# Merz's Russia Warning, Alberta Vote a Win for Carney, More

An episode of [Bloomberg News Now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1701403307), 20 Oct 2026, 7:49.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/UVBrz8bN8aM2Xe47PEPu/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/d9566f78-0464-4367-9dcc-b05700aeec6f/f4302154-3f17-4d80-85bd-b4e9008b69f1/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=7f880b3c-7f67-4b4b-b520-b05700af9172

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## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm
[0:03] Speaker 1: James Woolcock.
[0:04] Speaker 2: And I'm Caroline Hepke.
[0:06] Speaker 1: Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz says many in Europe are too
[0:09] Speaker 1: complacent about the danger posed by Russia. Speaking exclusively to Bloomberg,
[0:15] Speaker 1: Merz warned that Moscow wants to undermine democracy across the continent.
[0:19] Speaker 3: My biggest concern is the underestimated Russian impact on our societies.
[0:29] Speaker 3: which has to do with the war in Ukraine. But
[0:32] Speaker 3: this is only a part of the picture. The big
[0:36] Speaker 3: picture is that Russia is on the way to destabilise
[0:40] Speaker 3: the entire political order of our European continent. And this
[0:46] Speaker 3: is obviously underestimated by many people in my country as well.
[0:52] Speaker 1: Mertz also said Germany and other non-US allies are funding
[0:56] Speaker 1: Ukraine's defence without Washington's help. European leaders are also trying
[1:01] Speaker 1: to diffuse tensions between President Zelensky and Trump. Mertz says
[1:05] Speaker 1: he's trying to convince Trump that backing a stable Europe
[1:08] Speaker 1: serves America's interests too.
[1:11] Speaker 3: I'm trying to convince Donald Trump each time I'm meeting
[1:17] Speaker 3: him that this... should be in his own interest. A
[1:22] Speaker 3: stable Europe, European continent, European Union as a partner in
[1:27] Speaker 3: the world is something which is worthwhile for the Americans
[1:30] Speaker 3: as well. So they are not alone.
[1:33] Speaker 1: Friedrich Merz spoke to Bloomberg's editor-at-large, Francine Lacroix, as European
[1:37] Speaker 1: leaders now face the prospect of supporting Ukraine on their own.
[1:41] Speaker 1: But even then, replacing U.S. air defenses or intelligence quickly
[1:45] Speaker 1: would be difficult. You can listen to the full 20-minute
[1:47] Speaker 1: interview with Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the Bloomberg Talks podcast.
[1:52] Speaker 2: Ukraine's President Zelensky has again accused the US of failing
[1:55] Speaker 2: to provide early warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks.
[1:58] Speaker 2: It comes as Ukrainian officials believe the Trump administration throttled
[2:02] Speaker 2: back intelligence sharing. of a devastating barrage on Sunday. Trump
[2:07] Speaker 2: told reporters Zelensky doesn't know what he's talking about.
[2:10] Speaker 4: Zelensky is a man that should have had this war
[2:13] Speaker 4: settled a long time ago. If he would have listened
[2:16] Speaker 4: to me, he would have made a much better deal
[2:17] Speaker 4: a long time ago and he'd have a million people
[2:20] Speaker 4: living from his side. And to be honest, I don't think,
[2:23] Speaker 4: I think it's time for somebody else to negotiate on
[2:26] Speaker 4: behalf of Ukraine.
[2:28] Speaker 2: President Trump added, we've given a lot to Ukraine, they've
[2:31] Speaker 2: given us nothing. Zelensky will meet US envoys Jared Kushner
[2:35] Speaker 2: and Steve Witkoff along with the leaders of Norway and
[2:37] Speaker 2: Finland in Oslo this week for further talks on ending
[2:40] Speaker 2: the war as relations between Trump and Zelensky have soured.
[2:44] Speaker 1: France's protests have largely subsided after tougher security measures were
[2:48] Speaker 1: introduced following the weekend's unrest. Authorities imposed an 11pm curfew
[2:53] Speaker 1: in parts of Paris last night alongside restrictions elsewhere. Prime
[2:56] Speaker 1: Minister Sébastien Le Cornu says targeted curfews will return tonight.
[3:00] Speaker 1: And chief Europe correspondent Oliver Crook says the tighter security
[3:04] Speaker 1: could continue.
[3:05] Speaker 5: We've also heard from the interior minister, the same interior
[3:08] Speaker 5: minister who handed his resignation into Emmanuel Macron over the weekend.
[3:12] Speaker 5: Macron rejected that, saying that there was going to be
[3:15] Speaker 5: more police presence in the coming weekend in order for
[3:18] Speaker 5: the government to be better prepared for the eventuality of
[3:20] Speaker 5: possible protests and indeed possible riots.
[3:23] Speaker 1: The big television's Oliver Crook reporting there from Paris. The
[3:26] Speaker 1: unrest has also weighed on markets, with France's bonds and
[3:29] Speaker 1: stocks falling.
[3:31] Speaker 2: South Korean data center firm Elise has plunged on its
[3:35] Speaker 2: KOSDAQ debut. Shares tumbled as much as 38% before finishing
[3:39] Speaker 2: the day with a 32% loss. The company raised $ 151
[3:43] Speaker 2: million in its IPO after pricing shares at the top
