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The World
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen Lands in the U.S. Amid Threats From China: Beijing warns that Tsai Ing-wen’s planned meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy could provoke retaliation. Her visit through Friday provides Ms. Tsai with a rare opportunity to command an international stage and promote the democratic island to its most prominent champion, the U.S. Ms. Tsai’s presence in the U.S. is nonofficial, in line with U.S. policy toward China, and is technically considered a transit, according to U.S. officials. Several dozen people holding Taiwan and U.S. flags outside Ms. Tsai’s Midtown hotel on Wednesday afternoon were outnumbered by hundreds of Beijing supporters with Chinese flags who were kept to the other side of the street by police. Some carried signs calling Ms. Tsai a traitor. (Wall Street Journal)
China warns US that trip by Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen could lead to ‘serious confrontation’. First visit by island’s leader since 2019 leads Beijing to tell Washington it ‘should not use past mistakes as excuses for repeating them today’. (South China Morning Post)
Xu Xueyuan, charge d'affaires at the Chinese embassy in Washington, accused the U.S. of violating the "One China" principle and warned: "As we say, 'those who play with fire will perish by it.' This is not a threat. The Chinese government must react to violations of the 'One China' principle." (Axios)
U.S. carrier arrives in South Korea as North unveils new warheads. A South Korean navy brass band welcomed about 5,000 crew members from a U.S. aircraft carrier, as the hulking vessel docked at a military port on Tuesday, in a demonstration of strength by the allies as North Korea escalates its nuclear saber rattling. The U.S. Navy's Carrier Strike Group 11, led by its flagship, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, arrived in this southeastern city after conducting joint drills with its South Korean counterpart. Hours earlier, Pyongyang unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads that experts say can be mounted on short-range ballistic and cruise missiles targeting South Korea. (Nikkei Asia)
The 11 members of a trans-Pacific trade pact, which includes Japan and Australia, are expected to soon reach broad agreement with Britain on it joining the partnership, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. An announcement is expected to be made soon, the sources added, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public. Britain said negotiations with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) had been going well. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said ministers were due to discuss CPTPP with their counterparts later this week and there would be an update at the “earliest possible opportunity”. (South China Morning Post)
The White House offered praise for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments in response to concerns from US President Joe Biden regarding the judicial overhaul being advanced by the Israeli government. The remarks by White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby appeared to represent an attempt by the Biden administration to lower the temperature after tensions between the US and Israel flared up a day earlier. (Times of Israel)
The FDA approved the overdose-reversing drug Narcan for over-the-counter sales. The overdose-reversing drug Narcan could soon be available to buy over the counter without a prescription, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday. The FDA's approval of the nasal spray Narcan — the brand name for the drug naloxone — means the medication could be more widely available across the U.S. as the country continues to grapple with an opioid epidemic. "Today's action paves the way for the life-saving medication to reverse an opioid overdose to be sold directly to consumers in places like drug stores, convenience stores, grocery stores and gas stations, as well as online," the FDA said. (NPR)
WHO to consider adding obesity drugs to 'essential' medicines list: Drugs that combat obesity could for the first time be included on the World Health Organization's "essential medicines list," used to guide government purchasing decisions in low- and middle-income countries, the U.N. agency told Reuters. A panel of advisers to the WHO will review new requests for drugs to be included next month, with an updated essential medicines list due in September. (Reuters)
A former FDA official said that the agency's siloed organizational structure and delayed response to sanitation concerns contributed to the baby formula shortage last year. The agency is undergoing massive turnover, with the director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Susan Mayne, announcing earlier this week that she will retire, as it struggles to define its role in food supply chain issues. (Washington Post)
Economy
Russia seems poised for an extended economic downturn after enjoying an initial windfall from rising energy prices after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. Data shows the ruble has sunk 20% against the U.S. dollar over the last several months. Oil revenue is also sinking, and, despite assurances from Moscow that Russian unemployment is at a record low, there are fewer workers than ever available to fill jobs, according to the Russia-focused outlet The Bell. (Semafor)
