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The World
In an "intense" seven-hour meeting with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi on Monday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned of "consequences" if Beijing materially supports Russia's war in Ukraine, a senior U.S. official briefed reporters. China is already providing its most powerful partner with tacit support, but U.S. officials are now trying to draw red lines to prevent a full-on superpower proxy war. (Axios)
The US has told allies that China signaled its willingness to provide military assistance after Russia requested equipment including surface-to-air missiles to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to officials familiar with American diplomatic cables on the exchange. Two officials familiar with the content of the cables said Washington had told allies that Russia had asked China for five types of equipment, including the surface-to-air missiles. The other categories were drones, intelligence-related equipment, armored vehicles, and vehicles used for logistics and support. (Financial Times)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address Congress on Wednesday morning. Zelenskyy will update members of the House and Senate on the brutal Russian invasion of his nation just days after Congress sent roughly $14 billion in lethal and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and as lawmakers consider additional steps to isolate Russia and assist Ukraine. (Politico)
In a post to staff, Nick Clegg clarifies that Meta's relaxed content policies in Ukraine do not allow calls for violence against Russians or “a head of state”. (Bloomberg)
World Athletics chief says Russia sports bans must remain. (Axios)
Sens. Joe Manchin and Susan Collins will oppose Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination to the Federal Reserve’s top job overseeing banks, all but killing her already stalled bid to win confirmation. Raskin’s nomination has been stuck in the Senate Banking Committee amid a GOP boycott of a committee vote on her nomination, effectively blocking her confirmation from advancing to the Senate floor. Now even if her nomination is able to get out of committee, Raskin would need at least one Republican to support her to be confirmed as vice chair for supervision. (Politico)
A number of Israeli government websites went down in an apparent cyberattack. The Israeli cyber authority confirmed the attack was a DDos (Digital-denial of service) attack that had blocked access to government websites, and that all websites were back online. The websites of the interior, health, justice and welfare ministries had been taken offline, as was that of the Prime Minister's Office. (Haaretz)
China is battling its biggest Covid surge since the start of the pandemic and has locked down multiple cities including Shenzhen, its technology hub, in a move that threatens already brittle global supply chains. Apple supplier Foxconn and dozens of other factories in Shenzhen have stopped production after authorities imposed a lockdown on the city of 17.5mn. (Financial Times)
Shanghai’s Covid-19 model faces its sternest test yet: The city’s approach has been lauded as one of China’s biggest successes but a wave of Omicron cases presents it with its greatest challenge yet. (South China Morning Post)
China stocks suffer worst fall since 2008 as Omicron spooks investors: Hang Seng China Enterprises index drops 7% with consumer and travel hardest hit as lockdowns threaten growth. (Financial Times)
Google’s annual employee surveys, internally called “Googlegeist,” show that a growing number of staffers don’t view their pay packages as fair or competitive with what they could make in a similar role elsewhere. They are also questioning their employer’s ability to execute. The surveys were taken in January and released to employees last week. CNBC viewed results from the company overall as well as individual groups such as cloud, search and ads. The lowest scores across the board were in compensation and execution. The highest scores were in Google’s mission and values. (CNBC)
Economy
Russia has sent the clearest signal yet that it will soon default — the first time it will have failed to meet its foreign debt obligations since the Bolshevik revolution more than a century ago. Half of the country's foreign reserves — roughly $315 billion — have been frozen by Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov said on Sunday. As a result, Moscow will repay creditors from "countries that are unfriendly" in rubles until the sanctions are lifted, he said. (CNN)
The Ukraine crisis is turbocharging a dash for haven investments around the globe. The Russian invasion and the ensuing jump in commodities prices have sent investors barreling into gold and government bonds and scooping up bets that will pay out if they keep rising. The turbulence has unleashed a frenzy of trading tied to one of the biggest exchange-traded funds tracking gold, while investors have also poured money into government bonds, stemming a flood of withdrawals from earlier in the year. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of 16 other currencies, closed Monday at its highest level since June 2020. The dollar is seen as a haven because of its status as the world’s reserve currency. (Wall Street Journal)
Before Moscow’s invasion three weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had begun laying the groundwork for a more aggressive series of rate increases, driven by concerns that labor markets were overheating. He and his colleagues were also banking on getting an assist from recovering supply chains later this year, limiting how far rates would have to rise. Now, the global economy faces the prospect of higher energy and commodity prices, which will raise the costs to transport and manufacture a range of goods, while the conflict further disrupts global shipping networks. Economists say there’s a growing risk that Mr. Powell could feel great pressure to lift rates to levels that ultimately tip the economy into recession. (Wall Street Journal)
Inflation is hitting battleground states worse. (Axios)
Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf earned $24.5 million last year, receiving a 20% raise as the bank recovered from its pandemic slump. The compensation, like in 2020, included $2.5 million of base pay, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. He also received a $5.4 million cash bonus. The remainder, $16.6 million, is long-term incentive compensation that vests over time and is paid in common stock. (Wall Street Journal)
Japan's long-term joblessness spikes to post-Lehman high. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Technology
Foxconn, the biggest assembler of Apple iPhones, is in talks with Saudi Arabia about jointly building a $9 billion multipurpose facility that could make microchips, electric-vehicle components and other electronics like displays. Besides Saudi Arabia, Foxconn is also talking with the United Arab Emirates about potentially siting the project there. (Wall Street Journal)
Arm will cut up to 1,000 jobs, or 15% of its workforce in the UK and US, before its IPO; source says most of the cuts won't affect engineers. (Bloomberg)
iOS 15.4, the latest version of Apple’s iPhone operating system, has been released. The update includes big new features like the ability to use Face ID while wearing a mask, alongside smaller additions like a handful of new emoji. The new version of iOS launches alongside iPadOS 15.4 and macOS 12.3, which add support for Apple’s new Universal Control feature. Apple’s new mask-friendly Face ID implementation should work after trying it out in beta. In short, it does a decent job of recognizing faces even when the nose and mouth are covered with a mask but can still get tripped up by glasses, sunglasses, and floppy hats. Apple does warn that turning the new feature on could make Face ID less accurate overall. Other features include new anti-stalking features for Apple’s AirTag trackers as well as a new, more gender-neutral Siri voice. (The Verge)
Discovery CEO David Zaslav received total compensation valued at $246.6 million in 2021, including nearly $203 million in options grants, more than sextupling his compensation from the year before, the company said in a securities filing. Zaslav’s compensation package is the highest CEO pay reported by any S&P 500 company so far this year. (Wall Street Journal)
Discovery's CFO said HBO Max and Discovery+ will be bundled early in the Discovery and WarnerMedia merger and will eventually be combined into one service. (The Hollywood Reporter)
After complaints, Twitter reverted its latest iOS update, removing the Latest Tweets tab and restoring the Home tab and the default chronological tweets option. (9to5Mac)
Smart Links
Gov. Newsom signs law to stop UC Berkeley enrollment cuts. (Los Angeles Times)
After Walt Disney, Robert Iger Heads to the Metaverse. (Wall Street Journal)
Berkshire Hathaway stock price reaches $500,000. (Reuters)
China’s retail sales, industrial data soundly beat expectations. (CNBC)
Chevron set to trade Venezuelan oil if U.S. relaxes sanctions. (Reuters)
These are the most and least expensive states to buy gas right now. (CNBC)