World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

 

World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

Sunak faces Tory rebellion

This week British MPs will vote on legislation to enable the government to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. In November Britain’s Supreme Court ruled that a government scheme—to send people who arrive in Britain on small boats to the African country to have their claims heard—was unlawful because it would put at risk the safety of asylum-seekers. The new Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill declares that Rwanda is, in fact, a safe country. It also shuts down most routes for appeal.

The bill faces a gauntlet of amendments in the House of Commons, where the ruling Conservative Party is split on the matter. Right-wingers—who claim to have around 50 backers—want to amend the bill to make legal challenges to deportation even harder. Tory moderates say the bill already goes as far as they can allow. To avoid a large rebellion Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, will have to perform a tricky balancing act.

All quite on wall street

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, America’s biggest investment banks, will report fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Analysts expect fairly pedestrian numbers. At both banks revenues for trading are expected to be flat year over year. The outlook is no more exciting for investment-banking desks, as firms remain cautious about going public or doing deals. Trading and investment-banking results from peers such as Citi, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, released on January 12th, were lacklustre.

On Morgan Stanley’s earnings call, at least, excitement might be more focused on who is doing the talking. Investors will get their first glimpse of Ted Pick in his new role as the bank’s boss. On January 1st he officially replaced James Gorman, who transformed Morgan Stanley from an also-ran to the envy of Wall Street during his 14-year term. Mr Pick has large shoes to fill.

How to tackle the Houthis

On Tuesday the United Nations Security Council is scheduled to hold meetings on the Middle East—and Yemen in particular. The country has attracted renewed attention as the Houthis, a Iran-backed militant group based there, continue to attack vessels on the Red Sea, throttling a crucial commercial shipping route. Late last week America and Britain struck dozens of targets in Yemen to try to stop such attacks. On Monday America said the Houthis struck an American-owned cargo vessel, though it was able to continue its journey.

The group has accrued an array of anti-ship missiles over the last decade, many of them supplied by Iran. Although the Western strikes appear not to have destroyed that arsenal, merely making a significant dent in the stockpile could force the group to ration their munitions. That would make it easier for Western warships to defend vessels in the Red Sea—and alleviate some of the pressure on commercial shipping.

 

 

Donald Trump won Iowa’s Republican caucus with around 50% of the vote. Mr Trump said it was “time now for everybody, our country, to come together”. Ron DeSantis narrowly beat Nikki Haley to second place, with each winning around 20% of votes. Mr DeSantis criticised the Associated Press for calling the result just 31 minutes into the contest. Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who came in fourth place, dropped out of the race and endorsed Mr Trump.

 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for attacks near an American consulate in northern Iraq, saying it targeted Israel’s “espionage headquarters”. Local officials said four people were killed. None were American. America said the attacks—carried out near Erbil, the capital of semi-autonomous Kurdistan—were “reckless”.

 

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief claimed that the country’s air force shot down a Russian spy plane and caused serious damage to another. Valery Zaluzhny said the strikes took place on Sunday over the Sea of Azov, off the northern coast of Crimea. If confirmed, it would be a significant blow to the Kremlin. Russia is reckoned to have only six of the A-50 planes in operation.

 

America’s customs agency said that updated Apple Watch models could bypass an import ban issued in December. Masimo, a health-monitoring company, had accused Apple of infringing its patent on blood-oxygen reading technology. That led America to impose a ban on certain Apple Watch models, though the firm has continued to sell them while contesting the ruling. Apple’s proposed update will reportedly not include the blood-oxygen reading feature.

 

“Succession”, a drama about a media mogul and his family’s vicious fight to replace him, won six awards for its final season at the Emmys. Other big winners included “The Bear”, a show about a young chef who inherits a run-down sandwich shop following his brother’s death, and “Beef”, a dark comedy-drama about a spiralling feud between two strangers.