The FT reports from the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos
Source : Financial Times
Hello from London. This week, a crack team of FT journalists are braving the snow in Davos for the World Economic Forum, which means we have a string of interviews with politicians and business leaders for you from the sidelines of the conference.
Brazil’s finance minister told our Editor, Roula Khalaf, that, since the dramatic storming of the nation’s Congress this month, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva plans to recalibrate the pace of his planned reforms, to avoid them “being the target of fake news and rioting”. Belarus’s exiled opposition leader, meanwhile, told FT journalists that Alexander Lukashenko would face “massive disobedience” if he decided to send troops to fight in Ukraine alongside Russian forces. And Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr told chief foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman of his concerns about rising tensions between the US and China over Taiwan.
Elsewhere, the chief executive of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund warned that a long period of drab returns still lies ahead for investors. Look out for more Davos news on our live blog at ft.com.
My choices this week
1. Apple has spent the past two decades and billions of dollars building a complex supply chain almost entirely reliant on manufacturing in China. In a two-part series, the FT examines how the tech giant tied its fortunes to America’s biggest geopolitical rival, and what avenues it has to diversify.
2. The shocks of the past three years mean that the world’s poorest countries are threatened by a lost decade. Chief economics commentator Martin Wolf explains what must be done to tackle the looming debt crisis before it results in human catastrophe.
3. Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, countries across Europe, including the UK, have pledged to ramp up their nuclear capacity. But after years of missed opportunities, can Britain realise its nuclear ambitions?
4. A former Russian paramilitary fighting with the Wagner unit in Ukraine has promised to give evidence against the notorious group after fleeing to Norway. We tell the story of his dramatic escape. (Free to read)
5. In 2017, Rupert Murdoch cut a deal with Disney to sell the film and television arms of his business. Now activist investor Nelson Peltz is fixating on the deal, and blaming it for Disney’s ‘balance sheet from hell’ as he battles for a place on the board. (Free to read)
6. “There are two sides to crypto — the shysters and the suckers.” As the founders of a bankrupt crypto hedge fund tout a new exchange that would allow customers to trade their crypto bankruptcy claims, columnist Jemima Kelly asks, surely they can’t get away with it?