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The World
President Biden is seeking a five-year extension with Russia on the only remaining treaty limiting the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals just days before it expires. The administration also is preparing to impose new costs on Russia pending a newly requested intelligence assessment of its recent activities. U.S. officials said Biden is ruling out a “reset” in bilateral relations with Moscow as many U.S. presidents have done since the end of the Cold War. Meanwhile, defense secretary pick Gen. Lloyd Austin promised a laser-like focus on China, as the Senate moved towards his approval. (Washington Post, Nikkei Asian Review)
China is boosting naval footprint at its southern tip, new satellite images suggest. The steps would considerably beef up Beijing's capabilities in the region and reinforce China’s already massive power imbalance against the other claimants to the disputed islands and features in the South China Sea. (Defense News)
Angela Merkel warned she will not agree with Biden on everything, and that even with a new administration in Washington, Europe will have to take on more military and diplomatic responsibility in the world. Meanwhile, as British tabloids saw a snub in Biden’s rejection of Churchill bust amid Oval Office makeover, UK PM Boris Johnson played it down as he seeks to build UK-US relations. (Financial Times, Washington Post, Financial Times-2)
Biden said the U.S. can expect to reach 500,000 Covid deaths next month as he released his Covid Strategy Document. The list of options includes some controversial ideas, like cutting the amount of vaccine being administered to each American, using the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of key supplies, and more straightforward options like buying more doses. The U.S. will join the W.H.O.’s Covax program to “advance multilateral efforts” to halt the spread of coronavirus. Dr. Fauci credited Biden for letting “the science speak,” calling it a “liberating feeling.” (STAT News, Financial Times, Reuters)
Tl;dr: Here’s a useful Covid Strategy Document cheat sheet. (Reuters)
VC-backed companies are helping cities with vaccinations, while NYC rescheduled 23,000 vaccination appointments due to supply issues. India is giving away millions of free vaccine doses to Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan as a tool of diplomacy. Meanwhile, a scratch-and-sniff test could be the next screening tool. (Pro Rata, The Hill, Washington Post, New York Times)
The Japanese government has privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus, and the focus is now on securing the Games for the city in the next available year, 2032. According to a senior member of the ruling coalition, there is agreement that the Games, already postponed a year, are doomed. The aim now is to find a face-saving way of announcing the cancellation that leaves open the possibility of Tokyo playing host at a later date. IOC President Thomas Bach and local organizers are pushing back against reports that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled. (The Times, Reuters)
Florida reacted to its “vaccine tourism” problem and now will require vaccine recipients to show proof of residency. Nearly 700 dockworkers at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have contracted Covid-19 and hundreds more are taking virus-related leaves. The UK is considering a new plan: Give everyone who tests positive £500 to ensure they self-isolate to stop spreading the virus. Germany’s Merkel warned of a third Covid wave as the EU considers bans on UK travelers. (Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Times, The Guardian)
More than half of college students said that their campuses’ handling of the pandemic this past fall had eroded their trust in the institutions’ leaders. Half of respondents — including 55% of Latinx students and 59% of Black students — believed their college “only cares about the money it can get from me.” (Chronicle of Higher Ed)
Post-Brexit shoppers are paying a third extra to secure EU goods, as tens of thousands of internet shoppers are being hit with unexpected customs, VAT and delivery charges on orders from the EU as Continent retailers struggle to cope with Brexit red tape. Meanwhile, a diplomatic row has broken out between the UK and EU over the status of the bloc's ambassador in London. The UK is refusing to give Joao Vale de Almeida the full diplomatic status granted to other ambassadors. (The Times, BBC News)
The EU Parliament condemned the proposed EU-China deal over Hong Kong crackdown, overwhelmingly passing a resolution saying the EU has lost credibility on human rights by sealing the investment pact and calling for targeted sanctions. These EU lawmakers are needed to approve the deal that was agreed in principle last month after years of talks. (South China Morning Post)
Fifa has sought to block the launch of a breakaway “super league,” as top clubs including Real Madrid and Manchester United ramp up talks over creating a new competition that would radically alter the finances of the world’s most popular sport. Football’s global governing body said it will refuse to recognise the proposed new league of elite European teams, which would mean any players involved could not take part in existing international tournaments, such as the World Cup. (Financial Times)
