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The World
'Truly horrific': Nashville mourns after mass shooting at elementary school. The horrible task of counting began before noon. How many children and staff members had gone into Covenant School on Monday morning, and how many had come out alive after the gunshots? Frantic administrators and teachers, tearful parents and first responders hurried to get that count finished. Parents were routed to nearby Woodmont Baptist Church waiting, hopefully, to be reunited with their children. And they waited. In fear. In shock. In anger. They waited for more understanding in a situation where none would be forthcoming. The morning was filled with the sound of sirens. The news they heard just after noon was devastating: Three children and three school staff members were killed. (The Tennessean)
The House Judiciary Committee is postponing its planned markup of a gun rights resolution in the wake of Monday’s school shooting in Nashville, which left six dead including three children. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) accused Democrats of politicizing the tragedy in his decision to delay the hearing, which had been scheduled for today. (Punchbowl News)
U.S. lawmakers are arranging to have South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speak before Congress, sources familiar with the matter told Nikkei, in hopes of promoting a stronger alliance to deal with North Korea and China. U.S President Joe Biden is set to host Yoon for a state visit and formal state dinner April 26 -- the first for a South Korean leader in 12 years -- to showcase their close ties 70 years on from the signing of their mutual defense treaty. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Taiwan's former President Ma Ying-jeou landed in Shanghai for a symbolic tour of China that coincides with incumbent Tsai Ing-wen's high-profile trip to the U.S. and Central America this week. Ma, president from 2008 to 2016 and a heavyweight in the now-opposition Kuomintang (KMT), will stay in China until April 7, leading a delegation of students to several cities and paying respects to his ancestors in southwestern Hunan province. (Nikkei Asia Review)
In a prickly speech Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was temporarily delaying his government’s highly contentious judicial overhaul legislation to allow time for dialogue over the far-reaching reforms. After immense public pressure that has seen 12 weeks of massive demonstrations, and, on Monday, the announcement of general strikes by the country’s top labor federation and local councils, the prime minister said he was allowing for “a delay” to provide “ a real opportunity for real dialogue,” but stressed that “either way,” a reform would be passed to “restore the balance” that he said had been lost between the branches of government in Israel. The premier indicated the “time out” would last until the beginning of the Knesset’s summer session, which starts April 30. (Times of Israel)
President Isaac Herzog spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and opposition leader Yair Lapid, and also Benny Gantz tonight. His office says in a statement that he urged them to start an “immediate negotiation process” under the auspices of the President’s Office to reach a broad agreement on the judicial overhaul. The president requested that each side establish negotiation teams to begin talks. (Times of Israel)
Hungarian lawmakers voted to support Finland's accession to NATO. After months of foot-dragging by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party, the country's parliament ratified Finland's application to join the military alliance. Hungarian lawmakers voted 182 for and only six against with no abstentions. Sweden's accession has been debated in the Bupadest parliament, but the vote on it has not yet been put on the agenda. (Deutsche Welle)
Germany is at a standstill as huge strike halts planes and trains: Airports and bus and train stations across Germany were at a standstill on Monday, causing disruption for millions of people during one of the largest walkouts in decades in Europe's biggest economy as soaring inflation stokes wage demands. The 24-hour "warning" strikes called by the Verdi union and railway and transport union EVG were the latest in months of industrial action which has hit major European economies as higher food and energy prices dent living standards. (Reuters)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, have agreed to meet during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Saudi state news agency SPA said on Monday, under a deal to restore ties. Both ministers spoke by phone for the second time in a few days. (Reuters)
As Climate Fears Mount, More Investors Turn to 'ESG' Funds Despite Few Rules. Investor interest in social responsibility has skyrocketed in the past three years, even as US regulations to hold companies accountable remain in flux and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) label itself draws backlash. Investors are willing to pay a premium for ESG index funds, and this premium has increased threefold over the period 2019 to 2022. Tapping burgeoning concerns around climate change, investors have also heeded ratings from respected research firms like Morningstar that lend credibility to the new category. (Harvard Working Knowledge)
Economy
