👋 Hi, this is what we're following right now:

💰 Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion, using one of the biggest leveraged buyout deals in history to take the 16-year-old social network private. The sale was unanimously approved by the company’s board, and is expected to be completed later this year. https://bloom.bg/37DZo03

📢 Users greeted the news with... plenty of memes. With free speech a central pillar of Musk's plans for Twitter, many are wondering if Trump will be returning to his old megaphone — but the former president says he plans to stick to his own social-media platform, Truth Social. https://bloom.bg/3vBuDk0

💭 Just about everyone has thoughts on the deal, including Jeff Bezos and Jack Dorsey. Twitter's cofounder chimed in to say he supported taking the company private, noting "Elon is the singular solution I trust." https://bloom.bg/3MAnqrD

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

🇷🇺 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warns there’s a “serious” risk of nuclear war over Ukraine. https://bloom.bg/3vgxekA

🗣 U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is hosting talks with officials from more than 40 countries at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to discuss ways of boosting weapons supplies to Ukraine. https://bloom.bg/3rO62Y7

📻 Authorities in the breakaway Transnistria region of Moldova report an attack on a military unit, hours after a pair of antennas broadcasting Russian radio were blown up. https://bloom.bg/37Ld4Gv

🇲🇲 Breaking: Myanmar sentences deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to five years in prison, in the first of several corruption charges leveled against her. It brings her total jail term to 11 years since the 2021 coup. https://bloom.bg/3xU92pS

🇸🇬 Singapore executed a mentally disabled man despite international outcry, AP reported. Supporters say the 34-year-old Malaysian, convicted of a drug offense, had an IQ of 69. https://bloom.bg/3LkXwI9

↔️ Elon Musk's emphasis on promoting free speech is making him particularly popular with the American right — putting him at odds with employees, left-leaning users and advertisers, who would in general prefer more content moderation. https://bloom.bg/37FP3AJ

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

⛔️Russia stops natural gas flows to Poland and Bulgaria in a major escalation, following threats to cut off buyers if they refuse Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand to pay in rubles.
https://bloom.bg/3OCJLGL

🗣Four European gas buyers have already paid for supplies in rubles, buckling to demands of President Vladimir Putin.
https://bloom.bg/3rV1S0O

🚫Shenzhen-based drone-maker DJI halts all business activities in Russia and Ukraine, becoming the highest-profile Chinese company to withdraw from the war-torn region.
https://bloom.bg/38pEzW0

Hello, here's what we're following:

⬆️⬇️ Bill Hwang’s Archegos catastrophe was wilder than anyone knew. A year after the asset management company’s collapse sent shock waves through global finance, Hwang was arrested on Wednesday – and, for the first time, federal prosecutors offered an official account of what really happened at the secretive family office. https://bloom.bg/3MSEUzF (Hwang pleaded not guilty and will be freed on $100 million bail.)

⛔️ Chinese cities are rolling out hardline Covid measures to avoid another Shanghai scenario. An outpouring of resentment about Covid Zero on social media is overwhelming censors. https://bloom.bg/3EXCsVO

💸 A powerful dynasty bankrupted Sri Lanka in just 30 months. Read the full story: https://bloom.bg/3LrC8B1

Hello, here's what we're reading right now:

🇨🇳🇷🇺 Russia’s war on Ukraine has triggered European capitals to rethink their individual and collective ties with China. https://bloom.bg/3rYuNRQ

💰 Elon Musk offloaded about $4 billion worth of Tesla shares – and pledged no more sales. Analysts and investors suspected Musk may have needed to sell some stock to cover the $21 billion equity portion of the Twitter deal that he’s personally guaranteed. https://bloom.bg/38EIApS

▶️ And here’s something for your weekend: the secret behind living to extreme old age. https://bloom.bg/3Klv9bq

Hello, here’s what we’re reading:

🌎 Warren Buffett went on his biggest stock buying spree for at least a decade as war broke out in Ukraine and U.S. inflation soared. https://bloom.bg/3vRPkse

