Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Fifteen killed in elementary school

Fourteen students and one teacher were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday. The shooter, said by authorities to be an 18-year-old man who lived in the community, was killed by police at the scene. The Robb Elementary School in Uvalde is about 85 miles west of San Antonio and roughly 75 miles from the Mexico border. The shooting recalls the December 2012 killing of 26 people, mostly young children, at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut, which mobilized anti-gun violence advocates around the country. Tuesday’s attack is the second mass shooting in less than two weeks in America. A White gunman killed 10 Black shoppers and employees in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket on May 14 in what officials have called a hate crime. —Margaret Sutherlin

The war in Ukraine is the beginning of a new world war, Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor and billionaire George Soros told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He called the rise of “repressive regimes” under Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping the “greatest threat to open society.” He warned that, given all the other threats facing the planet, “civilization may not survive.” In Ukraine, workers found 200 bodies in the basement of a Mariupol apartment building destroyed by Russian forces, adding to the thousands of civilians already killed in Putin’s war. Some European nations are pushing the European Union to send warships into the Black Sea to protect Ukrainian freighters carrying grain from potential Russian interference. The Kremlin has effectively blockaded Ukrainian ports as part of its now three-month invasion, sending grain prices to near-record highs and stoking a major global food crisis. India is preparing to restrict sugar exports, another act of protectionism after banning wheat sales just over a week ago, and Malaysia halted chicken sales abroad. While some developing nations are taking action to safeguard supplies, the crisis threatens to spill into other economies. There’s at least one nation that’s making a profit from the turmoil in grain markets, though: Russia. 

An aerial view of bombed-out residential buildings in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on May 18 Photographer: Andrey Borodulin/AFP

Technology stocks dived again on Tuesday, dashing investor hopes that markets had hit bottom. Social media company shares tumbled, driven in part by Snap’s warning and a negative update to numbers it shared just a month ago. Shares in digital advertising-dependent Snap plummeted as much as 41%, their biggest intraday decline ever. The selloff erased almost $16 billion in market value and added to declines for Meta, Alphabet, Twitter and Pinterest. By the end of trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 closed down over 2%. Here’s your markets wrap. 

Commodity trading giant Glencore pleaded guilty to bribery charges as part of a sweeping $1.5 billion deal with authorities in the US and UK to resolve corruption probes. The guilty plea will go a long way toward removing a question mark that’s overshadowed the company’s business for years—though it still faces investigations elsewhere.  

Forecasters are predicting six to 10 Atlantic hurricanes this year. In all, 14 to 21 named storms could form. It’s another worrying forecast for coastal residents as well as energy and commodity markets already roiled by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Debris from a collapsed house on Sept. 2, 2021, after Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans.  Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg

For decades, the surest way for ordinary Chinese families to grow their wealth and guarantee future financial stability was to put most of their money into real estate and the rest in the stock market. But with Covid-19 lockdowns battering the economy, more people are clutching their cash—a whopping $16.3 trillion to be exact. In the US meanwhile, the red hot housing market is showing signs of cooling.

Georgia voters are set to deliver the biggest test to Donald Trump’s grip on the GOP in a primary season marked by the Republican’s efforts to bolster his sway with the party’s far-right base and inflict retribution on those who rejected his falsehoods about the 2020 election of Joe Biden. Elsewhere, former Bridgewater chief David McCormick sued Pennsylvania to count previously rejected absentee and mail-in ballots in his too-close-to-call primary race with fellow Republican and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz.

There’s a looming shortage of lithium, a key raw material in the batteries used in electric vehicles. Argentina is jumping on thee opportunity, preparing to tap its resources with 13 lithium projects, more than any other country. 

Brine evaporation pools at Liex's 3Q lithium mine project near Fiambala, Argentina, on Dec. 5, 2021.   Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg

• Hungarian Prime Minister Orban declares a state of emergency.
• New data shows abuses of Muslim Uyghurs in Chinese detention camps.
• Despite heavy losses, Wall Street is wading back into Treasuries. 
• Suspect in potential random killing in New York’s subway surrendered.
• FBI says it uncovered a plot to kill George W. Bush over the Iraq war.
• London’s new finance hub isn’t in the heart of London.
• No, there is no such thing as an ESG stock. 

  London’s Tube Gets a Big Refresh

  London just launched the biggest extension of its public transport system this century. Dubbed the Elizabeth Line and opened to coincide with celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th year on the throne, the long-awaited £18.9 billion ($23.7 billion) transit project promises to reshape areas of London. Here’s a first look. 

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  Britain's Queen Elizabeth II visits Paddington Station in London to mark the completion of London's Crossrail project.  Photographer: Andrew Matthews/AFP

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