Bezos $35bn divorce agreement
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos have agreed to what is probably the largest divorce settlement in the world. She will retain a roughly 4% stake in Amazon, which her husband founded, but is signing over voting rights to him. That cleared up questions about the future governance of the e-commerce giant. She also gave up her stakes in the space travel firm Blue Origin and Washington Post newspaper. MacKenzie Bezos announced the agreement in her first and only tweet. Amazon is one of the largest private sector employers in Luxembourg. Reported by the BBC, Financial Times and Reuters.
Driverless technology in Schengen
Officials from France, Germany and Luxembourg started trialling the “cross-border test bed” for autonomous vehicles. Reported by Reuters and Delano.
Ethiopian Airlines pilots not at fault: initial finding
A preliminary report found that the pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max which crashed last month had followed proper procedures, but could not override the plane’s anti-stalling software. Reported by the BBC, DW and MIT Technology Review. Boeing said it has found the software bug, said the Financial Times.
Court orders mental health tests for terror suspect
A New Zealand judge has ordered the Australian man who allegedly killed 50 people in a pair of attacks on mosques in Christchurch last month to undergo a mental health assessment. Reported by the BBC, Guardian and New Zealand Herald.
Libya faction plans to take Tripoli
The Libyan militia leader General Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops to “advance” on Tripoli, seat of the UN-backed government. Reported by the AFP, CNBC and DW.
Merkel in Ireland for Brexit meetings
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, met in Dublin with the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister), Leo Varadkar, and with residents on both sides of the Northern Ireland border. She said the EU “will do everything in order to prevent a no-deal Brexit” and a hard border, evoking her own memories of the Berlin Wall. Reported by DW, the Irish Times and RTE.
Brexit overloading FX algos
Having trouble keeping up with every Brexit twist and turn in the headlines? So are the “news-reading algorithms” used by currency traders, reported Reuters.
Luxembourg visit peaks Israeli interest
Last month’s fintech mission to Israel by Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg’s DP finance minister, was profiled by the English edition of Haaretz, one of Israel’s largest newspapers.
Are you at your desk?
An analysis of 360,000 phishing emails found the 12 most common subject lines used by cybercrooks, reported ZDnet. Among them: “Urgent”, “Are you at your desk?”, “Re:” and “Expenses”. Topping the list: “Request”.
Later today
Eurogroup ministers will discuss Luxembourg’s updated 2019 draft budget and Greece’s economic reforms. Also: Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are expected to continue their cross-party Brexit talks.
Looking ahead
Ethically and sustainably produced clothes are featured at the Fair Fashion Days, which starts today and runs through the weekend.
Hot story
GQ sent a writer to Finland to cover the World Sauna Forum and he became “hooked. I became a sauna addict.”
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald