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The World
The images of dead Ukrainians, some with their hands tied and others haphazardly buried in pits, spurred shocked Western leaders to promise even tougher sanctions against Russia, including possibly on energy, as the Kremlin dug in and showed signs of preparing a new assault. The growing evidence that Russian soldiers killed scores of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, leaving their bodies behind as they withdrew, prompted President Biden to call for President Vladimir V. Putin to face a “war crime trial.” Germany and France expelled a total of 75 Russian diplomats, and President Emmanuel Macron of France said the European Union should consider sanctions against Russian coal and oil. (New York Times)
Britain has demanded “maximum” sanctions against Russia. A deadline for ending western use of Russian oil and gas is being urged by the UK after what it called “barbaric crimes” by Russian forces in Ukraine. (The Times)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will address the U.N. Security Council today and predicted that further and worse instances of mass killings of civilians by Russian troops would be discovered. (Nikkei Asia Review)
The US stopped the Russian government from paying holders of its sovereign debt more than $600 million from reserves held at American banks, in a move meant to ratchet up pressure on Moscow and eat into its holdings of U.S. dollars. (Reuters)
Beijing is anxious to ensure Hong Kong’s leadership race will produce a loyal chief executive capable of fostering unity and quashing any signs of infighting among various sectors, without distracting the city’s attention from fighting the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, analysts have said. It was not unexpected for Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu to be tipped as a strong contender for the May 8 election, they added, as the No 2 official was relatively receptive to pro-establishment legislators’ opinion on public initiatives and yet could be tough on pushing through long-term policies unpopular with some quarters but important for the city. (South China Morning Post)
North Korea opposes war but would use nuclear weapons if South Korea attacked, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said in a warning that analysts said is probably aimed at the South's incoming conservative president. (Reuters)
French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, whose presidential campaign has gained momentum in recent days, captured 48.5% of voter intentions in an opinion poll of a likely runoff against Emmanuel Macron, the highest score she has ever notched. Harris Interactive in a poll for business weekly Challenges said that a victory by Macron - which pollsters considered almost a foregone conclusion in past months - was now within the margin of error. "This is the first time that the two finalists of (the presidential election in) 2017 are tested so close," Challenges said on its website, adding that in March, Macron's lead still ranged between 53-47% and 58-42%. (Reuters)
The US successfully tested a hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet for two weeks to avoid escalating tensions with Russia as President Joe Biden was about to travel to Europe, according to a defense official familiar with the matter. The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) was launched from a B-52 bomber off the west coast, the official said, in the first successful test of the Lockheed Martin version of the system. A booster engine accelerated the missile to high speed, at which point the air-breathing scramjet engine ignited and propelled the missile at hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 and above. (CNN)
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is one step closer to the Supreme Court after the Senate dislodged her nomination from a deadlocked Judiciary committee, a rare step for a high court hopeful. In a 53-47 vote, the Senate voted to advance Jackson’s nomination out of committee, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) joining all 50 members of the Democratic caucus in supporting Biden’s high court pick. All three of those senators have now said they will support Jackson’s confirmation to the high court. (Politico)
The more contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant now makes up 72% of Covid infections that have undergone genetic sequencing in the U.S — and it’s on track to displace other variants in U.S. in next two weeks. (CNBC)
What we know about Omicron’s BA.2 variant so far. (Scientific American)
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky announced plans to revamp the agency that has come under blistering criticism for its performance leading the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying, “it is time to step back and strategically position CDC to support the future of public health.” In an agencywide email sent shortly after 1 p.m., Walensky said she has hired a senior federal health official outside of the Atlanta-based agency to conduct a one-month review to “kick off an evaluation of CDC’s structure, systems, and processes.”
