1: As anticipated, Japan’s Parliament elected Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takichi to be the 104th prime minister – and the first female PM in the country’s history. The 64-year-old is an arch conservative, and has long admired the late UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Her main priority going forward: putting a lid on rising prices. The Japanese yen fell, though, over concerns about Takichi’s potential approach to monetary policy and spending.
5: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began his five-year jail sentence in Paris today for soliciting funds from fallen Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi during his 2007 campaign. The 70-year-old, who becomes the first former leader of a European Union state to go to jail, still maintains his innocence.
4,200: The Netherlands – which ordered 19,000 asylum seekers to leave the country last year, but only returned 4,200 – plans to deport rejected asylum seekers to a “transit hub” in Uganda starting next year, under a deal modeled on the US arrangement with Kampala. The move faces legal and human rights concerns, though Dutch officials insist it complies with international law.
$150 billion: The US Army is courting major private equity firms—including Apollo, Carlyle, KKR, and Cerberus—to help fund a $150 billion infrastructure overhaul. As the FT reported exclusively, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll is seeking proposals on ambitious projects like data centers or rare earth facilities, offering financing as part of a broader Trump administration push to integrate private capital into national security.
