In this week's
@BW
I share a personal story of our efforts to evacuate a colleague's family following the collapse of Afghanistan. Their harrowing story is reflective of so many others.
🚨A Ukrainian official tells me the negotiations have not yet progressed significantly. The official, who has direct knowledge of the talks, told me the more positive tone from Russia was more about Moscow wanting sanctions pressure eased, calling it a “smoke curtain.”
Companies committing to cover travel expenses for abortions, or out-of-state health care:
Amazon
Amex
Apple
BofA
Biogen
Cigna
Citigroup
Deutsche Bank
Dick's
Disney
Goldman
Gucci
JPM
Kroger
Levi's
Mastercard
Meta
Microsoft
Netflix
Nike
PayPal
Sbucks
T-Mobile
Tesla
@business
Al Gore on
@MeetThePress
: "You know the climate deniers are really in some ways similar to all of those almost 400 law enforcement officers in Uvalde, Texas… They heard the screams, they heard the gunshots and nobody stepped forward.”
This morning on
@CNN
Dr. Anthony Fauci said:
*US coronavirus deaths could reach 200,000
*Called the estimate “fluid”
*More than half of the new cases are in New York
#CoronavirusUSA
@NIAIDNews
🚨SWIFT is no long just on the table, the technicalities are being worked out. Sources tell me,
@SalehaMohsin
&
@AlbertoNardelli
a common decision & coordinated announcement is likely Sunday. Russia may soon be as isolated as Iran, Venezuela and North Korea.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister
@BBhuttoZardari
tells me the devastating floods are of an "apocalyptic, biblical proportion." He says 4 million acres of crops have been destroyed, and this, compounded with the war in Ukraine, means "there's serious questions about food insecurity.”
🚨 ``We have warned the U.S. that pumping weapons into Ukraine by a whole range of countries is not just a dangerous path but are actions that turn these convoys into legitimate targets,'' Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says on state TV per RIA Novosti & Tass.
On Afghanistan,
@BBhuttoZardari
says the US should unfreeze billions of dollars of Afghan central bank funds becuase "unless there is a level of economic stability, we will see a contraction of rights of women & girls in Afghanistan, rather than an expansion."
So far, these people see no chance Putin will change course & no prospect of any challenge to him at home. More reliant on a narrowing circle of hardline advisers, Putin has dismissed attempts by other officials to warn him of the crippling economic & political cost, they said.
Reminder: When oil prices were in free-fall in 2020 the Trump admin wanted to "fill up" the SPR. Senator Schumer called it a "bailout for big oil." Imagine today it feels like a missed buying opportunity...
…
@scunningha
@AriNatter
@jendlouhyhc
The Saudi Foreign Minister says oil production was not discussed at the Jeddah summit.
“We listen to our partners and friends from all over the world especially consumer countries. But at the end of the day, OPEC+ follows the market situation and will supply energy as needed.”
Cutting ties with Russia:
Adidas
Amex
Apple
Asos
BMW
BP
Boohoo
Burberry
Chanel
Daimler Truck
Dell
EA
Equinor
Exxon
FedEx
FIFA
Ford
Formula 1
GM
H&M
Harley-Davidson
Hermès
Honda
HP
IKEA
Inditex (Zara)
Intel
Jaguar Land Rover
JD Sports
Kering (Gucci)
KPMG
Levi’s
LVMH
Mango
Jake Sullivan on September 29, 2023: “The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades.”
Antony Blinken on January 29, 2024: “I would argue that we’ve not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region since at least 1973.”
SCOOP: Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani will travel to Moscow tomorrow to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, a person familiar tells me. He could also potentially meet with President Putin. On the agenda: Iran & Ukraine.
This has been re-tweeted 1200 times, so I guess I should say this was only bc I am traveling and had to use a laptop. Once I’m home, it will be the same set-up as always.
#coronavirus
updates over the past 24 hours:
*Spain reports highest daily virus fatalities, with 849 deaths
*NYC reported a 16% increase in deaths in six hours
*China said it has 1,541 asymptomatic cases
*Italy discussing extension of lockdown measures into May
⬇️Russian stocks down most on record. -33% or ~$200 billion in market value.
⬇️Russia’s currency, the ruble, weakens to the lowest on record.
⬆️Cost of insuring Russian debt against default spiked to the highest since 2009.
We’ve already seen the impact of our actions on the Russian currency — the ruble — which early today hit its weakest level ever.
The Russian stock market plunged today.
And the Russian government’s borrowing rate spiked above 15 percent.
