• In a major shift, investors are starting to place a greater premium on stock valuation over earnings growth as a performance factor, according to Morgan Stanley's equity strategists. 
• They forecast that the market will be choppy in 2019 due to a slowdown in earnings growth, and recommend sectors of the market where the cheapest value relative to fundamentals can be found. 

In the perennial tussle between value and growth stocks, Morgan Stanley has picked a winner.

In 2019 — and for the foreseeable future after that — the firm's equity strategists are recommending a preference for stocks that trade at cheaper prices relative to fundamentals like earnings. And Morgan Stanley says this will come at the expense of companies offering strong profit growth.

It's a major shift from the dynamic that's played out throughout the nearly 10-year bull market. An investor who followed this advice at the start of the bull run would have missed out on the far greater returns that were produced by growth stocks.

"From a style perspective, we think there is a major leadership change occurring from growth to value which could be more long lasting than most appreciate,"Mike Wilson, the chief US equity strategist, said in a note.

The rally in tech stocks that fizzled out in October was proof of the shift that's taking place. At the same time, value stocks are outperforming growth. Since September 27, the Russell Large Cap Growth Index has bested its large-cap value counterpart by 800 basis points. 

Zooming further out to December 2016, the growth index is the clear winner with 2,100 basis points of outperformance. And so, Wilson isn't counting out growth stocks completely. 

What is changing, however, is that both real and nominal interest rates — including the yields on safer assets like Treasurys — are on the rise, while growth stocks are under pressure. The combination of these factors has led the market to put a premium on valuation as a factor for performance.   

"The bottom line is that investors need to pay more attention to valuation now, especially for over loved growth stories that are effectively the longest duration assets in the world," Wilson said. 

Read more: Morningstar's $207 billion CIO breaks down why investors have 'significantly overpaid' for the biggest tech stocks — and explains what they should be doing with their money instead

This approach will be handy if Wilson's central thesis — that stocks are in a rolling, drawn-out bear market— prevails in the new year.

He forecasts a choppy ride for investors in the new year, with the S&P 500 most likely ending at 2,750, but falling to 2,400 in the worst-case scenario and surging to 3,000 in the most bullish outcome. The volatility should be driven by a "material slowdown in earnings growth," the opposite of which has catapulted growth stocks during this bull market.  

"At a high level, we are looking to be overweight a mix of defensives and value cyclicals while being underweight expensive cyclicals and sectors where earnings revisions may have greater relative downside," Wilson said.

To that end, Morgan Stanley is overweight consumer staples, energy, financials, and utilities.

SEE ALSO: GOLDMAN SACHS: Hedge funds have plunged into a 'vicious downward cycle' with the most popular stocks, and it's a sign the meltdown is just getting started

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• Amazon has said that Cyber Monday was the biggest ever shopping day in their 24-year history.
• It was part of a record-breaking holiday season spanning Thanksgiving, Black Friday, the weekend, and Cyber Monday.
• They say they also shifted "millions" more products from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday than during the 2017 holiday period.
• Amazon expressed the sales figures as a percentage increase, rather than dollar amounts.

Amazon say that Cyber Monday smashed the company's records to become the biggest shopping day in history. 

The company did not release hard figures but said 2018 was "the single biggest shopping day in the company’s history with the most products ordered worldwide,"a company press release said on Tuesday.

Amazon also said that the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday — known as the Turkey-five — also broke the company record for the most sales worldwide, selling "millions" more products than the same period in 2017.

Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer said: "Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to break records on Amazon year over year, which tells us that customers love shopping for deals to kick off the holiday shopping season."

A $7.8 billion shopping day

2018's Cyber Monday was forecast to be the biggest ever for the US economy at large. According to a report from Adobe Analytics, US shoppers spent $7.8 billion on Monday alone, an 18% hike from 2017.

The shape of sales could also be changing, with spending spread more evenly over a five-day period rather than crammed into 24 hours.

According to Ray Wimer, an assistant professor of retail practice at Syracuse University, people are changing the way they shop, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday merging as shoppers' habits shift online.

"Black Friday is really no longer a one-day shopping extravaganza, it really signals a kickoff to a four-day promotional period that concludes on Cyber Monday," he said.

Though Cyber Monday looks to have broken records, it is eclipsed by Singles Day, a Chinese shopping event that attracts almost four times the sales volume.

With $30.8 billion made in sales over 24 hours this month from a single company — the e-commerce platform Alibaba — Singles Day celebration is easily the biggest shopping event on earth.

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• Trump is railing against GM's decision to close plants and axe up to 14,000 jobs, despite the role his trade war played in triggering the events in the first place.  
• GM has warned about tariffs hurting jobs and wages earlier this year. But cited demand and other factors when announcing the job cuts. 
• Trump criticized GM's decision to abandon its plant in Ohio, a state that voted for Trump in 2016. 

US President Donald Trump is railing against GM's decision to close plants and axe up to 14,000 jobs, despite the role his trade war played in triggering the events in the first place.  

When listing reasons behind the job cuts on Monday, General Motors tiptoed around trade policy and blamed a host of other factors instead. But the company has been much more direct in its criticism of Trump's trade war in the past.  

Earlier this year GM lowered its profit forecasts for 2018, citing higher steel and aluminium prices caused by new US tariffs. And in June, GM warned that trade tariffs could lead to job losses and lower wages, telling the Commerce Department that higher steel tariffs would impact competitiveness.

The automaker, which employs approximately 110,000 workers, said on Monday that it plans to shut plants in Ohio, a state that voted for Trump in 2016. 

Tariffs were not specifically mentioned by the company — GM cited "changing market conditions and customer preferences" among the reasons.

Trump lashed out at CEO Mary Barra: "I was very tough. I spoke with her when I heard they were closing and I said, you know, this country has done a lot for General Motors," he said, per CNN. "The United States saved General Motors, and for her to take that company out of Ohio is not good."

Trump said he told the CEO that she had "better" reopen plants in the US soon.

Trump's trade war shows no signs of abating. He told the Wall Street Journal Monday that he is likely to go ahead with a hike on tariffs currently imposed on Chinese goods, increasing from 10% to 25%. The tariffs have so far hammered global shipping, US farmers and, perhaps, even iPhone users. 

GM said its Lordstown Assembly plant in Warren, Ohio, would be "unallocated" by the end of 2019. The automaker said it would shut down its Oshawa Assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant in Detroit, its propulsion-component plants in Maryland and Michigan, and idle two additional, unnamed assembly plants outside the US.

The stock soared 4.8% on the cost cuts on Monday. But on Tuesday, GM shares were down 1.5% in premarket trading as of 11.00 a.m in London (6.00 a.m EST). 

SEE ALSO: General Motors spikes after announcing plans to idle 3 North American factories and slash 15% of its salaried workforce

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• There is one fight that interests Khabib Nurmagomedov more than all others.
• Nurmagomedov, the UFC lightweight champion, has been linked with a fight against jiu-jitsu expert Tony Ferguson and a rematch against Irish striker Conor McGregor.
• But the Russian wrestler only has eyes for Floyd Mayweather.
• Nurmagomedov has already met with the Russian Boxing Federation to discuss a potential fight, and Mayweather's team reportedly talked about a two-fight deal with the UFC boss Dana White.

