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The World
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the UK has promised to send hundreds of attack drones and other military hardware to Ukraine after face-to-face talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine’s president arrived in Britain after visiting other European capitals over the weekend as he sought to shore up support ahead of an anticipated counter-offensive by the country’s military to take back territory occupied by Russian forces. Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, told journalists that the Kremlin took an “extremely negative” view of Britain providing Kyiv with weapons capable of hitting Russian targets well behind the front line. (Financial Times)
Russian officials denounced comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that Moscow was becoming subservient to China, saying Western countries must get used to a world underpinned by the Kremlin's close ties with Beijing. (Reuters)
Russia scrambles jet as France, Germany conduct NATO patrols. (Reuters)
China launches projects to build 'new-era' marriage, childbearing culture: China will launch pilot projects in more than 20 cities to create a "new-era" marriage and childbearing culture to foster a friendly child bearing environment, the latest move by authorities to boost the country's falling birth rate. China's Family Planning Association, a national body that implements the government's population and fertility measures, will launch the projects to encourage women to marry and have children. (Reuters)
Singapore Eases Egg Freezing Rules as Births Hit Record Low. (Bloomberg)
Turkey's sovereign dollar bonds and equities tumbled, and the cost of insuring exposure to the country's debt spiked as Turkey's presidential race heads to a runoff with incumbent Tayyip Erdogan leading his opposition rival. Turkey's main banking stock index tumbled 9.6% as markets gauged potential fallout from a possible continuation of Erdogan's unorthodox policies including combating high inflation with low interest rates. The index rose last week 26%, the largest weekly gain since late 2002. (Reuters, Statista)
Erdoğan holds upper hand as Turkish election goes to run-off: Veteran incumbent is clear favorite over opposition challenger in second round on May 28. (Financial Times)
‘Stunning’ change to United’s colonoscopy coverage roils physicians and patients: When gastroenterologists learned in March that UnitedHealthcare plans to barricade many colonoscopies behind a controversial and complicated process known as prior authorization, their emotions cycled rapidly between fear, shock, and outrage. The change, which the health insurer will implement on June 1, means that any United member seeking surveillance and diagnostic colonoscopies to detect cancer will first need approval from United — or else have to pay out of pocket. Physicians say that requiring prior authorization will make it more difficult for patients to get endoscopic procedures, particularly cancer diagnostic and surveillance procedures, in a timely fashion. These make up roughly half of the procedures that gastroenterologists perform. (STAT News)
A punishing heatwave will continue to cook the Pacific north-west this week, after millions of people endured a weekend of temperatures that pushed past 90F (32C) and broke early spring records in several cities. Temperatures are dropping but forecasters with the National Weather Service warned on Monday that they would remain “between 20-30 degrees above average in the Pacific Northwest throughout this week”. Heat advisories remain in effect in areas of Oregon and Washington. (The Guardian)
Southeast Asia hit with record-breaking heat and heavy air pollution. (CNBC)
Major Chinese cities have issued heat advisories, with Beijing expected to swelter in 36 Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) temperatures, as China braces for record-breaking heat that could threaten electricity supply, crops and a fragile economy. (Reuters)
President Biden ]announced that he would nominate National Cancer Institute Director Monica Bertagnolli to fill the long-vacant director slot at the National Institutes of Health. The cancer surgeon has led NCI — NIH’s largest institute — since last October and previously led Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s surgical oncology unit. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be the second woman to lead the agency. NIH has been without a permanent director since Francis Collins stepped down in December 2021. (STAT News)
Coastal Cities Priced Out Low-Wage Workers: Major coastal metros have been hubs of the kind of educated workers coveted most by high-powered employers and economic development officials. Economists have lamented the growing coastal concentration of their wealth. A politics of resentment in America has fed on it, too. These urban centers have become a class of their own — “superstar cities” — with outsize impact on the American economy fueled by the clustering of workers with degrees. But it appears in domestic migration data that, years after lower-wage residents have been priced out of expensive coastal metros, higher-paid workers are now turning away from them, too. Now college graduates are leaving, too. Working-age Americans with a degree are still flowing into these regions from other parts of the country, often in large numbers. But as the pool leaving grows faster, that educational advantage is eroding. Boston’s pull with college graduates has weakened. Seattle’s edge vanished during the pandemic. And the analysis shows San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and Washington all crossing a significant threshold: More college-educated workers left than moved in. (New York Times)
