Boris to hold emergency Cabinet meeting today amid fears of third lockdown

Boris Johnson has called an emergency Cabinet meeting today amid fears of a third lockdown after Christmas.

Ministers will meet at 1pm as reports claim the Government is considering imposing a travel ban on London and Kent.

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China Adds Rules on Foreign Investment in National Security

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China introduced a new regulation that will allow government agencies to preview, deny and punish foreign investment activities in areas that are deemed as important to national security.

Foreign investment involving production of military products, development of key agricultural, energy and natural resources as well as critical infrastructure and internet technology are subject to government review, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement Saturday.

The new regulation was drawn up based on the country’s existing foreign investment and national security laws and jointly issued by the NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce. The rule will be effective within 30 days, according to the statement.

— With assistance by Edwin Chan, and Yuan Gao

Boris 'to announce tier 4 lockdown for South East and Christmas rule changes'

London and the south east are reportedly set to be placed into a tier four lockdown while Boris Johnson is due to announce changes to the Christmas bubble rules this afternoon.

Cabinet sources have said there is expected to be a tightening of the plans to relax the rules around households gathering during the Christmas period when the PM addresses the nation at 4pm.

This is a breaking news story – more to follow

Bring on the babies: A strong recovery in 2021 will mean the 'pandemic baby bust' might not be as bad as we thought

• In June, economists at the Brookings Institute predicted that the pandemic would lead to a "baby bust" — or decline in birth rates — of up to 500,000 fewer babies.
• In an update six months later, authors Melissa S. Kearney and Phillip Levine believe that the bust will actually be closer to the lower end of their predictions, coming in at only 300,000 less babies.
• The lower estimate is due to a quicker-than-anticipated economic recovery.
• An analysis by the coauthors found that "a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate is associated with a one percent drop in the birth rate."
• The expected percentage increase in unemployment rate has changed from initial projections; the coauthors write that they expect it to come in around 5.5% instead of around 7 to 10%.
• However, there are still a few factors that could lead to a larger baby bust, according to the report.
• The strain of ongoing school closures may dissuade families from having more children.
• Less socialization also means that, potentially, fewer child-bearing couples will meet and procreate.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Blackstone in Talks to Merge Alight With SPAC: Reuters

Blackstone Group Inc is in talks to merge Alight Solutions LLC with Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp, a blank-check acquisition firm backed by investor Bill Foley, Reuters reported.

The merger would lead to Alight, a benefits administrator business, becoming a publicly-listed firm at a valuation of more than $8 billion, the report said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Talks may not lead to a deal, they said.

Blackstone and Alight declined to comment to Reuters, while a Foley spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Last year, Alight postponed its plans for an $800 million initial public offering just before final pricing. Blackstone acquired Alight as part of its purchase of Aon Plc’s human-resources and benefits-administration platforms in a transaction valued at as much as $4.8 billion in 2017.

Russia to Impose 30% Tariff on Soybean Exports, Interfax Reports

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Russia plans to introduce export duty on soybean shipments following President Vladimir Putin’s call to cool food-price inflation.

A sub-commission on custom and tariff regulation approved a soybean export duty of 30%, but not less than 165 euros ($202) per ton, Interfax newswire reported on Saturday, citing a person it didn’t name. The tariff will take effect on Feb. 1 and will remain in place through June 30, according to the report.

Russia is working to curb food-price inflation after Putin said earlier this month that he was surprised by sharp price increases for staples such as bread and sunflower oil.

The government proposed a levy of 25 euros a ton on wheat from mid-February through the end of June, while also pressing ahead with a previously announced grain-export quota for the same period, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said Monday. This week, the government also signed an accord with sunflower oil and sugar producers for price stabilization.

Russia is boosting overseas sales of soybeans this year and could have increased the shipments by 70% on an annual basis to more than 1.5 million tons, RIA Novosti reported last month, citing Rosselkhozbank data. China and Belarus are the main export destinations.