Hello 👋 Here’s what we’re following right now:

🦠 A scientist from Cyprus defended his assertion that a new strain of Covid exists combining delta and omicron characteristics. Other scientists had speculated his findings were the result of a technical error. https://bloom.bg/31Hb4Ml

🇰🇿 Kazakhstan authorities said Sunday that 164 people, including a 4-year-old girl, were killed in a week of protests that marked the worst unrest since the former Soviet republic gained independence 30 years ago. https://bloom.bg/3FnvKXL

📈 Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has amassed the biggest crypto fortune on the planet. It all started with a friendly poker game. https://bloom.bg/3FbJjJm

🎾 Novak Djokovic may be able to stay in Australia and contest a record 21st Grand Slam victory after a court quashed the cancellation of his visa. https://bloom.bg/3HOi9Ku

🦠 High levels of protective cells that fight some common colds may also make people less likely to contract Covid-19, according to a new study. https://bloom.bg/3tdrsiU

₿ Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has amassed the biggest crypto fortune on the planet — vaulting him into the ranks of the world's richest billionaires. https://bloom.bg/3HTyJIL

💉 Pfizer is developing a hybrid vaccine that combines its original shot with a formulation that shields against omicron. It will decide by March whether to move forward with the hybrid or one that specifically targets the variant. https://bloom.bg/3qcbgfV

👛 Ray Dalio urged the U.S. and other countries to narrow their wealth gaps as he praised China’s drive for common prosperity. “First you get rich, then you make a point of distributing those opportunities in a more equal way,” the Bridgewater founder said at a UBS conference. https://bloom.bg/3td87ym

🧳 Hong Kong’s exodus is set to intensify in 2022. Data show the city is losing its appeal as it becomes increasingly dominated by Chinese influence. https://bloom.bg/3GrwzQg

💸 🇺🇸 Economists thinks U.S. inflation is about to get worse before steadily getting better. https://bloom.bg/3zPtJ5s

🇸🇦 🇶🇦 2021 ended with surprise reconciliations among Middle East rivals and the prospect of even more. https://bloom.bg/3zKzMrP

🏢 These are the 50 companies to watch in 2022. https://bloom.bg/3qfMVpO

💉 EU regulators warned repeat booster doses every four months could eventually weaken the immune system. They instead suggest countries leave more time between shots. https://bloom.bg/33nzB9J

🚢 China’s omicron outbreak is bad news for the global supply chain. Tougher restrictions could worsen port congestion as more cities lock down. https://bloom.bg/3Fkm1kA

🏦 The world’s worst-performing bank is in damage control mode after bets on Chinese property, including Evergrande, went awry. https://bloom.bg/3JYTWDj

🇬🇧 U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces questions over allegations of pandemic rule-breaking parties at his office in 2020. https://bloom.bg/3fjFPKB

🎾 Novak Djokovic on Wednesday admitted that he attended a newspaper interview and photo shoot when he knew he was infectious with Covid-19. https://bloom.bg/3tm4SVG

🏦 The biggest economic threat in 2022 isn’t Covid-19. It’s inflation—and what the central banks decide to do about it. https://bloom.bg/33aL1Oo

📈 U.S. inflation soared to a 39-year high in 2021 — and consumer prices are likely to keep climbing, especially with omicron worsening labor shortages and supply-chain delays. https://bloom.bg/3nlWnGm

🎾 Australian PM Scott Morrison stumbled into a losing fight with Novak Djokovic months before a national election. Now his government is deciding whether to use discretionary powers to cancel the tennis star’s visa. https://bloom.bg/3tlu1Q2

🛫 Here’s why you should avoid value and reopening stocks, according to a star fund manager. https://bloom.bg/3HYCY5T

Correction: The EU warned frequent Covid boosters could adversely affect immune response. An earlier message said they could pose immune-system risks. https://bloom.bg/33nzB9J

Hello 👋 Here’s what we’re reading right now:

👑 Queen Elizabeth II stripped her son Prince Andrew of all his military titles and royal patronages as he prepares to face a civil case over claims of sexual assault. https://bloom.bg/33DHJTS

👀 It took “Squid Game” just four weeks to become Netflix’s most-watched show. But what happened afterward matters even more for the company’s global ambitions. https://bloom.bg/3zV8Tl0

💨 Covid loses 90% of its ability to infect after 20 minutes in the air, and most of that loss happens in the first five minutes, a new study showed. https://bloom.bg/3flhbJl

🧬 Polish scientists have discovered a gene that they say more than doubles the risk of falling severely ill with, or even dying from, Covid-19. https://bloom.bg/3rczoyq

🎾 Australia cancels Novak Djokovic’s visa for a second time. https://bloom.bg/3FuAo69

📺 Netflix's unconventional approach to Korean TV led to blockbuster successes like 'Squid Game' and 'Kingdom.' Can it use the playbook to replicate its success around the globe? https://bloom.bg/3GtodYJ

Hello, here’s what we’re following:

🇨🇳 China’s economy expanded 8.1% in 2021, above expectations, despite slowing in the last quarter. A property-market crisis and repeated virus outbreaks prompted the central bank to cut a key interest rate for the first time in almost two years. https://bloom.bg/3GHzyEI:

🏦 Credit Suisse’s chairman resigned and apologized over breaking quarantine rules in Switzerland and the U.K. https://bloom.bg/3Ke6gzw

🔥 And one of the world’s wealthiest oil exporters is becoming unlivable due to climate change. https://bloom.bg/3qyzod3