US cities must beware the ‘doughnut effect’: Many of America’s urban centers are struggling to lure workers back post-pandemic, but the suburbs are thriving. (Financial Times)
Economy
Janet Yellen warned the stand-off over the debt ceiling has resulted in a jump in government borrowing costs, as the Treasury secretary doubled down on predictions the US risks running out of cash as early as June 1. The Treasury’s borrowing costs have increased “substantially for securities maturing in early June”, Yellen noted in a letter sent to congressional leaders. She also reiterated her estimate from earlier this month that the so-called X-date — when the government runs out of money and runs the risk of defaulting — could come in 17 days unless lawmakers lift the borrowing limit. (Financial Times)
US households showed signs of increasing financial stress in 1Q23, with credit card balances not declining in the way they typically do at the start of the year and delinquencies rising for most types of consumer loans. Households added $148 billion in overall debt, bringing the total to $17.05 trillion. Balances are now $2.9 trillion higher than just before the pandemic. (Bloomberg)
‘US to begin refilling oil reserves this summer. (Financial Times)
Trade tensions simmer ahead of today’s EU-India summit: The inaugural EU-India Trade and Technology Council Summit will have to overcome thorny questions between two of the world’s largest democracies. Under the surface, ongoing tension — particularly related to tricky trade disputes like an upcoming European Union levy on foreign businesses selling their carbon-intensive wares within the 27-country bloc — will overshadow what Brussels and New Delhi want to frame as a meeting of like-minded partners. (Politico EU)
Venture capital crunch will hit India harder than U.S., China: Startups face valuation hangovers and fewer public fundraising options. In India, as in many countries across Asia, these are volatile times for startups and the alternative investment firms that back them in the private markets. A boom fed by 15 years of negative real interest rates ended last year. Rising interest rates have hit private equity and venture capital firms hard because cheap debt is at the heart of their business model. Private fund flows are continuing to fall in Mumbai, and valuations in the public market are going down with them. (Nikkei Asia Review)
The share of stay-at-home moms nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, returning to 25%, where it had typically hovered over the last five years with the exception of 2022. Last year, moms could still take advantage of pandemic-era flexibility. Sixty-four percent of stay-at-home moms—according to Motherly’s State of Motherhood report—would return to work if they had a flexible work schedule. Fifty-two percent said they would return if they had affordable childcare. (Fortune)
America’s snacking binge is fueling food companies: More U.S. consumers eat three or more snacks a day than two years ago, and last year’s U.S. snack sales rose 11% from the year prior, according to market-research firm Circana. That has translated into big business for snack makers such as Hershey and Mondelez International, which saw sales grow 30% and 22%, respectively, between fiscal 2019 and 2022—outpacing other major food companies. A host of startups are aiming new products at America’s snacking habit, while established food companies including Campbell Soup and Kellogg are trying to make further inroads into the snack market. (Wall Street Journal)
CEO pay packages fell sharply in 2022 as the stock market sank.: Companies are—for the first time this year—tabulating gains and losses in the stock awards that make up much of the pay packages for CEOs. The numbers show that in 2022 about two-thirds of the top executives at S&P 500 companies ended the year with smaller pay packages than they were awarded, at least on paper. Meanwhile, some 140 CEOs earned more money than expected, and at 46 companies the CEOs ended with at least double what boards planned to pay them for the year. (WSJ)
Technology
The EU’s antitrust watchdog approved Microsoft’s planned $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, giving the two companies a win after the deal hit a regulatory roadblock in the U.K. The European Commission, the bloc’s competition enforcer, said it cleared the deal based on commitments by Microsoft to make Activision’s games, including those from its popular Call of Duty franchise, available on rival cloud-streaming platforms. The companies still need approval from other major competition authorities to close the transaction, legal experts say. The commission’s decision comes weeks after the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority rejected the merger, saying it would crimp competition in the country’s games market. (Wall Street Journal)
Google Billionaire Sergey Brin Gifts $600 Million in Surging Shares: Brin transferred stock day after Google unveiled new AI search. It’s unknown who received the gift of 5.2 million shares. (Bloomberg)
Peacock to Carry One NFL Playoff Game Exclusively Next Season: Deal marks first National Football League postseason contest to be shown chiefly on a streaming service. (Wall Street Journal)
Apple’s reluctant shift toward India: Apple apparently sees India as a destination to assemble and sell its iPhones. But CEO Tim Cook hasn’t made any big promises yet. (Rest of World)
Smart Links
Chicago’s Empty Office Towers Threaten Its Future as a Major Financial Hub. (Bloomberg)
Brandon Johnson sworn in as Chicago Mayor. (Chicago Tribune)
Memorial Day travel projected to reach pre-pandemic levels. (Axios)
Tesla Recalls 1.1 Million Chinese Cars Over Braking. (Bloomberg)
Musk Tells Tesla Staff He Must Approve All Hiring—Again. (The Information)