Texas is quietly using redistricting lawsuits to launch a broader war against federal voting rights law. As Texas defends against accusations that its new political maps are discriminatory, it’s laying the groundwork to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out longstanding Voting Rights Act protections. (Texas Tribune)
Climate change could cost U.S. $2 trillion each year by the end of the century, the White House says. The OMB analysis also said the U.S. government could spend an additional $25 billion to $128 billion each year in such areas as coastal disaster relief, flood insurance and crop insurance. The news came the same day as the UN’s climate science panel’s highly anticipated report, which warned that slashing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels will require greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025. (CNBC)
Economy
Jamie Dimon warned of “very volatile markets” to come as the US Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy, writing in his annual letter to JPMorgan Chase shareholders that the Wall Street banking group was prepared for higher rates. The chief executive told investors he did not envy the Fed for the steps the US central bank would need to take to end its ultra-loose policies but urged it not to “worry about volatile markets unless they affect the actual economy.”… “If the Fed gets it just right, we can have years of growth, and inflation will eventually start to recede. In any event, this process will cause lots of consternation and very volatile markets,” Dimon wrote. (Financial Times)
With an eye on inflation, shoppers are cutting back on staples: American consumers are starting to cut costs on mainstays as inflation hits a swath of the economy that had thus far proven resistant to price rises. (Wall Street Journal)
South Korea's consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than a decade in March, fueled by rising energy and commodity costs due to the Ukraine crisis and adding pressure on the central bank ahead of its rate decision meeting next week. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Turkish inflation hits 20-year high of 61% as energy and food costs soar. Ankara blames surge on pandemic and Ukraine war as opposition politicians warn prices are out of control. (Financial Times)
Thirty-four investors managing more than $7 trillion in assets have warned 17 of Europe's largest companies, including BP and Volkswagen, that they could challenge board directors over their accounting of climate risks. The move is the latest push by investors to pressure companies and their auditors, charging them with not moving fast enough to adapt to the world's transition to a low-carbon economy or being clear enough about the potential impacts. (Reuters)
SEC Chair Gary Gensler said his agency is aiming to exercise greater regulatory oversight of the $2 trillion cryptocurrency market to protect investors from an onslaught of scams. Gensler said the SEC plans to register and regulate crypto platforms, including working to separate out the custody of assets to minimize risk. (CNBC)
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak asked the Royal Mint to issue an NFT by the summer, as the Treasury plans a “forward-looking approach” towards crypto assets. The Treasury’s decision to launch NFTs is part of a wider package of measures designed to make the UK an international centre for crypto. Sunak has also confirmed plans to recognize stablecoins, digital assets pegged to the price of real world assets, as a valid form of currency. (City A.M.)
Technology
Federal regulators reviewing Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard are looking beyond the access Microsoft’s rivals will have to popular games like “Call of Duty” to such issues as the deal’s impact on consumer data and the market for game developers, according to people familiar with the review. The companies expect a long, difficult path to approval, having set a deadline of July 2023 for a deal announced in January. The review is notable as one of the first major tech investigations entirely directed by FTC Chair Lina Khan in which a majority of commissioners will likely be aligned with her. (The Information)
Apple makes it easy to work remotely (unless you work for Apple). The company’s relatively inflexible remote-work policies are inspiring some employees to look elsewhere. (Bloomberg)
Google to workers: Here's a free scooter to return to the office. Googlers returning to the office will get a monthly scooter membership to ease the pain of the commute. (Protocol)
Outspoken Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased a giant stake in Twitter that makes him the largest outside shareholder in the social media stock, not long after criticizing the company for what he said was its failure to uphold the tenets of free speech. Musk owns 73,486,938 shares of Twitter, which represents a 9.2% passive stake in the company. The stake is worth $2.89 billion, based Twitter’s closing price Friday. (CNBC)
You could call it Elon Musk’s Twitter Mystery. The world’s most talkative CEO has suddenly turned coy. Yes, he revealed today that he had bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter. But he said not a word on Twitter about it. And he made the disclosure in a way that allowed him to hide how he paid for the stake. As it likely cost him at least $2.4 billion, that information is kind of important. Did he borrow against his Tesla stake to fund the purchase—a money-raising move he has used in the past? Or did he use some of the money raised from his recent sale of Tesla shares to buy Twitter stock? Another question: Who sold to Musk. With a stake of 9.2%, he is the biggest shareholder, ahead of institutional investors such as Morgan Stanley, Vanguard and BlackRock. Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and former longtime CEO, had 2.3% as of the company’s last disclosure, last year. (The Information)
Truth Social CTO Josh Adams and product chief Billy Boozer have quit, following the troubled launch of the Trump-backed social network on iOS. (Reuters)
Smart Links
Princeton, Cornell, University Of Pennsylvania withhold Class Of 2026 acceptance rates. (Forbes)
Fortnite raised $144 million for Ukraine relief. (The Verge)
Hertz to buy up to 65,000 electric vehicles from Polestar. (Reuters)
Get ready to beg: Executive recruiters are too busy for you. (Protocol)
How Walmart thwarted $4 million in elder gift card scams. (CNBC)
Tech apprenticeships are on the rise in the US. (Protocol)
Meet the newest $100 billion man: Founder of India’s Adani Group hits a net worth of $100 billion. (Wall Street Journal)