Good morning and happy Friday. How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, yesterday rebuked Joe Biden for suggesting that a “minor incursion” by Russian forces into his country might not prompt a severe allied response, forcing the US president to row back on his comments of a day earlier.
“We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
Biden sought to row back his comments from a day earlier, saying that any Russian incursion would spark sweeping sanctions.
“If any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border that is an invasion,” Biden said yesterday. “Let there be no doubt at all, if [Russian president Vladimir] Putin makes this choice, Russia will pay a heavy price.”
The president’s tough talk came as Antony Blinken, secretary of state, prepared to meet his counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva for talks on how to de-escalate the crisis as Russia sends more troops to its border with Ukraine.
Blinken sought to reassert western unity and remind Moscow of the serious consequences of any Ukraine invasion ahead of his meeting with Lavrov.
“We’ve been very clear throughout that, if any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression, that would be met by a swift, severe, united response from the US and its allies and partners,” said Blinken yesterday after talks in Berlin with counterparts from Germany, France and the UK.
Moscow published its hardline demands on the foreign ministry’s website ahead of the meeting, including Nato removing all its forces from Bulgaria, Romania and other ex-communist states in eastern Europe that joined the alliance after 1997.
Opinion: Putin has overplayed his hand on Ukraine, writes the former secretary of defense Robert Gates.
Top Stories Today is a regularly updated short-form audio digest of the day’s top headlines, produced every weekday and read aloud by Microsoft Azure AI. Listen to the latest episode here.
Thanks for reading FirstFT Americas. Here’s the rest of today’s news — Gordon
Five more stories in the news
1. Bitcoin plunges to lowest level since August Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tumbled during a broader sell-off across markets after the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell into correction territory. The price of bitcoin dropped as much as 7.4 per cent against the dollar during Asian trading on Friday to $38,261. The rout came a day after Russia’s central bank proposed banning crypto trading and mining. European stocks have also dropped in trading today.
Related news: The Federal Reserve has launched what is expected to be a heated and consequential debate, its first, on the introduction of a central bank digital currency as it seeks to keep pace with financial innovation and maintain the supremacy of the dollar.
2. Netflix shares plummet The streaming company’s shares fell 20 per cent after it said subscriber growth would fall substantially as consumers emerge from months of lockdowns. Peloton was hit by similar concerns after it rushed out preliminary second-quarter results and denied rumours it had halted production.
3. US Senate committee advances bill to tame Big Tech’s power Members of the senate judiciary committee backed a bill that would reshape the technology industry. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act is now eligible for a vote by the full Senate, although it is not clear when this will be.
Comment After years of the techlash and many months of political posturing and public hearings, things are finally coming to a head in Washington for Big Tech, argues Richard Waters.
4. JPMorgan pays chief Jamie Dimon $34.5m after record profits JPMorgan Chase paid longtime chief executive Jamie Dimon $34.5m for 2021, his biggest pay packet since 2008, after the largest US bank by assets reported record profits and revenues.
5. Horta-Osório attended Euros final during London Covid breach António Horta-Osório attended the European Championship football final in July the same day he breached Covid-19 rules to watch the Wimbledon men’s tennis final, according to people with knowledge of his movements.
Coronavirus digest
Japanese inflation rose 0.5 per cent last month compared with the previous year, as rising energy costs added to households bills.
Australia has issued an urgent appeal for foreign backpackers after a crippling labour shortage forced store closures and squeezed the fresh fruit and meat supply.
Hong Kong authorities have vowed to take action against animal lovers seeking to prevent hamster owners from turning their pets in for euthanasia. The backlash over the hamster cull shows dissent is still simmering in Hong Kong, says Primrose Riordan.
Lawmakers in Austria became the first in Europe to make vaccination against Covid-19 compulsory for all adults.
The Biden administration’s pledge to begin distributing 400m high-quality N95 masks free of charge has drawn a mixed response from healthcare providers, trade unions and local manufacturers.
FT readers shared their experiences of anti-vaxxers close to them.
The days ahead
Schlumberger earnings The world’s biggest oilfields services company is expected to report strong fourth-quarter results on the back of higher crude prices and a recovery in drilling, as we reported on yesterday.
WHO Covid update The World Health Organization will host a virtual press briefing with an update on Covid-19. The WHO last week said countries were “a way off” from treating coronavirus as endemic.
Davos wraps up Highlights from the final day of the World Economic Forum include special addresses by Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and US treasury secretary Janet Yellen.
What else we’re reading and watching
Why America has to keep on trucking Buried in this month’s shocking inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was the annual inflation rate for all trucking of 17 per cent and 25 per cent for long-haul operators, writes Gillian Tett. Trucking, she says, has become a potent sign of how hard it will be for the Federal Reserve and the Biden administration to halt inflation with monetary policy alone.
Activision workplace scandal turns gaming group into prime target Bobby Kotick’s groundbreaking career crystallised this week with his agreement to sell Activision to Microsoft for $75bn. Over the past three decades he has built a company with major footholds in gaming for mobile, consoles and PCs. But allegations of a toxic work workplace culture led to share price falls and provided Microsoft with an opening to pounce.
Kazakhstan crisis challenges Beijing reticence to interfere abroad Beijing’s cautious approach to interventions in other countries’ affairs — a mainstay of its foreign policy — is increasingly coming into conflict with the need to protect its growing global interests, as it begins experimenting with security engagements abroad.
Post-Brexit hurdles A year after the end of the Brexit transition period, EU citizens in the UK, British citizens in the EU and those with families spanning the English Channel are adjusting to their new status and loss of freedoms. Liz Rowlinson examines some of the hurdles expats have faced in one of the most complex and confusing years for cross-border moves.
Film
Kenneth Branagh’s bittersweet black-and-white Belfast and Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, as well as Denzel Washington’s A Journal for Jordan, are among this week’s new cinema releases.
Source: Economy - ft.com
