on the sidelines of the gathering.

Donald Trump said Iranian officials held three hours of talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff during the UN General Assembly, with another meeting expected soon. An Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week if Washington took reciprocal steps to ease military and economic pressure, though Iranian factions disputed whether a new position had been approved.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told the UN General Assembly that Qatar is more than a mediator in the US-Israeli war on Iran. He said Qatar will continue pursuing diplomacy while providing humanitarian support to people affected by the conflict.
Circle and Binance announced a new five-year commercial agreement alongside Binance’s $100 million equity investment in Circle. Binance customer USDC balances have grown nearly fivefold to about $7.1 billion since the companies’ first deal, far outpacing overall USDC supply growth. But Circle has paid heavily for the distribution, leaving the renewed partnership’s economics uncertain.

Shares of major banks, insurers and online travel agencies fell Tuesday as investors worried that personal AI agents such as Meta Platforms Inc.’s Muse could disrupt businesses benefiting from “consumer inertia” — the habit of continuing to buy something even when a better alternative is available.
The 23rd China-ASEAN Expo brought together more than 3,400 companies from over 70 countries and regions. Focusing on business opportunities under the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 framework and emerging AI applications, the 2026 expo helped deepen mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN members.
South Korea aims to reduce its reliance on Middle Eastern crude oil to 50% by 2035, the Industry Ministry said on Wednesday. The move comes as Asia’s fourth-largest economy seeks to diversify energy supplies after disruption caused by the Iran war.
Qantas will launch direct Sydney–New York flights in mid-2028, taking about 18 hours and cutting at least three hours from the current journey via Los Angeles. It will be the second route in the airline’s Project Sunrise expansion, following Sydney–London flights planned for October 2027.


Qantas plans to begin selling tickets next year for its first nonstop flight between New York and Sydney.
Peloton Interactive introduced three new treadmills set to go on sale Oct. 1, including its cheapest model yet. The launch deepens the company’s push into a segment it views as central to its long-promised turnaround.
XRP reached an intraday high of $1.60 on Sept. 22 amid roughly $7.4 billion in reported volume. CFTC data showed leveraged funds cut their CME futures net short by 46.3 million XRP in the week through Sept. 15, far more than the 2.452 million XRP reduction across three Coinbase products. Because the positioning data predates the price move, it does not establish causation.

Apollo Global Management received fewer withdrawal requests for its flagship private credit fund during the third-quarter tender offer, suggesting that redemption queues may be starting to clear.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an advisory warning about the distinct dangers of markets tied to individuals’ behavior, including the risk of cheating.


The CFTC is warning that prediction-market bets on whether someone will mention specific words carry heightened risks of manipulation.
Bank of America says China’s drive for technology self-reliance is creating new investment opportunities in artificial intelligence stocks. But stretched valuations and geopolitical tensions are making the sector an increasingly risky bet, even as Chinese tech firms catch up with overseas rivals and prominent listings widen investor choice.

President Donald Trump backed a diesel export ban on Tuesday as a way to reduce prices that have reached record highs amid a global supply shortage. Analysts and market watchers say the move would do little to lower energy costs and could instead deepen supply and economic disruptions worldwide.
Donald Trump said he would support suspending US sales of diesel to foreign markets, as conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine drive up the price of the vital fuel.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he supported the idea of banning diesel exports. Some U.S. politicians are advocating the measure as a way to rein in soaring energy costs.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is assessing whether a diesel export ban could work, taking into account overall refining capacity and whether the measure should be full or partial.
Banning US diesel exports may seem like a tempting way for President Trump to demonstrate action against record-shattering diesel prices, but researchers warn the measure would likely backfire over the medium and long term.
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson says the Australian airline remains confident that demand for nonstop services is strong, despite elevated fuel prices.
China is betting that patient capital, rather than quick trades, will define its next phase of growth. After Warren Buffett stepped down last week and as investors watch this week’s US-China leadership summit for signs of easing tensions, attention is turning to whether Beijing’s version of his value-investing legacy can revive Wall Street’s appetite for Chinese assets.

The U.S.-initiated trade war with China and most other global trading partners has eased since President Donald Trump imposed his so-called “liberation day” tariffs in April 2025. U.S. imports from China rose for a fifth consecutive month in August, but tensions persist, particularly in key technology industries.

