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The World
Russian president Vladimir Putin has condemned the organizers of last weekend’s shortlived mutiny, saying they had betrayed their country and the fighters in their command. In his first public comments since the end of warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin’s armed uprising on Saturday, Putin asked Wagner paramilitaries to sign contracts with Russia’s defense ministry, go home or leave the country for Belarus. The Russian president’s angry five-minute speech insisted Wagner’s revolt had been doomed to fail from the outset. In his appeal to Wagner’s rank-and-file, Putin said the mutiny’s organizers had “betrayed the country and those who were with them”, adding most of the group’s fighters were “patriots of Russia” who had been “used” by their command. (Financial Times)
Prigozhin's March on Moscow (corrected): Ten lessons from a mutiny. How to understand Yevgeny Prigozhin's march on Moscow and its sudden end? Often there are plots without a coup; this seemed like a coup without a plot. Yet weird as the mercenary chief’s mutiny was, we can draw some conclusions from its course and from its conclusion. (Timothy Snyder “Thinking About…”)
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has moved to reassure allies in Africa that thousands of Wagner group fighters deployed to the continent will not be withdrawn after the mutiny led by their commander Yevgeny Prigozhin over the weekend. In an interview with Russia Today, Lavrov pledged that “instructors” and “private military contractors” would remain in Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, the two countries in sub-Saharan Africa where Wagner has the biggest presence. (The Guardian)
The private military company known as Wagner Group has not restricted its operations to Ukraine and Russia. Since its inception in 2014, it is known or suspected to have been militarily or politically active in numerous countries, centered to a great extent on Africa. As described in the Soufan Center report: "Between its graphic brutality in Ukraine, alleged participation in a massacre and violence against civilians in Mali, and its growing prominence in the unstable and violent Sahel region of Africa more broadly, Wagner faces more international scrutiny today than ever before." (Statista, Soufan Center)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit China next month, signaling growing impatience with Washington, as Beijing increasingly throws its weight around in the region, Israeli sources said. While there, the premier is slated to meet with President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders. Advanced contacts have been held in recent days between the two leaders’ offices to arrange the visit, the sources said. No dates for the trip were given and no plans for a visit have been announced by Jerusalem or Beijing. The Prime Minister’s Office said it had “no comment at present” when contacted. (Times of Israel)
World Economic Forum: Chinese Premier Li Qiang tells ‘Summer Davos’ that ‘our world is at the crossroads of changes’. The World Economic Forum’s 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions takes place in the northern port city of Tianjin between Tuesday and Thursday. Premier Li Qiang will give the opening address on Tuesday to around 1,500 public- and private-sector leaders from more than 90 countries. (South China Morning Post)
Former federal politician Olivia Chow will be Toronto’s next mayor after earning a narrow victory in Monday’s municipal election. Chow was leading with about 37% of the vote shortly before 9 p.m. Toronto time, according to Canadian Broadcasting Corp., holding off a late surge from former deputy mayor Ana Bailao. A prominent voice in progressive politics, Chow’s victory marks a shift for Canada’s financial capital after eight years of rule by John Tory, a conservative-leaning mayor who resigned in February over an extramarital affair with a former staffer. (Bloomberg)
The battle to provide obesity treatments jumped to a new level on Monday, with Eli Lilly announcing that an experimental drug that acts on three hormones (rather than the single target in Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy) led to the greatest weight loss yet seen by a new generation of drugs. The weekly injectable, called retatrutide, led to a loss of 24.2% of body weight. The results were among a flurry of findings at the American Diabetes Association meeting. (STAT News)
Almost half of Americans would be willing to spend up to $100 a month for new weight-loss medicines such as Wegovy, and one-third say they would indefinitely pay whatever they can afford to get the drugs, according to a new survey by STAT and The Harris Poll. Although 47% say they would only spend the money up to a point — such as losing a certain amount of weight, or up until a special event — demand is so great that nearly one-quarter said they would pay up to $250 each month. And another 17% percent are willing to shell out as much as $500 each month. (STAT News)
Texas A&M University System starts “ethics and compliance review” of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts ahead of ban. According to a June 13 letter, all Texas A&M universities must provide details on a wide range of programs, trainings and presentations that touch on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on campus, including faculty organizations and mission statements. (Texas Tribune)
NYC to Move Forward With Congestion Toll: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it received final approval from the Federal Highway Administration to charge a new toll on vehicles entering the busiest parts of Manhattan under the nation’s first system of congestion pricing. The administration rendered a draft “finding of no significant impact” earlier this year, saying transportation officials in New York had sufficiently reviewed the possible environmental impacts of the new tolling system, which is meant to alleviate traffic in Manhattan’s business district. The new toll, which hasn’t been set yet but could range from $9 to $23, has divided politicians on either side of the Hudson River. New York officials have championed the new toll as a quality-of-life enhancer, while New Jersey’s governor and others have said it would unnecessarily squeeze drivers who already pay up to commute from the Garden State. Passenger cars driving into Manhattan from New Jersey pay a $17 toll to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to use a bridge or tunnel. (Wall Street Journal)
