Joker's Google Blog: Business Intelligence Monitor 211206

※ “The Russian plans call for a military offensive against Ukraine as soon as early 2022 with a scale of forces twice what we saw this past spring during Russia’s snap exercise near Ukraine’s borders,”

※ comes ahead of a planned virtual meeting next week between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• WP: New covid test rules for international travel begin Monday

• WP: Omicron coronavirus variant possibly more infectious due to sharing genetic code with common cold, study says

※ omicron could have greater transmissibility but lower virulence than other variants of the coronavirus

• WP: How scary is omicron? Scientists are racing to find answers.

• WP: U.S. coronavirus vaccine demand increases amid omicron variant concerns

• WP: The most-vaccinated big counties in America are beating the worst of the coronavirus

• WP: Most coronavirus vaccines work as boosters, with higher antibody levels from Pfizer and Moderna, study finds

• WP: U.S. warns it has ‘tools’ to deal with Iran if nuclear talks fail

• WP: Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime tightens economic grip by raiding, seizing businesses - Washington Post

• WP: Indian farmers forced Modi to retreat on agricultural laws. But they’re not finished.

• FT: US intelligence-sharing convinces allies of Russian threat to Ukraine

• FT: US defence chief warns of China ‘rehearsals’ for attack on Taiwan

• FT: Merck takes aim at Pfizer’s Covid pill as concerns linger over its own drug

• FT: Omicron variant highlights uneven genomic sequencing worldwide

• FT: The race to decipher Omicron: will it take days, weeks or months?

• FT: Lagarde says EU inflation a passing ‘hump’ and 2022 rate rise ‘very unlikely’

• FT: Europe’s far right seeks to form an alliance, yet again

• FT: Merkel leaves bittersweet legacy for ‘Ossis’ as she quits German politics

• FT: French right hopes for reinvigoration with choice of Pécresse

• FT: Eric Zemmour’s first big campaign rally marred by melee

• FT: UK’s ‘mix and match’ booster jab strategy backed by new study

• FT: Tories win Bexley by-election in relief for Johnson

• FT: UK offers road and rail sweeteners in bid to secure £1bn Rivian factory

• FT: Hawkish BoE rate setter warns Omicron might delay tightening

• FT: Only a quarter of small companies ready for new Brexit border checks, says trade body

• FT: UK tightens travel restrictions to tackle new coronavirus variant

• FT: Boris Johnson orders de-escalation of tensions with France

• FT: Omicron threatens to stoke US inflation, warns top Fed official

• FT: Council of Europe takes action over Osman Kavala, adding to Turkey’s troubles

• FT: Turkish opposition leader helps shape unlikely alliance to challenge Erdogan

• FT: European nations warn time is running out to save Iran nuclear deal

• FT: La Niña expected to intensify global rain and drought after second consecutive year

• FT: Omicron and US monetary policy uncertainty roil global markets

• FT: Will the US inflation rate justify a quicker taper from the Fed?

• FT: How migration became a weapon in a ‘hybrid war’

• Bloomberg: IMF’s Gopinath Warns Variants Could Derail Economic Recovery

• Bloomberg: China and WTO Two Decades Later -- What the World Expects

• Bloomberg: U.S. Economic Forecasts: Goldman Sachs Cuts Growth Due to Omicron

※ Forecast for 2021 reduced to 3.8% from 4.2%, 2022 cut to 2.9%

• Bloomberg: Powell’s Fast-Taper Signal Presages Agile Fed on 2022 Rate Hikes

• Bloomberg: Larry Summers Urges Fed to Signal Four Rate Hikes in 2022 to Regain Credibility