[3:46] Speaker 2: end of the range. Our Asia markets reporter Avril Hong
[3:49] Speaker 2: says the drop highlights growing investor caution over AI bets.
[3:53] Speaker 6: This is a data center operator that's made its cost
[3:57] Speaker 6: deck trading debut and it is plunging disastrously on the
[4:01] Speaker 6: first day of school. It's just all a reminder of
[4:04] Speaker 6: investor concerns of the AI trade given borrowing costs, intense
[4:09] Speaker 6: competition concerns and how that might translate into long-term returns.
[4:14] Speaker 2: That was Avril Hong there on what is the worst
[4:17] Speaker 2: ever market debut for a large career listing.
[4:20] Speaker 1: Here in the UK, the jobs market has delivered a
[4:22] Speaker 1: surprise improvement, with unemployment even down to 4.7%. Official figures
[4:27] Speaker 1: show payrolls rose by 13,000 last month compared with forecasts
[4:31] Speaker 1: for an 8,000 decline. Bloomberg's Sam Unstead says the news
[4:35] Speaker 1: changes the outlook for the Bank of England. The job
[4:38] Speaker 1: market looks pretty resilient.
[4:39] Speaker 7: And so, actually, the dynamic that's been playing out with
[4:42] Speaker 7: the Bank of England of inflationary threats and potential second
[4:45] Speaker 7: round effects versus a weaker labor market and not wanting
[4:48] Speaker 7: to hike into a weaker labor market is, you know,
[4:50] Speaker 7: maybe that's breaking down a touch. And so, actually, I
[4:53] Speaker 7: think it's likely to slightly strengthen bets on hikes coming
[4:56] Speaker 7: from the BOE.
[4:57] Speaker 1: Bloomberg's Markets Today editor Sam Unstead there on the data,
[4:59] Speaker 1: which gives the government a boost ahead of next week's budget.
[5:02] Speaker 1: But vacancies dropped again, while stronger wage growth adds pressure
[5:06] Speaker 1: on the Bank of England ahead of November's rate decision.
[5:09] Speaker 2: Chancellor John Healey will not increase capital gains tax in
[5:13] Speaker 2: the budget, though, next week. This, according to a Treasury official.
[5:16] Speaker 2: The top rate is set to stay at 24%. That's
[5:19] Speaker 2: despite pressure from some Labour MPs for it to rise.
[5:23] Speaker 2: Unison's General Secretary Andrea Egan says the public backs higher
[5:27] Speaker 2: taxes on the wealthy.
[5:28] Speaker 8: We've seen cuts, haven't we, for the last 16, 17 years.
[5:32] Speaker 8: So I think it should be something that would be
[5:35] Speaker 8: welcomed by Andy Burnham. There's a cross-party agreement that we
[5:40] Speaker 8: need more funding for better public services. It's just common sense.
[5:45] Speaker 2: Unison's union leader, Andrea Egan there. Bloomberg understands that the
[5:49] Speaker 2: Chancellor is considering higher taxes on banks to help pay
[5:53] Speaker 2: for temporary energy bill support. The move will likely involve
[5:56] Speaker 2: increasing the 3% bank surcharge that is levied on top
[6:00] Speaker 2: of corporation tax.
[6:02] Speaker 1: And to the Americas, where voters in Alberta are set
[6:04] Speaker 1: to reject separation from Canada, with roughly 1.4 million votes counted,
[6:10] Speaker 1: there are 76% backed remaining. enough for CBC to project
[6:15] Speaker 1: a victory. The expected result is a win for Prime
[6:18] Speaker 1: Minister Mark Carney and eases fears of fresh uncertainty in
[6:22] Speaker 1: Canada's biggest oil-producing province. But the size of the separatist
[6:25] Speaker 1: vote will still matter for Premier Danielle Smith, whose governing
[6:29] Speaker 1: party remains divided on independence.
[6:32] Speaker 2: China's Finance Minister Lan Fuan has warned ministers at the
[6:36] Speaker 2: APEC summit in Hong Kong that the international landscape is
[6:39] Speaker 2: increasingly turbulent and complex. He called for a joint effort
[6:43] Speaker 2: to prevent spinoffs from policy shifts given economic uncertainty overseas. Now,
[6:47] Speaker 2: Land's remarks struck a note of caution at a time
[6:51] Speaker 2: when the world economy is becoming more protectionist. The APEC
[6:54] Speaker 2: meeting involves... Finance officials from 21 economies, they represent more
[6:58] Speaker 2: than 60% of global GDP. So, that's ending some of
[7:03] Speaker 2: our top stories for you today. Just looking at the
[7:06] Speaker 2: markets this morning. So, stocks at the moment in Europe
[7:09] Speaker 2: are heading lower, 7 tenths down, FTSE 100 dropping half
[7:12] Speaker 2: of 1%. Stock futures for the US are also deeply
[7:14] Speaker 2: in the red with that AI sell-off and a lot
[7:17] Speaker 2: of the big US stocks. names reporting earnings, the likes
[7:21] Speaker 2: of SpaceX and GM and GE, all going to be
[7:24] Speaker 2: closely watched. 10-year US Treasury yields dropped two basis points
[7:28] Speaker 2: to 5.12%. Germany yields also rallying down two basis points
[7:31] Speaker 2: for yields 3.43%. And oil prices are up 1%. Brent
[7:37] Speaker 2: is now above $ 110 a barrel. Those are the markets.
[7:39] Speaker 1: That's news when you want it. With Bloomberg News Now,
[7:42] Speaker 1: I'm James Walcock.
[7:43] Speaker 2: I'm Caroline Hipka. And this is Bloomberg.

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