Fighting Floyd Mayweather interests Khabib Nurmagomedov more than anything the UFC can offer.

Nurmagomedov reigns over the UFC lightweight division as the unbeaten champion won the vacant title by beating Al Iaquinta by decision in April, before romping to a fourth-round submission win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229 six months later.

A rematch against McGregor or a bout against the jiu-jitsu expert Tony Ferguson are both plausible UFC fights for Nurmagomedov to compete in next, but the Russian wrestler says a bout against Mayweather would trump the lot.

Speaking at a press conference in Russia to promote his autobiography, Nurmagomedov said, "for legacy, money-wise and competition-wise, the bout against Mayweather would be more interesting" than a fight versus Ferguson, according to Yahoo Sports.

Nurmagomedov has frequently said he is the "Mayweather of MMA" in the past and believes his status as an undefeated prizefighter adds intrigue to the match-up with the pay-per-view king of boxing.

Read more: Khabib Nurmagomedov is 3 wins away from becoming the best lightweight the UFC has ever seen, and could retire as 'the Floyd Mayweather of MMA'

"Why do people keep buying pay-per-views with Mayweather in? Because he keeps winning. He's never lost. 50 bouts and 50 wins. Some people root for him and some people root against him," Nurmagomedov said. "That would be very interesting. Two undefeated fighters. It would be very interesting to see who wins."

Nurmagomedov did not reportedly add details about what sort of fight he would seek, but recent history suggests it would be fought under boxing rules.

This is because the 30-year-old met with the Russian Boxing Federation to discuss the Floyd Mayweather fight in October, and wanted to host it in Moscow in front of 100,000 fans.

Mayweather once said he was absolutely fighting Nurmagomedov, and his team even discussed a two-fight deal with the UFC boss Dana White.

The veteran American, who turns 42 in February, has since booked a fight against the RIZIN kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, who is only 20 years old— a fight he even acknowledges isn't even a real contest.

It is unclear how much money the exhibition against Nasukawa would generate, but Nurmagomedov believes a bout with him would pique the interest of fans as it would be "twice as interesting" as the one Mayweather had with McGregor.

"Our fight will be twice as interesting. Two unbeaten fighters, it will be interesting to see which one falls or takes a step back," he said.

Before Nurmagomedov is able to negotiate a fight, with Mayweather or with the UFC, he must attend a disciplinary hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) regarding his behaviour after he submitted McGregor.

Rather than celebrate his victory, Nurmagomedov mounted the cage and charged at McGregor's cageside friend Dillon Danis. While that was going on, members of Nurmagomedov's team were seen jumping into the octagon and brawling with McGregor.

Nurmagomedov then turned up at the post-fight press conference and said Vladimir Putin was proud of him.

The NSAC, though, have instructed both Nurmagomedov and McGregor to attend a hearing on December 10. Failure to comply will tank their careers as they will be prohibited from ever competing in Las Vegas again.

SEE ALSO: Khabib Nurmagomedov is 3 wins away from becoming the best lightweight the UFC has ever seen, and could retire as 'the Floyd Mayweather of MMA'

DON'T MISS: Floyd Mayweather should disappear into retirement forever, because a comeback could end in tears

UP NEXT: Conor McGregor was asked if he'd rather share a glass of whiskey with Khabib Nurmagomedov or Floyd Mayweather, and his response was cutting

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• A US tourist diced with death when he went hang-gliding in Switzerland.
• Chris Gursky was trying the air sport for the first time when things went disastrously wrong.
• Gursky and his pilot launched off from a Swiss mountain — but the American was not attached to the glider.
• Gursky held on for around two minutes as the pilot grappled with the glider with one hand while holding onto his passenger with the other.
• Fortunately, the pilot managed to make an emergency landing and Gursky survived the experience with nothing more than a broken wrist and torn bicep.
• The tourist shared terrifying footage of his flight on YouTube.
• Gursky said in the video that although the pilot had made a crucial error by not attaching him to the glider, he had also saved his life by managing to land them safely while grappling for control.

US tourist Chris Gursky got more than he bargained for on his first hang-gliding trip while on holiday in Switzerland.

Gursky, who is reportedly an auto-parts manager from Florida, was on his first day of the trip to Europe with his wife when his flying experience went wrong.

In footage shared by Gursky on YouTube, he and a pilot are seen on the edge of a mountain where they take a run up before leaping into the air, however, it immediately becomes apparent that the American is not attached to the glider at all.

Gursky then clings on to the glider and the pilot for around two minutes before they manage to make an emergency landing.

Captioning the video, Gursky says that the pilot tried to make an emergency landing sooner but was struggling to keep the glider under control as he steered with one hand and held on to his passenger with the other.

The pair then fly even higher as Gursky clings onto the metal bar and trouser leg of the pilot.

"Can't hold on much longer," Gursky writes as he and the pilot began to descend over a small settlement.

Finally, though, the pilot is able to drop low enough for Gursky to release himself — in doing so breaking his wrist — while the pilot manages to land the glider safely.

Gursky says that his wrist required surgery and that he'd torn his bicep from clinging on to the glider for so long.

He added that while the pilot made a critical error in not attaching him to the glider, he also did everything he could to get him to the ground safely while flying with one hand.

He ended the video by writing: "I will go hang gliding again as I did not enjoy my first flight."

"My body weight shifted straight down and I found myself hanging on for my life," Gursky said of his scrape with death according to the Daily Mail.

"I remember looking down and thinking, this is it. I was losing grip with my right hand, that was holding onto a strap on the pilot's right shoulder. He was trying to make a beeline to the landing field as he knew what the situation could bring.

"My left hand was on the crossbar that was ultimately the landing gear, with a wheel on each side. As we were going down for a hot landing I was slowly losing my grip with my right hand as I was swinging in the wind with the glider.

"The pilot grabbed my hand, but like in the movies, it was a slow-motion slipping of the grip until my right hand slipped off and I grabbed another strap on his left side for a bit but this slipped off also.

"I ended up holding on to the bar with the left hand and the lower part of his leg with the right when we were nearing the ground. I looked down to see my feet hit first, which ripped me off at about 45 mph as it was a hot landing and I was under the landing gear.

"I would guesstimate the total flight time was about 5 minutes. When I sat up I knew something was wrong and saw that my wrist was broken.

"For two minutes and 14 seconds I had to hang on for my life! The landing was a rough one, but I lived to tell the story."

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• The chances that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will strike a deal to resolve their escalating trade war are looking increasingly poor.
• Trump said this week that he is "highly unlikely" to step back on a planned increase in tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25%.
• He also said that he would introduce tariffs on additional goods if the countries do not reach a position that is favorable to the US.
• The leaders will meet at the G20 Summit in Argentina this week in an attempt to broker a deal to end the trade war, though analysts are not optimistic.