France will broaden targeted energy relief for those hit hardest by surging fuel prices, Finance Minister Roland Lescure said Tuesday. The measures are intended to help households cope with a spike driven by the conflict in the Middle East.

Facing pressure to support businesses and workers hit by soaring fuel prices, France is expanding targeted energy relief for those most affected. The new package costs €450 million, taking the total announced so far to €1.4 billion. President Emmanuel Macron is also calling for more biofuels in diesel, while an expert assesses the environmental risks of rapidly increasing their use.
Spain plans to ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas from January 1, 2027, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said, despite long-term supply contracts held by Spanish companies. He said Madrid would follow the European Union’s new sanctions and could help other European countries obtain LNG from reliable partners such as the United States.
Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said on Tuesday that oil prices are becoming an increasingly important indicator for European Central Bank policymakers when setting interest rates, while other factors remain crucial. Markets had increased bets on rate hikes as energy costs rose.
Crypto venture capital firm Hashed is anchoring a new private credit fund for digital assets, with a $300 million fundraising target. The fund will use “covenant-based” underwriting to address a critical financing bottleneck in the institutional digital asset sector.

U.S. financial stocks came under pressure on Tuesday, with investors concerned about competition from artificial intelligence and uncertainty surrounding AI-related IPOs. Bond-market moves that could signal weaker conditions ahead added to the pressure.
Private equity firms are holding onto assets for longer, disrupting the traditional buyout model. They increasingly resemble the Hotel California: assets check in, but almost never leave.
The OCC has advanced Agora, Catena and Bastion toward federal trust-bank status under a repeatable framework for narrow, uninsured institutions. But final approvals, conversion work, capital, distribution, reserves and operations remain hurdles, while unfinished stablecoin rules and state-level challenges limit the charter’s value as a standalone moat.

The head of the Inter-American Development Bank has been working to win approval for a $2.5 billion loan to Venezuela, but some members of the lender’s board have pushed back, according to two people familiar with the matter.
CFTC Chairman Selig says markets need to prepare for “mass tokenization” as the Trump administration works on an overhaul of financial markets and tokenization and 24/7 trading gain prominence.

Billionaire Todd Boehly has won support from the US government and Gulf power brokers linked to the Trump family for his bid to acquire the international assets of Russian oil giant Lukoil, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Paramount has cleared the final hurdle in its year-long effort to take over Warner Bros. Discovery. The difficult work now turns to carrying out its plans for Hollywood.
Roberto Perli, the New York Fed official responsible for implementing the Federal Reserve’s short-term interest-rate policy, said Tuesday that the central bank’s monetary policy control toolkit remains highly effective.
October Prime Day is still a few weeks away, but expert-vetted discounts on skin care, hair care, makeup and beauty tools are already available for shoppers who want to buy early.


Editor-vetted Amazon deals under $50 feature products from Medicube, Casper and other brands, with prices and discount quality checked throughout the sale.
White House and U.S. Treasury officials agree that, although Congress’s lame-duck session might revisit the bill, responsibility for the work now rests with regulators.

New York City has finalised a settlement worth more than $131m with DoorDash over allegations that it underpaid delivery workers. About $115m will go directly to workers, with the agreement expected to affect 260,000 people. Eligible workers will receive twice what they were originally owed.

DoorDash has agreed to pay $131.5 million to settle claims that it underpaid delivery workers in New York City. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the agreement Tuesday.
DoorDash said it agreed to a $131.5 million settlement with New York City to resolve an investigation into whether it complied with minimum-pay rules for couriers.
DoorDash said Tuesday it agreed to pay $131.5 million to settle a New York City government probe that found the food delivery company underpaid workers or delayed their payments.
A consortium backed by the US government and Gulf billionaires is seeking to defeat Carlyle in a bid for Lukoil’s assets. Carlyle struck a deal in January to buy the Russian group’s international business.
A scheme described as “Ponzi-like” is causing a stir on the Bosphorus and prompting dismay in Turkey.
Canada is the world’s largest potash producer, with all of its output coming from 10 active mines in Saskatchewan. U.S. President Donald Trump says he is working toward a deal to buy potash from Belarus instead. The question is whether Belarus could replace Canada’s supply.
Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras will place a drillship in Foz do Amazonas in January to begin work on three new wells, said Renata Baruzzi, its director of engineering, technology and innovation.
Royal Caribbean is nearing a roughly $3 billion deal to acquire a 50% equity stake in Sandals. The cruise company has been seeking to diversify beyond cruises and become a leader across the broader vacation market.

