'Unite or Die'
What You Need To Know
Today’s posts that caught my eye:
American student test scores plunged by historic levels during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting soul-searching among education figures to chart a future path for the country’s schools.
Renters hit breaking point in sudden reversal for landlords, Bloomberg reports. “Affordability pressures and inflation are holding back tenants, forcing landlords to ease off big increases.”
'I am not retired' Serena Williams says.
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The World
Rishi Sunak warned Conservative MPs to “unite or die” as he became the party’s third leader in two months. Sunak, 42, will be appointed the youngest prime minister for more than 200 years by the King today. He will be the first British Asian prime minister and has had the fastest rise from entering the Commons to 10 Downing Street in modern times. (The Times)
Huge margin of support gives Rishi Sunak a free hand in choosing cabinet. New prime minister likely to prioritise unity in offering ministerial jobs, although leading Trussites can expect the chop. (The Guardian)
Who is Sunak? A Brexiter and an advocate of low-tax free ports, he is more popular than other Tories among Remain voters. That has much to do with his role as chancellor during the Covid-19 pandemic, dishing out billions of pounds of subsidies, as well as his suave, metropolitan demeanor. After the chaos of Truss and Boris Johnson, Sunak’s appeal is that he projects competence. Raised in Southampton, on England’s south coast, he is the grandson of Indian migrants who arrived from east Africa in the 1960s. His father was a doctor and his mother ran a pharmacy. He was head boy at Winchester College, an elite private school, then studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford university. Initially he seemed more taken by business than politics. He joined Oxford’s investment society, not its debating union. He spent three years at Goldman’s private equity arm, did an MBA at Stanford and then worked as an analyst for hedge funds TCI and Theleme Partners. At Stanford, he met his future wife, Akshata Murty, daughter of Narayana Murthy, billionaire founder of IT company Infosys. (Financial Times)
Just how rich is the soon-to-be prime minister of Britain? The Times of London estimated that Mr. Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, were worth about $800 million, placing them among the 250 wealthiest British people or families. But judge him the British tabloids have, anointing him “Rishi Rich.” His wife, a fashion designer, is the daughter of the billionaire founder of the technology company Infosys. (New York Times)
Wealthy Chinese are pulling the trigger on exit plans from their homeland as pessimism builds over the future of the world’s second-largest economy under Xi Jinping and the ruling Chinese Communist party… David Lesperance, a Europe-based lawyer who has worked with wealthy families in Hong Kong and China, says Xi extending his rule beyond two terms is a tipping point for China’s business elite, who thrived for decades as China’s economy boomed. “Now that ‘the chairman’ is firmly in place . . . I have already received three ‘proceed’ instructions from various ultra-high net worth Chinese business families to execute their fire escape plans,” said Lesperance. (Financial Times)
Biden Team Works on Setting Up Xi Meeting as Chinese Leader Tightens Grip: US president is expected to meet Xi on sidelines of the G-20. (Bloomberg)
U.S. prosecutors charged two Chinese nationals with trying to obstruct prosecution of a Chinese telecommunications company that a person familiar with the matter identified as Huawei Technologies. Prosecutors said the case is representative of a broader pattern of unlawful influence efforts by China, and announced they had also charged 11 people in two other cases with spying for Beijing or intimidating Chinese dissidents. (Reuters)
Israel expected to tighten restrictions on Chinese investment in face of growing US pressure. The country’s security cabinet is considering measures to tighten oversight of foreign investment, moves many expect will be expanded to the hi-tech sector. China has previously urged Israel not to fall in line with US restrictions amid their growing competition for tech supremacy. (South China Morning Post)
Russia could plan 'dirty bomb' pretext, Western countries say: Rebuffed by Western countries, Russia doubled down on its claim that Kyiv is preparing to use a "dirty bomb" in Ukraine and said it would bring the issue to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. Russia sent a letter on its claims about Kyiv to the United Nations late on Monday, and diplomats said Moscow planned to raise the issue with the Security Council at a closed meeting the following day. "We will regard the use of the dirty bomb by the Kyiv regime as an act of nuclear terrorism," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia wrote U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council in the letter. (Reuters)
A group of 30 House liberals is urging President Biden to dramatically shift his strategy on the Ukraine war and pursue direct negotiations with Russia, the first time prominent members of his own party have pushed him to change his approach to Ukraine. A letter sent by the group to the White House on Monday, first reported by The Washington Post, could create more pressure on Biden as he tries to sustain domestic support for the war effort, at a time when the region is heading into a potentially difficult winter and Republicans are threatening to cut aid to Ukraine if they retake Congress. In the letter, the 30 Democrats led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, call on Biden to pair the unprecedented economic and military support the United States is providing Ukraine with a “proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a cease fire.” (Washington Post)
Read the letter here.
