US Business

After launching high-fashion collections, a lingerie line, a makeup brand, becoming a billionaire and having a baby, megastar Rihanna is making a highly anticipated return to music this week, her reps said Wednesday.

After six years without releasing a new solo song, the 34-year-old on Friday will drop a new single entitled “Lift Me Up,” which will be on the soundtrack for the Marvel sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

It’s her first solo single since 2016’s “Love on the Brain.”

Rihanna is releasing the new song on her Westbury Road label in conjunction with Roc Nation, Def Jam Recordings and Hollywood Records.

The singer behind the hits “Diamonds” and “Umbrella” posted a brief preview of the new track, which featured humming over strings.

The news comes only weeks after the NFL announced Rihanna would be headlining the coveted Super Bowl halftime show in February, a long-awaited return to the stage for the pop phenom.

Rihanna’s fierce fan base has been clamoring for her ninth album, which she has said will be “reggae-infused” and has hinted since 2019 is nearly finished.

But the Barbadian-born artist has focused on other ventures, including becoming the first Black woman to head a fashion house for the French powerhouse LVMH, which owns legacy brands including Fendi and Givenchy.

She welcomed her first child with rapper A$AP Rocky in May.

US President Joe Biden and Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday  discussed the growing threat to Ukraine from Russia’s Iranian-supplied war drones, as Israel comes under pressure to help Kyiv.

Herzog told reporters at the White House after his talks that they “mainly” discussed Iran’s nuclear program, the crushing of protesters demonstrating against strict Iranian religious laws, and the issue of Tehran’s drone sales to Russia.

The weapons are “killing innocent Ukrainian citizens,” Herzog said.

Israel has been reluctant to get involved in a US-led alliance helping pro-Western Ukraine to repel a bloody Russian invasion. 

But Herzog’s trip to Washington underlined Israeli concern at the growing role of Iran in the conflict, with Tehran accused of supplying fleets of deadly drones used by Russia against Ukrainian civilian targets.

On Tuesday Herzog met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and announced he was sharing intelligence to prove that Iran has been supplying military drones to the Russians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed this Wednesday, saying “this is a positive trend in relations with Israel…. After a long pause, I see us moving forward.”

Biden and Herzog also discussed Iran’s ongoing tussle with the international community over its nuclear program, which it insists has only civilian goals. Israel opposes a push by the Biden administration to salvage a deal that would reinstate international inspections in Iran in exchange for sanctions relief.

Sitting alongside Herzog in the White House Oval Office, Biden praised Israel for reaching a long-delayed accord with Lebanon on their sea border. The deal was brokered by the United States.

Biden hailed the “historic breakthrough.”

“It took a lot of courage for you to step up and step into it,” he told Herzog. “It took some real guts. It took principled and persistent diplomacy to get it done.”

Biden said the newly agreed border would allow both countries to develop energy fields, and it would “create new hope and economic opportunities.”

Herzog indicated that Biden would be attending the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next month — something not yet confirmed by the White House — and said the climate crisis “can serve as a common denominator for so many nations.”

Herzog’s visit comes days ahead of Israel’s fifth election in less than four years. Hawkish ex-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had tense relations with Democratic US administrations, is seeking a comeback.

It also comes less than two weeks before Americans vote in the midterm elections that are predicted to strip Biden’s Democrats of their control of Congress.

“We have elections in Israel and you’re having midterm elections in the United States but one thing is clear — I think this visit epitomizes that our friendship, our strong bond transcends all political differences,” Herzog told Biden.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday surveyed drills carried out by his nuclear-capable forces as Moscow pressed unfounded claims to India and China that Ukraine was developing a “dirty bomb.”

The drills follow a series of escalatory comments by Moscow and Putin — who observed the manoeuvres from a control room — that the eight-month conflict in Ukraine could turn nuclear.

“Under the leadership of… Vladimir Putin, a training session was held with ground, sea and air strategic deterrence forces, during which practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles took place,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Russian state-run media ran footage of a submarine crew preparing the launch of a Sineva ballistic missile from the Barents Sea in the Arctic.

