We are talking about the rising demand for Russian oil in Asia and China’s collapsing real estate market.
Asia buys Russian oil
Soaring demand from Asia for discounted Russian oil is causing the number of barrels to be sold to Europe to be significantly lower, reduce the impact of Western sanctions.
Most of the additional oil has gone to two countries: China and India. China’s imports of Russian oil rose 28% in May from the previous month, while India went from receiving almost no Russian oil to buying more than 760,000 bpd.
Oil is being sold at a steep discount because of the risks associated with sanctions imposed to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. However, soaring energy prices have boosted Russia’s oil revenues, which last month brought in $1.7 billion compared with April.
More news from the war in Ukraine:
China’s expanding surveillance capabilities
Analysts estimate that phone tracking devices are everywhere in China – as are more than half of the world’s nearly one billion surveillance cameras. The police there are creating some of the largest DNA databases in the world. And authorities are building on facial recognition technology to collect speech prints from the public.
Times reporters spent more than a year analyzing more than one hundred thousand government tender documents, revealing that China’s ambitions to collect a staggering amount of personal data from citizens everyday is expands beyond what was previously known.
The analysis shows that police have chosen locations to maximize the data their facial recognition cameras can collect, such as places where people eat, shop and commute. In a tender document from Fujian province, police estimated that there are 2.5 billion facial images stored at any given time.
Authorities are using phone trackers to link people’s digital lives to their physical movements. In one case, the documents revealed that police purchased a phone tracking device in the hope of detecting an Uyghur to Chinese dictionary app that would identify phones likely to belong about members of the oppressed Uyghur minority.
For more: Here are the four biggest takeaways from the Times investigation.
China’s real estate market cools down
An asset debt crisis and a stagnant economy in China have Touching a drop in new home sales and falling property prices for the first time in years – jeopardizing an investment vital to millions of Chinese families.
The situation worsened as a new variant of the coronavirus caused widespread lockdowns and brought the economy to a standstill. Prices have fallen across the country, but demand has yet to return, a frightening sign for an economy that was once dependent on housing for job growth and business spending.
But so far, China’s efforts to revive the housing market with lower mortgage rates, easier credit, subsidies and easing regulations have been fruitless. In April and May, new home prices fell in more than half of China’s 70 largest cities for the first time since 2016, and sales of such homes fell nearly 60 percent.
Macros: Since the country began implementing reforms in 1988 for commercial housing, real estate has become the mainstay of a developed economy. By some estimates, it accounts for about 30% of China’s gross domestic product.
Micro: For young people who want to start a family, owning a house is considered a must before getting married. Instead of investing in stocks and bonds, Chinese households allocate most of their savings to real estate – at a rate more than double that of Americans.
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According to scientists, over nine months, three African wild dogs have covered about 1,300 miles, more than double the previous record for the species. Brave sisters with lions, crocodiles, poachers and raging rivers on their journey to find a new home.
ARTS AND IDEAS
You still mute
It’s been nearly 28 months since offices closed at the start of the pandemic. It’s been more than enough time to buy a ring light, hang some art on the wall, and figure out the mute button. But as Emma Goldberg, a Times business reporter noticed, many people still haven’t adapted.
So many people have continued to work from home with a certain degree of laziness, as if any day could herald a return to room and to work.
By the end of 2021, three million professional roles in the US are gone forever. Many other workers have been in limbo, returning to the office or part-time or awaiting a return to office plan that will not be postponed. The confusion and ambience that people feel can make the investment in setting up remote work permanent.
Last week Sujay Jaswa, a former Dropbox executive, made a video shot with the camera pointing up at the ceiling. “His business philosophy doesn’t include dropping a good zoom,” wrote Room Rater, a Twitter account that records video call backgrounds.
PLAY, WATCH, EAT
What to cook?
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you again in the next time. – Matthew
PS: This week 50 years ago, soldiers of the Irish Republican Army in the Crumlin Road prison in Belfast End of 36-day hunger strike.
The latest episode of “The Daily“It’s about the vibrant US real estate market.
You can contact Matthew and the team at riefing@nytimes.com.