Hopes that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will manage to strike a deal this week to avoid escalating trade conflict are pretty much dead in the water after Trump said he expects to move forward with tariffs ahead of the leaders' planned meeting at the G20 summit this week.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said that it was "highly unlikely" that he would accept Beijing's request not to move forward with increasing tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from 10%.

He also said that if negotiations between the two countries don't produce a favorable outcome from the US he would introduce tariffs on additional goods.

Read More: Trump is ready to go all-out in the trade war with China, and even the iPhone may not be spared

Trump and Xi are to attempt to broker an end of the trade war at the G-20 Summit in Argentina, which begins on Friday.

China will hope for a breakthrough, though analysts warn that this looks increasingly unlikely.

Read More: Trump's economic sugar high is already fading, and his trade war could make it even uglier

A former top trade official on Capitol Hill told Axios in light of Trump's statements: "My main takeaway is that maybe Wall Street needs to stop being so optimistic that Trump is going to negotiate away this China thing in the relatively near future. We are in for a long haul."

Michael Every, head of financial markets research Asia-Pacific at Rabobank, characterized the likely result of G20 as "can-kicking at best"to CNBC. Xi "can't deliver on anything the US wants and needs. Hence no deal," he said.

Officials from both countries are working to follow up on a November 1 phone call between the two leaders, where they agreed to work towards a "mutually acceptable proposal," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters on Tuesday, as Bloomberg reported.

Read More: US companies are using an ingenious method to game the system and avoid the worst of Trump's trade war

He did not provide further details.

"We hope the US could work with us to implement and follow the spirit of the phone call of the state leaders and ensure positive outcomes of the meeting," he said.

After repeated attempts by various US and Chinese officials, China watcher and Sinocism newsletter author Bill Bishop tweeted that the talks could in fact do serious damage.

"If I were Xi Jinping I’d consider canceling the g20 meeting with trump. The odds of humiliation are not low,"Bishop tweeted.

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Here is what you need to know.

1. Trump says he's ready to go all out in the trade war with China. President Donald Trump on Monday told The Wall Street Journal it was "highly unlikely" that he would reach a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina and that he was prepared to place tariffs on the remaining $267 billion worth of Chinese goods imported by the US — including iPhones and other consumer products.
2. Cyber Monday projected to rake in a record $7.9 billion of sales. A late-evening forecast from Adobe estimated that sales would be about $100 million more than previously forecast, Reuters reports.
3. Amazon says Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2018 were the biggest shopping days in its history. The e-commerce giant said Cyber Monday was the biggest shopping day in its history and "millions" more products were sold between it and Thanksgiving Day than were sold during the same period in 2017.
4. Bank of America's $2.8 trillion wealth-management CIO reveals his biggest market fear. Chris Hyzy — the chief investment officer for Bank of America's Global Wealth and Investment Management division — explains why a decline in dollar liquidity — if left unchecked — could trigger the next recession.
5. Microsoft briefly passes Apple as the largest US company. Microsoft on Monday briefly surpassed Apple as the most valuable company in the US, with a market capitalization of about $812 billion. The last time Microsoft finished a trading session with a higher market cap than Apple was in 2010.
6. Tesla's sales in China crashed in October amid the trade war. The electric-car maker sold just 211 vehicles in China in October, down 70% year-over-year, Reuters says, citing China Passenger Car Association data.
7. Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been outed as a member of China's Communist Party. Ma, China's richest person, is one of 100 guests set to be honored by Beijing for their contributions to the country's economy, according to the state-run People's Daily.
8. Stock markets around the world are in the red. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-0.17%) slipped in Asia, and Britain's FTSE (-0.29%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.38% near 2,663.
9. Salesforce reports after the closing bell. It's expected to earn an adjusted $0.50 a share on revenue of $3.37 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
10. US economic data flows. FHFA House Price Index and S&P Case-Schiller home prices will be released at 9 a.m. ET before consumer confidence crosses the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 3.05%.

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• A court filing has revealed more details about how British lawmakers got their hands on sensitive Facebook documents last week.
• Ted Kramer, the founder of a software company suing Facebook, handed over papers after he "panicked" following a parliamentary order from MP Damian Collins.
• The court filing also reveals that Kramer was in contact with journalist Carole Cadwalladr, who exposed the Cambridge Analytica data breach, before he arrived in the UK.

The UK Parliament seized a cache of highly sensitive Facebook documents last week. Now, a court filing has revealed more details on how the lawmakers got their hands on the papers.

Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, secured the documents from Ted Kramer, the founder of a software company called Six4Three, while Kramer was on business in the UK.

Six4Three is suing Facebook for killing its business — specifically, an app named Pikinis that surfaced images of people's Facebook friends in their swimwear — when it tightened up its privacy policies in 2015.

The documents, which could shed light on Facebook's approach to user privacy, are sealed under the order of a court in California. But UK parliamentary privilege means Collins could choose to publish them.

Six4Three offered a blow-by-blow account of how the papers were obtained by Collins in a filing to the San Mateo County Superior Court on Monday. The filing was obtained by Ars Technica and BuzzFeed.

Read more: How Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be humbled by a creepy bikini app

The filing, available here, confirmed a lot of what has already been reported. Namely, that Kramer was compelled to hand over the evidence on a visit to London last week. After initially refusing, he was escorted from his hotel to parliament, where he was told he could face a fine or imprisonment if he failed to produce the papers.

But the update also offered an intriguing insight into Kramer's movements.

In a meeting with Collins at the MP's Westminster office on 21 November, the filing says Kramer "panicked" after being told he could be punished for withholding evidence. Without telling his lawyers, he then handed over a bunch of documents that "seemed relevant." This was all done while one of Collins' staff was watching his screen.

Here's how it is described in the filing: 

"He opened his computer, took out a USB drive, and went onto the local Dropbox folder containing Six4Three’s documents. He searched that folder using keywords and found files whose titles appeared to relate to the anti-SLAPP [Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation] opposition papers that DCMS had ordered him to produce.

"Mr. Kramer did not expect to find the precise documents Mr. Collins had requested. Mr. Kramer had not previously attempted to open the folder where these documents were located, and did not previously know that he had access to them.

"Mr. Collins had two staff members present with him, one of whom was directly viewing Mr. Kramer’s screen. Mr. Kramer then transferred to the USB drive files he believed, based on the filenames, to be subject to Mr. Collins’ request. Mr. Collins watched Mr. Kramer as he did this, and Mr. Kramer turned the USB drive over to Mr. Collins immediately.

"Mr. Kramer does not recall the names of the files he transferred but he was looking for any files he could access with names that seemed relevant to the anti-SLAPP opposition papers, since that was the subject of the DCMS Orders."

The filing also reveals that Kramer was in contact with journalist Carole Cadwalladr, who exposed the Cambridge Analytica data breach, before arriving in the UK. They arranged to meet and he sent her a calendar invite with the address of his hotel.

During previous discussions between the pair, the filing says, Kramer told Cadwalladr that the Facebook documents were stored on Dropbox. Cadwalladr also told Kramer that she'd like to raise the case with Collins and the Six4Three founder agreed to speak to the lawmaker. 

