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The World
U.S. inflation edged down to an 8.3% annual rate in April but remained close to the fastest pace in four decades as the economy continued to face upward price pressures. The Labor Department’s consumer-price index reading last month marked the first drop for inflation in eight months, down from an 8.5% annual rate in March. The decline came primarily from a slight easing in April gasoline prices, which have since reached a new high. Broadly, the report offered little evidence that inflation was cooling. (Wall Street Journal)
UK PM Boris Johnson signed security declarations with Sweden and Finland, pledging UK support should their militaries come under attack. The PM has been visiting both countries as they consider joining the NATO defense alliance Russia has warned there will be consequences if they join NATO. (BBC News)
Russia seems to be co-ordinating cyber-attacks with its military campaign. (The Economist)
Shanghai moves to impose tightest restrictions yet: Over the next few days officials will further restrict access to food and hospitals in some parts of the city, the most severe phase of its extended lockdown yet. Commercial food deliveries are not allowed and access to hospitals for all but emergencies must first be approved. Neighbors of Covid-19 cases and others living close by are also being forced into government quarantine facilities. Shanghai is now in its seventh week of city-wide restrictions. (BBC News)
A drought threatens to disrupt farming in the DPRK this year, state media reported, a development that threatens to worsen food shortages in a country that experienced a self-described “food crisis” just last year. The front page of Tuesday’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper featured on-the-ground reports of “nationwide efforts” by soldiers, workers and youths to save every “single grain of rice” and ensure no crops are damaged. (NK News)
Attorney General Merrick Garland has directed the U.S. Marshals Service to “help ensure” the safety of Supreme Court justices. The order came after the leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade stoked fierce outrage from abortion-rights supporters. The draft spurred activists to protest at the Supreme Court building — and outside some of the conservative justices’ homes. (CNBC)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has declared a "severe emergency incident" and launched a nationwide lockdown after announcing a person has tested positive for COVID-19. It's the first time Pyongyang has publicly confirmed having a case in the country. (Axios)
California is approaching another summer amid growing anxiety over COVID-19 as outbreaks increase and officials try to determine when this new wave will crest. (Los Angeles Times)
A federal appeals court reinstated a Republican-backed Texas law that prohibits large social media companies from banning users over their political viewpoints. The decision hands a win to Republicans who have long criticized social media platforms such as Twitter for what they call anti-conservative bias. The order did not evaluate the law on its constitutionality but instead allows the law to go back into effect while the case proceeds in district court. (Texas Tribune)
A new Massachusetts Business Roundtable survey found more MA companies are struggling with high turnover. Around half of respondents said they're experiencing higher than usual attrition, particularly at the entry and manager levels. (WBUR)
A brush fire fueled by intense coastal winds roared into an upscale Laguna Niguel subdivision as it ballooned to at least 150 acres, burning multiple homes and forcing many to flee. (Los Angeles Times)
Economy
Crypto billionaires’ vast fortunes are destroyed in weeks: It’s been a long few weeks since the crypto crowd was partying in Miami. Coinbase Global Inc. founder Brian Armstrong had a personal fortune of $13.7 billion as recently as November and about $8 billion at the end of March. That’s now just $2.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after a selloff in digital currencies from Bitcoin to Ether triggered a precipitous decline in the market value of Coinbase, the largest US cryptocurrency exchange. (Bloomberg)
Coinbase chief says ‘no risk of bankruptcy’ after regulatory filing sparks alarm. (Financial Times)
Oil giant Saudi Aramco surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable firm. Aramco’s market valuation was just under $2.43 trillion on Wednesday, which fell more than 5% during trading in the U.S., is now worth $2.37 trillion. (CNBC)
Christine Lagarde signaled that she would support raising the European Central Bank’s main interest rate in July, leading economists to declare that the first increase for more than a decade is almost certain to go ahead. (Financial Times)
The French economy will grow only 0.2% in 2Q22 after stagnating at the start of the year as companies face increasing difficulty getting supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Bank of France said. (Bloomberg)
