Andy Burnham, in his first week as Prime Minister, worked from Manchester and announced £1.5bn in spending commitments, including capping bus fares and tackling rough sleeping. Funding sources vary, with some policies unfunded, raising questions about future fiscal choices.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte expressed optimism that European allies and Canada are on track to equalize defense spending with the US, ahead of a key summit in Ankara. Allies are projected to invest an additional $258 billion in defense by 2026, with European nations investing around 4% of GDP.
The US expects a report from NATO allies on their commitment to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, according to US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker. The report will be presented at the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte, expressed confidence that the UK's future prime minister, Andy Burnham, will uphold the alliance's long-term defence spending commitments. Rutte believes increased defence expenditure can stimulate economic growth and create jobs, aligning with Burnham's views on public procurement. The UK's new defence investment plan is expected to detail steps towards the 3.5% of GDP target by 2035.
The chair of the UK's International Development Committee, Sarah Champion, has expressed concern that the government may further cut aid spending beyond the planned reduction to 0.3% of GNI. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper's response offered no firm commitment for the period beyond 2028-29.
AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI are set to dominate future cloud revenues, reportedly accounting for half of a massive $2 trillion backlog. These companies' substantial, multi-year spending commitments, reaching hundreds of billions, are significantly shaping the financial outlook for major cloud providers like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, highlighting a massive shift in infrastructure demand.