There is no suggestion that Cadwalladr tipped off Collins about Kramer's business trip to the UK. The Observer reporter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

SEE ALSO: Facebook has a bruising week ahead as British lawmakers say there's a 'high level of public interest' in releasing a cache of seized legal documents

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• A Grand Theft Auto gamer has been charged with rape over allegations he was heard assaulting a 15-year-old girl through his mic on June 28.
• Daniel Enrique Fabian, 18, was playing online on his PlayStation when he told gamers he was taking a break to have sex, according to an affidavit.
• Fabian left his microphone on and a girl was heard by another gamer online saying "no," the witness alleges. 
• He was charged with lewd and lascivious battery or sexual activity with a victim between the ages of 12 and 15 on Wednesday.

A video gamer from Florida has been charged with rape over allegations that he was heard assaulting a 15-year-old girl in the background of his Grand Theft Auto livestream. 

Daniel Enrique Fabian, from New Port Richy, Florida, was charged with "lewd and lascivious battery or sexual activity with a victim between the ages of 12 and 15" on Wednesday.

The charge relates to a June 28 incident during which a fellow gamer alleges that he heard Fabian suggest he was breaking from the game to have sex with a girl, ABC 8 reported.

Fabian reportedly stopped playing the PlayStation game known popularly as GTA, and a fellow online gamer heard a girl say "no" and resist his advances through Fabian's microphone, which he left on, the affidavit reportedly cites the witness as saying.

Fabian reportedly resumed playing the violent first-person shooter game 15 minutes later.

It is unclear whether the gamer who heard the incident was the person who called police. 

The 15-year-old victim told detectives she was in Fabian's room sitting on his bed when he pushed her down and held his hand over her mouth and then raped her, ABC 8 cited the affidavit as saying.

The affidavit reportedly says the victim completed a SAVE (Sexual Assault Victim Exam) used to work out evidence of sexual abuse, and the results supported her allegations.

The document reportedly said a DNA swab officials took from the victim's thigh linked Fabian to the case.

Fabian now faces two charges of rape, as the 18-year-old was also arrested on June 4 for allegedly raping another 15-year old girl in his room, Pasco County Sheriffs Office public information officer Kevin Doll told ABC 8 on Monday.

Fabian is being held on a combined $30,000 bail for the two offenses, police case files show.

It is not known if Fabian has submitted a plea yet. 

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• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was humiliated by a group of international lawmakers for failing to give evidence on Facebook scandals.
• The International Grand Committee convened in the UK on Tuesday, with politicians from nine different countries coming together with the ambition of grilling Zuckerberg.
• After repeated requests to give evidence, Zuckerberg declined. As a result, the committee decided to empty chair the Facebook CEO.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was humiliated by a group of international lawmakers for failing to give evidence on Facebook scandals.

The International Grand Committee convened in the UK on Tuesday, with politicians from nine different countries coming together with the ambition of grilling Zuckerberg. It is the first time since 1933 that such a committee has assembled in the UK.

After repeated requests to give evidence, Zuckerberg declined. As a result, the committee decided to empty chair the Facebook CEO in an unusual piece of political theatre.

Instead, Facebook fielded policy chief Richard Allan to handle questions from lawmakers. He sat next to the chair intended for Zuckerberg. Here's a screenshot from the session:

Allan apologized for Zuckerberg's no-show and admitted that the optics of the decision were "not great."

Charlie Angus, vice chair of Canada's Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics committee, said he was "deeply disappointed" by Zuckerberg's decision to "blow off" the committee.

As well as Canada, parliamentarians from countries including Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Latvia, and Singapore were represented on Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: How Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be humbled by a creepy bikini app

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• A mom who fled tear gas with her kids at the US border said she did not think Border Control would use the gas on children.
• Maria Lila Meza Castro arrived at the border to seek asylum on Sunday alongside other Central American migrants, who were met with tear gas after some tried to rush the border.
• Trump defended the use of tear gas as needed to combat "very tough people" despite outrage, and claimed that Border Patrol did not use the gas on children.
• Tear gas by its nature is difficult to target, and can easily affect people it was not specifically aimed at.
• Customs and Border Protection said the move "prevented a dangerous situation from getting worse" and that no one was hurt in the incident.

The mom who was pictured fleeing with her kids from tear gas at the US-Mexico border says she never thought Border Patrol would use it on children.

Maria Lila Meza Castro, a 35-year-old migrant from Honduras, arrived at the US border on Monday with her five children on Sunday to seek asylum. She came alongside hundreds of other Central American migrants who formed part of a caravan that had been traveling to the US.

They were blocked by the Mexican police and some rushed the US border and reportedly attempted to break through barbed wire and metal sheeting, where Border Patrol agents released tear gas canisters.

"The first thing I did was grab my children," Meza told Reuters in an interview at a migrant shelter in Tijuana. "I was scared, and I thought I was going to die with them because of the gas." 

Around 5,200 people who traveled in the caravan are in the shelter, in makeshift tents in a stadium, according to Reuters.

Meza's five children age from toddlers to teenagers, and she held the hands of her five-year-old daughters Saira and Cheili in an image that has sparked outrage over the US use of tear gas.

Read More: Backlash erupts after the Trump administration fires tear gas at migrants in clash at the US-Mexico border

"We never thought they were going to fire these bombs where there were children, because there were lots of children," Meza said.

She told Reuters that her young son James nearly fainted after a tear gas canister landed near him.

"It wasn’t right, they know we are human beings, the same as them," she said.

A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson confirmed agents deployed "crowd dispersing devices," which included pepper-ball launching systems and CS gas canisters — commonly known as tear gas — to deter the migrants.

Trump defended using tear gas as he said border control agents were being "rushed by some very tough people."

Trump denied that tear gas was used against children, despite photo and video footage that showed children being affected.

When asked by a reporter: "Is it OK to use tear gas on children?" Trump responded "We didn't. We don't use it on children, CNN reported. Trump also said that a "minor form" of tear gas was used, though he was contradicted by the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection who said "standard law enforcement issue" was used.

Read More: Conservatives are zeroing in on Obama's immigration history to defend Trump, but experts say that's a 'tactic for distraction'

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said that closing the border on Sunday "prevented a dangerous situation from getting worse" and that the decision to use tear gas was made by agents on the scene who used their professional judgment, according to CNN.

The incident will be reviewed in line with protocol, McAleenan said.

69 people were apprehended entering the US, he said.

Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen also defended the use of tear gas, saying that The White House had "warned about the danger" ahead of those who were traveling to the US.

Mexico's government has called for "a full investigation" into what it described as non-lethal weapons directed toward Mexican territory.

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NOW WATCH: Trump once won a lawsuit against the NFL — but the result was an embarrassment

• The investment company DPW Holdings has announced plans to spin off its crypto-mining business, Super Crypto Mining.
• It says it will pay a special dividend to shareholders of at least 80% of Super Crypto's common stock.
• DPW says the spin-off will position Super Crypto for a "bitcoin recovery."
• DPW shares spiked more than 25% ahead of Monday's opening bell.
• Watch DPW Holdings trade live.

