➡️ Barclays Offloads US Credit Card Debt to Blackstone

Barclays has agreed to sell approximately $1.1bn worth of credit card debt to private equity firm Blackstone, as the British bank steps up efforts to move assets off its balance sheet in advance of more onerous regulations.

Blackstone merged its credit and insurance investment operations in September in preparation for a push into asset-backed lending markets.

With fewer restrictions in place, will large private equity groups replace the high street big lenders?

@RiseGS

🎮Sony Shutters London Studio, Set to Cull 900 Employees

The layoffs will affect about 8% of the division's staff in regions from the Americas to Asia and come days after Sony slashed the annual sales expectation for its PlayStation 5 console.

The move aligns Sony with the likes of Microsoft, and Tencent-owned Riot Games, which have also laid off thousands of employees in recent months due to the slow post-pandemic recovery in the gaming market.

@RiseGS

💸Israeli PM’s Office Confirms State Paid for Wartime Repairs of Netanyahu's Private Swimming Pool

A true man of the people… 🤡

@RiseGS

❌ JUST IN: Hezbollah Rockets Impact Near Northern Israeli Highway

@RiseGS

🇩🇪🇺🇦 Germany announced the provision of another package of military aid to Ukraine.

The package includes:

- 14,000 artillery shells;
- 4 WISENT 1 mine-clearing vehicles;
- 3 mobile remotely controlled and protected mine clearance systems;
materials for disposing of explosive objects;
- 250 sets of demining tools;
- 10 reconnaissance UAVs "VECTOR";
- 22 anti-drone sensors and jammers;
- 12 SatCom terminals;
- 4 vehicles for border guards;
- 10 armored recovery vehicles Bergepanzer 2.

🔴 @DDGeopolitics

😳 JUST IN: Norway’s King Harald Hospitalized by Infection on Holiday in Malaysia

Harald has been Norway's ceremonial head of state since 1991 and is Europe's oldest living monarch.

The Royals are dropping like flies…

@RiseGS

🤡 SCHUMER: "The boldest autocrats of the world - the Putins, the Xis, the presidents of North Carolina..."

China Chuck has a short memory…

@RiseGS

🚀JUST IN: NASA admits to small chance of US spacecraft colliding with Russian satellite at 1:30am ET

If a collision occurs between the two non-manoeuvrable objects, it could create "significant debris" at an altitude of about 373 miles.

@RiseGS

📉 Embattled China Property Giant Country Garden Faces Liquidation Petition

Country Garden’s shares fell more than 12% in early trading Wednesday, amid a continued debt crisis in China’s property sector.

A liquidation petition has been filed against the property developer for non-payment of a loan worth $205mn.

Country Garden said in a regulatory filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange it would “resolutely” oppose the petition, which was filed by a creditor, Ever Credit Limited.

@RiseGS

⚠️ US Nuclear Weapons Plant Pauses Operations amid Texas Wildfires

Workers were forced to flee the Pantex Plant, where atomic bombs are assembled, as raging wildfires burned through the land nearby.

Officials said a "small number" of non-essential staff were still sheltering inside and plant operations were paused.

The nuclear factory is about 30 miles from the city of Amarillo, where a state of disaster was declared.

Eleven million people in Texas are under an urgent "red flag warning" amid the strong winds and raging blaze.

@RiseGS

⏳Ursula von der Leyen Wants Profits from Frozen Russian Assets to Arm Ukraine

“It is time to start a conversation about using the windfall profits of frozen Russian assets to jointly purchase military equipment for Ukraine,” the European Commission president said in a speech Wednesday.

Washington has been pushing its allies to use €260bn of frozen Russian assets, mostly held in Belgium. But EU countries have been hesitant for fear of legal reprisals.

Why let legality get in the way of the Kiev money washing machine…

@RiseGS

🔴 NEW: Israeli Strike Hits Bint Jbeil, Southern Lebanon

@RiseGS

📣 US Army to Cull 24K Jobs in Major Restructure Focussing on Large-Scale War

The move is to "generate new capabilities and re-balance its force structure" with an eye towards shifting operations away from the counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism efforts, according to a US Army document rolled out Tuesday.

"The Army will continue to need capabilities related to these missions. But in light of the changing security environment and evolving character of war, the Army is refocusing on conducting large scale combat operations against technologically advanced military powers," the document said.

It will prioritize the elimination of positions that are "historically vacant or hard to fill." About 7,500 posts will be added in what the Army determines to be critical areas.

@RiseGS