Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding a legally binding guarantee that NATO will not expand east — including to Ukraine — and plans to raise the issue in an upcoming phone call with President Biden, according to the Kremlin.
Why it matters: Russia has massed more than 94,000 troops on the border with Ukraine and could be preparing for a large-scale invasion at the end of January, Ukraine's defense minister said Friday.
The nuclear negotiators for the E3 – France, Germany and the U.K. – told Iranian negotiators in coordination with the U.S. that the opening proposals they presented in Vienna nuclear talks this week were unserious and unacceptable, an E3 diplomat briefed on the talks said.
Why it matters: The readout of the first round of talks show gaps between Iran and its Western counterparts that at the moment seem very wide and hard to bridge.
Tel Aviv, Israel, rose to the top of the 2021 rankings of the world's most expensive cities, eclipsing such notoriously pricey metropolises as New York (No. 5) and Paris and Singapore (which tied for second place).
The annual Worldwide Cost of Living report (download) includes 173 cities and is put out by the Economist Group's Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Per the report: "The inflation rate of the prices that we track ... across cities is the fastest recorded over the past five years."
"It has accelerated beyond the pre-pandemic rate, rising by 3.5% year on year in local-currency terms in 2021, compared with an increase of just 1.9% in 2020 and 2.8% in 2019."
The rise of Tel Aviv — which climbed from fifth place last year — "mainly reflects its soaring currency and price increases for around one-tenth of goods in the city, led by groceries and transport, in local-currency terms," EIU said.
Details: According to the report, Rome saw the biggest rankings drop — to 48th from 32nd — "with a particularly sharp decline in its shopping basket and clothing categories."
Tehran climbed the most — to 29th from 79th — as U.S. sanctions on Iran "led to continued shortages of goods and rising import prices."
Per EIU: "Most U.S. cities have fallen in the rankings compared with last year, after the government responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by injecting more money into the economy."
Where it stands: The 10 most expensive cities are:
Health measures taken to combat COVID-19 before the emergence of Omicron would also help against the new variant of concern, World Health Organization officials said Friday.
What they're saying: Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said during a virtual briefing broadcast from Manila, Philippines, that border controls imposed by the U.S. and other nations can "buy time" to deal with the variant, but warned "every country and every community must prepare for new surges in cases."
A major Democratic donor and Nord Stream 2 lobbyist has made maximum campaign contributions this year to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and vulnerable Senate Democrats, campaign finance records show.
Why it matters: If pressure from the White House to vote against reimposing sanctions on the Russia-backed natural gas pipeline weren't enough, Democrats who back such legislation also will be at loggerheads with one of their party's top fundraisers.
The percentage of the global population using the internet surged from 54% to 63% between 2019 and 2021, with hundreds of millions of people logging on for the first time during the pandemic, according to the UN's International Telecommunication Union.
Breaking it down: Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's a big divide globally between residents of urban (76%) and rural (39%) areas. 15- to 24-year-olds (71%) are also more likely to use the internet than older people (57%).
South Africa alerted the world to the Omicron variant. Now data out of South Africa may serve as a warning of what we're facing.
Driving the news: South Africa recorded 11,535 new cases Thursday with 22.4% of tests coming back positive — up from an average of about 300 new cases, with a 2% test positivity rate 10 days earlier. The country's top public health officials expect that exponential rise to continue as Omicron rapidly becomes the dominant variant.
Turkey’s central bank is scrambling to prop up the country’s spiraling currency, the lira, as rising prices leave Turks struggling to afford essentials and venting their frustrations with the government.
How it happened: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pressured the central bank to cut interest rates this year even as the lira has lost nearly half its value against the dollar. He has long claimed, in stark contrast to economic orthodoxy, that low rates limit inflation.
The U.S. and the European Union are adopting "increasingly convergent" views on the threat posed by the Chinese government, according to senior Biden administration officials, deepening a trend that could tilt the scales in an era of great power competition.
Why it matters: European leaders were initially wary of President Biden's campaign to rally a coalition of U.S. allies to challenge China, hoping to duck a confrontation between the bloc's two largest trading partners. But the winds in Europe seem to be shifting, in part due to Beijing's growing belligerence.
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a global initiative aimed to prevent authoritarian governments from using technology for surveillance and human rights abuses, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: Many authoritarian governments rely on imported technology to implement state surveillance networks.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Thursday criticized billionaire Ray Dalio's investments in China, writing in a tweet that "his feigned ignorance of China's horrific abuses and rationalization of complicit investments there is a sad moral lapse."
Driving the news: Romney's comments come after Dalio's firm, Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, raised $1.3 billion in November for a new private fund in China, Bloomberg reports.
The United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada imposed a new round of coordinated sanctions on Belarus "to raise the cost on Alyaksandr Lukashenko and his regime," Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Thursday.
Why it matters: They are the first sanctions since EU officials accused Lukashenko of waging "hybrid warfare" by allowing thousands of migrants to travel from the Middle East to Minsk and then forcing them to Poland's border.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Secretary of State Tony Blinken in a phone call on Thursday that the Biden administration should end the nuclear negotiations with Iran in Vienna, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Why it matters: Up to now, the Israeli government opposed a return to the 2015 nuclear agreement. Now, Israel is opposing talking to Iran at all.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that people who are unvaccinated will not be allowed in nonessential shops, cultural and recreational venues, AP reports.
State of play: Merkel, alongside incoming Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said the measures were necessary to avoid overflowing hospitals with coronavirus patients. The country is seeing an increase in daily infections.
The women's professional tennis tour suspended tournaments in China Wednesday out of concern for Peng Shuai, on the same day that a top business voice made excuses for Beijing.
Why it matters: Ahead of February's Winter Olympics in Beijing, some sports figures are taking on the regime — while Big Business shrinks from confrontation with the world's second-largest economy.
President Biden on Thursday announced new testing protocols for international travelers and extended masking requirements through March as the U.S. prepares to fight the Omicron variant this winter.
Driving the news: The U.S. will tighten pre-departure testing protocols starting early next week by requiring all inbound international travelers to take COVID-19 tests within one day of their departure rather than three.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday the U.S. would "maintain the capabilities to defend and deter" threats from China's government and warned the country's hypersonic weapons program was increasing regional tensions.
Driving the news: Austin made the comments in Seoul after meeting with his South Korean counterpart to discuss regional security matters, including threats posed by China's government and the North Korean regime, which he also expressed concern about.