The investment holding company DPW Holdings was soaring ahead of Tuesday's opening bell, its shares up more than 25% at $0.29, after the company said it was spinning off its crypto-mining business, Super Crypto Mining.

DPW said it planned to pay a special dividend of at least 80% of Super Crypto's common stock to DPW shareholders, allowing them the opportunity to own a "pure play" crypto company.

"We are confident crypto-mining and the cryptocurrency marketplace will flourish in the long term and think there is significant value in Super Crypto and its various initiatives which require the ability to finance their growth independently," DPW's CEO and chairman, Milton "Todd" Ault III, said in a press release.

"Regardless of the current downturn in the cryptocurrency space, we believe the assets of Super Crypto will be able to serve as the foundation of an independent company with the ability to raise its own capital."

It has been a tough year for digital-currency investors, who saw prices explode in 2017 as cryptomania swept over the world. Bitcoin, for example, began 2017 worth less than $1,000 a coin before soaring more than 2,000% to a high of $19,511.

This year has been a different story, however, with the cryptocurrency's value having plunged by more than 70% to less than $3,700.

"This transaction positions Super Crypto Mining for a bitcoin recovery," Ault added.

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NOW WATCH: Trump once won a lawsuit against the NFL — but the result was an embarrassment

• Julian Assange has been living with a cat during his six-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
• The WikiLeaks founder has given away his feline companion — known as "Embassy Cat"— as its "isolation became unbearable," Italy's La Repubblica newspaper reported.
• He reportedly also wanted to give it a healthier life.
• Assange was slapped with a new set of house rules in October including cat care, personal hygiene, and internet use.

Julian Assange reportedly gave away his beloved cat in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London so it wouldn't be trapped with him any more.

Assange freed the feline — known as "Embassy Cat"— as its "isolation became unbearable," and to "allow it a healthier life,"Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on Tuesday.

The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up in the embassy since August 2012 after being accused of rape in Sweden.

He frequently posed with the cat and posted their photos to a dedicated Instagram page.

In 2016 the cat played with American documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, who the account named "Meowchael Moore."

The cat's freedom comes after the Ecuadorian embassy complained about Assange's living situation. It told him to clean up after the cat, called him unhygienic, and said that his skateboarding ruins their floors.

It's not clear where the cat lives, or who it lives with now.

Read more: Ecuador's embassy is mad that Julian Assange's skateboarding habit is ruining their floors

The Ecuadorian embassy imposed new house rules on Assange in October, which included cat care, cleaning his own bathroom, and taking care of his personal hygiene.

The WikiLeaks founder sued in response, saying that the new rules were "violating his fundamental rights and freedoms." A judges aid that Assange had to obey them.

In March, the embassy also temporarily cut off Assange's internet connection after breaching a commitment "not to issue messages that might interfere with other states."

He had posted a tweet challenging the UK's accusation that Russia was responsible for the nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal earlier that month, and the Ecuadorian embassy said the tweet risked damaging Ecuador's relationship with the UK and EU.

The embassy reportedly restored the connection in October.

Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Donald Trump's election campaign, on Tuesday denied reports that he secretly met Assange in 2016. The Guardian had reported that the two men met for about 40 minutes in March 2016.

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NOW WATCH: Fox News' Harris Faulkner is the only black woman in cable news with a daily show: 'It's a tremendous amount of responsibility'

• At least 84 farms in the upper Midwest filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy in the year ending in June, according to a new Minneapolis Federal Reserve analysis.
• That's more than twice the level seen over the same period four years ago. 
• Tariffs have added pressure to already low margins for farmers.

As President Donald Trump maintains protectionist policies with global trading partners, an increasing number of farms in the Midwest are struggling to stay afloat.

At least 84 farm operations in Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, and parts of northwestern Wisconsin filed for bankruptcy in the 12 months ending in June, according to a new analysis from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, more than twice the level seen over the same period in 2014.

The strain of low commodity prices on farmers and ranchers has been compounded by tariffs, Ron Wirtz, regional director for the central bank, said in the report. Trump has placed tariffs on more than $300 billion worth of imports to date and threatened his policies could further escalate on multiple fronts.

As countries retaliate agains the Trump administration with duties on American goods, key commodity prices have fallen sharply. Soybeans, for example, have shed nearly a fifth of their value since April. The New York Times reported this month that exports of the legume to China fell 94% through mid-October from a year earlier.

Farming margins have been "squeezed for some time, so the tariffs are certainly just more problems on top of a list of continuing problems," said Kevin McNew, chief economist at Farmers Business Network.

States where bankruptcies are on the rise are especially vulnerable to trade tensions with China, McNew said, which placed retaliatory duties on American soybeans earlier this year. While growers in other parts of the country have other foreign markets to turn to, the upper Midwest is highly dependent on soybean trade with China.

And in Wisconsin, where about 60% of all farm bankruptcies were filed, there are more small-sized farms that tend to be particularly vulnerable to price changes.

Falling prices have also exerted pressure on farming finances throughout the rest of the Midwest, with more than half of respondents in a Kansas City Federal Reserve survey reporting lower farm income than a year ago.

Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina starting Friday. But the president and his administration, asserting tariffs will pressure other countries to change trade practices seen as unfair, have cast doubt on negotiations in recent days.

Lack of optimism for a resolution has weighed on farmers’ outlooks for the rest of the year and beyond. In Missouri and Nebraska, more than 70% of survey respondents anticipated incomes would continue to fall throughout the next three months.

"I would say we're on the start of something and not the end of something," McNew said. "There's just nothing on the horizon that really suggests things are going to get better."

SEE ALSO: The government is raking in billions of dollars from Trump's tariffs. Americans are the ones paying.

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• Yahoo Finance employs "permalancers," contract workers with job responsibilities and hours indistinguishable from full-time staff.
• These are employees who write for the website, anchor news programs, and produce the daily financial news programs.
• Former employees who spoke with Business Insider said the labor practices were frustrating and demoralizing.
• These employment practices are uncommon in newsrooms and could be bad for business.

Verizon is betting big on Yahoo Finance. 

The telecom behemoth is investing in the digital media property, hiring big-name talent away from its financial-news rivals, ramping up video to a full day of live-streaming news, and launching a paid subscription service for content.

But for some, the investment is at odds with a newsroom built on a cohort of "permalancers," or contract workers with job responsibilities and hours indistinguishable from full-time staff, but with none of the benefits.

Business Insider spoke to five current and former Yahoo Finance employees, who said these "permalancers" write for the website, anchor news programs, and produce the daily financial news programs. In November, the company posted a new job opening for a front-page editor that was a contractor position, requesting applicants with three to five years of editorial experience and the ability to work "early mornings, late nights, holidays and weekends."

Some of those former employees left because they were unable to become full-timers, while others were let go from contracts that allowed the company to fire at will. Four of them said that it was virtually impossible to tell the difference between full-time and contract employees.

"I can tell you that [editor in chief] Andy Serwer [said] they 'hire contractors all the time' or 'we have a lot of contractors working for us,'" one former contractor told Business Insider. 

