(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden is under pressure to invoke Cold War-era powers to force more domestic oil production as the war in Ukraine strains supplies, raising gasoline prices and fueling inflation. Most Read from Bloomberg Lawmakers and labor activists have urged Biden to compel deployment of drilling rigs and solar panels using the 1950 Defense Production Act, the same authority wielded by Harry Truman to make steel for the Korean War and Donald Trump to spur mask production to… Source link

A pharmacist prepares doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Hagerstown, Md., Feb. 22, 2022. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times) As the omicron coronavirus surge subsides, researchers are keeping an eye on a highly transmissible subvariant known as BA.2. Although it does not appear to have the capacity to drive a large new wave of infections, the variant could potentially slow the current decline of COVID cases and make treatment more difficult. Here’s what we know so far about BA.2. It’s… Source link

The Scheherazade, which dominates the waterfront in the small town of Marina di Carrara, Italy, March 4, 2022, where it has been moored since September. (Gaia Pianigiani/The New York Times) WASHINGTON — U.S. officials are examining the ownership of a $700 million superyacht currently in a dry dock in an Italian seacoast town and believe it could be associated with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, according to multiple people briefed on the information. U.S. intelligence agencies have made… Source link

Within hours, an app designed to help Russians register protest votes against Putin could no longer be downloaded from Google or Apple, whose main representative in Moscow faced a similarly harrowing sequence. Titans of American technology had been brought to their knees by some of the most primitive intimidation tactics in the Kremlin playbook. Story continues below advertisement The unnerving encounters, which have not previously been disclosed, were part of a broader campaign that Putin… Source link

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine bringing us images of murdered civilians, bombed maternity wards and the horror of urban warfare, you really have to wonder about the human race. How is it that 145 million Russians allow someone like Putin to rule over them? The answer to that question has everything to do with Russian history and politics of course, but an even more sobering point is that Putin is hardly alone. The world today is rife with authoritarians, nationalists and dictators —… Source link

(Bloomberg) — Even after one of the worst starts to an equity trading year in history, the market upheaval might just be getting started. Most Read from Bloomberg Ominous signs are piling up that more turmoil is still coming, as key indicators point toward a potential recession. That could deepen the market rout triggered by the Federal Reserve leading a hawkish shift among central banks and war in Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury yield curve has collapsed to near inversion — a situation when… Source link

The Green Bay Packers are adding another staff member to assist Rich Bisaccia’s special teams. According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Packers hired Michael Spurlock as a quality control assistant on special teams. Spurlock, who played nine seasons in the NFL, returned 107 kickoffs and 81 punts during his career. He produced five total return touchdowns; two on punts and three on kickoffs. In 2007, Spurlock became the first player in the history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to return a kickoff… Source link

The Phoenix Suns are undoubtedly one of the NBA’s top title contenders, but one of their players is playing for something bigger. Suns center Bismack Biyombo announced via a video from his foundation on Friday that he has pledged his entire 2021-22 season salary toward the construction of a hospital in his native Democratic Republic of Congo, in honor of his late father. Biyombo said in his video that he stepped away from basketball in 2021 to spend time with his father, François, who was… Source link

NEW YORK — MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, say what you will about him, understands labor negotiations. Labor relations, less so — a fact that’s so hard to deny, he doesn’t even bother trying. But the part where you extract as much and surrender as little as possible through ruthlessness and savvy? Well, we wouldn’t have been in this mess if he was worse at it. And so when he offers insights into the inner workings, they’re worth taking seriously. After the latest, and longest in a… Source link

Trevor Bauer will start spring training the same way he ended the 2021 MLB season: on administrative leave, waiting for someone to make a firm decision. MLB placed Bauer back on paid leave Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin, continuing a state of limbo that has been in place since he was accused of sexual assault last July. The leave reportedly extends through March 19 and can be further extended by agreement between the league and MLBPA. The offseason brought at least… Source link