Know someone who would like this newsletter? Forward it to them.
The World
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky capped his visit to Washington by asking Congress to approve nearly $50 billion in additional aid to his country. Swift passage would not only stop Russian influence in the region, but preserve democracy as a whole, he said. Addressing a joint session of Congress, Mr. Zelensky spoke for roughly 25 minutes, mixing doses of humor with pleas for the future safety and stability of Ukraine. He delivered the speech in English, giving it more impact than if it had been translated from Ukrainian. “Your money is not charity,” Zelensky said. “It’s an investment.” (New York Times)
The Senate was struggling Wednesday night to clinch an agreement that would allow for votes on a colossal $1.7 trillion government funding package, with lawmakers eager to avoid a potentially paralyzing storm ahead of the holidays. The year-end spending bill is the final item on the Senate’s to-do list before they leave Washington through late January, fueling bipartisan hope in the chamber that they could clear the legislation on Wednesday night by vaulting over a long line of procedural hurdles. But a politically tricky, long-simmering border fight has emerged as a major sticking point, and the time crunch gives leverage to any one senator to make demands. (Politico)
The W.H.O. said it is “very concerned” about a spike in severe Covid-19 cases in China and called on Beijing to step up its vaccination program, especially among vulnerable groups. (Financial Times)
Staffing shortages across nonprofit hospitals appear to be improving incrementally, according to a report out from Fitch Ratings. The report points to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showing hospitals and ambulatory service providers added 11,000 and 23,300 jobs, respectively from October to November. Job openings in the sector also declined to 8.7% in October from 9.1% in September. (Healthcare Dive)
Mystery of Smell Loss After Covid-19 Might Be Solved: A haywire immune response in the olfactory system was found to explain why some people still can’t smell long after symptoms of the disease have abated, according to a small, peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. In some cases, the immune or inflammatory response was detected in patients with smell loss up to 16 months after recovery from Covid-19. Compared with people who can smell normally, patients with long-term smell loss had fewer olfactory sensory neurons, cells in the nose responsible for detecting smells and sending that information to the brain. Patients with lingering loss of smell had an average of 75% fewer of the neurons compared with healthy people, said Brad Goldstein, a study co-author and sinus surgeon at Duke University. (Wall Street Journal)
A dramatic December cold front is poised to sweep across much of the Lower 48 states Wednesday night through Friday, bringing heavy snow for some and a sudden temperature drop that could lead to the coldest December weather in decades for many locations. The National Weather Service warns of “life-threatening cold” with wind chills that “will create a significant hazard for travelers that become stranded.” (Washington Post)
Economy
US stocks rallied as an improvement in consumer confidence and better-than-expected earnings boosted sentiment. Treasuries were mixed after Tuesday’s selloff as the furore following the Bank of Japan’s unexpected increase in its yield trading band ebbed. The S&P 500 rose for a second day while the Nasdaq 100 snapped a five-day drop. Both indexes climbed the most since late November. (Bloomberg)
U.S. Home Sales Post Record 10th Straight Month of Declines: November existing-home sales fell 7.7% as Fed keeps raising interest rates. (Wall Street Journal)
When Inflation Rises, Health Outcomes Fall. Ultimately, how people set their health priorities is influenced by their ability to pay for medications, doctor visits, gym memberships, and even healthy food. Rising costs for normal day-to-day necessities like transportation and housing mean that for many, there isn’t as much money left over to take care of their health. With inflation still tracking high, it’s essential for employers to recognize its effect on employees and find ways to help them afford and access the care they need as prices continue to go up. (Harvard Business Review)
India’s newest financial hub is rising from scrubland near the banks of the Sabarmati River once dominated by marsh birds and grazing buffalo. In the state of Gujarat, just a few glass-fronted towers greet the 20,000 employees of companies such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc who commute in each weekday. Its full name is Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, but it’s more commonly known as GIFT City. It occupies 886 acres between Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar, and Ahmedabad, its biggest city. As of October, bankers managed a combined $33 billion here. (Bloomberg)
Technology
Big Tech groups are ditching offices that are part of their European headquarters as a cooling economy brings the sector’s years of rapid expansion to a halt. Google’s parent Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta and enterprise software giant Salesforce are among the US technology groups seeking to abandon leased office space in London and Dublin, according to people familiar with the plans. The moves come as the companies respond to the downturn in tech stocks with cost cuts, including by shedding jobs. The pullback is a new setback for landlords already facing their biggest challenge since the 2008 financial crisis. Office values are tumbling on both sides of the Atlantic because of rising interest rates, an increasingly bleak economic outlook and increased homeworking. (Financial Times)
A New Chat Bot Is a ‘Code Red’ for Google’s Search Business: A new wave of chat bots like ChatGPT use artificial intelligence that could reinvent or even replace the traditional internet search engine. For more than 20 years, the Google search engine has served as the world’s primary gateway to the internet. But with a new kind of chat bot technology poised to reinvent or even replace traditional search engines, Google could face the first serious threat to its main search business. One Google executive described the efforts as make or break for Google’s future. Google has spent several years working on chat bots and, like other big tech companies, has aggressively pursued artificial intelligence technology. Google has already built a chat bot that could rival ChatGPT. In fact, the technology at the heart of OpenAI’s chat bot was developed by researchers at Google. (New York Times)
New bill will force Twitter, TikTok and other social media platforms to increase transparency by sharing internal data. Senators introduced the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act to increase transparency in social media companies’ business practices. If passed, the legislation would require social media platforms to share certain privacy-protected data with researchers. (CNBC)
Sources detail steps Netflix may take to reduce US password sharing, like charging account owners an extra sharing fee at just below the $6.99 ad-supported tier. (Wall Street Journal)
Smart Links
Hundreds of Tyson Foods Employees Expected to Depart as Company Closes Offices. (Wall Street Journal)
California wants to revoke a CVS mail-order license for illegally filling opioid and ADHD prescriptions. (STAT News)
Micron sets 10% job cuts in 2023 due to 'supply-demand mismatch'. (Reuters)
School Enrollment Rises Slightly in 2021. (U.S. Census Bureau)
The Five Emails You Need to Send Before New Year’s to Boost Your Career. (Wall Street Journal)