The South is in the middle of a wave of record heat expected to continue through the July 4 holiday. A stubborn heat dome of high pressure over Texas that has kept heat indexes at dangerous levels for several days is forecast to shift slightly to the east this week, bringing continued hot weather to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. “Since we’re hotter than Death Valley right now, is it safe to say that the Concho Valley is the new Death Valley this June? Cause this heat and humidity is sure feeling like death to be honest,” forecasters in San Angelo, Texas, tweeted Sunday during the record-breaking heat. A few days earlier, temperatures hit 119 degrees in the Big Bend area, which was one degree from tying Texas’ record high of 120 in 1936 and 1994, according to the National Weather Service. (New York Times)
Economy
Rent prices fell 0.5 percent in May compared with the year before, according to data from Realtor[dot]com. The firm’s tracking showed that to be the first year-over-year drop since early in the pandemic, when strong consumer demand collided with a lack of available apartments and homes. The median asking rent — essentially what landlords advertise for a vacant unit — was $1,739, down by $38 from July 2022’s peak. Still, that figure was up by $3 from the prior month and $344 higher than the same time in 2019. (Washington Post)
KPMG is cutting 5 per cent of its workforce in the US, its second round of job cuts this year, as it struggles with the slowdown in demand for consulting and other services. The firm, which was the first of the Big Four to axe staff in February, said in an email to staff seen by the Financial Times that continuing “economic headwinds” meant additional reductions were now needed. (Financial Times)
Ford to Cut Hundreds of US Salaried Workers to Lower Costs. (Bloomberg)
Robinhood Markets is cutting about 7% of its full-time staff, the online brokerage’s third round of layoffs in just over a year as the company adjusts to a slowdown in customer trading activity. (Wall Street Journal)
Two of New York’s Most Famous Hotels Plan Their Postpandemic Comebacks: Four Seasons could reopen soon under a potential deal, while the Plaza Hotel looks for a new manager. (Wall Street Journal)
New York office market bolstered by sale valuing tower at $2bn; SL Green shares jump 20% after deal. (Financial Times)
Nascent oil producer Guyana is not interested in joining OPEC, Guyanese Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo said on Monday, as the South American country looks to rapidly boost production and attract new operators. Guyana - which has become one of fastest growing crude-oil producers in the world since it began producing oil commercially in 2019 - has been invited to attend OPEC's international seminar in July, Jagdeo said, but there was no invitation to become a member of the cartel. (Reuters)
U.S. IPO filings are up 15.6% over this point on 2022, excluding SPACs. (Axios Pro Rata)
Technology
Amazon said it would invest an additional $15 billion in India over the next seven years in a move that would bring the company’s total investment in the country to $26 billion. The announcement came after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The meeting took place Friday in Washington during Modi’s visit to the U.S., according to Amazon. India, which is expected to become the world’s most populous country as early as this year by surpassing China, is one of Amazon’s most important markets. The bulk of the company’s investment in India will likely be for its cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services. Last month, AWS said it plans to invest about $12.7 billion in India’s cloud infrastructure through 2030. (The Information)
Microsoft CEO Nadella said last year goal is to reach $500 billion in sales by 2030, court filing shows. Nadella told fellow executives and board members that the software company would generate annual growth of at least 10%. That would get the company to revenue of $500 billion by fiscal 2030, more than double its current size. (CNBC)
Snowflake, a cloud data analytics company, is partnering with computing company Nvidia to allow customers ranging from financial institutions to healthcare and retail to build AI models using their own data. The two companies announced the partnership at Snowflake Summit 2023. "In the old days, in small data computing, you moved data to the computer," Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang told Reuters. "But when you have giant amounts of data like Snowflake does, and the pile of proprietary data ... data that's so valuable to a company, then you move the compute to the data." (Reuters)
AI is killing the web with spam sites, mass article producing “AI editors”, AI-generated junk on Etsy, Reddit, and Wikipedia that exhausts moderators, and more. (The Verge)
Junk websites filled with AI-generated text are pulling in money from programmatic ads. (MIT Technology Review)
The US owner of Liverpool FC and the Boston Red Sox is expanding into golf by buying a team in a new virtual league owned by star players Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Fenway Sports Group will become the second owner of a team in the TGL, the new competition due to launch early next year, after acquiring the rights to a Boston-based franchise. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and his wife, tennis superstar Serena Williams, bought the first — Los Angeles Golf Club — earlier this month. (Financial Times)
Smart Links
Pickleball Injuries May Cost Americans Nearly $400 Million This Year, According to UBS. (Bloomberg)
Kazakhstan woos over 400 Western firms exiting Russia. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Mondays Are the New Office Fight: Bosses argue that starting off the week in person—instead of remotely— creates good energy. (Wall Street Journal)
Biotech begins human trials of drug designed by artificial intelligence. (Financial Times)
China’s ‘Tesla Killer’ Stumbles as EV Price War Takes Toll. (Wall Street Journal)
SpaceX Tender Offer Values Company at About $150 Billion. (Bloomberg)