More than six months into the war with Russia, Ukrainians are rallying around their nation's leaders and their institutions like never before. Over eight in 10 Ukrainians (84%) surveyed in early September approved of the job that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is doing, the highest on record for him -- or any leader in Ukraine in the past decade. Only the country's military elicits more support than the president. A nearly universal 94% of Ukrainians are confident in their armed forces. (Gallup)
Iranian security forces fired teargas outside a girls’ school in Tehran when clashes broke out after staff attempted to inspect students’ mobile phones amid ongoing anti-government protests. Iran’s Ministry of Education said several students were treated by emergency services for a drop in blood pressure, but denied that security forces had entered the school. But videos circulating on social media showed heavily armed security forces outside the school. One clip showed them on motorbikes and firing at least one teargas canister. The authenticity of the footage could not be independently verified. (The Guardian)
American student test scores plunged by historic levels during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting soul-searching among education figures to chart a future path for the country’s schools. New results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, better known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” revealed steep declines in math and reading scores among U.S. fourth- and eighth-graders (Politico)
The average math score for fourth-graders fell five points since 2019 — from 241 to 236, the Education Department said. Eighth graders dropped eight points in math, from 282 to 274. In reading, average scores for both grades fell three points — from 220 to 217 for fourth grade, and from 263 to 260 for eighth grade. (Axios)
Largest score declines in NAEP mathematics at grades 4 and 8 since initial assessments in 1990. (NAEP)
Schools got $122 billion to reopen last year. Most has not been used. School systems throughout the country reported using less than 15 percent of the latest round of federal education funding allotted to them during the last school year. Meanwhile, education advocates worry students continue to fall behind academically. (Washington Post)
Small Rise in CollegeTuition Rates: A new report from the College Board finds tuition holding steady, with minimal increases. But given rampant inflation, experts wonder how long institutions can keep prices down. (Inside Higher Ed)
Alito Assured Ted Kennedy in 2005 of Respect for Roe v. Wade, Diary Says: In the senator’s recollection, the Supreme Court justice who wrote the opinion overturning the abortion ruling tried to show Mr. Kennedy that he was not a threat to Roe. (New York Times)
Economy
Global equity markets issue skeptical verdict on Xi’s third term: Investors worldwide issued a skeptical verdict on Xi Jinping’s third term in office, selling shares in Chinese companies after the country’s leader wrapped up a Communist party congress that signaled a shift in focus from the economy to security. The sell-off began on Monday morning in Asia, where Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech index fell 9.7 per cent, its second largest one-day drop. It continued into the US trading day, where several of the most well-known Chinese tech groups listed on Wall Street fell sharply. (Financial Times)
China’s Historic Market Rout Goes Missing From State Newspapers. (Bloomberg)
Wall St closes sharply higher on hopes of abating Fed. (Reuters)
South Korea's economy likely ground to near halt in Q3. (Reuters)
Eurozone business activity slides faster than feared: October PMI shows biggest contraction in 2 years and adds to signs region is heading for recession. (Financial Times)
Japan may have spent a record 5.5 trillion yen ($37 billion) in its effort Friday to rein in the falling yen, official data suggests, as authorities ramp up their battle with speculators to check the currency's decline. This estimate from market players, based on current-account estimates released Monday by the Bank of Japan, would dwarf the 2.8 trillion yen intervention made in September. (Nikkei Asia Review)
