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The World
G-20 Discord Likely to Thwart Efforts to Boost Sagging Global Economy: With the specter of recession looming over the global economy, reviving flagging growth will be near the top of the agenda at a summit for the leaders of the Group of 20 advanced and developing economies. The problem: Discord among G-20 members is a big reason for the slowdown. Europe may already be slipping into recession as Russia throttles its energy supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Inflation spurred by that conflict is squeezing consumers and businesses around the world and heaping pressure on poorer countries through spiraling import bills for food and energy. In response, central banks, foremost among them the U.S. Federal Reserve, have been aggressively raising interest rates, intensifying the squeeze on growth and driving up debt-servicing costs for heavily-indebted emerging-market governments. (Wall Street Journal)
Beijing in no rush to send PLA across Taiwan Strait, say Chinese analysts. (South China Morning Post)
Biden, Xi to revive 11-year relationship at Bali summit: In 2011, then-U.S. vice president met Chinese counterpart five times over six days. Today’s meeting comes at a time of deep acrimony between the two superpowers over thorny issues such as Taiwan and trade. And although it will be their inaugural face-to-face summit as heads of state, few world leaders have spent as much one-on-one time with Xi as Biden. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Crypto exchanges race to soothe clients’ nerves after FTX collapse: Binance, the world’s biggest crypto trading venue, as well as smaller rivals including Crypto.com, OKX and Derebit, have vowed to publish proof that they hold sufficient reserves to match their liabilities to customers. Coinbase, the US-listed exchange, has also sought to distance itself from the crisis that has engulfed FTX. Tether’s eponymous US dollar stablecoin — the largest in the industry — has faced approximately $3bn in redemptions in the past four days, underscoring how traders are yanking funds out of the digital asset market. Meanwhile, balances of ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, have dropped 7 per cent in the past fortnight to 22.9mn across major crypto exchanges. (Financial Times)
The FTX collapse is the subject of scrutiny from government investigators in the Bahamas, who are looking at whether any "criminal misconduct occurred," the Royal Bahamas Police said on Sunday. (Reuters)
Australians are being warned to expect a growing wave of Russian cyberattacks that hold more companies to ransom and spread concern among customers in a trend linked to state support for criminal gangs. Security experts believe cybergangs are scaling up their attacks and changing their behaviour as they gain a form of protection from Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Sydney Morning Herald)
New pact between Britain and France to stem flow of migrants: The new deal will for the first time entail British officers being stationed in French control rooms and sharing live intelligence. The French government will also pledge to increase significantly the number of officers patrolling Channel beaches to detect and disrupt crossings. The arrangements are expected to be accompanied by an increase in the amount that Britain pays France from £54 million last year. (The Times)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled that Democrats will seek to extend the federal debt ceiling during the lame-duck session of Congress, avoiding a potential fight with Republicans that she said could threaten the US’s credit rating. (Bloomberg)
The US will have a record number of female governors in 2023. Still, the record-setting number – 12 – will represent a small fraction of the top executives across the 50 states. The previous record of nine female governors serving concurrently was set in 2004. (CNN)
At least 25 U.S. states or territories recently have had "very high" or "high" rates of influenza activity, according to the latest CDC data. The data suggests this year's flu season is hitting the U.S. harder and earlier than in previous years, especially in the south. (Axios)
Economy
Voters Approve Tens of Billions of Dollars in Muni Projects: U.S. voters said yes to tens of billions of dollars for road-paving, school-building and other local projects last Tuesday, promising a new wave of bonds for eager investors. The voters approved $57 billion out of the $63 billion in ballot measures for which results are available, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. If that 90% approval rate holds steady, the total amount of new municipal debt authorized Tuesday will come to about $90 billion, the most from any election day in the data, which goes back to 2012. (Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. Fed may consider slowing the pace of rate increases at its next meeting but that should not be seen as a "softening" in its commitment to lower inflation, Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said. Markets should now pay attention to the "endpoint" of rate increases, not the pace of each move, and that endpoint is likely still "a ways off," Waller said in response to a series of questions on monetary policy at an economic conference organized by UBS in Australia. "It depends on inflation." (Reuters)
Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced Friday companywide cost-cutting measures and told division leaders that layoffs are likely, according to an internal memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The austerity measures, which include a ban on all but essential work travel and a freeze on new hires for all but a few critical positions, come days after Disney reported lackluster quarterly earnings and a $1.5 billion quarterly loss at its streaming business, significantly wider than Wall Street analysts had predicted. (Wall Street Journal)
Moving In Together Doesn’t Match the Financial Benefits of Marriage: As of 2019, the median net worth for cohabiting couples age 25 to 34 was $17,372, a quarter that of the $68,210 for married couples of that same age range, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. For singles it is $7,341. (Wall Street Journal)
Finally, chief product officers have a seat at the table. Now what? The role of chief product officer is becoming more strategic than ever, and is now considered a vital leadership role. Could it be a pathway to CEO? (Protocol)
Technology
US chipmakers reel from sharp boom to bust: Qualcomm has sliced 25 per cent from its revenue guidance for the current quarter as weaker consumer spending hit smartphone sales. The forecast came as some of the leading chipmakers issued surprisingly weak sales and profit projections and signaled a round of job cuts ahead. Among those to take an axe to their forecasts, AMD warned that sales of processors for PCs this quarter would be down 40 per cent from last year, with profit margins also surprisingly weak. Intel, which cut revenue forecasts again after a big reduction the previous quarter, signaled thousands of job lay-offs ahead with a plan to cut as much as $10bn from its costs by 2025. (Financial Times)
South Korea caught in the middle of US-China chip war, but American export control requests unlikely: Seoul is reportedly gearing up to join the US-led Chip 4 alliance, but Washington is unlikely ask the government to impose export restrictions. (South China Morning Post)
Tesla is sharing its EV charging connector design in an effort to encourage network operators and automakers to adopt the technology and help make it the new standard in North America. Tesla said in a blog post Friday that its design and specification files are available for download. The company said it is “actively working with relevant standards bodies to codify Tesla’s charging connector as a public standard.” (TechCrunch)
Digital ad and linear TV ad spending by the top crypto advertisers in the US plummeted in the past few months amid the cryptocurrency markets' sharp decline. (Digiday)
Elon Musk’s aerospace business SpaceX just ordered one of the larger advertising packages available from Twitter, which Musk recently took over in a contentious, $44 billion deal. The campaign is to promote the SpaceX satellite internet service, Starlink, in Australia and Spain. The ad package, known as a “takeover” at Twitter, typically costs $250,000 or more for brands advertising on the social media platform. (CNBC)
Smart Links
Meta is killing Portal and both its unreleased smartwatches. (The Verge)
As world population hits 8 billion, China frets over too few babies. (Reuters)
Ben Sasse’s Contract at Florida’s Flagship Has Lots of Perks. But Not Tenure. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
German podcast listeners double in four years (PodNews)
Why is Indian democracy unable to respond to the problem of pollution? (Scroll.in)