Know someone who would like this newsletter? Forward it to them.
The World
As a 40-mile-long Russian army convoy nears Kyiv, the war risks forcing more than seven million people to flee their homes, leading to a wave of refugees that would dwarf the 2015 migration crisis, the EU warned. Russia’s invasion is expected to set in motion a population movement unparalleled in Europe since the turmoil that followed WWII, when more than 12 million were displaced. “We are witnessing what could become the largest humanitarian crisis on our European continent in many, many years,” Janez Lenarcic, 54, the EU’s Slovenian crisis management commissioner, said. (The Times)
The 193-member UN General Assembly began meeting on the Ukraine crisis ahead of a vote this week to isolate Russia by deploring its "aggression against Ukraine" and demanding Russian troops stop fighting and withdraw. (Reuters)
The invasion brings Russia global repudiation with Cold War echoes: (New York Times)
Airbnb promised to house 100,000 Ukrainian refugees at no charge. Meanwhile, major auto and truck makers have cut off exports to Russia, including Volvo and GM. Shell, BP and Norway's Equinor said they would exit positions in energy-rich Russia, putting pressure on other Western companies, such as ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies. Many companies are still considering options, such as shipper Maersk, which said it was monitoring sanctions against Russia and preparing to comply with them. (Washington Post, Reuters)
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund said it would wind down its Russian assets, and Australia’s richest man, Andrew Forrest, will end hydrogen exploration in Russia. (Politico)
FIFA and UEFA suspend Russian teams from international football; IOC recommends banning Russian, Belarusian athletes from international events; NHL suspends all business relations in Russia. (Reuters, Axios)
Russian television networks RT and Sputnik have been erased from EU airwaves. Disney and Warner Bros. pause theatrical releases in Russia. (Playbook, CNBC)
The hat-tip for Russia’s SWIFT expulsion goes to Canada’s Chrystia Freeland, the country’s deputy prime minister — and the author of “Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else.” Freeland worked for five days and nights to rally governments to make their previously half-hearted sanctions bite. (Politico Canada)
Data from the Central Bank of Russia shows that the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves have been increasing for some time. While at the beginning of 2018 the reserves totaled almost $448 billion in value, this 'war chest' is currently around $630 billion - a growth of 41%. (Statista)
A nuclear deal is at hand if Washington makes up its mind, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said in a tweet early on Tuesday. Khatibzadeh added, "Iran is willing but will not wait forever." (Reuters)
Winter Olympics had almost no impact on China’s popularity: The Chinese government’s hopes that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics would improve their country’s popularity on the world stage appear to have been a bust, according to Morning Consult tracking of public opinion in 14 major countries, which shows that China’s global reputation emerged almost unchanged over the games’ two weeks. (Morning Consult)
Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam called for calm after residents emptied supermarkets, stocking up on produce ahead of reports of compulsory mass COVID-19 testing and rumors of a city-wide lockdown. Local media reported compulsory COVID testing would start after March 17, sparking concerns many people will be forced to isolate and families with members testing positive would be separated. (Reuters)
Hongkongers wait up to 39 hours for ambulance as Covid wreaks havoc on system. (South China Morning Post)
The cascading damages caused by global warming are outpacing the world’s ability to adapt, according to a new report from the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report warns that some of the adverse effects to human and natural systems are already “irreversible,” and that as many as 3.6 billion people now live in settings that are “highly vulnerable to climate change.” Climate impacts are disproportionately felt by urban communities with the most economically and socially marginalized people, especially in the Global South. Other key takeaways from the latest IPCC report on climate adaptation include: (City Lab)
By 2050, 2.5 billion more people will live in cities, and 90% of that increase will occur in Asia and Africa. Over a billion people located in low-lying cities and settlements are expected to be at risk from coastal-specific climate hazards, like flooding.
Half the world is already living with “severe water scarcity” during part of the year.
Global urbanization offers a time-limited opportunity to work towards widespread and transformational adaptation and climate-resilient development.