• Bloomberg: Bond Tapering Latest News: Fed Tipped for Fast Taper

• Bloomberg: U.S. Ship Logjam Stretching Far Into Pacific Is Longer Than Ever

• Bloomberg: How a Vaccine Side-Effect Database Sowed Doubt in Vaccinations

• Bloomberg: France Is Seeking to Avoid New Restrictions as Omicron Gains

※ Finance Minister rejects any new lockdown, mandatory vaccines

• Bloomberg: Italy Reinforces Strict Covid Rules Targeting Vaccine Holdouts

• Bloomberg: Italy Debt Rating Raised at Fitch on Robust Economic Outlook

• Bloomberg: Scholz Rallies Party Behind Measures to Fight Coronavirus

• Bloomberg: Germany Faces ‘Long Road Ahead’ in Covid Battle, Expert Warns

• Bloomberg: German Power Climbs to Two-Month High in Boost for Plant Margins

• Bloomberg: EU Opens Path for Spain to Receive $11 Billion in Recovery Funds

• Bloomberg: Iran Says Nuclear Work Won’t Stop Until Sanctions Issue Resolved

※ Iran said world powers can’t expect it to stop expanding its nuclear work until they reach an agreement with Tehran on how U.S. sanctions will be lifted from the Islamic Republic’s economy

• Bloomberg: China Braces for Evergrande Restructuring After Months of Tumult

※ Developer says it will ‘actively engage’ with creditors

• Bloomberg: Evergrande Chairman Summoned After Firm Flags Restructuring

• Bloomberg: China Developer Sunshine 100 Defaults on $170 Million of Bonds

• Bloomberg: Russia Says U.S. Actions Threaten Civil Aviation Over Black Sea

• Bloomberg: PBOC Ex-Governor Warns of Protectionism Against Multinationals

• Bloomberg: China Economy Will Turn More to Local Market, Former Mayor Says

• Bloomberg: Modi’s Top Priorities With Two Years to Go Until Election Day

• Bloomberg: BOJ Is Said to See Omicron as Potential Reason to Keep Covid Aid

• Bloomberg: Inflation, China and Virus: What to Watch in Stocks in 2022

• Bloomberg: China’s Special Bonds Can’t Halt Property-Led Investment Slump

• Bloomberg: Saudis Raise Oil Prices for Asia, U.S. Despite Omicron’s Spread

• Bloomberg: Ray Dalio Says Comments on China Human Rights Were Misunderstood

• Bloomberg: Apple Warning Points to Consumer Caution in Omicron-Hit World

• Bloomberg: Apple iPhone 13 Rebates Fail to Deliver for Some Buyers

• Bloomberg: Europe’s Carbon Price Almost Triples on Stricter Climate Goals, Gas Price Rally

• Bloomberg: EU Lawmakers Push for Stricter Bond Rules to Avoid Greenwashing

• Reuters: IMF chief says Omicron could dent global economic growth

• Reuters: OPEC will continue with supply adjustments for oil market, chief says

• Reuters: Global tax deal leaves billion-dollar loopholes, Reuters analysis finds

• Reuters: Five dead after Myanmar security forces ram car into Yangon protest - media

• Reuters: Myanmar court to give first rulings in Suu Kyi trial

• Reuters: Taiwan says is important partner, will keep talking to U.S. on currency

• Reuters: As global costs soar, Japan's 'shrinkflation' gets harder to swallow

• Reuters: Analysis: Modi's farm reform reversal to deter investment in India's agriculture

• Reuters: Analysis: China to cut U.S. soy imports after shipping delays clip export window

• AP: EXPLAINER: Turkey’s currency is crashing. What’s the impact?

• CNBC: WHO says omicron Covid variant has spread to 38 countries

※ “There is a suggestion that there is increased transmissibility, what we need to understand is if it’s more or less transmissible compared to delta,” WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove said.

• CNBC: Market history says omicron volatility isn’t a reason for investors to sell

• CNBC: Fed's inflation pivot could be catastrophic for stocks, fund manager says

• CNBC: Iberdrola, H2 Green Steel partner on $2.6 billion green hydrogen plan

• SCMP: China’s Xi Jinping pushes multilateral message ahead of US democracy summit

• SCMP: China puts on its own ‘democracy forum’ in countdown to Biden’s summit

※ Event to take place this week in push to present Chinese system as more effective

• SCMP: China, US defence officials hold talks on Pentagon report

• SCMP: India, Russia set to sign defence pacts amid China-US rivalry

• SCMP: China pledges ‘better business environment’ for foreign firms in latest bid to woo investment

• SCMP: Key China economic planning meeting said to be set for next week as headwinds swirl

• SCMP: China’s population to peak in 2021 as demographic turning point has already arrived, threatening to disrupt Beijing’s economic ambitions

• SCMP: China’s rising living costs, economic uncertainties leave lower-income groups unwilling or unable to spend