After a record surge in housing costs and ballooning expenses for everything from food to energy, America’s renters have had enough. Rent gains are finally starting to slow in many parts of the US, cooling a years-long boom that sapped affordability from coast to coast. Landlords have little choice but to ease off big increases: Demand from tenants is suddenly sinking. (Bloomberg)
IPO returns show fashion startups were not runway ready: Venture capitalists are not known for their fashion sense. Turns out, they haven’t been doing well lately with fashion-related IPOs either. A Crunchbase survey of six venture-backed companies in the clothing and accessories industry that went public last year shows an average post-IPO decline of 74%. (Crunchbase)
Technology
Apple has released iOS 16.1, iPad OS 16.1 and macOS 13, as it announced it would last week. The updates include a number of new features for iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, including the introduction of Continuity Camera, which allows iPhone owners to use their device as a webcam for their Macs. The iPad and Mac updates also introduce Stage Manager, the new (and somewhat controversial) windows management feature for multitasking. iOS 16.1 also introduces a new marquee feature for iPhones that support it: Live Activities. A couple of Apple’s native apps have been able to take advantage of this feature, which provides live updating information on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models. (TechCrunch)
Review: A pleasantly surprising new multitasking UI and app redesigns define macOS 13. (Ars Technica)
Apple raises prices on its TV and Music streaming services. It also raised prices for the Apple One bundle. In a statement, Apple said the price increase for Apple Music was because of increased music licensing costs. (CNBC)
Warner Bros Discovery expects to write off as much as $2.5bn because of shelved shows and movies along with other programming decisions, as chief executive David Zaslav looks to cut billions of dollars in costs… His team has been scouring the sprawling entertainment group — which includes HBO, the Warner movie studio and CNN — for $3bn in cost cuts over the next two years. Warner warned in an SEC filing on Monday that restructuring costs could total up to $4.3bn through 2024, including between $2bn and $2.5bn in charges because of “strategic content programming assessments”. (Financial Times)
Media and entertainment company mergers plus TV and gaming consolidation seem inevitable, as streaming services fail to make up for traditional pay TV's decline. (Bloomberg)
Meta shareholder writes critical open letter saying company needs to slash headcount and stop spending so much money on ‘metaverse’. Altimeter Capital Chair and CEO Brad Gerstner, in an open letter to the company, said Meta has too many employees and is moving too slowly to retain the confidence of investors. The Meta investor recommends a plan to get the company’s “mojo back.” It includes reducing headcount expenses by 20% and limiting the company’s pricey investments in “metaverse” technology to no more than $5 billion per year. (CNBC)
Major Hollywood talent agency CAA dropped Ye, also known as Kanye West, as the rapper and business mogul faces intensifying criticism over his recent antisemitic remarks. “I can confirm that Kanye is not a client,” a CAA representative told CNBC. The film studio MRC also said it was dropping a documentary about the artist. MRC was behind films such as “Knives Out” and television series such as “Ozark.” The moves come as athletic apparel maker Adidas faces growing calls to end its relationship with Ye. (CNBC)
Smart Links
Dove, Nexxus and other dry shampoos recalled for cancer-causing chemical. (CNN)
Apple reports earnings Thursday and all eyes are on iPhone 14 sales. (CNBC)
Glitz and Gladwell: the infighting over prized JPMorgan wealth clients. (Financial Times)
Why we’re likely headed for a ‘worse than average’ flu season. (Harvard Gazette)
Jim Nantz will call his last Final Four for CBS in 2023, with Ian Eagle to replace him. (Chicago Tribune)
'I am not retired' Serena Williams says. (Reuters)
Good News
These award winners started nonprofits with purpose — after turning 50. AARP recognizes 5 innovators for work with Indigenous farmers, refugees, aging LGBTQ people, more. (Washington Post)
An eight-year-old boy is attempting to become the youngest person to reach the summit of El Capitan, the imposing rock formation in Yosemite National Park, California.( The Times)
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