Sources who spoke with Business Insider put the percentage of contractors in the newsroom at about 25%. Yahoo Finance and parent business unit Oath declined to comment for this story.

Some of the employment practices felt intentionally deceptive, the employees said. For example, some contract workers supposedly had a path to full-time employment once they worked at the company for a year. To skirt this stipulation, management fired staffers just ahead of the one-year mark, then hired them back shortly after, they said.

"I felt frustrated. They had terrible hiring practices," another former Yahoo Finance contract employee who worked at the company for several years told Business Insider. 

Unlike full-time staff, contract workers at Yahoo are ineligible for company benefits, like health insurance and the ability to contribute to Yahoo's 401(k) savings plan. Contractors don’t receive paid time off for sick days, maternity leave, or vacation. And other perks offered for free to full-time staff, like access to the company gym, are available to Yahoo contractors for a nominal fee.

Some contracts at Yahoo Finance, like those given to employees who anchor on news programs, aren't bound by the same one-year rule for transition to full time. Yahoo hires some staff under these "talent" contracts, and employees work indefinitely without the ability for conversion to full time, according to former Yahoo Finance staff. One former employee told Business Insider they worked for the company for years without health insurance or a paid vacation.

Shadow workforces

The employment strategies at Yahoo Finance aren't new. They're a long-established practice predating Verizon's acquisition of the company in 2017, according to former employees of the company.

But using employee contractors in newsrooms is unusual, according to union representatives with visibility on  employment practices in the industry.

"It's uncommon," Tim Schick, administrative director at The News Guild, told Business Insider. "To my knowledge that practice is more prevalent in software development and tech type work than at newspapers or digital operations."

Schick knows of no newsrooms with significant numbers of editorial contractors, which he described as a wholly different scenario than freelancers, who typically have more freedom to choose when and where they work. In news media, "you're either an employee or you're a freelancer as opposed to what you're describing, which is a lower paid contract worker," he said, adding that such a model allows a business to employ a "more disposable lower class of workers." The News Guild represents newsrooms like The Daily Beast, Raw Story, and The Guardian.

"We have not encountered shadow newsrooms where a significant portion of the work [is] assigned to contractors,"Lowell Peterson, executive director of the Writers Guild of America, East, told Business Insider in an email. The Writers Guild represents newsrooms like The Huffington Post, which is also a digital-media property owned by Verizon.

It's not that contract work is uncommon in all industries. Historically, contractors have been prevalent in job functions like construction or agriculture. And the percentage of contract workers in the labor force is up 60% since 2005 in all 13 sectors of the economy, Becky Frankiewicz, president of employment staffing firm ManpowerGroup North America, told Business Insider.

Recently, there's been a focus on so-called "shadow workforces" in the high-growth tech sector that often relies on gig economy workers for short-term projects. The growth in contractors at Google exemplifies this trend. Contractors outnumbered full-time employees at Google's parent company Alphabet for the first time history this year, Bloomberg reported in July. Alphabet declined to comment to Bloomberg on the exact number of contract workers it employs.

A hallmark of independent contract work is that employees typically have more flexibility to determine the specifics of their service, forming their own work-day schedules, negotiating rates for services, and essentially running their own small businesses. But employee contractors, those that Schick described as a lower-tier staffer working shoulder-to-shoulder with full-time staff but with none of the benefits and often for lower pay, don't have this flexibility and usually don't elect to work this way. 

The use of employee contractors benefits management as these employees have less long-term ties to the business operation and would be the first to go if the company downsizes, according to Schick.

But the transient nature of these employees cuts the other way too, building a cohort of uncommitted workers whose prospects are limited and are apt to leave the company when more stable opportunities arise.

"It's not inspiring to be there everyday," a former Yahoo Finance contractor told Business Insider. "There is no opportunity to ever become permanent. It's just temp, even for people running the show."

The future at Yahoo

Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017 and combined its assets with that of previously acquired AOL. The idea was to create a media juggernaut then named Oath. Today, Oath in name is dead, rebranded to Verizon Media Group. A slew of media execs pivotal to the conception of Oath are also gone, including CEO Tim Armstrong, who left in October, and Simon Khalaf, head of Oath's media brands, who left in April.

Over the past year, the integration between AOL and Yahoo has been rocky, with massive layoffs and constantly changing strategies, according to former Oath employees. Amid the layoffs, Yahoo Finance was relatively insulated from the turmoil, employees said, feeling their line of business was designated the "golden child."

But the business strategy at Yahoo Finance was equally volatile, according to the employees, who described "wild swings" in guidance from week to week. "First the direction was that no interviews could be longer than two minutes. Then a week later, no one cares at all," a former employee told Business Insider. 

Contractors were hired during this time in an effort to push short videos onto various Verizon platforms, according to a former Yahoo employee.

Yahoo Finance is now working towards eight hours a day of live programming -- another change that staff will need time and sufficient leadership to effectively achieve, the employee said.

The newsroom may gain stability as Yahoo seems committed to building out a full day of live programming with several high-profile additions in recent months. Yahoo hired Julie Hyman from Bloomberg Television and Adam Shapiro from Fox News as anchors in October. This summer Andy Hoffman, a veteran news producer who helped launch Fox Business, joined the staff as senior executive producer.

And despite a turbulent integration at Oath, Yahoo Finance still has significant viewership. The company had 84 million unique visitors in September, according to Comscore.

What remains unclear is whether as Yahoo continues to invest in top talent for its news programs, the contract workers who contribute to the site's success choose to stay.

"There is frustration at Yahoo Finance; they're losing talent for this reason," a former employee said.

If you have information you would like to share, contact the reporter at ajackson@businessinsider.com

SEE ALSO: Oath has gutted its leadership team over the past year — and former employees say it's a cause of dysfunction

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• Empty bottles of Conor McGregor's whiskey are being sold on eBay.
• One Proper No. Twelve drinker said in a Twitter video on Monday that he bought a bottle for $31, drank it, then sold it empty for $40.
• The video caught the attention of McGregor himself, who said he can "appreciate the hustle."

Canny customers are drinking Conor McGregor's whiskey and selling empty bottles of it on eBay for more than what they bought it for, and the UFC fighter himself says he can "appreciate the hustle."

Proper No. Twelve is the new whiskey launched by McGregor, the Irish striker who has taken the UFC world by storm.

McGregor teased the business venture at a post-fight conference in 2017, when he was seen seemingly drowning his sorrows with a whiskey called "Notorious" after losing to Floyd Mayweather in the 10th round of a boxing rules fight.

He then launched the brand with the more recognisable Proper No. Twelve label earlier this year.

McGregor has since taken the whiskey to UFC media events, drank the liquid with his boss Dana White, and even offered it to his most recent opponent, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who refused to taste it.

Read more: We tried Conor McGregor's new whiskey — and it's just as bad as you'd expect

But the whiskey has proved a monster hit with fans as the bottle sold out so fast they had to ramp up production to restock shelves in December.

