Know someone who would like this newsletter? Forward it to them.
The World
A looming hunger catastrophe is set to explode over the next two years, creating the risk of unprecedented global political pressure, the director of the UN World Food Programme has warned. Calling for short- and long-term reforms – including an urgent lifting of the blockade on 25m tonnes of Ukrainian grain trapped by a Russian blockade – Patrick Beasley said the current food affordability crisis is likely to turn into an even more dangerous food availability crisis next year unless solutions are found. (The Guardian)
Russia’s role in rising global food insecurity takes center stage at G-20 foreign ministers' meeting. (Politico)
Russian President Putin accused the West of decades of aggression towards Moscow and warned that if it wanted to attempt to beat Russia on the battlefield it was welcome to try, but this would bring tragedy for Ukraine. His remarks came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov prepared for a closed-door foreign ministers' meeting at a G20 gathering in Indonesia - the first time Putin's top diplomat will come face-to-face with the most vocal opponents of the invasion of Ukraine since it began. (Reuters)
China says it will maintain an ‘objective and fair’ position on Russia-Ukraine crisis. (CNBC)
Boris Johnson: the entertainer who tried to defy political gravity. Twenty years ago, Boris Johnson, then editor of The Spectator magazine, was hosting the BBC quiz show Have I Got News for You when he struggled to work out which team had got the correct answer. “You edit a magazine?!” mocked one of the regular panellists, Paul Merton. “What on earth are the editorial meetings like?” But Johnson knew there was something more important than appearing organised: being charming and entertaining. “You’ve all done exceptionally well on this question,” he smiled to the competing teams. On TV, as in politics, he started out as the man who could unite people in amusement. After nearly three years as prime minister, he united them in contempt. (Financial Times)
Boris Johnson could earn more than £3 million next year in speaking fees and book deals, experts have suggested, although his biographer warned that he may also consider running again to be prime minister. (The Times)
How will a new Tory leader be chosen? (The Guardian)
U.S. on Johnson’s departure: ‘OK, bye.’ Joe Biden and Boris Johnson’s relationship wasn’t all that special, and U.S.-U.K. ties should be fine. (Politico)
Gov. Greg Abbott cleared state authorities to return migrants they apprehend to the border, setting up a potential clash with the federal government over the authority to enforce immigration law. Abbott appears to be testing the limits of state authority by empowering state law enforcement and National Guard troops under state deployment to bring migrants to the ports of entry — stopping short of using state resources to expel migrants from the country, as immigration hawks have increasingly called for in recent months. (Texas Tribune)
Children under the age of 5 are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at a slower rate than other age groups. About 300,000 children between 6 months and 5 years of age, or about 2% of the age group, have received the COVID-19 vaccine since it became available. 15% of children ages 5 to 11 received the vaccine in the first three weeks after it was authorized. (Axios)
California deepens water cuts to cope with drought, hitting thousands of farms: Regulators have begun curtailing the water rights of many farms and irrigation districts along the Sacramento River, forcing growers to stop diverting water from the river and its tributaries. (Los Angeles Times)
Economy
Big cities can’t get workers back to the office: Occupancy is especially low in cities like New York, where workers are the engine of local economies. From April 2020 to March 2021, 26,300 New York City small businesses closed permanently, according to a report the mayor released in the spring. Available office space in New York has grown to about 125 million square feet, up from 90 million in the first quarter of 2020, according to data firm CoStar Group Inc. Retail rents in Manhattan have declined for 18 consecutive quarters, starting well before the pandemic, according to commercial real estate services firm CBRE Group Inc. One issue for workers in big cities is time spent in transit. New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago have some of the nation’s longest commute times—as well as some of the lowest return-to-office rates. (Wall Street Journal)
Mortgage rates recorded their largest decline since 2008 as investors raise their bets that the economy is headed for a downturn. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.30%, mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday. That is down from 5.70% last week. Mortgage rates haven’t recorded such a big weekly decline since December 2008, when the rate fell from 5.97% to 5.53%. (Wall Street Journal)
Two senior Fed officials warned that failure to tame soaring inflation will damage the US economy, with one of them saying the situation is already testing the central bank’s credibility. Christopher Waller, a Fed governor, and James Bullard, president of the St Louis branch, used separate events to insist the central bank is committed to fighting runaway prices that have engulfed nearly every corner of the economy and appear increasingly at risk of becoming entrenched. (Financial Times)
Fed hawks signal downshift in U.S. rate hikes after July. (Reuters)
June jobs report is not expected to show an economic slowdown or a recession looming. Economists say the consumer price index inflation data next week will be the most important upcoming data for the Federal Reserve’s rate hike decision, but jobs data will also be key. (CNBC)
China, emerging markets suffering worst capital exodus in 7 years with US$4 billion net outflow in June. Net total of US$4 billion withdrawn from emerging markets’ equities and bonds combined in June, the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF) said. China’s foreign exchange reserves also fell by a more than expected US$56.5 billion from a month earlier to US$3.07 trillion at the end of June. (South China Morning Post)
Bidding for a government-owned office property in Tokyo shows that the country's real estate market is still going strong, thanks to a weak currency and ultralow interest rates that have drawn both foreign and domestic investors eyeing healthy returns. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Walmart won’t hold rival event to Amazon Prime Day, as it is already offering big markdowns. (CNBC)
Technology
Some key House Democrats think they've found a clever way to break Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's stranglehold on a popular bill to massively fund the U.S. chip industry at the expense of China. McConnell is trying to force Democrats to choose between bipartisan legislation on the stalled China competition bill and a Democrat-only reconciliation package they might reach with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The potential countermove is to bring the Senate-passed China bill to the House floor for an up-or-down vote and deprive McConnell of his hostage. (Axios)
Startups Suffer Bleak Second Quarter: The number of U.S. startups going public has slowed to a trickle and fresh funding for such companies has dropped sharply, adding to signs that venture-capital investors are confronting more challenging markets after a boom period. (Wall Street Journal)
Musk’s deal to buy Twitter is in peril: Elon Musk’s team concluded that Twitter’s figures on spam accounts are not verifiable with the data the company gave them, according to three people familiar with the talks. Musk’s team has stopped engaging in certain discussions around funding, one of the people said. (Washington Post)
Twitter Lays Off Third of Recruiting Team: Twitter said it laid off 30% of its talent acquisition team, as the company deals with increasing business pressures and a potential takeover from Elon Musk. (Wall Street Journal)
More Chinese college grads want careers as streamers, influencers. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Scammers are plaguing Chicago restaurants with one-star Google reviews and extortion emails: ‘The reviews just kept coming’. (Chicago Tribune)
Smart Links
China’s ice cream brands outpace inflation with soaring prices. (Financial Times)
Japan election may be tailwind for nuclear restarts as public mood shifts. (Reuters)
Raiders hire first Black female president in NFL history. (Reuters)
26% of concertgoers plan to take on debt to attend shows this summer. (CNBC)