Yesterday
@elerianm
, who almost a year ago accurately forecast that elevated US inflation would be persistent, told
@FerroTV
it has not peaked.
Today the consumer price index rose 8.6% in May annually, 1% from April.
President Biden says the CHIPS bill—which passed in the Senate— “will accelerate the manufacturing of semiconductors in America, lowering prices on everything from cars to dishwashers.” He says, “the House should promptly pass it and send this bill to my desk.”
Brazil’s Justice Minister Flavio Dino just wrapped up a press conference. He said 200 people have already been arrested, and more are being processed.
“This is not a continuity of the election process— this is terrorism. It’s coup-mongering.”
After a brief social media detox, exited to say I’ve moved back to NYC after a decade of reporting in London and DC to join
@FerroTV
and
@lisaabramowicz1
on Surveillance. Bringing a lot of the same reporting and interviews… with a much earlier alarm! Tune in 6am weekdays!
Some personal news: After nearly eight years abroad, I’m moving to the U.S. to cover all things Washington. Looking forward to everything except the cicadas 🪳
Zelenskiy’s schedule in Washington, per White House:
2pm: Biden welcomes Zelenskiy on the South Lawn
2:30pm: Bilateral meeting in the Oval Office
4:30pm: Biden-Zelenskiy deliver a joint press conference
(Zelenskiy last visited the White House in September, 2021)
Some clarity— the comments President Zelenskiy posted in English on his Facebook page are from a speech he gave in Ukrainian hours ago. The former comedian’s sarcastic sentiment was lost in translation and has thus spooked markets/ media.
NEWS: Biden admin talking to Doha about possible gas supplies to Europe if Russia invades Ukraine. Some countries fear Putin could scale back or cut off energy supplies. POTUS plans to invite emir to WH, as soon as this month. With
@JenniferJJacobs
A very significant sanctions package from what we know so far, but Russian oil and gas, largely come out unscathed & not targeted directly. The lifeblood of the Russian economy, military and Putin’s hidden billions.
And now this: Gazprom warning there’s a risk Moscow will sanction Ukraine’s Naftogaz, which would prevent it from being able to pay transit fees, and therefore put at risk gas flows to Europe via Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of job cuts in one 24 hour period. There's real pain in the real economy.
American Airlines 19,000
United Airlines 13,000
Disney 28,000
Continental 30,000
Shell 9,000
Allstate 3,800
Marathon Petroleum 2,050
Goldman Sachs 400
Former New York Fed President Bill Dudley writes in
@opinion
: “If you’re still holding out hope that the Federal Reserve will be able to engineer a soft landing in the US economy, abandon it. A recession is inevitable within the next 12 to 18 months.”
Maersk
MasterCard
Mercedes-Benz
Microsoft
Netflix
Nike
Oracle
Paramount
PayPal
Pearson
Prada
Puma
PwC
Richemont (Cartier)
Samsung
SAP
Shell
Sony
Swatch
TikTok
Toyota
UEFA
Under Armour
Universal
UPS
Visa
Volvo Cars
Volvo (Trucks)
Volkswagen
Walt Disney
Warner
WPP
Chevron's response to Biden's letter to big oil: "Unfortunately, what we have seen since January 2021 are policies that send a message that the Administration aims to impose obstacles to our industry delivering energy resources the world needs."
More details from
@WhiteHouse
readout. Zelenskiy “welcomed the decision this evening by Visa and Mastercard to suspend service in Russia.” Two also talked additional funding, Zaporizhzhia, and about the recent talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte confirms
@business
scoop that the Netherlands plans to send a Patriot system to Ukraine.
The Netherlands has “the intention” to follow US & Germany in sending the missile defense system, Rutte said in remarks with Biden.
“Progressives will vote for both bills, but a majority of our members will only vote for the infrastructure bill after the President’s visionary Build Back Better Act passes.” -
@RepJayapal
"What is at stake now is the existence of the world order as we know it,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister
@DmytroKuleba
told me just a few hours ago. He’s now headed back to Ukraine.
Economist found $16 trillion when she tallied cost of racial bias
@BW
“Some people don’t really contemplate there being a problem. So that was the value of adding numbers, because numbers take some of the emotion out of it."
While Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz currently defends OPEC+’s decision to ignore calls from President Biden to pump more, closer to home, Pioneer— the biggest oil driller in the Permian Basin — says Biden’s anti-oil efforts are starting to “backfire.”
Tomorrow Biden will announce:
- Release of 15 million barrels from SPR— the final tranche from the 180MB announced in the spring. These are not “new” barrels.
