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The World
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, sending a message to Iran and its proxies about the Biden administration’s commitment to defending its partners and U.S. personnel amid concerns of a wider conflict. (New York Times)
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended his proposal to redirect IRS funding to provide aid to Israel, telling Fox News that “Republicans are ‘trying to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s resources.’” (Politico)
Russia's new strategic nuclear submarine, the Imperator Alexander III, has successfully tested a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, the Russian defence ministry said. The missile, which the Federation of American Scientists says is designed to carry up to six nuclear warheads, was launched from an underwater position in the White Sea off Russia's northern coast and hit a target thousands of kilometres away on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East, the defence ministry said. (Reuters)
Volodymyr Zelensky says the Ukraine-Russia war has not reached a stalemate. He told NBC, “I believe that today, indeed, the situation is difficult, I don’t think this is a stalemate. … They thought that they would checkmate us, but this didn’t happen.” (Politico)
Global crises “are very serious — arguably the most serious since 1938,” according to JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon. “The most important thing for the future of the world — freedom, democracy, food, energy, immigration. We diminish that importance when you say, ‘What’s it going to do to the market?’” (Times of London)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is the first Australian leader to visit China in seven years. Addressing the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, Albanese “emphasized the mutual benefits of a cooperative relationship and pledged to maintain constructive engagement with China to mend strained relations.” (DW)
Japan and Malaysia are moving closer against an ambitious China. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim “agreed Sunday to promote bilateral defense and maritime security cooperation amid China's increasing military assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.” They also affirmed cooperation on energy issues. (Kyodo News)
India casts wary eye on revived China-Bhutan boundary talks. (Nikkei Asia)
California’s new $25 per hour minimum wage for healthcare workers is projected to cost the state $4 billion in the next fiscal year — half of which will come from taxpayers. The new law is “one of the most expensive laws California has seen in years and comes as the state faces a $14-billion budget deficit.” As lawmakers “scrambled in the final days of the session to broker a deal between unions and hospitals to support the bill,” they did not consider “how much it would cost the state — or what might have to be cut to pay for it.” (Los Angeles Times)
President Biden is trailing Donald Trump “in five of the six most important battleground states one year before the 2024 election.” The New York Times/Siena College poll shows Biden trailing Trump by anywhere from three to 10 points Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Biden “is ahead only in Wisconsin, by two percentage points, the poll found.” (New York Times)
Iowa’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds will endorse Ron DeSantis for president today. The endorsement “is an enormous win for DeSantis, who hopes to harness Reynolds’ star power among Iowa Republicans as he looks to jumpstart his stagnant campaign and establish himself as a clear alternative to front-runner Donald Trump in the race’s critical final months.” (Des Moines Register)
Women now make up 35% of workers in the 10 highest-paying occupations in the U.S., but they remain the minority in nine of the 10. (Pew Research)
Economy
Consulting firms freeze starting salaries in bid to shore up profit: The world’s most prestigious consulting firms have frozen US starting salaries for new graduates, as a war for talent that sent pay soaring after the pandemic gives way to tougher competition for jobs. McKinsey and BCG are among the firms holding salaries at 2023 levels for undergraduate and MBA students taking up positions next year. (Financial Times)
Charles Schwab, Invesco, and Prudential have announced reductions as U.S. asset managers “are launching their second wave of job cuts this year.” While the cuts are “not as substantial as widespread lay-offs in early 2023, the cost-cutting reflects the cautious outlook of asset managers after their hiring spree in 2021.” (Financial Times)
General Motors will invest approximately $13 billion in U.S. facilities by April 2028, according to the United Auto Workers. While the investments are being expanded under GM’s tentative agreement with the union, GM had already announced some of the planned investments — though “others, such as $1.25 billion for a future electric vehicle plant at Lansing Grand River, are new.” (CNBC)
Citadel founder Ken Griffin says regulators should focus on banks, not on hedge funds like his, “if they want to reduce risks in the financial system stemming from leveraged bets” on U.S. government debt. “The SEC is searching for a problem,” said Griffin. “If regulators are really worried about the size of the basis trade, they can ask banks to conduct stress tests to see if they have enough collateral from their counterparties.” (Financial Times)
Russia plans to maintain its voluntary oil export cuts through the end of the year. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia will retain its cap of exporting 300,000 barrels per day in a move to balance the oil market. (Bloomberg)
“In 2022, the International Monetary Fund crunched the numbers and found that governments were spending a whopping $7 trillion on fossil fuel subsidies.” Government backing for fossil fuels “represents over 7% of the world's GDP, dwarfing other crucial budget items like education spending, which amounts to a mere 4.3% of the global GDP.” (GZERO)
“Leading Western brands in China are feeling the pinch from the country’s consumer slump.” Major companies like Apple and Estée Lauder “are reporting weak results, with some saying customers aren’t reopening their wallets almost a year after” China ended its harsh COVID-related isolation. (Wall Street Journal)
Technology
Apple is planning to require shoppers to make appointments to pick up and try on the Vision Pro. There also will be special Vision Pro areas in its flagship stores for curious customers. And the international rollout will be measured. The Vision Pro will launch in the US only, before heading to the UK and Canada as early as the end of the year. It’s worth noting that Apple also required appointments in the early days of selling its smartwatch. That product ultimately became a big seller, but only after Apple dropped the approach. (Bloomberg)
Canon’s Advanced Chip Machines to Cost a Fraction of ASML’s Best: plans to price its new chipmaking gear at a fraction of the cost of ASML Holding NV’s best lithography machines, seeking to make inroads in the cutting-edge equipment now playing a central role in the US-China tech rivalry. The Tokyo-based company’s new nanoimprint technology would open up a way for smaller semiconductor makers to produce advanced chips, now almost wholly the domain of the sector’s biggest firms, Chief Executive Officer Fujio Mitarai said. (Bloomberg)
Elon Musk “shared details about the AI assistant from his startup xAI, which he’s dubbed Grok.” According to Musk, Grok “is ‘based & loves sarcasm. I have no idea who could have guided it this way.’ He added that Grok ‘is designed to have a little humor in its responses.’” (Fortune)
X may now be selling disused handles for $50,000 each. (Forbes)
SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee “told its members that it had received a ‘Last, Best and Final Offer’ from the major entertainment studios” and that they are reviewing it and considering a response. The offer is said to include “a wage increase that could be the highest in four decades,” as well as “a new way to determine residuals for streaming programs based on performance metrics, and protections on artificial intelligence.” (New York Times)
Smart Links
Russia's new nuclear submarine test launches Bulava intercontinental missile. (Reuters)
India-Canada diplomatic thaw remains remote despite visa easing. (Reuters)
After a $1.8 billion verdict, the clock is ticking on the 6% real estate commission. (CNN)
Some online shoppers are accidentally ordering tiny products, faulting misleading listings. (Wall Street Journal)