'Clean Energy'
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The World
China's military said it had monitored and driven away a U.S. destroyer that illegally entered waters around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. In a statement, the military said that the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius intruded into China's territorial waters, undermining peace and stability in the busy waterway. "The theater forces will maintain a high state of alert at all times and take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security and peace and stability in the South China Sea," said Tian Junli, a spokesman for China's Southern Theatre Command. (Reuters)
A push by the United States to upgrade ties with Vietnam this year is facing resistance in Hanoi, over what experts say are concerns that China could see the move as hostile at a time of tension between superpowers Beijing and Washington. The United States is hoping for an upgrade in the relations this year, ideally to coincide with the 10th anniversary in July of its comprehensive partnership with Vietnam. (Reuters)
Israel passes law shielding Netanyahu from being removed amid protests over judicial changes: By a 61-to-47 final vote, the Knesset approved the bill that states that only the prime minister himself or the cabinet, with a two-thirds majority, can declare the leader unfit. The cabinet vote would then need to be ratified by a super majority in the parliament. (CNN)
Addressing his government’s judicial shakeup for the first time since he was given legal cover to do so, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will continue to charge ahead with the plan “responsibly,” while aiming to pass a core tenet of the overhaul next week. The prime minister attempted to strike a conciliatory tone in his speech, acknowledging that both proponents and opponents of the legislation have valid concerns and saying he would take actions to address both. But he also confirmed that his government will not pause its legislative sprint and will seek to pass next week on one of the most important elements of the plan — a bill to put key Supreme Court appointments directly in coalition control. “The law that will pass next week in the Knesset is a law that does not control the court — it balances and diversifies it,” he asserted. “It opens the doors of the court to views and publics and vast sectors that hitherto were excluded from it.” (Times of Israel)
North Korea has tested a new nuclear-capable underwater attack drone that can generate a radioactive tsunami, state media reported on Friday, as it blamed joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S. for raising tensions in the region. During the drill, the new North Korean drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 metres (260-500 feet) for over 59 hours and detonated in waters off its east coast. (Reuters)
After years of underinvestment in North Africa’s energy infrastructure, global oil-and-gas giants from Halliburton Co. and Chevron Corp. to Eni SpA are ramping up their presence in the region as demand from Europe grows. Executives in the industry are betting it is worth drilling again in some of the hardest places to do business in the world as Europe increasingly turns to other sources for its energy needs after shunning its main supplier, Russia, over the invasion of Ukraine. In recent months, a string of European officials have visited the region to help advance talks over potential supply deals. (Wall Street Journal)
Bordeaux city hall set on fire amid nationwide protests against French pension changes: Emmanuel Macron felt the full force of French anger on Thursday as protesters gathered across the country to demonstrate their opposition to the pension age being raised from 62 to 64. Unions claimed 3.5 million people turned out across the country, while the authorities suggested the figure was much lower, at just under 1.1 million. In Paris, union leaders claimed that a record 800,000 people took part in a mostly peaceful march through the city – the police gave the figure as 119,000 – to demand that the government drop the fiercely contested change. (The Guardian)
A U.S. contractor was killed and five American service members were wounded, along with another U.S. contractor, in a drone strike in northeast Syria on Thursday, the Pentagon said. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that, at the direction of President Biden, he authorized U.S. Central Command forces to "conduct precision airstrikes" on Thursday night in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. (Axios)
NHL’s Blackhawks will not wear Pride jerseys due to Russian anti-LGBTQ laws: An NHL team with a Russian player has decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home. The Chicago Blackhawks, who have an additional two players with connections to Russia, will not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys before Sunday’s game against Vancouver because of security concerns involving the law, which expands restrictions on supporting LGBTQ rights. Vladimir Putin signed the law in December. It is understood the decision was made by the Blackhawks following discussions with security officials within and outside the franchise. (The Guardian)
Economy
US President Joe Biden’s landmark clean-energy law will cost roughly $1.2 trillion — three times more than the official government forecast — and spur trillions more in private-sector investments, according to Goldman Sachs. The Inflation Reduction Act passed last year is intended to encourage investment in renewable-energy sources and efficiency technology. As such, it’s crucial to one of the Biden administration’s fundamental priorities: decarbonizing the economy to forestall the worst effects of climate change. (Bloomberg)