Digital asset venture Animoca Brands and Nasdaq-listed Currenc Group have paused merger talks after failing to agree on definitive terms within the expected timetable. The move gives Currenc more flexibility to seek financing, while both companies retain the option of restarting discussions. Animoca is separately continuing work toward a future public listing.

Russian businesses hope China and India will maintain trade with Russia after the United States adopted the so-called “sanctions from hell” law, RSPP President Alexander Shokhin said. He cited transport, logistics, payment and settlement problems, along with secondary-sanctions risks, and stressed the importance of political backing and favorable financing for exporters competing abroad.
Peloton is preparing to launch its least expensive treadmill so far, betting that running’s growing popularity will help lift sales.
Europe is heading into a difficult winter because gas storage levels are historically low and supplies are constrained, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. He cited the EU’s plan to phase out Russian gas by 2027 and the loss of UAE and Qatari supplies following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving Europe to seek more gas from the US and Norway.
William Blair says Coinbase offers an attractive entry point after a 31% rise. The firm trimmed its EBITDA estimate and expects USDC growth to drive Circle’s next leg of expansion.

Asked on Tuesday about a possible US deal to buy potash from Belarus, President Donald Trump said the United States would continue purchasing from Canada, while Belarus would like to sell at a lower price.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said the country lacks enough potash to meet U.S. demand because this year's supplies are already contracted. His comments came after President Donald Trump announced preparations for a “massive” potash deal with Belarus as a cheaper alternative to Canadian supplies.
The Bank of Russia set the official dollar exchange rate for September 23 at 84.0657 rubles, down 2.97 kopecks from the previous rate. The euro rate rose to 96.5915 rubles, while the yuan rate fell to 12.5291 rubles.
Russia’s banking sector posted 440 billion rubles ($5.22 billion) in net profit in August, down 0.7% from July, the Bank of Russia said. Corporate funds rose 1.9% to 66.9 trillion rubles, while household funds fell 0.2% to 68.5 trillion rubles, possibly reflecting vacation spending and back-to-school preparations.
Bitcoin’s rally reflects current demand and positioning, while the Federal Reserve’s Financial Vulnerability Index tracks structural weaknesses that could amplify a future shock. Financial leverage was marked at 0.83 in the elevated band; the aggregate index stood at 0.65, valuation pressure at 0.77 and funding risk at 0.62, all notable. The measure suggests vulnerability can build during calm periods, while Bitcoin’s near-term path remains driven by flows, liquidity and positioning.

Russia’s 2026 harvest is nearing completion, with grain and oilseed volumes ahead of last year, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev said. The government is allocating about 10 billion rubles for rail transport subsidies and has suspended grain export duties through year-end to support steady domestic and export shipments while preventing oversupply.
Canada’s Big Six banks will launch an initiative to test tokenized deposits between banks. The initial phase will focus on transferring digital commercial deposits among participating institutions before connecting them to broader digital-asset ecosystems.

Donald Trump is discussing a $10bn fund with Arab allies to build new energy infrastructure across the Middle East and bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
African mobile payments group Airtel Money could file listing paperwork as early as this week, targeting an $800mn fundraising at a valuation of $8bn to $9bn.
Options activity indicates that traders expect a handful of stocks to reach fresh highs in the near future.

Russia’s non-resource, non-energy exports grew 8% in the first seven months of the year, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said. Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov said the exports exceeded 96 billion rubles ($1.14 billion), including 15.9 billion rubles from small and medium-sized businesses.
Trump disclosed more than 1,100 trades from July, including sales of technology stocks such as Amazon and Microsoft when the Magnificent Seven stocks surged on July 20 and added $291 billion in market value in a single day. The sales were worth as much as $25 million.

Aave governance has advanced a LlamaRisk proposal to raise maximum LTV for WBTC and cbBTC on Ethereum Core from 73% to 81% and the liquidation threshold from 78% to 85%. The change would reduce the collateral-price cushion to about 4.7%. The proposal reached Snapshot, but its vote and implementation were unverified at the reporting cutoff.

Nvidia shares are showing an unusual dynamic ahead of two potential catalysts expected this month. One trader has outlined a strategy for trading the setup.

OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais and Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri discussed oil market stability, energy security and timely investment in the oil industry at a high-level OPEC-India Energy Dialogue meeting in New Delhi. They reviewed short-, medium- and long-term outlooks and stressed deeper energy cooperation.
Breed VC has raised $15 million for its second crypto fund, with backers including FalconX, Nic Carter, Rob Hadick and Jake Brukhman.

Fuel prices have reached record highs across Europe in recent days, driven by surging oil prices amid the war in the Middle East and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. The size of the increases and government responses differ considerably from one country to another.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded nearly $1 billion in net inflows and absorbed about 11,530 BTC as Bitcoin moved above $86,000. BlackRock’s IBIT led the buying, but trading volume remained ordinary, and analysts said some of the reported inflows may reflect Friday’s activity because fund flows are reported with a lag.

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Global biofuel production is projected to rise by nearly 70% between 2025 and 2030, a study published Tuesday said. Major producing countries are moving to raise blending mandates in response to an energy crisis caused by the Iran war.
Donald Trump Jr., Chase Herro and several business partners gathered at Manhattan’s Jazz at Lincoln Center last year to promote an expansive vision for World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture.
Automotive diesel prices in the Czech Republic rose 14.3% in August from July, the biggest increase among EU member states, compared with an EU average of 8.3%. Diesel averaged 49.13 korunas per liter at Czech filling stations. From October 1, the government will cap retailers’ margins and cut the diesel excise tax.
Taylor Lindman, the top lawyer at the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, says the agency is working to help firms become comfortable with blockchain technology and crypto assets.

Leaders of nine major European pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, GSK and Novo Nordisk, have urged European governments to act as the continent falls behind the US and China in developing new medicines and attracting investment. They called for medicines to be treated as strategic infrastructure to restore competitiveness and protect health sovereignty.

The franchise business running 314 Wendy’s restaurants in the United States turned to bankruptcy protection after the chain tried to end its franchise relationship.
Gazprom said its Russian domestic sales of LNG for vehicle fueling and off-grid gas supply rose 24.9% in 2025 to 57,100 metric tons. The second phase of a small-scale LNG complex in the Amur Region is nearing completion; its commissioning will double capacity to 25,200 metric tons annually to meet regional demand.
Coinbase Derivatives has proposed perpetual futures linked to individual U.S. stocks and ETFs, but the contracts still require regulatory approval. The CFTC register lists them as approval pending, meaning the filing is only a public proposal and the products are not yet available to traders.

Germany’s automotive industry is under pressure from weaker domestic demand, tougher foreign competition, new tariffs and longstanding structural problems including an aging workforce. European sales fell from nearly 18 million vehicles in 2019 to about 13 million in 2025, while Volkswagen Group is considering closing four German factories.

European central bankers are seeking to extend a ban on stablecoin yields to crypto lending and staking. They argue that indirect yield structures blur the distinction between electronic payment tokens and commercial bank deposits, distorting competition across the financial system.

Russian stocks rose more than 1.8% during the main trading session. The MOEX Russia Index reached 2,300.06 points, breaking above 2,300 for the first time since September 16, 2026, while the RTS Index also gained 1.86% to 861.6 points.
Russian equities rose at the start of the main trading session. The MOEX Index gained 0.52% to 2,269.76 points and the RTS Index advanced 0.52% to 847.29, while the yuan weakened against the ruble, opening at 12.46 rubles and later falling to 12.42.
Russia increased frozen pollock fillet exports to the European Union by 16% in volume and 44% in value from January through July 2026, the Fish Union said. Its weight-based market share rose from 44% to 51%. Russian fish exports to the EU totaled 113,000 tonnes worth $513 million, while frozen herring shipments resumed after a two-year pause.
Bitcoin’s 11.65% weekly rebound showed stronger spot and on-chain participation, with the price reaching about $86,000. Glassnode said spot taker flow turned from net selling to net buying, but futures open interest, funding and profit-taking were elevated. More than $648 million in crypto short positions had previously been liquidated, leaving the rally exposed to leverage risks.


Bitcoin closed the week at $81,178, reclaiming its 50-week moving average for the first time since November 2025, before trading above $87,000. Galaxy Research found most past reclaims held, but warned that the sample is limited. Analysts said the move may reflect renewed ETF demand and a major short squeeze, with sustained spot buying and positive ETF inflows needed to support the rally.
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