New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a shock resignation despite being expected to seek a third term in this year's election.
The country is set to hold elections in October. The Labour party will now need to elect a new leader in the coming days, which is expected to conclude no later than Feb. 7 allowing Ardern to resign. https://bloom.bg/3iRAfV9

Cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global Capital filed for bankruptcy, the latest firm to collapse in the aftermath of FTX’s swift downfall.

The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday in the Southern District of New York, court documents show. It said its estimated assets and liabilities range between $1 billion to $10 billion. https://bloom.bg/3kskapi

Google parent Alphabet said it will eliminate about 12,000 jobs, more than 6% of its global workforce, becoming the latest tech giant to retrench after years of abundant growth and hiring.

The layoffs will affect jobs globally and across the entire company, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an email on Friday, writing that he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here.” https://bloom.bg/3kwNmeT

Ken Griffin’s Citadel churned out a record $16 billion in profit for clients last year, outperforming the rest of the industry and surpassing the "greatest trade ever."

The top 20 hedge fund firms collectively generated $22.4 billion in profit after fees, according to estimates by LCH Investments, a fund of hedge funds. Citadel’s gain was the largest annual return for a hedge fund manager, surpassing the $15 billion that John Paulson generated on his bet against subprime mortgages. https://bloom.bg/3D6rhdq

The US Justice Department is poised to sue Alphabet’s Google as soon as Tuesday regarding the search giant’s dominance over the digital advertising market, according to people familiar with the matter.

The case is expected to be filed in federal court before the end of the week, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter. https://bloom.bg/3QXOzYQ

The selloff in Gautam Adani’s empire accelerated on Friday, erasing almost $45 billion of market value in less than two sessions as Asia’s richest man struggles to contain the fallout from a scathing report by US short seller Hindenburg Research.

It’s piling pressure on the Indian tycoon as it erodes his net worth. Concerns about the group’s finances have percolated throughout the tycoon’s rise. But the Hindenburg report alleging fraud has put a harsh spotlight on the group’s corporate governance — as well as that of India as a whole. https://bloom.bg/3HA3UeU

Chinese internet giant, Baidu, is planning to debut an artificial intelligence chatbot service in March, according to sources. The tool, which remains unnamed at this point in time, will allow users to receive conversation-style search results similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, marking China's most prominent entry in the race to adopt AI.

The news comes after ChatGPT gained interest in China, with some users sharing conversations over social media despite internet censorship. https://bloom.bg/3XTU1ic

A powerful earthquake struck southern Turkey before dawn on Monday killing multiple people. Rescue workers are racing to save a number of people trapped after apartment buildings collapsed in several provinces, the government said.

The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 struck at a depth of 5 kilometers with an epicenter near the city of Gaziantep, according to Turkey’s Kandilli observatory based in Istanbul. GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam put the magnitude of the quake at 7.7. https://bloom.bg/3HyB0uB

Baidu surges after affirming it’s on track to publicly roll out its ChatGPT-like service in March, stoking anticipation around potentially China’s most prominent entry in the race to create lifelike AI bots. https://bloom.bg/3I1UZDb

India's central bank slows the pace of rate hikes, raising the cost of borrowing money to 6.5%, to tamp down core inflation https://bloom.bg/3I6HuSL

Hong Kong will stop requiring masks to be worn in public places from Wednesday, drawing to a close the prolonged Covid era that damaged its economy and standing in the world.

Masks will no longer be needed outdoors, indoors or on public transport, Hong Kong leader John Lee said. https://bloom.bg/3J1nVMp

A passenger train collided with an oncoming freight train in northern Greece early Wednesday, killing 16 people and injuring at least 85, fire service officials said.

Multiple train cars derailed and at least three caught fire at the site near Tempe, some 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens. https://bloom.bg/3IHij8m

China set a modest economic growth target for the year, a sign the nation’s top leaders are still concerned about the recovery, given weak consumer confidence, declining exports and a housing market still under pressure.

Beijing will target gross domestic product expansion of around 5% for 2023, Premier Li Keqiang said in his final government work report to the National People’s Congress — the annual parliamentary gathering — on Sunday. https://bloom.bg/3yfbsOI

Apple is shaking things up and overhauling international sales to focus on India, signaling the nation's growing prominence for the tech giant.

The shift will mark the first time that India becomes its own sales region at Apple. The news comes as the company began producing some iPhone models in the country to diversify beyond China. http://bloom.bg/3JrB6X0

SVB, a lender little-known outside of Silicon Valley, has sparked a wave of panic in tech circles that dragged down banking shares around the world.

Events snowballed after Silicon Valley Bank announced a share sale to shore up its finances, following a significant loss on its portfolio. Here's what you need to know: https://bloom.bg/3l6T5IX

LIVE BLOG: The consequences of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank continue to play out across the globe.

Join us for news, analysis and market reaction to this developing story. https://bloom.bg/3JauGdp

Everything Everywhere All at Once” wrapped its hot dog fingers around Hollywood’s top prize, winning Best Picture along with awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s metaphysical multiverse comedy emerged as an improbable Academy Awards heavyweight with seven wins. https://bloom.bg/401gz0Z

Biden plans to hold a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping once the legislature concludes its annual gathering and the government in Beijing returns to work, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says. https://trib.al/g7OS5XS

After imposing three years of sacrifice, President Xi's government let Covid tear through China's population in two months. Moving on won’t be easy. https://trib.al/xrhR0Cn

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was swift and brutal, leaving much of the world to wonder what will come next. Here's how the US Federal Reserve is handling the crisis. https://trib.al/R5MdLAl

US prosecutors were investigating Signature Bank’s work with crypto clients before regulators suddenly seized the lender this past weekend, sources say.

Justice Department investigators were examining whether the New York bank took sufficient steps to detect potential money laundering by clients — such as scrutinizing people opening accounts and monitoring transactions for signs of criminality, sources added. https://bloom.bg/3TiQVCT

Asia's Richest: A reversal in the extraordinary growth of Indian family fortunes has dragged down the overall net worth of Asia's wealthiest. From Ambanis to the Mistrys, here are the 20 richest families in the region right now. https://trib.al/MDCSzYV

India-Russia: US officials proclaimed themselves satisfied that India is buying Russian oil below G-7 price caps. But market experts say it’s not so clear. https://trib.al/hkTtNmA

India Power: Coal India, which accounts for about four-fifths of the nation’s output of the fuel, is aiming to boost supplies to power plants this summer as unusually hot weather drives electricity demand. https://trib.al/4V0kEMw