Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright.

Azerbaijan’s path to COP29 clear after Bulgaria drops bid

Summary: In the wake of Armenia’s withdrawal from consideration, Bulgaria has withdrawn its bid to host 2024’s COP29 global climate summit, making Azerbaijan’s bid to host the meeting in its capital city, Baku, all but guaranteed to move forward.

Context: Armenia’s withdrawal and subsequent backing of Baku seems to be part of a larger peace-effort between its government and that of neighboring Azerbaijan, which recently invaded a breakaway region called Nagorno-Karabakh, which was predominantly occupied by Armenians, enflaming simmering tensions between the oft at-odds—sometimes to the point of military action—nations; Bulgaria’s withdrawal is likely the result of Russia saying it would veto any bids by European Union nations in response to the EU’s sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine; the COP28 meeting ends today, and it has been controversially held in the oil-rich UAE, and if the next meeting is ultimately held is Baku, that would mark the second year in a row in which a summit meant to help the world collectively address human-amplified climate change is hosted by a petrostate.

—Politico

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Investor group launches $5.8 billion buyout bid for Macy’s

Summary: An investor group led by Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management—a real-estate firm and global asset manager, respectively—have submitted a formal proposal to buy out Macy’s at $21 per share, which would value the company at around $5.8 billion.

Context: That bid represents a 32%-ish premium on the company’s market value as of the day before the proposal was made, though it’s way down from the $70-per-share Macy’s stock was trading at in 2015, before the current e-commerce boom hit in earnest; Macy’s was recently the target of shareholder activists who wanted to spin-off the company’s real-estate assets, which are substantial, and others who were keen to spin-off the brand’s e-commerce component into a separate entity; notably, this is also happening shortly after competitors JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, and Lord & Taylor all filed for bankruptcy in 2020, later being revived as smaller, often online-only shadows of their former selves—so there’s a decent chance this is a play to benefit from the company’s valuable real estate holdings, while converting the Macy’s brand into something with lower overhead and higher profit potential.

—The Wall Street Journal

Yemen's Houthis warn they will target all ships headed to Israel

Summary: Houthi rebels based in Yemen attacked another ship passing through the Red Sea over the weekend, and announced that they would target all ships headed to Israel for any reason, no matter who owns and operates them, until sufficient food and medical supplies are allowed into the Gaza Strip.

Context: This would seem to be a formalization of what was already happening in the area, as many ships have already been attacked with missiles or drones, and in some cases boarded by Houthi fighters, necessitating intervention by US and French warships in the area; the Israeli government has said it may be forced to act unilaterally against the Houthis conducting these attacks if someone else doesn’t handle it, and large protests have continued to erupt globally, calling for an end to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza as Israeli troops continue their invasion of the region, ostensibly to take-out militant group Hamas’ local leadership and infrastructure.

—Reuters

Alongside concerns about housing, commercial, and even military infrastructure being overwhelmed by persistent flooding due to climate change impacts in the coming decades, concerns about hazardous waste storage facilities being subsumed—that waste then making its way into the environment—are also being raised (especially since many such facilities are located in increasingly flood-prone areas).

—Axios

$700 million

Reported size of the 10-year contract signed by Japanese baseball talent (considered to be the best of a generation, by many) Shohei Ohtani to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, making him the best-paid player in MLB history, and possibly sports history.

This is attracting a fair number of headlines even beyond the typical sports press in part because it’s indicative of how important sports-related revenue has become for the in-person experience economy, and for the online streaming world (and because it could fundamentally change the scope of other contract negotiations, moving forward).

—The Ringer

Trust Click

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