Biden seeks new funds for Israel and Ukraine from Congress

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Good morning.

In a rare primetime address from the Oval Office yesterday evening, Joe Biden urged Congress to approve a security package for Israel and Ukraine worth tens of billions of dollars, saying America needed to overcome its domestic divisions to protect two vital allies and preserve US leadership around the world.

The president did not specify how much money he was seeking, but people familiar with the matter said the request was likely to involve $60bn for Ukraine and $14bn for Israel as well as funding for border security and Indo-Pacific security. In all, the package is expected to exceed $100bn.

Biden said Hamas, the militant group that attacked Israel this month, and Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, “both want to completely annihilate a neighbouring democracy”.

“History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictatorships don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction,” he said. “We cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win — I refuse to let that happen.”

As well as vowing to defeat Russia and Hamas, Biden also linked them to Iran, which he again warned against entering the conflict in the Middle East. Earlier yesterday, the Pentagon said a US warship deployed to the Red Sea had shot down three cruise missiles and several drones fired by Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen that may have been aimed at Israel.

• House Speaker impasse: Biden’s message risks being stymied by a dramatic leadership vacuum on Capitol Hill, where Republicans again failed to find a replacement for the critical role.

Here’s more from Biden’s televised address. And here are the latest updates from the Israel-Hamas war and the Middle East:

• Escalation fears: The US, Britain and Germany urged their citizens to leave Lebanon amid growing fears of a regional conflict as Israel’s defence minister suggested a ground invasion of Gaza could be imminent.

• Lebanese border: Thousands of Israelis are evacuating the area as cross-border fighting with the Hizbollah militant group intensifies.

• Buffer zone: Israel plans to enforce a “fire zone” within the Gaza Strip where no one can approach the country’s border once the war with Hamas is over, Israel’s agriculture minister Avi Dichter has said.

• Analysis: With Israeli normalisation talks stalled, what is Saudi Arabia’s next move? Author and scholar Kim Ghattas discusses the situation.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:

• EU-US meeting: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel visit President Joe Biden in Washington today. They are expected to project unity over the Israel-Hamas and Ukraine conflicts, while the EU also plans to announce anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese steelmakers.

• Economic data: The UK has retail sales and public sector net borrowing figures today.

• Elections: Argentines head to the polls in a pivotal vote for their next president on Sunday, with both mainstream parties challenged by a radical outsider. Switzerland holds federal elections on the same day.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Deloitte UK plans to axe about 150 junior consulting jobs as part of a wider round of 800 redundancies announced last month. First- and second-year analysts in the Big Four firm’s consultancy and advisory business will bear the brunt of reductions, according to an internal presentation. Despite partners earning an average of more than £1mn last year, here’s why the firm is cutting jobs.

2. The UK Labour party has seized two previously safe Conservative seats in England, overturning Tory majorities of nearly 25,000 in Mid-Bedfordshire and close to 20,000 in Tamworth. The by-election results are an ominous blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of the general election expected next year. Jim Pickard has more details.

3. OpenAI is in talks with investors about selling shares at a valuation of $86bn, roughly three times what it was worth six months ago. A stock sale at this level would make the creator of ChatGPT one of the world’s most valuable private companies. Here’s what the sale could mean for CEO Sam Altman and the industry.

4. Investors who loaded up on fixed-income assets are licking their wounds as the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes climbed to about 5 per cent yesterday, levels not seen since before the global financial crisis. The sell-off across the world’s bond markets resumed this week after a brief pause as investors flocked to safe assets following the outbreak of Israel’s war with Hamas. Here’s more on the relentless global bond rout.

5. Canada has withdrawn 41 of its 62 diplomats in India after the countries failed to resolve a dispute related to Ottawa’s claims that New Delhi may have been involved in the murder of Canadian citizen and Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada’s foreign minister said the diplomats were pulled out after India said they would lose diplomatic immunity today.

Deep dive

Britain is on the brink of the biggest upheaval to its countryside since modern farming practices transformed the nation in the middle of the 20th century. To help slow climate change and reverse free-falling wildlife populations, the UK has pledged to plant new woodland across a vast area more than five times the size of Greater London by 2050. Our visual story explores how this will change the future of the British countryside.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Manchester United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest men, has an uphill task transforming England’s most famous football club if he secures a stake.

• Library economics: Fines for being tardy in returning books are falling out of fashion, writes Soumaya Keynes, but some libraries worry about losing the cash from late fees.

• Liberian politics: The west African country’s presidential race is set for a run-off after neither of the two leading contenders secured enough votes for an outright victory.

• Apple’s Scorsese film: With the acclaimed director’s Killers of the Flower Moon set to roll out this weekend in theatres globally, the tech giant is prioritising cinemas over streaming in its Hollywood push.

Chart of the day

“Poland has not yet perished” — the words from the country’s national anthem also aptly describe its citizens’ elation, following a robust election victory against an authoritarian government, writes Martin Sandbu. But the losing side has left a bit of a ticking economic time bomb for the winning coalition, he warns in this week’s Free Lunch newsletter.

Free Lunch is a weekly newsletter on the global economic policy debate written by Martin Sandbu, the FT’s European economics commentator. Premium subscribers can sign up here. You can upgrade your subscription here.

Take a break from the news

Today, stunning numbers of people with years of schooling are in effect illiterate, writes Simon Kuper, as digital reading — skimming, scanning and scrolling — appears to be destroying habits of “deep reading”. Here’s why he argues the trend is ominous for civilisation.

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and David Hindley