📈 The creator of the popular Bored Apes Yacht Club collection of NFTs launched a sale of virtual land related to its metaverse project, raising about $320 million worth of crypto. Demand was so strong that it caused ripple effects across the entire Ethereum blockchain. https://bloom.bg/3KAXjiO

🛫 Get ready for the world’s longest direct flights. Qantas is rebooting its plans to fly nonstop from Sydney to London and New York, with commercial services starting in 2025. https://bloom.bg/3LCRYc7

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

⚠️ Sanctions against Russia can only be lifted after its forces leave Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said. https://bloom.bg/3s5pRKP

🇺🇦 President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said about 100 civilians have been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the eastern port city of Mariupol. https://bloom.bg/3ybSbiq

🇭🇺 Hungary threatened to veto any European proposal that leads to the restriction of energy imports for the country from Russia. https://bloom.bg/3OSBgY4

👤 Alibaba tumbled as much as 9.4% in Hong Kong after CCTV reported Chinese authorities placed "compulsory curbs" on a person surnamed Ma. The shares recouped much of their losses after a police statement. https://bloom.bg/3vCeoVe

⚖️ A U.S. Supreme Court draft majority opinion aims to overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling, Politico reports, in a rare leak of a pending case. https://bloom.bg/3LFTCJM

💬 Elon Musk wants an uncensored Twitter. He'll have to figure out how to navigate challenging markets from China to India. https://bloom.bg/3kA8ZaY

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

🇪🇺 The European Union will seek to step up cooperation with African countries to help replace imports of Russian natural gas and reduce dependence on Moscow by almost two-thirds this year. https://bloom.bg/3FhzmMj

🇷🇺 Russia’s closely watched dollar payments on two bonds are trickling through to investors after the country dips into its local holdings of the U.S. currency and sidestepping its first foreign default in a century. https://bloom.bg/37U4ipP

🗣 Prime Minister Boris Johnson will deliver a virtual address to Ukraine’s Parliament, that compares Kyiv’s struggle to Britain’s during World War II. https://bloom.bg/3LDQaj6

🇰🇵 North Korea fired an unidentified projectile off its eastern coast, South Korea's military said. The projectile was likely a long-range ballistic missile, the Yonhap News Agency reports. https://bloom.bg/3OUO28q

🔒 Shanghai’s final exit from a punishing five-week lockdown is being delayed by stubborn community infections. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is plotting a different path toward reopening. https://bloom.bg/3ycQRMu

🔥 As people rallied across the U.S. for abortion rights, Kamala Harris gave a fiery speech in a potential watershed moment for the country's first female vice president. https://bloom.bg/3wm6mz9

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

🪖 Nearly 10 weeks into the war and with its troops making only marginal gains in Ukraine’s east, Russia is focused on cementing both military and political control over the territory it has taken so far. https://bloom.bg/3FmoEnW

📈 The number of people going hungry surged 25% globally last year and the toll is rising now as the war in Ukraine raises food prices. https://bloom.bg/3sdECLM

‼ The EU proposed sanctioning the world's second-largest fertilizer company, the latest threat to lift food costs. https://bloom.bg/39qvxse

😅 Investors breathed a sigh of relief after the Fed raised interest rates by 50 basis points and Chair Jerome Powell signaled a hike of 75 basis points was unlikely. Asia stocks climbed following a rally in the U.S., and Chinese equities fluctuated after returning from a three-day break. https://bloom.bg/3OYzYeg

📹 The U.S. is considering unprecedented sanctions against surveillance giant Hikvision for human rights violations, ramping up Biden's economic battle with China. The company's stock tumbled by as much as 10%. https://bloom.bg/3KFGH9r

0⃣ Experts say China will move gradually rather than end Covid Zero overnight. These are six signs of a pivot. https://bloom.bg/3shasXR

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

🇺🇦 Ukraine has launched a global fundraising initiative, United24, says President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. https://bloom.bg/3vKGnSH