The drills also included launching test missiles from the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East. 

Footage of the drills across state media came after Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu pressed ahead with telephone calls to his global counterparts, claiming that Ukraine was developing a “dirty bomb”.

A dirty bomb is laced with radioactive, biological or chemical materials.

Shoigu, who has made these allegations in recent days to counterparts from NATO countries, reiterated them to China’s defence minister Wei Fenghe on Wednesday. 

– Moscow alleges ‘irresponsible behaviour’ –

Shoigu also voiced the same “concerns” in a call with India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier on Wednesday, Moscow said.  

Ukraine has dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and “dangerous,” suggesting the claims could be cover for Russia’s own plans on the battlefield — as have its western allies, including Britain, France and the United States.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier Wednesday that Russia had information pertaining to the “existing threat” of Ukraine using a “dirty bomb” and that Kyiv was “preparing for such a terrorist act of sabotage”.

He added: “We will continue vigorously bringing our point of view to the world community to encourage them to take active steps to prevent such irresponsible behaviour.” 

Nuclear rhetoric from Russia began building in September, when Moscow said it was annexing four regions of Ukraine over which its forces have partial control. Putin warned Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend them.

– Advance on Kherson –

One of those regions is Kherson, in southern Ukraine near Moscow-annexed Crimea, where Kyiv has been clawing back territory since a counter-offensive it announced at the end of the summer. 

Russian-backed authorities in recent days urged residents to flee what they say is an oncoming onslaught. They claimed to have turned the city of Kherson into a “fortress”, vowing to defend it at all costs. 

A Moscow-installed official in the region, Vladimir Saldo, said Wednesday that at least 70,000 people have left their homes within the last week. 

Ukraine’s capture of the Kherson region would restore important access to the Sea of Azov. It would also cut off Moscow’s land bridge to Russian-annexed Crimea. 

Saldo banned entry to the right bank area of the region for a period of seven days “due to the tense situation on the contact line”, according to a statement on his social media on Wednesday.  

Russia’s offensive to capture Ukrainian territory has spurred a wave of international solidarity with Kyiv, including hundreds of foreigners who volunteered to help fend off Russian advances. 

Kyiv said Wednesday that Russia had returned the remains of US citizen Joshua Alan Jones, who was killed fighting Moscow’s forces in August.

Also on Wednesday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he saw a “positive trend” in Kyiv’s relations with Israel, after the two countries shared intelligence on Russia’s purported use of hundreds of Iranian drones against its neighbour — something the Kremlin denies.

Zelensky’s comments came two days after he criticised Israel’s neutrality in the Ukraine conflict, saying the decision by Israeli leaders not to support Kyiv had encouraged a Russian military partnership with Iran.

“We are at the beginning of cooperation”, Zelensky said during a press conference in Kyiv. “After a long pause, I see us moving forward”.

A man who plowed his sports utility vehicle through Waukesha, Wisconsin’s annual Christmas parade last year, killing six people, was found guilty of murder Wednesday. 

Darrell Brooks faces mandatory life imprisonment on the six charges of first-degree intentional murder and dozens more charges of reckless endangerment and hit-and-run after a three-week trial.

Four women, one man and an eight-year-old girl were killed in the November 21, 2021 rampage, and dozens of other people watching and taking part in the parade were injured.

Brooks, 40, steered his red SUV into the marching musicians, dancers and children along a central Waukesha avenue, not slowing down or attempting to avoid the parade. 

The incident took place as tensions were high in the Midwestern state following a high-profile acquittal in the racially charged trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a teen who fatally shot two people during Black Lives Matter protests in nearby Kenosha in August 2020.

But there was no clear indication that Brooks, an African-American, had political motivations when he crashed his car into the crowd.

His family later said he had a history of mental health problems. He also had a record of arrests in various states, for charges including assault and domestic abuse.

“Burn in hell, you piece of shit,” a person in the audience shouted at Brooks after the first guilty verdict, out of a total of 76 counts, was read out.

