UPDATE: UK Falls Into Recession, Putin Endorses Biden, & Israel Peace Talks Off

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On today's podcast:

(1) Britain fell into a technical recession in the second half of 2023. GDP shrank 0.3% in the fourth quarter, pushing the UK into a shallow economic dip.

(2) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opted not to send a delegation to Cairo for follow-up talks aimed at securing a cease-fire with Hamas, again dismissing the militant group’s demands as “delusional.”

(3) Vladimir Putin praised Joe Biden as a more reliable alternative for Russia than Donald Trump, making his first public comments on the American presidential election.

(4) Donald Trump is considering scaled-back commitments to some NATO members and a push for Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war with Russia if he returns to power next year, according to people familiar with the matter.

(5) Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said weaker-than-expected inflation in January “pretty much leaves us where we were” after the data prompted traders to shift forward bets on interest-rate cuts.

(6) Japan’s economy unexpectedly slipped into recession after shrinking for a second quarter due to anemic domestic demand, prompting some central bank watchers to push back bets on when the nation’s negative interest rate policy will end.

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