🛢 The European Union’s move to ban Russian crude this year will cause major headaches but it should just about be workable if some countries are shown leniency. https://bloom.bg/3KNBeh5

🇧🇾 Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko defends Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an interview with The Associated Press, but he says he didn’t expect the 10-week-old conflict to “drag on this way.” https://bloom.bg/3sgx9vs

📉 Stocks and bonds extended their slide as inflation, rising borrowing costs and China’s Covid lockdowns depressed sentiment. Follow the latest in our markets wrap: https://bloom.bg/3P556bV

💻 China ordered government agencies and state-backed firms to replace foreign computers, an effort to eradicate overseas technology. https://bloom.bg/3FiihC1

🏁 Formula One finally found a way to get Americans to care. The world’s fastest sport has been transformed for the world’s biggest sports market with a hit Netflix series, among other things. https://bloom.bg/3w8w89N

📩 And lastly: We’re running a daily special edition of the Australia Briefing for the next two weeks ahead of the election. Sign up to get it in your inbox: https://bloom.bg/39umVAT

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

🇪🇺 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expresses confidence that the European Union will reach a deal on a Russian oil embargo after proposing to give several countries more time to comply with the proposed ban. https://bloom.bg/38ezfF4

🇩🇪 Germany agrees to deliver seven rapid-fire artillery systems to Ukraine to shore up the country’s efforts to fend off Russian forces. https://bloom.bg/3FpNGTe

✈ The Middle East’s biggest plane-leasing firm has written off half-a-billion dollars for aircraft stranded in Russia, after the Kremlin issued a law preventing foreign-owned jets from leaving the country without state permission. https://bloom.bg/3LRVcIO

🇵🇭 It's election day in the Philippines. Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who has been leading opinion polls by a wide margin, could take the highest seat of power over three decades after his dictator father was ousted. Follow the latest. https://bloom.bg/3N1d1W4

🏭 Chinese carmaker BYD is probed for pollution after reports of nosebleeds in hundreds of children. https://bloom.bg/39MJ9ym

💸 It’s ending as fast as it began. Retail traders who jumped into markets early in the pandemic have given back all their gains, according to Morgan Stanley. https://bloom.bg/3LVLGEE

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

🗣 Ukraine rejects President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to justify Russia’s invasion as an effort to defend the homeland and compare it to World War II.
https://bloom.bg/3vUB4A1

🪖 “Surrender is not an option," says an intelligence officer of the Azov regiment holed up in a massive steel factory in southeastern port city Mariupol.
https://bloom.bg/39G5iOB

⛽️ The European Union is set to weaken its sanctions package on Russian oil after a weekend of wrangling.
https://bloom.bg/3lbcJQF

🇵🇭 Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. won a landslide victory in the Philippines presidential election, bringing his family back to power 36 years after his dictator father fled the country. Here’s what you need to know about him – and what to expect when he takes office in June. https://bloom.bg/3FtG0z8

🪖 The U.S. and China are edging dangerously close to cold war. For millions of Japanese, the confrontation is already a reality. https://bloom.bg/3N1Y9Xh

➕And if you're a Bloomberg.com subscriber: Listen to the latest Odd Lots podcast with Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway to understand the extreme volatility we’re seeing in markets right now. https://bloom.bg/3wgsE5h

Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine:

📞 A video call between the European Union and Prime Minister Viktor Orban to discuss proposed sanctions on Russian oil imports that Hungary is resisting has been postponed, while the Hungarian leader spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on energy issues.
https://bloom.bg/3wlxKNH

💵 The European Union considers the issuance of joint debt to finance Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction, which may end up costing hundreds of billions of euros, according to an EU official familiar with the plan.
https://bloom.bg/3P8HByJ

🗞 After Putin essentially outlawed independent reporting on the war, the unprecedented pressure forced numerous media outlets to shut down, and other resources have been blocked by the government censor. Now, independent outlets direct their readers to download their news apps, follow their Telegram channels and pay in crypto assets.
https://bloom.bg/3L5Y8jD