February, 2022

• 9 February

  What can anti-Trump Republicans actually do?

  

    After the Republican National Committee censured Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and claimed that the Jan. 6 committee they’re serving on is persecuting people for “legitimate political discourse,” several Republican senators were quick to criticize their own party’s leadership. Most notably Utah’s Mitt Romney: “Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth ...

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• 9 February

  EVs are getting bigger and heavier

  

  The brilliant thing about technology is how it tends to become smaller (and cheaper) over time. One glaring exception has been the most expensive piece of kit many of us buy: the automobile. Due to the popularity of bulbous, gizmo-laden SUVs and pickup trucks — some driven no further than a supermarket parking lot — modern vehicles have piled on ...

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• 9 February

  The global real yield tantrum of 2022 is here

    Central bankers are no longer patient when it comes to inflation. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made that clear at last week’s meeting when he basically confirmed a March interest-rate hike. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde refused to repeat previously-made comments that a rate hike this year was “very unlikely,” and instead indicated there was “general concern” among ...

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• 9 February

  The digital rupee needs more thought, less haste

    India has surprised the payments world by announcing that its central bank will issue a digital currency as early as the coming financial year, a crucial decision that most other major economies are refusing to make in a hurry. According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, an electronic representation of India’s legal tender will give a big boost to its ...

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• 9 February

  Pilots made to wear trackers as Hong Kong boosts Covid rules

  

    Bloomberg Hong Kong is further tightening quarantine rules for airline staff, with cargo pilots isolating at home to be tracked with electronic monitoring bracelets and crew on passenger planes who have been in countries with high levels of the virus made to quarantine for 14 days. The updated rules, set out in a document seen by Bloomberg News, was ...

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• 9 February

  EU to send Russia joint security reply, snubbing Lavrov demand

  

    Bloomberg The European Union will snub a request by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the bloc’s member countries to respond individually to Moscow’s demands on the region’s security framework. Josep Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, will respond on behalf of the 27 EU members, according to a draft of the letter seen by Bloomberg. The EU response ...

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• 9 February

  Congress is ‘running out of runway’ to devise any Russia sanctions

  

    Bloomberg Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell expressed skepticism about the effectiveness a sanctions bill would have in swaying Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decisions on Ukraine. “I don’t think Putin will be deterred by any piece of legislation in the Senate,” he said. McConnell said the Nord Stream 2 pipeline should be blocked now and that President Joe Biden already ...

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• 9 February

  US-led group slams ‘attacks’ on HK press freedom

  

    Bloomberg A US-led group of democracies condemned China for “suppression” of Hong Kong’s press freedoms in a statement that was “firmly rejected” by China, highlighting lingering tensions over human rights. Calling themselves the Media Freedom Coalition, 21 countries including the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Canada and Japan said in a statement released by the State Department that they “express ...

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• 9 February

  UK PM Boris Johnson should resign, major Tory donor tells BBC

    Bloomberg Boris Johnson’s premiership is past the point of no return and he should resign, a hedge fund manager who has given the UK’s ruling Conservative Party more than three million pounds ($4 million) told the BBC. If “you lose moral authority” and “betray a sense of not really caring, I think you should leave,” John Armitage, co-founder of ...

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• 9 February

  Trudeau blasts trucker protest with key bridge to US shut

  

    Bloomberg Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a hard line against trucker protests that have paralyzed Canada’s capital city and have now halted commercial traffic to the US at the busiest border crossing between the two countries. The Ambassador Bridge that connects Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit was shut down in both directions, according to a Canadian government website and the ...

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