Some customers are so desperate to get their hands on a bottle, they're even willing to pay for an empty one, according to the Irish Mirror and the Irish Sun.

Eric Hammer from New Jersey claims he bought the whiskey for $31, drank it, then sold it empty on eBay for $40 — a $9 profit.

"It's raining dollar dollar bills, son, cha-ching,"he said in a Twitter video on Monday. "Given his popularity it's hard to find, so therefore people are willing to pay top dollar for it. Top dollar even if it's empty."

The video caught the attention of McGregor himself, who said: "I appreciate the support and the hustle."

The listing may have been taken down, as Business Insider's eBay search for the empty bottles only turned up two options — one for $7.99 and another for $10. We also found a "used" cardboard Proper No. Twelve box advertised for $9.99.

McGregor has not fought since his fourth round submission loss to Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, but has regularly posted Instagram photographs of Proper No. Twelve bottles, his distillery, and his delivery trucks.

Regardless of his success in retail, he remains committed to fighting and is desperately seeking a rematch against Nurmagomedov, or even "the next in line."

The UFC may not grant McGregor an immediate rematch, as it has been reported that the company has already offered McGregor a contract to fight Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. McGregor is determined to compete in 2019.

SEE ALSO: We tried Conor McGregor's new whiskey — and it's just as bad as you'd expect

DON'T MISS: A WWE women's wrestler called 'The Man' said she could break Conor McGregor's arm, and the Irishman clapped back

UP NEXT: Conor McGregor was asked if he'd rather share a glass of whiskey with Khabib Nurmagomedov or Floyd Mayweather, and his response was cutting

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• The stock market is in the middle of a turbulent patch that has seen proven strategies stop working, while unloved trades have stepped up to take their place.
• Credit Suisse offers four portfolio tweaks it says investors can make to ensure they keep generating strong returns through next year.

The stock market has been flipped upside down.

Value stocks, which have suffered at the hands of their growth counterparts for most of the 10-year bull market, are suddenly the hot ticket for portfolio managers. Meanwhile, stocks that look desirable and safe because of their low volatility are headed for their best quarter in seven years relative to the broader market.

What's resulted is a landscape that looks increasingly foreign to equity investors who have become accustomed to certain circumstances — ones that rewarded growth stocks and the traders who indiscriminately piled into them.

While this has been a tough pill to swallow for some investors, there are still plentiful opportunities available to those willing to make the right adjustments. To that end, Credit Suisse has a handful of ideas how traders can navigate these choppy waters.

But before we get into those specific recommendations, it's important to recognize Credit Suisse's base case for stocks going forward. The firm thinks the market will continue to grind higher through 2019 for two mains reasons.

First, even though both earnings and gross-domestic-product expansion are expected to slow, Credit Suisse says the reduced growth will be "more than sufficient to fuel a market advance." Second, the firm thinks moderate economic growth will take pressure off the Federal Reserve as it hikes interest rates, leading to a "soft landing" that won't rattle markets.

The chart below shows this second dynamic in action. After GDP spent 2018 above its historical trend, Credit Suisse says it will normalize.

With all of that established, it's now time to reveal the four big portfolio adjustments being recommended by Credit Suisse, with full rationale included. All quotes attributable to the firm's chief US equity strategist, Jonathan Golub.

(1) Pile into healthcare — CS has adjusted its sector rating to overweight from marketweight

"This less cyclical sector should deliver strong relative performance in a decelerating economy."

(2) Increase holdings of consumer staples — CS has adjusted its rating to marketweight from underweight

"While less economically sensitive, this sector carries a below-market growth rate and a premium valuation."

(3) Reduce exposure to financials — CS has adjusted its rating to marketweight from overweight

"A decelerating, non-recessionary economy should support solid loan performance but weaker loan growth."

(4) Cut holdings of industrials and materials — CS has adjusted its rating to underweight from marketweight

"These sectors are the most cyclical of any, and should struggle in light of decelerating growth."

SEE ALSO: Bank of America's $2.8 trillion wealth management CIO reveals his biggest market fear, which he warns could trigger the next recession if left unchecked

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• Martial law was imposed in parts of Ukraine on Wednesday as the government responds to rising tensions with Russia.
• Parliament voted in favor of enacting 30 days of martial law on Monday, but president Pyotr Poroshenko says it will only impose use its powers in the event of "Russian military aggression."
• Martial law allows the government to ban protests, detain foreigners and seize private property, to censor the media and to stop elections.
• Poroshenko said he was responding to an "act of armed aggression" after Russia fired at and captured three Ukrainian vessels in the Azov Sea.
• Poroshenko gave a verbal promise to not restrict citizens' rights and freedoms or introduce censorship.

Parts of Ukraine are now under martial law, giving authorities sweeping powers to ban protest, seize property, and lock up foreigners.

The emergency powers were granted to Ukrainian authorities by its parliament in response to an escalating conflict which Russia, which reached a climax in a short-lived naval battle in the Sea of Azov.

MPs in Kiev voted on Monday to impose martial law in parts of the country from Wednesday morning. They granted to powers to the government of President Pyotr Poroshenko after he argued that they are necessary to protect the "state sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

Poroshenko confirmed via his Facebook page on Wednesday that martial law was in effect:

His plea came after Russia's ships attacked and captured three Ukrainian vessels off the coast of Crimea.

Ukraine considers itself to be at war with Russia since 2014, when pro-Russian militants declared revolutions in two eastern provinces, and Russia later annexed Crimea.

Martial law will be in place for 30 days from Wednesday, parliament decided. It will be in 10 of Ukraine’s 27 regions, many of which border Russia and the Black and Azov seas.

Speaking in parliament, Poroshenko said that martial law will "be applied only in the case of Russian military aggression."

His decree does not make specific mention of what restrictions will be put in place, but Ukrainian law grants the authorities sweeping powers. Ukranian newspaper Kyiv Post explained more of the potential implications.

They include the seizure of private property, the control of mass media, and the deportation and detention of foreigners.

The law allows for a ban on protests, elections, and political activities the government views as a security threat.

Poroshenko gave a verbal promise that he will not introduce any measures restricting citizens' rights and freedoms or introducing censorship.

"I hope that both politicians and mass media will act responsibly and adequately in the current situation and will not attack Ukraine with the theses borrowed from Russian propagandists," he said.

"There will be no restriction of rights, there will be no restriction of freedoms."

He said in his decree that martial law was needed "in order to adequately respond to the scaling of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine."

He said that no other legal or constitutional option was sufficient to maintain the country's independence amid escalating tensions with Russia.

Russia claims that the ships entered Russian waters illegally and they fired in response, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

Russian Foreign Ministry's accused Ukraine of carrying out  "a well-thought-out provocation that took place in a predetermined place and form" in a statement on Monday.

Read More: Russia confirms it fired at Ukrainian ships in major escalation of Crimea tensions

Poroshenko said in his decree that the country would strengthen its border with Russia, mobilise reserve forces, and boost its counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence programmes.

He first sought 60 days of martial law but lawmakers settled on a shorter period amid accusations that Poroshenko was looking to interfere with an election in which he has a good chance of losing. Poroshenko denied that the election was his motivation. 

