🇬🇧 U.K. unemployment climbed to its highest rate in almost five years in the fourth quarter as the economic toll from the pandemic continued to mount. https://bloom.bg/3aICFyw

🇺🇸 U.S. authorities arrested the wife of imprisoned narcotics kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman on Monday. Emma Coronel Aispuro is charged with aiding her husband’s 2015 prison escape, as well as trafficking in illegal drugs. https://bloom.bg/37HqvnH

💡 Now that the lights are back on in Texas, the state has to figure out who’s going to pay for the energy crisis that plunged millions into darkness last week. It will likely be ordinary Texans. https://bloom.bg/37ApxJR

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

🌊 As sea levels rise, cities are sinking under the weight of urban development. A new study quantifies just how much pressure big buildings are placing. https://bloom.bg/3uuqVaS

🇺🇸 In the U.S., Mitt Romney said Donald Trump would likely win the Republican nomination in 2024 if he decides to run again. https://bloom.bg/3kgm48e

💰 And here’s how much wealth you need to join the richest 1% around the world: https://bloom.bg/2Nrbfo8

💉 AstraZeneca is looking to new data to get its Covid vaccine back on track. The results of large-scale U.S. trials will either clear up or compound the confusion about the shot’s efficacy. https://bloom.bg/3qRPzQb

📈 Get ready for another global equity rotation. That's the guidance from UBS, which said that market drivers are likely to shift to growth and earnings in the second quarter. https://bloom.bg/2NAw2p9

💸 In the health-care industry, the pandemic led to big fortunes, fast, for makers are test kits, protective gear and medicines. Now some of those fortunes are evaporating. https://bloom.bg/3dLyV11

🌐 Australia passed a law forcing tech companies like Facebook and Google to pay local publishers for news. The move may unleash more global action to limit their power. http://bloom.bg/3aREOYB

☔ Some Hong Kong protesters aren’t finding the U.K. to be the sanctuary they expected. Broke activists are couch surfing, reliant on handouts and trapped in red tape. http://bloom.bg/3uq5Myx

🛋 Don’t get too used to working from home, Goldman’s CEO warned employees. “It’s not a new normal,” David Solomon said at a conference. “It’s an aberration that we are going to correct as quickly as possible.” http://bloom.bg/2P9aVL8

🇮🇹 With Germany's Angela Merkel preparing to step aside and Emmanuel Macron facing a tough election in France, the EU has a new heavyweight: Italy's Mario Draghi. https://bloom.bg/2NX1kq3

😷 The U.S. and parts of Europe are emerging from the darkest chapters yet of their outbreaks. See which countries are climbing up Bloomberg's Covid Resilience Ranking. https://bloom.bg/2ZOrf63

⚠ Unless you're the world's richest person, you shouldn't be buying Bitcoin. That's the message from Bill Gates, who says he's not a fan of the cryptocurrency. https://bloom.bg/3dKeRfr

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🇺🇸 The U.S. carried out airstrikes in Syria on sites connected to Iran-backed groups believed to be involved in recent attacks in Iraq, the first overt use of military force under President Joe Biden. https://bloom.bg/2Nx20CT

💬 Many are looking to Warren Buffett’s annual letter, which gets released Saturday, for him to finally share his thoughts about 2020. He mostly stayed silent while the pandemic raged, even through the heated U.S. election. https://bloom.bg/2ZTdIKA

📈 And options traders are betting that GameStop shares will reach $800 on Friday. https://bloom.bg/2ZUw8ue

📊 A recovery in global bonds spread to U.S. equity futures, as markets returned to firmer footing at the end of a week that saw the heaviest losses in the Nasdaq 100 since the pandemic meltdown. https://bloom.bg/3uA2YyU

🇮🇳 India’s Mukesh Ambani is back to being the wealthiest person in Asia after his Reliance Industries emerged relatively unscathed from a brutal week for markets. https://bloom.bg/3koRzgu

🌿 And a cannabinoid company backed by David Beckham soared on its debut, part of a rush of cannabis-related listings in London. https://bloom.bg/3aSlACi

💰 Walmart poached two Goldman Sachs bankers to help lead a new fintech startup as part of its entry into the banking business. https://bloom.bg/2OaVVvy

The move underscores the seriousness of Walmart’s plans to get involved with customers’ financial lives. It also puts the retailer one step closer to being JPMorgan's biggest nightmare. https://bloom.bg/38dQsvt

💹 And in markets, sovereign bonds rebounded, U.S. futures rose and the dollar dipped Monday. Here’s what you need to know to start the week: https://bloom.bg/37YNvhU

💰 Warren Buffett made no splashy deals in 2020, and he didn't weigh in on some of the year's most contentious topics. But behind the scenes, the 90-year old billionaire broke a stock-buying record. https://bloom.bg/3r4XppV

✈ Dubai's population dropped by 8.4% last year, as expat workers lost their jobs in the pandemic. The drop in Dubai — the Middle East's hub for business and tourism — was the biggest in the region. https://bloom.bg/3bN2cFX

🇺🇸 And former President Donald Trump told a conference of conservative supporters that he's laying the groundwork for a 2024 presidential run. "Who knows? I may even decide to beat them a third time," he said. https://bloom.bg/303DtrD

💸 A Bank of America gauge is near a level that historically has been bearish for stocks — and it’s very close to triggering a sell signal, according to new research. http://bloom.bg/3uKjFrn

✈ The father and son accused of orchestrating Carlos Ghosn’s escape are now in custody. The Americans face a possible three-year sentence in Japanese prison while the former Nissan chairman is a free man in Lebanon. http://bloom.bg/3szDsaU

🥩 Sorry steak lovers, Australia’s running out of cows. Cattle producers are racing to rebuild their herds, or Aussie beef may slip off menus globally. http://bloom.bg/3bTy

👟 Nike executive Ann Hebert abruptly left the company, following a Bloomberg Businessweek report about her son reselling sneakers and using a credit card in her name. https://bloom.bg/3q3WDbf

🚗 Pandemic restrictions in 2020 caused a historic drop in carbon-dioxide pollution. But economic activity eventually picked up, and in December, emissions were higher than in 2019. https://bloom.bg/3kyLLkI

🔐 Billions of doses of coronavirus vaccines —worth tens of billions of dollars — are set to be dispatched around the world. Here's how shipping companies are protecting the precious cargo. https://bloom.bg/304my8i

🐝 The meme-stocks trading phenomenon has resulted in a new ETF. Launching Thursday, BUZZ purports to track the 75 most-favorably mentioned companies on the internet. http://bloom.bg/3e3SxgY

🚀 A Japanese billionaire is running a contest to select eight people to join him on the first commercial SpaceX flight around the moon in 2023. http://bloom.bg/2PuxPNd

👶 China’s biggest political meeting of the year is kicking off Friday. Here’s a guide on what to expect, from birth policy to economic targets: http://bloom.bg/387dlAC

😷 Swedish health officials said Stockholm has succumbed to a resurgence of the pandemic, after infections soared 100% over the past three weeks. https://bloom.bg/3kE4ZW9

🇬🇧 Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is set to unveil his second U.K. budget Wednesday. Here's what to watch. https://bloom.bg/386wG4H

🏡 And Hong Kong's luxury property market has set another record. A house in the 11 Plantation Road project on the Peak is renting for HK$1.35 million per month — more than $2 million a year. https://bloom.bg/2PwPfsv

🤳 The U.S. and China are rattled by just how dependent they are on Taiwan and South Korea for chips. The two powerhouses account for 43% of semiconductor manufacturing capacity. http://bloom.bg/388ahUQ

👀 An Indian Covid vaccine that generated controversy when it was granted emergency approval before finishing final-stage tests showed an 81% efficacy rate. http://bloom.bg/2Ood6tD

💰 Asia’s richest families are jumping on the SPAC wagon, investing in blank-check companies as interest rates near zero. http://bloom.bg/3e6JA6F

💻 Nintendo plans to unveil a model of its Switch gaming console equipped with a bigger Samsung OLED display this year, hoping that the larger touchscreen will prop up demand in time for the holidays. https://bloom.bg/3kLfMOj

💉 The European Medicines Agency said it has started a rolling review of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine. It's the first major step in gaining approval for use in the European Union. https://bloom.bg/30prl4x

🇺🇸 Donald Trump is telling allies he's strongly considering another run for president in 2024 — and close advisers want him to choose someone other than former Vice President Mike Pence for his ticket. https://bloom.bg/3jTIUT4

🇨🇳 China's biggest political meeting of the year kicked off on Friday. Beijing is targeting GDP growth of above 6%, well below forecasts, and plans to boost defense spending by 6.8%. https://bloom.bg/2PsgmVu

🏬 Since tourism isn't showing any signs of recovering, hotels in Hong Kong are being turned into apartments to satisfy housing demand. https://bloom.bg/30b65PE

💉 Pfizer’s fast vaccine distribution has made the company a hero of the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t made entire countries angry. Take a look inside the fraught rollout of the lifesaving shot: https://bloom.bg/3kN76XR

🚀 Virgin Galactic chairman Chamath Palihapitiya sold his personal holding in the space-tourism company founded by Richard Branson, raising $213 million. https://bloom.bg/3bjdvql

🌊 A 7,500-mile undersea cable from China to Europe is raising tensions between Beijing and Washington. https://bloom.bg/3sQbsA7

🚁 And Joe Biden may have to wait months longer to ride on a new Marine One helicopter. A lingering flaw means the aircraft still poses a risk of scorching the White House lawn. https://bloom.bg/3ebbZsh

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🛢One of the most protected crude facilities in the world was attacked on Sunday, Saudi Arabia said, sending oil prices surging to above $70. https://bloom.bg/2OAmPgw

↕ Ethereum blockchain developers approved one of the biggest changes to the network, reducing the supply of the tokens. The move will likely lead to rising prices as demand for the cryptocurrency increases. https://bloom.bg/30p7BxP

🇧🇷 And the world’s worst Covid crisis is unfolding in Brazil, where no fix seems to work. https://bloom.bg/2PzW9Ny

💥 Saudi Arabia said some of its key oil infrastructure came under missile and drone attack on Sunday. Oil output was unaffected, but crude prices briefly climbed above $70 a barrel. https://bloom.bg/3v4UkZh

💒 Billionaire MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has married a Seattle science teacher, who promptly declared he plans to help give away most of their wealth to charity.
https://bloom.bg/3v3Dda9

👑 And in a wide-ranging interview, Harry and Meghan described painful palace discussions and the intense pressures that led the Duchess of Sussex to contemplate suicide. https://bloom.bg/3bqHAo9

😷 Fully vaccinated people can visit indoors without masks, according to new guidelines from the CDC in the U.S. It still advises against travel. http://bloom.bg/3ryenNu

🛢 The spike in oil prices is threatening the global economic recovery and stoking fears of inflation. These are the nations that stand to win and lose from crude’s surge: http://bloom.bg/3t2SbM0

🎈 SPACs have collectively raised $156 billion over the last 15 months. But some analysts see bad omens everywhere. http://bloom.bg/3cfqHM9