Italian prime minister Mario Draghi has floated the creation of a “cartel” of oil consumers, following a meeting with President Biden. Draghi said he and Biden shared a “dissatisfaction” with the structure of global energy markets and had discussed the “general concept” of capping prices of both oil and gas. (Financial Times)
The Biden administration wants to make the U.S. a major player in the Indo-Pacific economy again. President Trump's withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional free-trade agreement the U.S. once championed, has left China as the largest economic player in the region. President Biden's upcoming visit to Japan this month will "coincide with the formal launch" of a new U.S.-led regional economic framework, Japan's ambassador to the U.S. Koji Tomita said. Biden will travel to South Korea and Japan from May 20 to 24. The visits are aimed at advancing "rock-solid commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and to U.S. treaty alliances with the Republic of Korea and Japan," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. (Axios)
Technology
Google updated Maps with an “immersive view”, which combines Street View and aerial shots, for select cities, and will let third-party apps use Live View's AR. Google Maps immersive view combines picturesque views of a city and its landmarks, suggestions of places to learn about or visit, and views of the insides of some buildings. You can even see alternate views of certain areas, such as at night, in bad weather, or in busy conditions. The only limitation for now is what cities can be browsed, with things kicking off later this year with Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo. (9to5 Google)
Google Translate confirmed support for a further 24 new languages and dialects on its online translation service. From May 11, you’ll be able to use Google Translate to convert a range of new languages into your local dialect, helping those in regions such as Bolivia, Chile, India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and many more to access direct translations. The addition of new languages and regional dialects will mean that a further 300 million people around the globe, including many indigenous communities, can access one of Google’s most powerful free tools. (9to5 Google)
Google also unveiled “Multisearch Near Me”, which in 2022 will let users take a picture or a screenshot of products to find retailers and restaurants that offer them. (TechCrunch)
Disney may have a storytelling problem. Although the company added a better-than-expected 7.9 million Disney+ subscribers in the quarter, Disney shares slid when CFO Christine McCarthy acknowledged the second half of the year may not be quite as strong relative to the first half. Disney added about 20 million Disney+ subscribers in its first two fiscal quarters — meaning, new Disney+ subscribers in the next two quarters will still be higher than 20 million, but maybe not by a lot. (CNBC)
Google and Meta’s new subsea cables mark a tectonic shift in how the internet works, and who controls it. For more than a decade, U.S. tech giants have had designs on building Africa’s internet. Alphabet is now at work on Project Taara, another “moonshot,” which aims to repurpose the Loon balloons’ airborne lasers. Meta — previously Facebook — has also floated airborne internet delivery systems, including using a satellite that would beam data to Africa from space (which was abandoned when the rocket carrying it was engulfed in flames on the launchpad) and its Aquila solar-powered drones (which were grounded after disappointing performances, including a crash landing). Elon Musk’s SpaceX seems to have had better luck, having now launched over 1,700 small satellites as part of its Starlink constellation, although it won’t begin providing internet service in Africa to consumers until later in 2023. But beneath these shiny objects in the sky — laid, in fact, on the ocean floor — are a series of more traditional and likely much more transformative efforts to bridge the connected and the unconnected. After years of anticipation, massive undersea fiber-optic cables, stretching thousands of miles, have begun arriving on African and European shores. (Rest of World)
Live Event
Today, 12 pm ET: RED CARPET: How China Came to Rule Over Hollywood. Erich Schwartzel's first book, Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy, was published in February 2022 by Penguin Press. Red Carpet was a New York Times Editors' Choice, called a "page-turner" by Foreign Affairs, and named one of the 125 best books about Hollywood by Esquire. (East-West Center)
Smart Links
Highest inflation in America is punishing a Texas town and its residents. (Bloomberg)
The Hottest Work Day of the Week Is Now...Wednesday?! Hybrid workweeks let people decide which days to go to the office. The one in the middle is their top choice. (Wall Street Journal)
San Francisco police are using driverless cars as mobile surveillance cameras. (Vice)
Combative FTC could complicate homestretch of Musk’s Twitter deal. (The Information)
Lordstown Motors closes $230 million deal to sell its Ohio factory to Foxconn, injecting needed cash days before deadline. (CNBC)