Daily Brief: Trump Slams Zelensky, Indonesian Stocks Crash

In today's Bilig Daily Brief, US President Donald Trump called Ukraine's renewed refinery strikes "a disgrace" as European Union leaders rallied behind Kyiv. Indonesian shares suffered their worst day since 1998 after an index downgrade warning, and US wholesale inflation hit a four-year high.

Trump calls Ukraine refinery strikes 'a disgrace'

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Ukraine's strikes on Russian refineries were "making the world oil price higher", calling them "a disgrace" in a Newsmax interview, Reuters reported. "I'm not a big fan of Zelensky," he said. Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine attacked a refinery in Ryazan, south-east of Moscow, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was abandoning an energy ceasefire Trump had announced. Zelensky said Russia launched more than 850 drones overnight into Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.

EU leaders back Kyiv, prepare new sanctions

EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Friday pledged to keep up pressure on Moscow. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was preparing a 22nd sanctions package and would not lift sanctions "unless Russia stops the war", Euronews and the Kyiv Independent reported. She said Russia had not respected Trump's energy ceasefire. European Council President Antonio Costa said: "This is no time to relieve Russia's sanctions." Zelenskiy named energy, air defence and winter funding as his priorities.

Indonesian shares suffer worst day since 1998

Indonesia's main stock index fell about 11% on Friday, its steepest one-day drop since 1998, after index provider MSCI proposed downgrading the country to "standalone" status, Reuters reported. The move would remove Indonesian stocks from MSCI's emerging and frontier indexes. Trading was halted for 30 minutes after the open. The rupiah weakened 0.6% to 18,070 per dollar. MSCI said reforms had not made sufficient progress. Senior Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto convened top officials to discuss the announcement.

US wholesale prices jump 6.3%

US producer prices rose 6.3% in September from a year earlier, the biggest annual rise since December 2022, the Labor Department said on Thursday, AP reported. Prices rose 1.3% on the month, the largest gain since March 2022, driven by a jump in fuel costs. Economists had expected a 0.5% monthly rise, CNN reported, citing FactSet. Retail sales growth slowed to 0.8% in September from 1.3% in August. The data added pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

Investors rotate out of AI stocks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 52,177.69 on Thursday, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 7,744.06 and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.1%, as investors moved from chip stocks into health care and consumer shares. Nvidia fell 1.8%, AP reported. Asian markets rebounded on Friday: Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.4% and South Korea's Kospi gained 2.1% by late morning, AP said. Brent crude slipped 0.3% to $105.60 a barrel.

Houthi missiles hit Aden presidential palace

Houthi missiles struck the presidential palace complex in Aden, seat of Yemen's Saudi-backed government, on Thursday, killing five people and wounding 16, Yemen's health minister said, Reuters reported. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the prime minister and cabinet members were unharmed. It was the first attack on the al-Maashiq palace in the current conflict. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group targeted a Saudi military headquarters. Fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces resumed last month.

Warsh calls AI economy's biggest change

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said on Friday that artificial intelligence (AI) is "the most consequential change to the US and the global economy in my lifetime", speaking at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Bangkok, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. He said the investment boom would push prices up in the short term and the path ahead would be "a very bumpy one". Warsh gave no signal on rates before the Fed's 27 to 28 October meeting.

IEA to release remaining emergency oil

Members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed in Paris on Thursday to release the remaining 100 million barrels of oil stocks pledged in March, Bloomberg reported. Members have released 330 million of the 400 million barrels pledged, and the IEA said total releases would exceed the original target. The remaining volumes include more than 20 million barrels of diesel, to be released "as soon as possible".

FTC subpoenas OpenAI and Anthropic over safety

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued civil investigative demands, a form of subpoena, to OpenAI and Anthropic over AI safety incidents, an FTC spokesperson confirmed after a report by Axios on Thursday. The demands seek records on security breaches, safeguards, marketing and privacy policies, Techstrong.ai and Tech Times reported. Both companies have disclosed incidents in which their models hacked outside organisations during testing. OpenAI said it would "engage constructively with the FTC".

Three children and teacher killed in Oregon

A 16-year-old gunman killed three children, aged 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, police said, the Associated Press (AP) reported. A community member chased the shooter into the school and shot him dead, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said. The gunman forced his way in by shooting at locked doors, Krantz said. A seven-year-old and a 54-year-old teacher were in critical condition, Al Jazeera reported.

France fears violence at weekend protests

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Thursday that authorities feared unrest at protests planned for Saturday, saying the school protest wave had become "a movement of urban violence", Reuters reported. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told the Senate that police had opened 36 internal inquiries into alleged officer violence, The Guardian reported. Since mid-September, 6,773 minors have been taken into custody, according to figures cited by the newspaper.

Tesla unveils long-delayed Roadster

Tesla unveiled its second-generation Roadster near Waco, Texas, on Thursday, almost nine years after first showing it, TechCrunch and Electrek reported. The car comes in three versions, two of them fitted with compressed-air thrusters. Tesla claimed a range of about 300 miles and top speeds above 230 miles per hour. No price was given. Reservations require a $50,000 payment. Chief Executive Elon Musk said the car would be built in 2028.