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The World
Engineers partially freed a wedged ship blocking the Suez Canal and tugboats are now working on straightening its course in a move that could soon reopen the vital trade route and end days of global supply disruptions. Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority that operates the waterway, early Monday said tugs dislodged the bow of the 1,300-foot Ever Given. (Wall Street Journal)
Shipping executives said even if the vessel is removed imminently, a backlog of ships waiting to pass through the canal would linger for days, and diversions of cargo could wreak havoc on port traffic around the world for weeks, upsetting the usually carefully orchestrated management of the world’s containers. (Wall Street Journal)
Iran and China signed a 25-year agreement to expand ties as the Islamic republic struggles to prove the resilience of its economy against decades of US sanctions. Details of the agreement were not disclosed. A previous 18-page draft did not indicate any strategic shift in Iran’s foreign policy. The draft covered co-operation in areas from energy, petrochemicals and nuclear power to the high-tech and military sectors as well as maritime projects to promote Iran’s role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. It contained no information on China’s investments in Iran. (Financial Times)
The US is concerned that China is flirting with the idea of seizing control of Taiwan as President Xi Jinping becomes more willing to take risks to boost his legacy. “China appears to be moving from a period of being content with the status quo over Taiwan to a period in which they are more impatient and more prepared to test the limits and flirt with the idea of unification,” a senior US official said. The official said the Biden administration had reached the conclusion after assessing Chinese behavior during the past two months. (Financial Times)
China’s plan to become a powerhouse in civil aircraft manufacturing could be derailed by US export controls on aviation products, as tension between Beijing and Washington shows no sign of easing despite a new administration in Washington. A trade war has morphed into a battle for tech supremacy that has spilled over into the aviation sector in the past two years. (South China Morning Post)
China generated 53% of the world’s total coal-fired power in 2020, nine percentage points more that five years earlier, despite climate pledges and the building of hundreds of renewable energy plants, a global data study showed. (Reuters)
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny asked for help from a public commission to get access to painkiller injections for severe pain in his leg, the head of the commission said in a statement. The 44-year old opposition politician has said in a statement that his request for treatment by a civilian doctor had been rejected and that he was being woken up by a guard every hour during the night in a deliberate attempt to undermine his health. (Reuters)
Democrats in Congress and White House officials are confident that they can pass a more than $3tn economic recovery package funded by tax increases on businesses and the wealthy, even in the absence of Republican support. Administration officials have been considering whether to split the economic recovery package in two, with the corporate tax increases offsetting the infrastructure and green energy investments, and the individual tax increases offsetting the rest of the measures. White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested it would be two separate bills: the first focused on infrastructure, and the second in April focused on health and childcare. (Financial Times)
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida has been steadily rising, though hospitalizations and deaths are still down. Over the past week, the state has averaged nearly 5,000 cases per day, an increase of 8 percent from its average two weeks earlier. B.1.1.7, the more contagious variant first identified in Britain, is also rising exponentially in Florida, where it accounts for a greater proportion of total cases than in any other state. (New York Times)
‘Vaccine passports’ are on the way, but developing them won’t be easy. White House-led effort tries to corral more than a dozen initiatives. (Washington Post)
Amazon is now the developer of an authorized Covid-19 test. The company received emergency clearance from the FDA for an at-home test known as the Amazon Covid-19 Collection Kit. The nasal swab and PCR-based test, developed by Amazon subsidiary STS Lab Holdco, allows users to test themselves with or without the supervision of a health care professional. The authorization comes as Amazon is making a full-court press into health care. (STAT News)
Economy
House prices are inflating around the world: As the U.S. housing market booms, a parallel rise in residential real-estate prices across the world from Amsterdam to Auckland is raising fears of possible bubbles and prompting some governments to intervene to prevent their markets from overheating. Policy makers were already worried about high property prices in parts of Europe, Asia and Canada before the pandemic, especially as years of low interest rates kept demand strong. But now the trillions of dollars of stimulus deployed world-wide to fight the effects of Covid-19, along with changes in buying patterns as more people work from home, are turbocharging markets further. (Wall Street Journal)
