President-elect Trump will nominate Scott Bessent, a financier focused on global macroeconomics, as his Treasury secretary, which would make him the incoming administration's top economic official.
Why it matters: Bessent would bring to Treasury deep knowledge of bond and currency markets and a close relationship with Trump — as well as a surprising connection to hedge fund manager George Soros, mega-donor to liberal causes and bogeyman to the political right.
Northvolt, a Swedish maker of lithium-ion batteries that once was valued by venture capitalists at nearly $12 billion, has filed for bankruptcy.
Why it matters This is a massive blow to Europe's EV manufacturing goals, as Northvolt was viewed as the best homegrown chance for reducing reliance on China.
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro was formally accused of being involved in an attempted a coup over his 2022 election loss to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the country's police announced Thursday.
The big picture: The proposed indictments against Bolsonaro and 36 others conclude the Brazilian federal police's two-year investigation into the fallout from the election that the populist leader never formally conceded, which saw his supporters storm the presidential palace and other government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023.
A pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza.
Why it matters: The dramatic move will further isolate Israel internationally and increase pressure on Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza. President Biden in a Thursday evening statement called the ICC's actions "outrageous."
1. The Biden administration this week, for the first time, referred to Edmundo González Urrutia as "president-elect" of Venezuela.
Independently collected voting tallies of the July 28 election show González got about 70% of the vote, but there has been no official vote count shared – and President Nicolás Maduro instead claims he won a third term.
It's unclear what impact calling González president-elect might have as Venezuela gets close to the Jan. 10 date for a presidential inauguration. González is currently in exile in Spain.
2. Mauro Cid, a Brazilian military officer who served as a private secretary to former President Jair Bolsonaro, was called to testify before the Supreme Court today about his knowledge of an alleged plot to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Big congrats are in order for Consuelo Lyonnet for her work in marketing pharmaceutical and health care to Hispanic communities.
Consuelo, who is bilingual, helps create culturally nuanced messages for Hispanic audiences, having worked with clients such as Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, and Sanofi.
She strives to improve health outcomes for Latino communities.
Nicaragua's regime announced dozens of constitutional amendments yesterday that include extending President Daniel Ortega's term without elections.
Why it matters: Observers say the changes could sound the death knell for the nation's democracy, after years of the regime increasingly cracking down on any perceived opposition.
For the third yearin a row, high preterm birth rates earned the U.S. only a D+ in a March of Dimes report on the state of maternal and infant health.
The big picture: Black, Latina, Native American and Pacific Islander women experience disproportionate rates of preterm births, infant mortality and maternal deaths.
The war in Ukraine has veered into volatile new territory, ignited by a final push — in Washington, Moscow and Kyiv — to change the game before President-elect Trump takes office.
Why it matters: There are 60 days until inauguration — the starting gun for Trump's improbable vow to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours.
Gautam Adani, the billionaire chair of India's conglomerate Adani Group, was indicted in New York on charges related to allegations of "an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials," prosecutors said Wednesday.
The big picture: Adani, one of the world's richest people, and two other executives of a renewable energy firm are accused of conspiring to commit securities and wire fraud.