- Prepared for more SPR sales this winter if needed
- Plan to replenish at or below $67-$72
(Per senior officials)
President-elect Biden & Vice President-elect Harris listed climate change as 1 of 4 top issues to tackle on Day 1 on their new transition website.
I think this is a 1st for an incoming U.S. administration and says a lot about the future of energy.
🚨 U.S. set to ban Russian energy imports as soon as TODAY sources tell me,
@JenniferJJacobs
&
@SalehaMohsin
. European allies will not join, but the decision was made in consultation with Europe, which relies much more heavily than the U.S. on Russian energy.
Another devastating update— the death toll is nearing 18,000 across Turkey and neighboring Syria, with thousands still missing.
This is so horrific it’s hard to comprehend the level of destruction. I have no words, especially for the millions of refugees already in dire need.
“Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? I think she was going to be here,” President Biden said.
Representative Jackie Walorski died in an August 3 car crash.
At the time of her death Biden issued a statement saying that he was "shocked and saddened."
🚨 Polish President Andrzej Duda: “Most likely, this was an unfortunate accident.”
He added that the missile was probably part of Ukraine’s air defense.
President Zelenskiy is expected to travel to Washington tomorrow to address Congress, people familiar tell
@JenniferJJacobs
and
@emrwilkins
. Zelenskiy’s visit would be his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. First reported by
@PunchbowlNews
.
🚨U.S. & EU announced a deal to try & boost LNG supplies to Europe by the end of 2022 with at least 15 billion cubic meters. The bloc’s total total gas imports from Russia last year amounted to 155 billion cubic meters.
@POTUS
&
@vonderleyen
set to announce soon.
SCOOP: The US plans to announce new sanctions targeting Iran's oil sales as soon as today, sources tell me. The sanctions will focus on entities facilitating the oil trade, and will be part of a broader plan to set up sanctions on the regime in the coming weeks.
“I do believe stagflation, unfortunately, is the baseline,
@elerianm
tells
@FerroTV
. “We're going to see notably lower growth & *frustratingly high inflation* for this year and into next year. Whether we get something worse depends on the soft landing debate for the Fed.”
IAEA: Ukraine says it restored power line to Chernobyl today, 4 days after electricity to the Russian-controlled site was lost. “This is a positive development…However I remain gravely concerned about safety & security at Chernobyl…other nuclear facilities,” says
@rafaelmgrossi
Secretary Blinken:
- Russia may be planning a chemical weapons attack
- Putin’s invasion is “not going to plan”
- Doesn’t see signs Putin is prepared to stop
- U.S. concerned China is considering aid to Russia.
- POTUS will press China not to aid Russia
NEW: Biden team is seriously considering banning Russia from SWIFT as European allies warm to the idea, per sources
No decision is imminent
This marks a change in course after Biden said yday he was holding off bc EU allies worried about blowback
w/
@josh_wingrove
+
@nwadhams
🚨 bp exiting its 19.75% stake in the Kremlin-controlled oil producer, Rosneft. bp CEO Bernard Looney is resigning from the board of Rosneft. bp was one of the 1st Western oil majors to establish a presence in Russia after collapse of the Soviet Union.
Zelenskiy hinted at his Washington trip yesterday when he visited Bakhmut. Ukrainian soldiers gave him a flag to bring to the US.
“We will pass on to the US Congress, to President Biden, our gratitude for their support,” Zelenskiy said yesterday.
🚨Stock trading on the Moscow Exchange will be closed again next week from March 14-18, according to a statement from the Bank of Russia. Stock trading has been closed since February 25.
🚨 The Russian stock market will be closed to trading until at least next Wednesday. The Moscow Exchange says trading across all markets will be shut March 5, 7 and 8.
NATO’s
@jensstoltenberg
tells me on
@BloombergTV
: “Such sham votes, referendums, do not have any legitimacy, and therefore they do not change the nature of the conflict… This will only further worsen the situation, and therefore we need to provide more support to Ukraine.”
Biden has been reluctantly drawn into closer ties with KSA’s Mohammed bin Salman after some argued the icy approach was not serving US goals. Problem is the crown prince isn’t ready to play along. Reporting from DC & Riyadh with
@nwadhams
&
@MattMartin128
Emma Raducanu names
@tomkeene
as one of her 3 dream dinner guests.
This can be organized
@EmmaRaducanu
! Maybe you can give Keene some pointers with his serve? 🎾📈
“The phrase ‘bailout’ has become such an awful phrase that everybody is avoiding it. They’re going out of their way to say that it’s not a bailout, but then they can’t explain why money’s being put to work,”
@elerianm
tells
@FerroTV
&
@lisaabramowicz1
.