💡 The number of households in Britain struggling to pay their energy bills is set to triple in April. https://bloom.bg/3rpoaqp

😷 Credit Suisse’s chairman has resigned after a series of missteps including reported breaches of Covid-19 quarantine rules. https://bloom.bg/3tw2RGo

🇫🇷 France’s stunning rebound from its pandemic crash may be what wins Emmanuel Macron a second term in April. https://bloom.bg/3KiTCPN

💉 A fourth dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine was insufficient to prevent infection against omicron, according to preliminary trial data from Israel. https://bloom.bg/3IhPspl

⏰ Indian bureaucrats are pulling all-nighters to ensure the country’s biggest IPO ever goes off without a hitch — but success is far from secured. https://bloom.bg/33tbzuf

🏀 Dealmaker Chamath Palihapitiya, a part owner of the Golden State Warriors, drew the NBA into another China controversy after saying “nobody cares” about Uyghurs in a podcast. https://bloom.bg/3IefWIx

🏦 An ex-Citigroup banker is fighting to get his job back after alleging
that he was fired for blowing the whistle on a “toxic” culture at the company’s
Dubai office.https://bloom.bg/3A7JyEG

💡 Households across Europe are taking steps to slash their energy use as
household bills soar. https://bloom.bg/3tDvP7o

🚢 The global shipping industry has struggled for years to make money. With the supply chain crisis, they're raking in billions and drawing ire from economists and regulators alike. https://bloom.bg/3nAC8oc

🎮 From mobile to metaverse, Microsoft had many reasons to acquire Activision Blizzard. But for the gamemaker, the $69 billion deal was a bid to salvage its reputation after sexual-misconduct allegations. https://bloom.bg/3FAzgOx

📉 The Nasdaq is slumping toward a correction, after a two-month drought without a record. It’s down 9.7% from its Nov. 19 high. https://bloom.bg/3AdWAR9

0️⃣ China hasn’t been Covid Zero for months, and every new mutation raises the stakes for President Xi Jinping and the rest of the world. https://bloom.bg/3nE3sC6

🇬🇧 Boris Johnson suffered a major setback as he seeks to hold onto power after a member of Parliament in his ruling U.K. Conservative Party defected to the main opposition. https://bloom.bg/3Krnauw

🇺🇸 New York’s attorney general says Donald Trump likely used fraudulent asset valuations during a probe into his family’s real-estate business. https://bloom.bg/3fFHES5

🇨🇳 Omicron is playing havoc with China's attempts to stay Covid-free. The risks — for Xi Jinping and the rest of the world — are huge. https://bloom.bg/3nE3sC6

🪓 For months, Apollo's Leon Black claimed a mysterious financier is engaged in a plot to destroy him. Now he's named his former cofounder Josh Harris in a court filing. https://bloom.bg/3KqSt8K

😷 Omicron breakthroughs are testing the limits of mRNA vaccines, underscoring the need for social distancing and masking, researchers say. https://bloom.bg/3qJTUr8

🪃 And the CEO of Better.com, who fired hundreds of employees over a Zoom call, has returned to the company after "taking a break." https://bloom.bg/3ImbPKm

Hello 👋 These are some of our top stories right now:

🚪 “No amount of money” can lure bankers to Hong Kong, recruiters say, as expats shun the city for its Covid policies. https://bloom.bg/3FI5jvL

📉 The Nasdaq erased a 2% rally on Thursday and kept falling in its worst bearish reversal in 17 months. For investors, the concern is that such swings may get more common at a time when the market’s foundation is shifting due to stiffening resolve against inflation at the Fed. https://bloom.bg/3GQlbxA

🧠 Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink is moving closer to human trials. https://bloom.bg/3qKbcV9

Plus: Be one of the first to sign up for Bloomberg Crypto, the essential read on the crypto universe delivered straight to your inbox twice a week. https://bloom.bg/3GNBsDr

₿ Bitcoin tumbled in an extended selloff for cryptocurrencies, falling to its lowest level in more than five months. https://bloom.bg/3IjWytA

🇺🇸 🇷🇺 The U.S. secretary of state is meeting with Russia’s foreign minister against the backdrop of increasingly urgent warnings that Moscow could be planning an imminent intervention in Ukraine. https://bloom.bg/33Epqhp

🐄 The cattle industry and rainforest destruction are inextricably intertwined. This is how beef eaten around the world is pushing the Amazon to a tipping point. https://bloom.bg/32nr1Yy

Hello 👋 Here’s what we’re following right now:

🇺🇦 The U.S. ordered families of diplomats to leave Ukraine “due to the continued threat of Russian military action.” Joe Biden is considering deploying troops to eastern Europe and the Baltics, the New York Times reports. https://bloom.bg/3qSy050

🍎 Apple is nearing its first launch event of the year — and a new iPhone SE and iPad are on tap. Mark Gurman breaks down what you need to know: https://bloom.bg/33Z4UYL

💪 A new generation of Chinese startups is on the rise, with Xi Jinping's personal blessing. It’s the country’s latest weapon in the U.S. tech war. https://bloom.bg/3FZj4X8

🇺🇦 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joins a meeting of European Union foreign ministers as Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of escalating military activity. https://bloom.bg/3rKrpsF

₿ The selloff in cryptocurrencies gains momentum, with Bitcoin tumbling to a six-month low. https://bloom.bg/3nS8NpC

🇨🇳 A new generation of Chinese startups is on the rise, with Xi Jinping's personal blessing. https://bloom.bg/3GVWK24