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The World
A leading Federal Reserve official has warned the US central bank must hold its nerve as it tries to tame soaring inflation, adding her name to the list of policymakers sounding a hawkish note on future rate rises. Lael Brainard, vice-chair of the Fed, reinforced expectations that the central bank would opt for a third consecutive 0.75 percentage point rate rise at its meeting later this month. “We are in this for as long as it takes to get inflation down,” she said. The forceful intervention from Brainard, generally seen as a dove on monetary policy, comes as investors increased their bets on the Fed implementing another increase of 75 basis points when officials meet on September 21. (Financial Times)
Canada warns of more rate rises after 0.75 percentage point increase. (Financial Times)
Liz Truss will today unveil a £150 billion package to freeze energy bills for up to two years as she ends the ban on fracking and gives the go-ahead for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. The prime minister will pledge action to prevent annual household energy costs rising from the present level of £1,971 to £3,549 from October 1 and as much as £5,000 in January. The package, which will be reviewed early next year but could last until the next election in 2024, will cap the cost of gas used to produce electricity and heat Britain’s homes and businesses and will be funded by increased borrowing. (The Times)
Just a quarter of voters believe Liz Truss is the best prime minister, a poll for The Times finds, with Labour maintaining a 15 point lead over the Tories. The YouGov poll suggests the new prime minister is yet to enjoy a bounce with only 23 per cent of voters thinking she will do a better job than her predecessor, Boris Johnson. (The Times)
President Jair Bolsonaro rallied tens of thousands of supporters in cities across Brazil in a pre-election show of force that featured displays from the country’s armed forces. Paratroopers landed on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach and air force jets flew over the waterfront in a spectacle ostensibly for Brazil’s bicentennial anniversary of independence, but which critics say was co-opted by the populist president to coincide with his election rally in the same location. Brazilians go to the polls on October 2, with Bolsonaro trailing his main rival, leftwing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, by about 10 percentage points. (Financial Times)
Shenzhen reduces entry quota for Hong Kong travelers amid resource squeeze during local Covid-19 epidemic. Number of spaces at Shenzhen’s quarantine facility for Hong Kong travelers to drop to 1,000 by Monday. Source says quota reduction temporary measure until Shenzhen contains recent rise in coronavirus cases. (South China Morning Post)
ANA, JAL see reservations jump as Japan eases COVID entry curbs. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Amylyx’s ALS Drug Backed by FDA Advisers: The panel of neuroscience experts, meeting a second time to consider the experimental drug, voted in support after narrowly rejecting it earlier. (Wall Street Journal)
Voluntary power cuts helped California avoid blackouts during heat wave. The state’s power grid, at the forefront of America’s energy transition, is under threat from an unprecedented September stretch of high temperatures. (Washington Post)
Economy
Europe Says Putin’s Gas Power Is Weakening: In Germany and elsewhere, leaders are growing more confident that months of work to stockpile and line up alternate energy sources may help them blunt Russia’s weaponization of exports. (New York Times)
Oil prices fall on global economic fears despite Opec+ output cut: Monday’s move by cartel fails to slow decline as growing fears of recession in Europe take a toll. (Financial Times)
New Fed banking chief targeting crypto and climate change as top priorities. Fed Governor Michael Barr, whose title of vice chair for supervision gives him broad powers over the nation’s banks, gave his first policy speech since being confirmed by the Senate. He pushed for action on stablecoins, climate change preparations and both the safety and fairness of the finance industry. (CNBC)
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says he has no plan to force workers to return to the office. The company has embraced remote and hybrid work. Last year, Amazon said it would leave it up to individual managers to decide how often employees would be required to work at physical offices. (CNBC)
Amazon CEO Charts Slower Hiring Following Pandemic Boom: Andy Jassy said the e-commerce company will likely scale back on its rate of hiring and that healthcare is a growth opportunity. (Wall Street Journal)
Technology
Apple has officially announced the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. In the first big display redesign since Apple introduced the iPhone X in 2017, both handsets have a new pill-shaped cutout that replaces the notch and can adjust dynamically. Both devices also have a faster A16 Bionic chip and an always-on display. Apple CEO Tim Cook calls the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max the “most innovative pro lineup yet.” The iPhone 14 Pro will start at $999, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at $1,099. Both will be available for preorder on September 9th and available in stores on September 16th. (The Verge)
There’s a big theme to today’s announcements: Buy these new gadgets—they can save your life! The new Apple Watch isn’t the only gadget Apple wants to save your life. The iPhone 14 line has a new Emergency SOS via Satellite feature that will allow you to make calls and send some basic texts via satellite connectivity when there is no cellular connectivity. Think, you’re at a remote hiking location or, as Apple showed, a crash in a remote area where you need to reach emergency services. (Wall Street Journal)
A look at the iPhone 14 Pro's Dynamic Island pill-shaped notch, which has custom UI elements for incoming phone calls, timers, turn-by-turn navigation, and more. (MacRumors)
Apple unveils satellite-based Emergency SOS, free for two years in the US and Canada with iPhone 14 models, offering low-bandwidth messaging in November 2022. (The Verge)
Apple debuts the Watch Ultra, for athletes, with a 49mm titanium case, improved multiband GPS, “action button”, second speaker, and 36-60-hour battery, for $799. (The Verge)
The Chinese city of Chengdu, a production hub for Apple's iPads and MacBooks, has extended its COVID-19 lockdown measures indefinitely, threatening to bring fresh disruptions to the global supply chain. The lockdowns were originally scheduled to end on Wednesday, but will likely last for another week as the city vowed to "bring the number of cases down to zero" within one week. The extended coronavirus measures come as suppliers have only recently recovered from a wave of power outages linked to droughts in southwestern China. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Google’s ‘News Showcase’ Stalls in U.S. as Media Outlets Balk at Terms. The program, which pays publishers to feature their content, is almost a year behind its intended launch timeline in the U.S. (Wall Street Journal)
Smart Links
China’s Exports, the Engine of Its Economy, Are Sputtering. (Wall Street Journal)
Moviegoing won’t return to pre-pandemic levels, says former Disney CEO Bob Iger. (CNBC)
Despite the recent downturn in the cryptocurrency market, Y Combinator's Summer 2022 batch has 30 crypto startups, up from 25 in its Winter 2022 batch. (TechCrunch)
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss confirms she wants to dilute the draft Online Safety Bill, focusing on protecting minors while making sure free speech is allowed. (Financial Times)