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Speaker 1: News when he won it with Bloomberg News. Now I'm

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Speaker 1: Dan Schwartzman. The Vatican is reporting that Pope Francis is

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Speaker 1: in critical condition after suffering a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis

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Speaker 1: this morning. The Pontiff, who received high flows of oxygen

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Speaker 1: as well as blood transfusion, is not out of danger.

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Speaker 1: That's according to a statement from the Vatican. The Pope

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Speaker 1: is alert, though in spending his day in his armchair.

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Speaker 1: According to the statement, the eighty eight year old has

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Speaker 1: been in a week long battle with pneumonia in both

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Speaker 1: his lungs. Six Israeli men, including two who had been

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Speaker 1: held for a decade, were freed by Hamas in the

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Speaker 1: final trade of live hostages scheduled under the first phase

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Speaker 1: of a Gaza Sees fire deal. Israel was expected to

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Speaker 1: release six hundred and twenty Plastidian prisoners, but has now

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Speaker 1: been delayed until the release of the next hostages are guaranteed,

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Speaker 1: and also that the humiliating ceremonies that we've seen. Overall,

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Speaker 1: the deal broken by Cutter and Egypt has featured seven

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Speaker 1: exchanges of hostages for jailed Palastidian prisoners and is due

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Speaker 1: to end on March second, sixty three hostages from the

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Speaker 1: October seventh attack remaining Gaza, among them forty six who

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Speaker 1: have been declared dead by Israel. Ukraine is pushing back

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Speaker 1: against US demands for a five hundred billion dollar fund

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Speaker 1: that would be part of a deal to give Washington

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Speaker 1: a cut of the country's mineral wealth. That's according to

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Speaker 1: Ukrainian official familiar with talks. The fund would compensate the

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Speaker 1: US for its assistance provided to the country since the

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Speaker 1: start of Russia's invasion. Ukraine is arguing the actual amount

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Speaker 1: is around five times lower and more than ninety billion dollars,

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Speaker 1: said the person, who declined to be named because the

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Speaker 1: talks are private. President Trump, speaking at a Conservative political

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Speaker 1: action conference earlier today, said that he believes the two

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Speaker 1: countries are close to a deal. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway

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Speaker 1: is out with better than expected coarly results. More from

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg's Denise Pellegrini.

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Speaker 2: Berkshire Hathaways operating earnings surged seventy one percent in the

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Speaker 2: fourth quarter, driven by higher interest rates and a strong

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Speaker 2: recovery in its insurance underwriting business. Company's insurance investment income

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Speaker 2: jump forty eight percent to more than four billion dollars.

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Speaker 2: Pretext underwriting earnings quadrupled. Geiko was the main contributor there.

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Speaker 2: Sure's cash hoard meantime, grew to a record three hundred

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Speaker 2: and thirty four point two billion dollars. Buffett says Berkshire

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Speaker 2: paid a record twenty six point eight billion dollars in

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Speaker 2: taxes last year. That's about five percent of the total

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Speaker 2: taxes paid by US companies for the year. Buffett credits

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Speaker 2: Berkshire's success to America's capitalist economy, and he says the

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Speaker 2: company hopes to send even larger payments to the government

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Speaker 2: in the future. Denise Pelgritty, Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Denise Elon Musk announcing today that all federal employees

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Speaker 1: will receive an email asking them to justify their jobs

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Speaker 1: by explaining what they accomplished last week. If a person

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Speaker 1: fails to respond to the email, it will be considered

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Speaker 1: a resignation, which sparked concerns about the legal and pragmatic

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Speaker 1: implications of such a move. Musk is overseeing Trump's Department

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Speaker 1: of Government Efficiency or DOGE. Concern is building among Internet

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Speaker 1: watchdogs that President Trump and Elon Musk's government cost cutting

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Speaker 1: push could earn efforts to fight this information. Bloombergs Nathan

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Speaker 1: Haker has more from Washington.

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Speaker 3: Bloomberg News has learned nonprofits around the world that target

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Speaker 3: online extremism and authoritarian propaganda or slashing operations and laying

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Speaker 3: off employees. That's after DOGE cuts at the Justice Department

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Speaker 3: and US Agency for International Development led to the loss

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Speaker 3: of tens of millions of dollars in grant support. Sources

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Speaker 3: tell US fact checking groups in the US and abroad

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Speaker 3: or facing shortfalls of up to eighty percent as artificial

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Speaker 3: intelligence threatens to supercharge the spread of disinformation in Washington.

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Speaker 3: I'm Nathan Hager, Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Nathan. The European Union estimated that the first wave

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Speaker 1: of President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs will affect as

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Speaker 1: much as twenty eight billion euros of the block's exports.

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Speaker 1: The EU trade chief Maroseefkovich said the situation was in

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Speaker 1: flux after meeting with US counterparts in Washington. The EU

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Speaker 1: said it would respond quickly and proportionally to US tariffs

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Speaker 1: and could reactivate previously suspended tariffs, but as offered to

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Speaker 1: lower tariffs on industrial goods to avoid a trade clash.

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Speaker 1: The twenty five percent tariffs on steel and aluminum exports

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Speaker 1: could take effect as soon as March twelfth. Germans head

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Speaker 1: to the polls Sunday in crucial elections after the collapse

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Speaker 1: of the coalition and goun government led by Chancellor Olaff Schultz.

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Speaker 1: The favorite to become the next chancellor is Friedrich Mertz,

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Speaker 1: leader the center right Christian Democratic Union Party. Polls show

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Speaker 1: the CDU enjoys a comfortable lead with twenty eight percent support.

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Speaker 1: One of the main themes of this election is the

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Speaker 1: dissatisfaction of Germany's youth, as they're seen to be drifting

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Speaker 1: to the left and right fringe. Tune into Bloomberg Radio

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Speaker 1: and television with our Francine Lacroix for special coverage. That's

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Speaker 1: news when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm

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Speaker 1: Dan Schwartzman, and this is Bloomberg