Sunday newspaper round-up: Middle East, Heathrow, Aviva

The conflict in the Middle East and the resulting humanitarian crisis could trigger a global recession by compounding the challenges that are already facing the precarious world economy. That is the diagnosis of two of the biggest names on Wall Street. Larry Fink, who heads asset manager BlackRock, believes the 7 October Hamas atrocities, the attack on Gaza and the Ukraine invasion mean the world has been pushed to "almost a whole new future". For his part, J.P.Morgan head Jamie Dimon said that: " [...] these geopolitical matters are very serious – arguably the most serious since 1938." - Guardian

The owner of Heathrow has said it is open to selling its stake if buyers "keep knocking on our door". Those remarks were made by Ferrovial's finance director, Ernest Lopez Mozo, and come amid claims that potential buyers for a 25% stake in Heathrow are being sounded out. Plans to build a third runway was also hanging in the balance. Lopez also said that the Spanish infrastructure outfit was open to different alternatives regarding Heathrow. - Sunday Times

The Defence Secretary has labelled any withdrawal by Aviva from investing in defence companies as "immoral". The remarks by Grant Shapps follow a sharp rebuke from the Ministry of Defence for a letter sent by Aviva to investors. In its missive, the firm said that it would be selling out of "certain companies that do not meet our Aviva Baseline Exclusion Policy". Included amongst those were companies that participated in the production of coal, weapons and tobacco. - The Sunday Telegraph

Klarna is creating a British holding company as part of its plans for a flotation. Reports indicate that the the buy now, pay later giant could fetch a valuation of £12bn on the stock market and that the flotation could take place as soon as the first half of 2024. However, the British holding company did not necessarily mean that Klarna would choose London to list, with speculation in the City being that it would choose New York instead. - The Financial Mail on Sunday