Citadel’s Ken Griffin: The retail stock trading frenzy will reach a new crescendo in the coming weeks thanks to the US government’s stimulus cheques but the inflation this support could ignite represents a threat to the stock market bull run. The founder of one of the world’s biggest hedge funds thinks the $1,400 sent out to millions of Americans this month is likely to fuel another spasm of retail trading before activity settles down to a still-elevated level. Amateur trading would remain a powerful feature in US equities, he said. However, Griffin warned that huge amounts of central bank bond-buying and government spending could jolt US inflation out of its decades-long torpor and unsettle financial markets just as they were attracting more retail involvement. (Financial Times)
Despite a Biden administration rebuke and the deteriorating U.S.-China relationship, Goldman Sachs is on the brink of achieving a decades-old dream: becoming the first foreign bank to obtain 100 percent ownership of its Chinese joint venture. Goldman’s determined march into China shows how the interests of corporate America and the White House are continuing to diverge despite the election of a more conventional president. (Washington Post)
Japan’s Nomura Holdings Inc flagged a potential $2 billion loss at a U.S. subsidiary arising from transactions with a U.S. client, and separately said it would cancel a planned bond issuance due to a significant “event.” The estimated amount of the subsidiary’s claim against the client is approximately $2 billion based on market prices as of March 26. (Reuters)
Technology
Amazon started a Twitter war because Jeff Bezos was angry: Amazon has long been at odds with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over their criticisms of the company’s labor and business practices. But the discord reached a new height last week when Amazon aggressively went after both on Twitter in an unusual attack for a large corporation. With each new snarky tweet from an Amazon executive or the company’s official Twitter account, insiders and observers alike asked a version of the same question: “What the hell is going on?” Turns out that Amazon leaders were following a broad mandate from the very top of the company: Fight back. Recode has learned that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos expressed dissatisfaction in recent weeks that company officials weren’t more aggressive in how they pushed back against criticisms of the company that he and other leaders deem inaccurate or misleading. What followed was a series of snarky and aggressive tweets that ended up fueling their own media cycles. (Recode)
Google tried to copy Amazon’s playbook to become the shopping hub of the internet, with little success. Now it is trying something different: the anti-Amazon strategy. Google is trying to present itself as a cheaper and less restrictive option for independent sellers. And it is focused on driving traffic to sellers’ sites, not selling its own version of products, as Amazon does. (New York Times)
Venezuela’s government accused Facebook of “digital totalitarianism” after it froze President Nicolas Maduro’s page for 30 days for violating its policies against spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Facebook told Reuters this weekend it had also taken down a video in which Maduro promoted Carvativir, a Venezuelan-made remedy he claims, without evidence, can cure the disease. (Reuters)
New York becomes the first state to offer a Covid-19 digital pass: Starting Friday, New Yorkers will be able to pull up a code on their cell phone or a printout to prove they've been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. The first-in-the-nation certification, called the Excelsior Pass, will be useful first at large-scale venues like Madison Square Garden, but next week will be accepted at dozens of event, arts and entertainment venues statewide. It already enables people to increase the size of a wedding party, or other catered event. The free online platform was developed with IBM and works like a mobile airline boarding pass. Users are assigned a digital pass with a secure QR code, which they can print out or save to their smartphones. Participating businesses then use a companion app to scan the customer’s QR code and verify their Covid status. The state said people’s data would be kept secure and confidential. (USA Today, New York Times)
Smart Links
San Diego Comic-Con sets sights on Thanksgiving weekend, sparking backlash from fans and talent. (CNBC)
News Corp nears deal to buy Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s consumer-publishing arm. (Wall Street Journal)
A touchless airport experience is at the fingertips of the battered airline industry. (Dallas Morning News)
Vertical farming start-up AeroFarms to list at $1.2bn valuation in Spac deal. (Financial Times)
UC Berkeley launches wastewater testing dashboard to track virus. (Daily Californian)
Do you have e-charisma on Zoom? Here’s how to get it. (Wall Street Journal)