A Tale of Two Housing Markets: Prices Fall in the West While the East Booms. The United States is a country of two housing markets. In one, home prices are falling from a year ago. In the other, they’re still posting annual gains. That division runs right down the center of the U.S. In all of the 12 major housing markets west of Texas, plus Austin, home prices fell in January on an annual basis. In the 37 biggest metro areas east of Colorado, except Austin, home prices rose year-over-year. This pattern of geographical disparity is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, housing analysts say. “We’ve never seen anything quite like this where it’s so stark, west to east,” said Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research strategy at Black Knight. (Wall Street Journal)
China will remain open “no matter what happens” and maintain steady economic growth, Premier Li Qiang told CEOs of multinational companies at a business conference in Beijing. Li’s pledge came as the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed that the new premier would address the Boao Forum in Hainan later this week, days after his tour of Hunan province and southern tech hub Shenzhen. Addressing foreign business leaders, politicians and researchers at the annual China Development Forum in the capital, Li emphasized that China was deeply integrated with the global supply chain and would continue to drive the world’s economic growth as well as provide a huge market for foreign businesses. (South China Morning Post)
Schwab’s $7 Trillion Empire Built on Low Rates Is Showing Cracks: On the surface, Charles Schwab Corp. being swept up in the worst US banking crisis since 2008 makes little sense. The firm, a half-century mainstay in the brokerage industry, isn’t overexposed to crypto like Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank, nor to startups and venture capital, which felled Silicon Valley Bank. Fewer than 20% of Schwab’s depositors exceed the FDIC’s $250,000 insurance cap, compared with about 90% at SVB. And with 34 million accounts, a phalanx of financial advisers and more than $7 trillion of assets across all of its businesses, it towers over regional institutions. The company faces pressure from bond losses and rising cash yields. But executives say business is misunderstood, has enough liquidity. (Bloomberg)
Walt Disney began 7,000 layoffs announced earlier this year, as it seeks to control costs and create a more "streamlined" business. Several major divisions of the company - Disney Entertainment, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, and corporate - will be impacted. ESPN is not touched by this week's round of cuts, but is anticipated to be included in later rounds. (Reuters)
Walmart Is Changing the Way Its Employees Get to Work: The company’s new director of workplace mobility is trying to get 10% of its Bentonville, Arkansas, workforce on bikes, scooters and in carpools. (Bloomberg)
Technology
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with new premier Li Qiang on trip to reaffirm commitment to China market. Cook met Li on Monday afternoon as part of a delegation of C-level executives and scholars from overseas attending China forum. Cook’s trip to China, his first since pandemic, has been seen as a display of Apple’s commitment to world’s biggest smartphone market. (South China Morning Post)
Generative AI set to affect 300mn jobs across major economies: The technology could boost global GDP by 7% but also risks creating ‘significant disruption’. The latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence could lead to the automation of a quarter of the work done in the US and eurozone, according to research by Goldman Sachs. The investment bank said that “generative” AI systems such as ChatGPT, which can create content that is indistinguishable from human output, could spark a productivity boom that would eventually raise annual global gross domestic product by 7 per cent over a 10-year period. But if the technology lived up to its promise, it would also bring “significant disruption” to the labour market, exposing the equivalent of 300mn full-time workers across big economies to automation. Lawyers and administrative staff would be among those at greatest risk of becoming redundant. (Financial Times)
Microsoft says Teams has 280M MAUs, up from 270M MAUs in January 2022, and the rebuilt Teams rolling out to Windows' Public Preview program is twice as fast. (TechCrunch)
Zoom partners with OpenAI to expand its Zoom IQ assistant with features to generate whiteboards from text prompts, recap meetings, summarize threads, and more. (The Verge)
Amazon Starts Warning Customers About ‘Frequently Returned’ Items: Amazon’s free and easy return policy for the vast majority of its items is a key part of its pitch to consumers, but a new feature the company is rolling out shows it’s trying to get customers to send purchases back less often. Amazon in recent months has started warning customers that an item they’re about to buy has been “frequently returned,” suggesting customers check “the product details and customer reviews” before they purchase. The introduction of the “frequently returned” warning comes as returns have become a costly problem for the e-commerce industry more broadly after skyrocketing during the pandemic. (The Information)
Smart Links
Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao violated compliance rules to attract U.S. users, CFTC alleges. (CNBC)
California Democrats pass Newsom’s proposal that could penalize oil company profits. (Politico)
2-year Treasury yield tops 4% as bank concerns ease. (Financial Times)
Pay transparency laws in US stir worker discontent: Companies face ‘upset’ employees who are learning what new recruits will earn. (Financial Times)