Commercial property loans are joining deposit flight and bond portfolios as the biggest perceived risk for US banks as rattled investors fret about lenders’ strength following the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Strains in the $5.6tn market for commercial real estate loans have deepened in recent months as the Federal Reserve’s year-long series of interest rate rises leads to sharply higher borrowing costs and weakening property valuations. Analysts fear any further reduction in lending — say, from businesses more keen on hoarding deposits following two shock bank runs in a week — could make a perilous situation worse. The threat of a credit crunch rippling across the global financial system has overtaken inflation this month as investors’ biggest worry. (Financial Times)
Japan real estate sees signs of global investors shying away. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Coinbase warned by SEC of potential securities charges: The SEC issued crypto exchange Coinbase a Wells notice, warning the exchange that it identified potential violations of U.S. securities law. Coinbase said the warning wouldn’t mean any changes to the exchange’s current products or services. The notice is the second warning from the SEC to a crypto entity after a February notice to stablecoin issuer Paxos. (CNBC)
China’s new premier, Li Qiang, takes pro-private sector campaign on the road. In his first trip in the new job, Li targets embattled export and manufacturing sectors with stops in Guangdong and Hunan. He telegraphs the same message he sent more than a week earlier as he took on the role. (South China Morning Post)
Culture clash: the challenge of uniting fierce rivals UBS and Credit Suisse. It took just 72 hours for Swiss regulators to fast-track a $3.25bn rescue of Credit Suisse by its rival UBS. Now executives at the two banks face a painful few years as they integrate the businesses. Thousands of jobs will be lost, entire data systems transferred and tens of billions of dollars’ worth of assets wound down. But insiders said the biggest fear within UBS was how to protect its carefully restored values from what one senior figure at the bank described as a “rancid” culture in parts of Credit Suisse. “Where we find evidence of bad culture, examples will be made ‘pour encourager les autres,’” said a second senior UBS figure, referring to the French writer and philosopher Voltaire, who coined the phrase. Credit Suisse will be made to adjust to UBS’s way of doing things, not the other way round. (Financial Times)
Technology
OpenAI is adding support for plug-ins to ChatGPT — an upgrade that massively expands the chatbot’s capabilities and gives it access for the first time to live data from the web. Up until now, ChatGPT has been limited by the fact it can only pull information from its training data, which ends in 2021. OpenAI says plug-ins will not only allow the bot to browse the web but also interact with specific websites, potentially turning the system into a wide-ranging interface for all sorts of services and sites. In an announcement post, the company says it’s almost like letting other services be ChatGPT’s “eyes and ears.” (The Verge)
Expedia, Instacart, Kayak, Klarna, OpenTable, Shopify, Slack, Wolfram, Zapier, and others release the first third-party ChatGPT plugins. (TechCrunch)
In TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s first appearance before Congress, he struggled to address lawmakers’ worries that the extraordinarily popular video app represents a dangerous national security threat because it is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance. To date, lawmakers have offered no evidence of TikTok harming U.S. national security interests. But Chew faced an especially combative grilling, as lawmakers from both parties appeared unusually united in their distrust of the CEO and concerns about the company’s ties to China. (Washington Post)
China “firmly opposes” a forced sale of TikTok, warning such a move would involve “technology export” and would “seriously damage” investor confidence in the US. (Financial Times)
Shou Chew's answers to hostile questioning did little to calm the bipartisan fury aimed at TikTok, instead giving critics more fuel to insist the US ban the app. (Bloomberg)
China has released a top chip investor after an eight-month detention as the country battles to bolster its semiconductor industry in the face of Washington’s containment efforts. Chen Datong, head of Yuanhe Puhua (Suzhou) Investment Management, also known as Hua Capital, was released this month as Beijing seeks help from chip experts to navigate tough western sanctions, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. (Financial Times)
Smart Links
Apple to Spend $1 Billion a Year on Films to Break Into Cinemas. (Bloomberg)
Pentagon probes lapse in Boeing security credentials for Air Force One. (Reuters)
Scientists uncover startling concentrations of pure DDT along seafloor off L.A. coast. (Los Angeles Times)
Gen Z job market turnover expected to exceed 2022 levels. (Chicago Tribune)
Accenture Shares Jump After Plan to Slash 19,000 Jobs. (Bloomberg)
The 10 worst places to live in US for air pollution. (The Guardian)
Stanford study finds wastewater disposal from oil production triggered major earthquake in Canada. (Stanford University)
Is Blockbuster video about to make a comeback? (The Guardian)