Bloomberg News

There is nothing conservative about the budget reconciliation bill emerging from the House, says Mike Bloomberg. Even by Washington’s ever-declining standards of fiscal responsibility, this budget stands out as a dereliction of duty. By subverting rules meant to promote sound management, it takes today’s alarming projections of government deficits and makes them much worse, creating a ticking time bomb. Keep reading here: https://lnkd.in/ef7yRZh6

Pretty wild news from Copenhagen this afternoon! In a surprise move, Novo Nordisk today ousted its CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen after shares have tanked 53% over the last year. “Considering the recent market challenges, the share price decline, and the wish from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Board and Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen have jointly concluded that initiating a CEO succession is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders,” the company said. This comes just 18 months after Fruergaard was named Person of the Year in Financial Times for his success with making Wegovy a blockbuster obesity drug. The feeling in Copenhagen right now? Shock. No one had seen this coming. And now starts the guessing game for who the successor might be. https://lnkd.in/dNVY4fj3

As the wealthy converge on Punta del Este, developers are building luxury polo clubs to boost the beach town’s cachet and attract new audiences to the sport.

President Donald Trump said he would set tariff rates for US trading partners “over the next two to three weeks,” saying his administration lacks the capacity to negotiate deals with all of its trading partners.

Blue Label Telecoms surged to the highest in almost seven years after it proposed a restructuring of its business to ultimately enable a listing of Cell C, South Africa’s fourth-largest wireless carrier. The restructuring plan is intended to “streamline operations, improve financial sustainability, and enhance Cell C’s strategic readiness for long-term growth and potential listing” on Johannesburg’s bourse. The stock rallied as much as 14%. https://bloom.bg/3S7xf5a

President Donald Trump said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin “as soon as we can set it up,” foreclosing an immediate face-to-face encounter aimed at brokering an end to the war in Ukraine.

Thirty years ago, when South Africa won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Nelson Mandela strode onto the field and celebrated with the nearly all-White team, a remarkable gesture of reconciliation given that the sport had long been seen as a symbol of apartheid and White supremacy. Together with my colleague Loni Prinsloo-Lotz and photographer Jodi Bieber we went to the township of Alexandra in northern Johannesburg to discover what's being done to translate that gesture into something more concrete: the creation of a national sport in a drive that's as much about nation building as winning trophies. What we found was a growing enthusiasm for the game and children who've moved beyond the prejudices of the past. South Africa's Black captain and national team stars are inspirations to them but so are the White Afrikaans players for the Springboks. Perhaps the sport is helping heal divisions in a nation with a troubled past.

Romania’s decision to rerun an election because of trolls and fake accounts assumes a cause and effect that researchers say is hard to prove.

US President Donald Trump tells reporters he will meet with Russia's Vladimir Putin "as soon as we can set it up." bloom.bg/44CppYF

Three generations have grown old since India and Pakistan started fighting, with civilians on both sides living under the forever-looming threat of war.