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., facing almost $23 billion in costs from recent bank failures, is considering steering a larger-than-usual portion of that burden to the nation’s biggest banks. The agency has said it plans to propose a so-called special assessment on the industry in May to shore up a $128 billion deposit insurance fund that’s set to take hits after the recent collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The regulator — under political pressure to spare small banks — has noted it has latitude in how it sets those fees. (Bloomberg)
Manufacturers of everything from pickup trucks to homes are still grappling with tight supplies of microchips and cement - shortages that could translate into delays and higher costs for federal efforts to arm Ukraine against Russian aggression and rebuild U.S. crumbling infrastructure and manufacturing. The supply chain woes that sent costs soaring and spurred shortages of everything from toilet paper to passenger cars are easing for retail-focused industries, but remain stubbornly persistent in important growth sectors like autos, machinery, defense and non-residential construction, experts said. (Reuters)
Funding for clean-energy startups is getting squeezed by volatile markets. After steadily drawing in cash through last year during a record-breaking streak of fundraising, the sector’s fortunes have fallen in the first quarter. The amount of equity raised privately by climate startups dropped nearly 40% from a year earlier, PitchBook data show. Meanwhile, activity in the market for sustainability-linked bonds and loans has softened in line with the overall market amid rising interest rates, dragging down the amount of debt larger companies are raising for climate projects. Analysts expect the divergence to benefit large companies with the cash to ride out economic turbulence and take advantage of a new U.S. climate law. (Wall Street Journal)
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she expected former Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga to be elected president of the World Bank as nominations drew to a close. Speaking to lawmakers on Wednesday, Yellen said that if Banga secured the role, he would be “charged with accelerating our progress to evolve the institution to better address 21st-century challenges”. There were no further publicly declared candidates when nominations closed at 6pm in Washington. Although confidential nominations are possible, two people familiar with the situation said they were unaware of any other candidates in contention. (Financial Times)
Technology
More than 1,000 technology leaders and researchers, including Elon Musk, have urged artificial intelligence labs to pause development of the most advanced systems, warning in an open letter that A.I. tools present “profound risks to society and humanity.” A.I. developers are “locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one — not even their creators — can understand, predict or reliably control,” according to the letter, which the nonprofit Future of Life Institute released on Wednesday. (New York Times)
The metaverse is quickly turning into the meh-taverse. Disney has shut down the division that was developing its metaverse strategies, Microsoft recently shut down a social virtual-reality platform it acquired in 2017, and Mark Zuckerberg, who renamed Facebook to Meta Platforms, focused more on artificial intelligence on an earnings call last month. Meanwhile, the price for virtual real estate in some online worlds, where users can hang out as avatars, has cratered. The median sale price for land in Decentraland has declined almost 90% from a year ago, according to WeMeta, a site that tracks land sales in the metaverse. (Wall Street Journal)
Apple schedules WWDC 2023 for June 5 to June 9 as a virtual event with a June 5 keynote, where iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS 14 are expected. (MacRumors)
How Uber left Lyft in the dust. For years, Lyft positioned itself as the “nice guy” in the ride-hailing industry. It let rival Uber do most of the dirty work fighting regulators and the taxi industry to create a path for a new crop of companies to offer rides to customers through an app. In the process, Lyft cultivated a feel-good brand – but Uber dominated the market. For a brief moment in 2017, however, it looked like the balance of power might shift, as Uber was rocked by a seemingly endless series of PR crises that culminated with its founder and CEO Travis Kalanick stepping down. Six years later, however, Lyft’s position is arguably more precarious than it has ever been. Uber now has 74% of the US rideshare market, up from 62% in 2020, according to market research firm YipitData, while Lyft’s market share slipped to 26% from 38% during that same period. Meanwhile, Lyft stock has plunged nearly 90% since it went public in 2019. (CNN)
Alexa now has the ability to let T-Mobile subscribers make and receive phone calls on dedicated devices hands-free. The new feature comes in the form of an Alexa skill, which can link your T-Mobile service directly to your Alexa Account. The new feature joins the other big US carriers AT&T and Verizon in enabling Alexa to handle phone calls. ”This is completely free for T-Mobile customers and it’s fully available to all Alexa customers today,” wrote T-Mobile spokesperson Trang Nguyen in an email to The Verge. In comparison, Verizon still charges you $5 per month to use its Alexa skill. (The Verge)
Smart Links
Ken Griffin’s Citadel to reopen Tokyo office this year. (Financial Times)
NFL owners vote to allow sportsbooks in stadiums on game days. (The Athletic)
Why Banks Are Waging a Digital-Wallet War With Apple. (Wall Street Journal)
A Framework for Picking the Right Generative AI Project. (Harvard Business Review)
The best places to work in the federal government, according to employee surveys. (Washington Post)