The judge immediately ejected that person from the court.

The trial was marked by Brooks’ insistence on representing himself rather than hiring an attorney or using one appointed by the court, and the judge repeatedly wrestled with his lack of knowledge of the law and court procedure.

He opened Wednesday’s verdict hearing by raising various objections over the court’s jurisdiction, which were rejected by the judge.

Asked to comment after the verdicts were read out, he said, “What is judgment?”

The judge said she will decide later on a date for sentencing.

Under Wisconsin law, first degree murder brings a mandatory life sentence.

It was not immediately clear if Brooks would appeal the verdict.

Three members of a far-right US militia group on Wednesday were found guilty of domestic terrorism charges including providing support to people who plotted to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The court action comes two months after two militia members were convicted of conspiring to abduct Whitmer and detonate a bomb over the tough Covid-19 pandemic restrictions she imposed on the northern state. They were among six people arrested in October 2020 following an FBI sting operation that uncovered the plot.

“Today, three defendants were found guilty of material support for terrorism, gang membership, and possession of a weapon while committing a felony in support of the plot to kidnap and kill me,” Whitmer, a Democrat, said on Twitter shortly after the convictions were announced by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

“No threat, no plot, no rhetoric will break my belief in the goodness and decency of our people. And these verdicts are further proof that violence and threats have no place in our politics,” Whitmer added.

Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar and Pete Musico — all from Michigan and described as members of the Wolverine Watchmen — face up to 20 years in prison and $20,000 fines, the attorney general said in a statement. Sentencing is scheduled for December 15.

The kidnapping plot — which Nessel’s office said was aimed in part at inciting a US civil war — caused a national uproar when it was revealed just weeks before the divisive 2020 presidential election.

“Terrorist attacks and mass shootings are not spontaneous events, they are the result of planning, plotting and amassing resources in a build-up to violent acts,” Nessel said.

“The prosecution of these cases prevented horrific acts from taking the lives of innocent people.”

The convictions come less than two weeks before Americans head to the polls in critical midterm elections to decide whether Democrats or Republicans control Congress, governorships and state houses across the nation. Whitmer is running for re-election in a tight race.

Northern Ireland on Wednesday appeared headed for a second election this year, after UK government efforts to resolve months of political stalemate over its post-Brexit status failed to find a breakthrough.

Chris Heaton-Harris, Britain’s Northern Ireland minister, has been holding talks with the political parties in a fresh bid to get them to form a new executive.

If no agreement is reached by Friday, London will be legally required to call early elections for the devolved assembly in the volatile province.

It has been without a functioning government since February, after the pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) collapsed the executive over its staunch opposition to post-Brexit trade rules there.

It wants the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol agreed by London and Brussels as part of Britain’s 2019 Brexit deal overhauled or scrapped entirely. They say it weakens the province’s place within the UK.

Many unionists also argue the pact is threatening the delicate balance of peace between the pro-Irish nationalist community and those in favour of continued union with the UK.

The measures, which effectively keep Northern Ireland in the European Union’s single market and customs union, were agreed to avoid the return of a hard land border with the neighbouring Republic of Ireland.

Eliminating that hard border was a key strand of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

– Finn Fein appeal –

Pro-Irish party Sinn Fein scored a historic first elections win in May, further complicating efforts to restore power-sharing.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said Wednesday he had reiterated to Heaton-Harris the need “to clear away the debris of the protocol”. An election would do little to resolve the standoff, he said.

“I don’t think it helps us to get any quicker towards the solution that we need or to get the political institutions back up and running,” he added.

Donaldson noted the party was nonetheless ready to contest a fresh ballot.

Sinn Fein leader Michelle O’Neill, who is set to become Northern Ireland’s first minister if the executive can be restarted, renewed her call for the DUP to end its boycott. 

“I appeal to those blocking an executive, to work with the rest of us & put money into people’s pockets,” she tweeted on Wednesday.

Britain’s government, wracked by political turmoil which has seen three prime ministers in two months, has urged Brussels to revise the protocol, and is passing contentious legislation to rip it up.