Poroshenko also said that the declaration is not an act of war, and is exclusively for the defense of Ukraine.

Russia has been steadily increasing its control around the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, and the Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov has been a flashpoint in the conflict between the two countries.

Read More: Russia reopens Kerch Strait to shipping after standoff with Ukraine

Poroshenko called the naval incursion incident an "act of armed aggression" by Russia and called on Russia to release the 24 soldiers and three vessels that it detained. 

European Council president Donald Tusk condemned Russia's actions and urged Moscow to stop provoking Ukraine. "I condemn Russian use of force in Azov Sea,"he tweeted.

"Europe will stay united in support of Ukraine."

Russia and Ukraine called an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Monday, at which US ambassador Nikki Haley warned Russia over what she called an "outrageous violation" of Ukrainian sovereignty. 

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu wrote on Twitter early Monday morning that the alliance is closely monitoring the situation, and called for restraint. 

"NATO fully supports Ukraine's sovereignty and its territorial integrity, including its navigational rights in its territorial waters," Lungescu tweeted. "We call on Russia to ensure unhindered access to the Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea, in accordance with international law."

Canada, the UK, Germany, and other countries have condemned Russia, expressing support for Ukraine's sovereignty.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the "aggressive Russian action." He called on Russia to return the detained crew members and vessels "and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters."

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• Uber's plan to buy UK food delivery startup Deliveroo has stalled because the two companies are "miles apart" on Deliveroo's valuation, the Financial Times reports.
• Uber reportedly offered less than the company's current $2 billion valuation, while Deliveroo is pushing for $4 billion.
• Uber's ambition to acquire the company, a direct competitor with its Uber Eats delivery service, was first reported in September.

Uber's plan to acquire or invest in the hugely popular UK food delivery startup Deliveroo has hit a snag.

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the two companies are "miles apart" on Deliveroo's valuation after months of talks.

People briefed on the discussions said a recent offer from Uber valued Deliveroo at less than $2 billion, a valuation it achieved in funds raised last year. Deliveroo, meanwhile, is reportedly set on a $4 billion valuation.

The FT's update on the deal follows a Sky News report over the weekend, which said Deliveroo is trying to raise between $350 million and $500 million for a valuation of between $3 billion and $4 billion.

A person familiar with the matter confirmed this to the FT, saying it's looking to raise $400 million at a $4 billion valuation.

Read more: Uber's CEO opened the door to a deal to buy $2 billion food delivery firm Deliveroo

It was first reported in September that Uber was in talks to buy Deliveroo, which was founded in 2013. Deliveroo is a direct competitor to Uber's delivery service Uber Eats, which has only been in the UK since 2016.

A Deliveroo spokesman told Business Insider: "This is just yet more speculation and Deliveroo does not comment on speculation." Uber declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.

Neither side has commented meaningfully on the talks. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi appeared to open the door to a deal on a trip to London last month, when he said: "Is something going to happen with Deliveroo? Who knows?"

Meanwhile, in an interview with Business Insider in October, Deliveroo CEO Will Shu said his company is not for sale. "Deliveroo is the fastest-growing company in Europe, so people love to chat about us," he said.

SEE ALSO: The CEO of $2 billion startup Deliveroo says it isn't for sale

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• London's Revolut was founded only three years ago but already has 3 million customers, and is aiming for 100 million customers in the next five years.
• The challenger bank is set to hit the US market in early 2019, saying 75,000 people are already on the waiting list. 
• "We want to one of the largest financial services companies in the world," says CEO Nikolay Storonsky.

A UK app-based banking alternative valued at $1.7 billion has plans to grow even bigger. Just three years old, it's hitting the US early next year to continue its rapid expansion.

Revolut, founded in 2015 by a developer, Vlad Yatsenko, and former trader Nikolay Storonsky, already has 3.2 million customers and the company boasts that it has long waiting lists outside Europe. Dubbed "the Amazon of banking," Revolut's  success has reportedly lured a potential $500 million investment from Japan's SoftBank. 

The London company allows users to spend money worldwide in 150 currencies at a real-time exchange rate, with no fees, through a debit card. CEO Nikolay Storonsky outlined his ambition to see the bank reach 100 million customers in the next five years and break into North American and Pacific markets in the coming months. 

"We want to be one of the largest financial services companies in the world and continue our expansion," Storonsky, a former Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse trader, said in an interview with Business Insider. "That's my dream."

The US market has long been on Revolut's list for expansion, he says, but with significantly higher barriers to entry than Europe, progress has been slow. The company had originally planned to expand into the US by the end of 2018 but is now expecting a roll out early next year, in late March or early April. 

Among the hurdles: US regulations require domestically issued debit cards to use a different inter-bank messaging system — basically how banks send and receive information such as money transfers — compared with the rest of the world. And US debit cards must have at least two networks to be compliant. Rather than partner with a US provider, Storonsky said Revolut opted to build its own US-based processor.

The company will decide soon which bank to partner with in the US as part of its offering. 

"Regulation is key, in the UK it's very quick," said Storonsky, who holds a masters in economics from the New Economic School in Moscow. "But as you become a big organization, regulators pay much more attention, which can slow things down."

As well as the US, Revolut plans to expand to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan in 2019. More Asia Pacific launches will come in the first quarter of next year. 

Read More: UK fintechs claim Brexit could lead to a 'lost generation' of London businesses

The company raised $250 million earlier this year, giving it a $1.7 billion valuation. Earlier this month, Revolut was reported to be in talks with SoftBank to secure a $500 million investment. Storonsky declined to comment on any Softbank discussions, and was coy on the prospect of future funding.

"It depends how much investors are willing to invest," he said. "We're open to new investors, but them having a good reputation is important."

Previous series C funding was led by DST Global, the investment vehicle of Russian billionaire Yuri Milner who was an early investor of Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify, among others. Existing Revolut investors Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital also took part in the financing.

Revolut's success has been built on its low-fee, multi-currency platform so far. But Storonsky sees cryptocurrencies, already on offer via Revolut, as an enduring part of the company's future. Cryptocurrencies have plunged in 2018 with their combined market cap now at $130 billion, down from a high of $800 billion in January, according to research site CoinMarketCap.

"Banks are still very risk averse of crypto, institutional funds as well" says Storonsky. "As a result, Wall Street is not really interested — there is no demand from institutional clients."

On the product side, Revolut offers customers three options: a free account, a premium account, and a recently introduced metal account. The latter provides users with unlimited exchange in 24 fiat currencies, as well as five major cryptocurrencies: bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and ripple (XRP). 

Storonsky says Revolut has managed to sidestep the Brexit snags that have impacted a large number of other UK fintechs. The firm has applied for a European banking license from the Bank of Lithuania and is considering an application for a Electronic Money Licence in Luxembourg  - but has not yet applied - as part of its plans to reduce any Brexit related issues. 

SEE ALSO: Revolut is planning a metal 'Platinum' card that will give people 1% cash back in cryptocurrencies

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