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The World
The UN’s atomic safety watchdog was able to inspect the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, and said it would set up a “continued” presence at the site on the frontline of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A team led by Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, left Europe’s largest nuclear power station at about 6pm to return to Ukrainian-controlled territory, leaving five inspectors at the site, according to Energoatom, the Ukrainian operator of the facility. (Financial Times)
U.K. Backs Plan to Cap Price of Russian Oil: A top Russian official said the country would refuse to sell oil at a capped price, raising questions about the U.S.-led plan even with British support. (Wall Street Journal)
Bosses want workers back by Labor Day. They’re not going in without a fight. Managers are eager to get back in the driver’s seat. But employees still have plenty of leverage and they’re not afraid to use it to keep working remotely. (Washington Post)
A toaster-sized device can create oxygen on Mars: An experiment on NASA’s Perseverance mission showed that the box can make oxygen from carbon dioxide that is in abundance in the Martian atmosphere. It’s the first time resources from another planet have been transformed into something useful for human missions, researchers said. (Washington Post)
Environment officials from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations met on Indonesia's resort island of Bali for talks on climate action and the global impact of the war in Ukraine, with Indonesia's environment minister saying the world is already facing a climate crisis. (Associated Press)
Death Valley expected to break September record. (Axios)
While Pakistanis count the cost of one of the country's worst recorded floods, heavy rain is hitting southwestern China as the Texas city of Dallas recovers from a 10-inch deluge in a single day last month. Each of these rain-fuelled disasters followed a heatwave, suggesting the regions have been swinging wildly between two contradictory extremes. (Reuters)
Climate Change Remains Top Global Threat Across 19-Country Survey — But ‘The Spread of False Information” is number 2. (Pew Research Center)
Economy
Critical August jobs report expected to run hot and that could lead to a more aggressive Fed: Monthly jobs data is always important, but the August report, released at 8:30 a.m. ET, is particularly key since the state of the labor market will be an important consideration in the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision later this month. (CNBC)
Global Bonds Tumble Into Their First Bear Market in a Generation: Bloomberg index drops 20% from its January 2021 peak Hawkish central banks send bonds tumbling along with stocks. (Bloomberg)
The Japanese yen fell to 140 yen per dollar, reaching a level last seen in August 1998. The sell-off in the yen continued, with investors expecting the interest rate gap between Japan and the U.S. to widen as the Bank of Japan remains committed to its ultraloose monetary policy while the Federal Reserve signals further rate hikes. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Global dealmaking by private equity funds has collapsed in the first half of 2022 as banks have pulled back financing in a risk-off environment. Across the M&A market globally, activity fell by 23% in value to USD 2.2 Trillion in H1 2022, compared with the same period last year, according to data from Dealogic. By volume, the drop was 20% to 15,764 deals over the same period. (Private Equity Wire)
‘Inflation Fever’ Is Finally Breaking — But Central Banks Won’t Stop Hiking Rates: Slowdowns on key commodity markets signal some relief is in store after worst price shock in decades. (Bloomberg)
Cost of Growing Food in US Is Set to Rise by Most Ever in 2022: Prices for everything from fertilizer to animal feed are skyrocketing. (Bloomberg)
Technology
Why Taiwan suddenly needs 400,000 foreign workers for critical sectors, including hi-tech. Island looks to inject considerable talent into pillar industries in the face of a shrinking labour pool, few births and a population that keeps getting older. Taiwan saw a 5 per cent decline in total foreigners from 2020 to 2021, and some say more could be done to make island expat-friendly (South China Morning Post)
The UK's CMA says Microsoft's $69B Activision Blizzard acquisition will require an in-depth review and gives Microsoft a September 8 deadline to offer remedies. (Bloomberg)
Google announces $20M in new commitments to expand computer science education in the US and expects the funds to improve educational access for 11M+ students. (The Verge)
Ring debuts Intercom, an audio-only DIY retrofit device designed for remotely accessing European apartment buildings. (The Verge)
Smart Links
British Airways suffered 80% pandemic drop in passengers. (The Times)
Starbucks names departing Reckitt Benckiser chief as new CEO. (Financial Times)
Gold Poised for Third Weekly Drop With King Dollar Dominating. (Bloomberg)
China puts city of 21m into Covid lockdown. (The Times)
The Most In-Demand Investment Might Be Your Baseball Cards. (Wall Street Journal)