That has sparked fears of a trade war and worsening relations with Europe, when the economic landscape is already gloomy.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has offered some “positive” signs since its bombshell oil production cut but he made clear that Washington remained unhappy.

The OPEC+ cartel infuriated President Joe Biden by deciding to cut production by two million barrels a day starting in November, putting pressure on consumer prices days before US elections and potentially raising revenue for Russia while its war in Ukraine rages on. 

The Biden administration publicly accused Riyadh of siding with Russia. But Blinken acknowledged that Saudi Arabia has since voted with the United States to condemn Moscow’s annexations of Ukrainian territory and has announced $400 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine. 

“So these are positive developments. They don’t compensate for the decision that was made by OPEC+ on production. But we take note of that,” Blinken said at a Bloomberg News event.

Biden as a candidate vowed to shun Saudi Arabia over human rights abuses, including the killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, but he took political risks in June by traveling there and meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler. 

US officials hoped the trip had secured an understanding on oil prices, amid pressure on Biden over soaring inflation. 

Blinken reiterated that Saudi Arabia had made the “wrong decision” and dismissed its argument that it was responding to market dynamics. 

“There was nothing to suggest in the analysis that we had — and it was shared with the Saudis — that we were looking at prices plummeting in ways that would be problematic for them,” Blinken said.

He repeated that the Biden administration was reassessing the relationship with Saudi Arabia, without giving details.

“We’re going to do it in a very deliberate fashion, in consultation with members of Congress to make sure of this, that the relationship better reflects our own interests,” he said.

The euro on Wednesday jumped back above parity with the dollar, the US currency sliding against its main rivals on concerns over the world’s biggest economy and the prospect of slower interest rate hikes.

The euro bounced back above one dollar for the first time since mid-September, helped also by expectations of a big interest-rate hike from the European Central Bank on Thursday.

There were large gains against the dollar also for the British pound and yen, helping them recover some ground following the recent sharp losses.

The dollar retreated following “a string of negative (US) economic data released since the beginning of the week”, noted ActivTrades senior analyst Ricardo Evangelista.

Poorly received data, including slower house price growth and weaker consumer confidence, showed that big rate hikes from the Federal Reserve are “starting to open some cracks in the American economy”, he said.

“The Federal Reserve has been hiking rates aggressively in an attempt to bring inflation under control, and the country’s economy is starting to suffer as a result,” Evangelista added.

– Risk investments rebound –

A string of poor economic news has been welcomed by investors as it opens up the possibility that the Fed can slow down or end its interest rate hikes sooner. The recent news has seen risk investments like equities rebound in recent weeks.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday increased its main rate by a smaller than expected 0.5 percentage points.

Market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets said the move “suggests that central banks are starting to wake up to the possibility that too aggressive rate rises could do more harm than good.”

He added: “It’s also got markets asking the question, could the Fed follow suit next week after another poor set of housing numbers from the US.”

Wall Street, which had opened lower on poor results from tech giants, was mostly higher in late morning trading.

In Europe, London, Frankfurt and Paris stocks all ended the day higher.

Sterling on Wednesday jumped more than one percent against the dollar, winning a boost also from markets welcoming the appointment of Rishi Sunak as prime minister.

The move was seen as offering stability to the UK economy after weeks of upheaval fuelled by predecessor Liz Truss’s tax-cutting budget.

“The pound pushed back above the 1.1600 area against the US dollar today and risen against the euro despite the prospect that next week’s budget statement has been delayed until 17th November in order to allow time” for updated fiscal forecasts, said Hewson.

– Key figures around 1530 GMT –

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0071 from $0.9971 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1612 from $1.1478 

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.40 yen from 147.92 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.73 pence from 86.85 pence

New York – Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 32,165.41 points

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 3,605.31

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 7,056.07 (close) 

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.1 percent at 13,195.81 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 6,276.31 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 27,431.84 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.0 percent at 15,317.67 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 2,999.50 (close)

Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.4 percent at $95.79 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.2 percent at $88.04 per barrel

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