Australia’s NSW Premier says floods are a ‘one-in-1000-year event’: The wild weather battering NSW’s north is headed south along the coast on Tuesday. The weather bureau is expecting “heavy to torrential rain” to affect Sydney, the Illawarra and the South Coast from Tuesday evening. Rainfall of between 40 and 70mm is forecast for Sydney on Tuesday, with gusty winds from the afternoon and into the evening. Up to 90mm of rainfall is possible in the city on Wednesday. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Economy
Russia's stock market is "uninvestable" after stringent new Western sanctions and central bank curbs on trading, making a removal of Russian listings from indexes a "natural next step", a top executive at equity index provider MSCI said. "It would not make a lot of sense for us to continue to include Russian securities if our clients and investors cannot transact in the market," Dimitris Melas, MSCI's head of index research and chair of the Index Policy Committee, told Reuters. (Reuters)
Crypto exchanges refuse to freeze all Russian accounts: Binance, the world's largest exchange, said "unilaterally" banning users "would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists." (Vice)
California lawmakers push pension funds to divest of Russian assets. (Politico)
Citigroup said it has almost $10bn worth of exposure to Russia through loans, government debt and other assets, partly held through its Russian retail bank which it has said it wants to sell. The disclosure, made in Citi’s annual report, underscores how the New York-based bank’s business is more directly tied to events in Russia than any of its Wall Street rivals. (Financial Times)
The SEC will not offer amnesty to cryptocurrency companies that self-report violations of securities laws, although they may face smaller penalties, the agency's enforcement director told Reuters. Gurbir Grewal's first remarks on crypto in an interview provide greater clarity as to how cryptocurrency companies can expect to be treated under the SEC's new Democratic leadership. The industry has complained that the agency has left it in the dark about how to comply with U.S. rules. (Reuters)
The U.S. economy has bounced back at a stunning pace since 2020′s coronavirus recession – yet this recovery has largely left behind Black women. Throughout much of the pandemic and consistently since December, Black women’s unemployment (5.8%) has been significantly higher than that of Latinas, Asian women and white women, according to research from the National Women’s Law Center. (CNBC)
Target is setting a higher starting wage range for hourly workers and expanding access to health care benefits for another 20% of its workforce. The hike comes amid a battle for hourly workers across retail, including Amazon, Walmart and Kroger. The company said it will start workers between $15 to $24 per hour depending on the job and the local market. (Axios)
China's per capita gross national income grew by a fifth in 2021, according to government data released Monday, coming within striking distance of the World Bank's threshold for a high-income country. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Technology
Toyota, the world’s best selling car-maker, will shut down its 13 Japanese factories after a suspected cyberattack. These factories account for one third of Toyota’s production capacity. It is unclear how long this shutdown will persist. (BBC)
Zoom provides disappointing revenue forecast for first quarter and full year. Zoom’s revenue growth has slowed as employees started returning to the office and companies eased their purchases of software for remote work. For the current fiscal year, the company sees $4.53 billion to $4.55 billion in revenue, implying 10.7% growth. Since its stock peaked in October 2020, Zoom has lost over three-quarters of its value. (CNBC)
From Kindle to Echo to Ring, many Amazon customers are surprised at the sheer amount of data the tech giant has on them. (The Guardian)
TikTok confirms it is rolling out support for uploading up to 10-minute videos worldwide, up from three minutes. (Android Central)
Smart Links
Many Boomers are seeking roommates to confront rising housing costs. (Washington Post)
Cartier lawsuit accuses Tiffany of stealing luxury jewelry trade secrets. (Reuters)
Does nixing C-suite titles really help a company? Outschool thinks so. (Protocol)
Apple employees are unionizing and they’re using Android phones to keep Apple from spying on them. (Futurism)
Netflix’s new price is approaching the limit of what US consumers are willing to pay for streaming, which is $12 a month. (Morning Consult)