Biden’s inauguration call for unity receives warm voter reception: 3 in 4 voters back call to end political division, even if their policy goals aren’t met, while Republicans who watched Biden’s inaugural address are 20 points more likely to approve of his call for unity than those who did not. (Morning Consult)
Economy
The Biden administration fired the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Peter Robb, breaking with precedent to end the tenure of a figure seen as a foe by worker advocates and labor unions. The White House notified Robb of his dismissal by letter — sent minutes after Biden was sworn — which specified he had until 5 p.m. to voluntarily resign or be fired. (Washington Post, Bloomberg Law, Robb’s Letter)
Instacart plans to lay off nearly 2,000 workers no earlier than March, including the 10 workers who voted to form the company's first union in February 2020. (Protocol, Motherboard)
Global healthcare investment hit a record high last year, with $80.6 billion in equity funding across more than 5,500 deals. The acceleration was especially acute in the digital health sector, an arena that's seen unprecedented investor interest during the coronavirus pandemic. Equity funding in digital health globally hit an all-time high of $26.5 billion in 2020. Funding peaked in 3Q20. (HealthcareDive, CB Insights)
40% of founders say remote or decentralized work setups are best for a new startup, most with offices will have 2 or 3 days in office per week. Meanwhile, the real estate investment trust that operates the Queen Mary in Long Beach and owns 26 other hotels filed for bankruptcy protection this week, signaling what could be the start of a wave of bankruptcies in the hospitality industry. (Initialized, Los Angeles Times)
Funding to European startups last year totaled $40 billion, down about 4% from 2019 levels but still the second-highest total in a decade. Funding picked up in the fourth quarter, boosted by a high number of large, late-stage rounds. Meanwhile, Europe’s banks have outsize exposure to small businesses. (Crunchbase, Wall Street Journal)
The US and the Netherlands have emerged as early winners of the shift in derivatives trading out of London following the UK’s exit from the EU. In the U.S., trading in swaps used to hedge against moves in euro and sterling interest rates has doubled in the opening weeks of 2021. U.S. venues now account for 23% of the total for each currency. (Financial Times)
Bitcoin plunged 15%, dropping below $30,000. IBM revenue slide continued in 4Q20, as its decline hits four consecutive quarters. Meanwhile, Intel will outsource more production as it posted a slight drop in 2020 earnings, but hit a sales record of $77.9 billion. (CNBC, CNBC-2, Wall Street Journal)
Technology
Facebook is referring its decision to indefinitely suspend former President Trump’s access to his Facebook and Instagram accounts to the independent Oversight Board. The board was established last year to make the final call on some of the most difficult content decisions Facebook makes. It is an independent body and its decisions are binding — they can’t be overruled by CEO Mark Zuckerberg or anyone else at Facebook. The board itself is made up of experts and civic leaders from around the world with a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. (Facebook)
A new internal Facebook memo tells employees to do better on privacy. VP Andrew Bosworth told colleagues that privacy matters more than the product experience. (OneZero)
Amazon now lets companies white-label Alexa: With Amazon's new "Alexa Custom Assistant" program, companies can effectively build their own branded voice assistants, complete with custom wake words, voices and skills only available to their customers. Custom assistants will make use of Alexa's natural language understanding and other technologies at the core of Amazon's AI assistant. One of the first in: Fiat Chrysler. (Protocol)
Elon Musk promised a $100 million prize for development of the “best” technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions. (Reuters)
Plaid is expected to seek new financing in the coming months, in a round that investors said could more than triple its valuation to approximately $15 billion. (The Information)
Google revoked Ethical AI team leader Margaret “Meg” Mitchell’s employee privileges and is currently investigating her activity, according to a statement provided by a company spokesperson. Should Google fire Mitchell, it will mean the company has effectively chosen to behead its own AI ethics team in under two months. (VentureBeat)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Review: The Real Deal — the phone itself is a perfect example of what happens when Samsung goes all-out. (The Verge)
Smart Links
Rapid price growth, rising mortgage rates may deter U.S. home sales. (Mansion Global)
Baby boomers are dominating online shopping. (Washington Post)
20 curveball questions to navigate at industry interviews. (Nature)
10 computer codes that transformed science. (Nature)
Yang Advisor Bradley Tusk: ‘January 6th was the death knell for Section 230.’ (OneZero)
No dirt? No farm? No problem. The potential for soil-less agriculture is huge. (Los Angeles Times)
7 MIT professors: What must the US do to sustain its democracy? (MIT News)
Who's winning the self-driving race. (Source Code)
Previously unseen dog painting by Manet to be sold at Paris auction. (The Guardian)