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The World
Vladimir Putin will on Friday annex four regions in south-eastern Ukraine, none of which Russia fully controls, in a substantial escalation of the conflict with Kyiv. Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s spokesperson, said that Putin would sign “treaties” with Russia-appointed occupation officials and make a “substantial speech” during the ceremony in the Kremlin. (Financial Times)
Liz Truss is under mounting pressure to change course on her tax and borrowing plans after a new opinion poll gave Labour a historic lead over the Conservatives. The prime minister was rocked by a YouGov poll which found that Labour had a 33-point lead over the Tories, the biggest gap since the 1990s. (Financial Times)
Defiant Liz Truss set to curb benefits to fund budget. (The Times)
NATO Blames Sabotage for Nord Stream Pipeline Damage: The military alliance said it would be prepared to defend its infrastructure from attacks, in a ratcheting up of tensions between Russia and the West. (Wall Street Journal)
Lackluster employment numbers signal economic slowdown for Texas, Dallas Fed says. A new report shows the number of employed Texans remained virtually unchanged from July to August, while unemployment ticked up slightly. (Texas Tribune)
California is attempting to stymie abortion prosecutions in other states by making it illegal for Silicon Valley giants and other businesses based in the Golden State to hand over the personal information of abortion-seekers to out-of-state authorities. A new law signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom forbids California-based businesses from giving up geolocation data, search histories and other personal information in response to out-of-state search warrants, unless those warrants are accompanied by a statement that the evidence sought isn’t connected to an abortion investigation. (CNN)
The Food and Drug Administration approved a new medicine for ALS from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, providing a desperately-needed new treatment option for a devastating disease. The medicine, to be sold as Relyvrio, is not a cure for ALS but proved to moderately slow the progression of the neurological disease, which causes the destruction of neurons in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in weakened muscles, paralysis, and death. (STAT News)
Nasa releases images of ‘planetary defense test’ as spacecraft crashed into asteroid: James Webb and Hubble space telescopes captured impact on Dimorphos, moon of the asteroid Didymos, 6.8m miles from Earth. (The Guardian)
Economy
FTSE 250 suffers worst fall since Covid lockdowns: The FTSE 250 index of companies, regarded as a barometer of the health of the UK economy, endured its worst session yesterday since the onset of the pandemic lockdowns more than two years ago. The sharp fall in the mid-cap index contributed to a global equity markets sell-off. This was driven by fears that an economic slowdown would be made worse by rapidly rising interest rates aimed at taming inflation. (The Times)
Liz Truss will hold emergency talks with the head of Britain’s independent fiscal watchdog after failing to dampen panic in the financial markets or shore up support from Tory MPs on her radical economic plan. In a highly unusual move, the prime minister will meet the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) Richard Hughes on Friday, along with her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, before being presented with a first draft of its full fiscal forecasts next week. (The Guardian)
China factory activity expands for first time in 3 months, beats expectations: China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 50.1 in September, while the non-manufacturing gauge fell to 50.6 last month, data released on Friday showed. (South China Morning Post)
Deloitte China allowed clients to do own audit work, finds SEC. Regulator charges Big Four firm affiliate $20mn for falling ‘woefully short’ of standards. (Financial Times)
Only about 30% of millennials are comfortable investing in crypto, down from about 50% in 2021: ‘The shine has come off these coins’. (CNBC)
Mortgage rates hit 6.7 percent as housing market keeps cooling: The long-awaited shift is playing out across the country as mortgage rates escalate to the highest levels in 15 years. (Washington Post)
The interest rate for the most common home loan in the United States surpassed 7 percent this week, by one measure — the latest signal that the high-flying housing market is falling back to earth. According to Mortgage News Daily, a popular industry gauge, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached 7.08 percent on Tuesday. Another survey, by the Mortgage Bankers Association, showed the rate averaging 6.52 percent, the highest reading since mid-2008. Freddie Mac placed it at 6.7 percent, up from 3.01 percent during the same week last year. (New York Times)
Australia’s house prices fall, interest rates soar but analysts say there’s no crash yet. (CNBC)
These are the 10 U.S. cities where housing markets are cooling the fastest—and only one is in Florida. (CNBC)
Technology
Apple downgrade sparks tech sell-off, sending Alphabet and Microsoft to one-year lows. Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft both hit 52-week lows on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite is in a falling pattern again after the index’s worst two weeks since the start of the pandemic. (CNBC)
Facebook’s parent company Meta has announced that it is implementing a hiring freeze “for most roles across the company” and will “minimise costs”, as the social media group battles an advertising slump and rising competition. In an internal memo to staff seen by the Financial Times, Lori Goler, Meta’s head of people, wrote that starting on Friday the company would “pause sourcing candidates and will not make any offers until the freeze is lifted later this year”. (Financial Times)
Google is shutting down Stadia, its cloud gaming service. The service will remain live for players until January 18th, 2023. Google will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchased through the Google Store as well as all the games and add-on content purchased from the Stadia store. Google expects those refunds will be completed in mid-January. (The Verge)
Amazon announced yesterday that its home robot, Astro, will be getting a slew of major updates aimed at further embedding it in homes—and in our daily lives. The new features offer more home monitoring. Astro will be able to watch pets and send a video feed of their activities to users, for example. But the robot will also be able to wander around the house to keep an eye on rooms and entry points. Amazon also announced a new collaboration between Astro and the Ring home security camera system designed to protect areas outside the home from possible break-ins. (MIT Technology Review)
Chipping in: How U.S. states woo the likes of TSMC and Samsung. Subsidies, big tax breaks and size of the workforce go into the equation. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Corruption is sending shock waves through China’s chipmaking industry. (MIT Technology Review)
Texts show roll-call of tech figures tried to help Elon Musk in Twitter deal. Supporters of $44bn takeover bid included Sam Bankman-Fried, Reid Hoffman and podcaster Joe Rogan. (Financial Times)
Toyota CEO doubles down on EV strategy amid criticism it’s not moving fast enough. oyota CEO Akio Toyoda said Thursday the company will move forward with plans to offer an array of so-called electrified vehicles for the foreseeable future. Toyota plans to invest roughly $70 billion in electrified vehicles, including $35 billion in all-electric battery technologies over the nine years. (CNBC)
Smart Links
New York State to Ban Sale of Gasoline-Powered Vehicles by 2035. (Wall Street Journal)
Employees Who Shift to 4-Day Week Devote New Free Time to Sleep. (Bloomberg)
NASA is working with SpaceX to explore a private mission to Hubble telescope. (CNBC)
Phil Collins and Genesis Bandmates Sell Music Rights for Over $300 Million. (Wall Street Journal)
SoftBank sheds 30% of Vision Fund staff as it seeks to cut costs. (Financial Times)
Emmanuel Macron buckles on raising France’s retirement age in budget bill. (Financial Times)
PGA Tour files countersuit against LIV Golf. (Axios)