Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - China gets a downgrade

Moody’s Investors Service cut its outlook for Chinese sovereign bonds to negative, underscoring global concerns about the level of debt in the world’s second-largest economy. Moody’s lowered its outlook to negative from stable while retaining a long-term rating of A1 on the nation’s sovereign bonds. China’s usage of fiscal stimulus to support local governments and its spiraling property downturn are posing risks to the nation’s economy, ratings agency said.

The change comes as China continues its efforts to shake off the risk of contagion from its deepening property rout, with the country ramping up its borrowing as a main tool to bolster its economy. Still, the ping from Moody’s isn’t being seen as dire. “These ratings downgrades or negative outlook shifts often mark the low in terms of bad news and market selloffs,” said Viraj Patel, global macro strategist at Vanda Research. “I wouldn’t see this being the case in two to three months’ time.” —David E. Rovella

The owners of a truckstop empire with a $17.8 billion fortune are looking for a smooth exit, but it’s proving tricky—and at the center of their troubles is Warren Buffett. The Haslam family is engaged in litigation with Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. over the sale of their remaining stake in Pilot Travel Centers, the gas-station network founded by the family’s patriarch, Jim Haslam. The case hinges on obscure accounting rules the family claims could cost them more than $1 billion. Berkshire has hit back with accusations of bribery leveled at former Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Haslam, 69, best-known as the owner of the Cleveland Browns football team along with his wife Dee.

Jimmy Haslam Photographer: Todd Olszewski/Getty Images

US President Joe Biden said he might not be seeking a second term if Donald Trump weren’t trying to return to the White House, saying that Trump poses a grave threat to the nation. The twice-impeached Trump faces almost 100 felony counts in four prosecutions in state and federal court, with allegations ranging from accounting fraud to the attempted subversion of American democracy. As the de facto leader of the Republican Party, Trump has threatened to use the federal government during a second term to wreak vengeance upon his enemies, among other things. “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running,” Biden told donors Tuesday at a campaign fundraiser in Massachusetts. “But we cannot let him win for the sake of our country.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy canceled an address to the US Senate as negotiations stall on $61 billion in new weaponry and other aid to his country. The White House has warned that the US could completely run out of resources to assist Ukraine by the end of the calendar year. Yet the package continues to be held up by Republican demands for major concessions on immigration policy.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin will visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week, using a rare trip abroad since his invasion of Ukraine to bolster partnerships with key oil producers. Putin will meet with both UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday. Neither country is a signatory to the International Criminal Court, which has issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest on war crimes charges. Putin’s war on Ukraine has been estimated to have claimed around 200,000 lives.

Vladimir Putin, right, and Mohammed bin Salman in 2018. Photographer: Ludovic Marin/Getty Images

ByteDance’s TikTok has struck a deal to invest in a unit of Indonesia’s GoTo Group and cooperate as part of an online shopping service, pioneering a template for e-commerce beyond Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. 

Cancer drugs that work like heat-seeking missiles to deliver chemicals directly to tumors are having a bit of a moment, Lisa Jarvis writes in Bloomberg Opinion. Pharmaceutical companies, in need of assets to counter flagging sales, are making these so-called antibody-drug conjugates the technology of choice in oncology dealmaking, as illustrated by last week’s $10.1 billion acquisition of ImmunoGen by AbbVie. 

Bryan Ashby had been laid off from his job as a software developer. He was juggling a mortgage on his place in Salt Lake City, paying for his 13-year-old daughter’s private-school tuition and applying to scores of jobs. That’s when one of the companies where his interviews were going well told him about the next step: a complex coding project. It was a big ask, but Ashby needed the job, so he spent a week on it. He finished the assignment, turned it in, and then didn’t hear back for two months. Welcome to the new world of job hunting—it comes with homework.

Bryan Ashby spent a week completing a complex coding project for a job interview, part of a required take-home assessment.  Photographer: Kim Raff/Bloomberg

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• Alabama senator retreats from blocking US military promotions.
• Harvard, Penn heads defend response to Israel-Gaza war protests.

One reason friends can travel well together is that they often have a lot of shared interests. But a big advantage of knowing your travel partner well is knowing what their unique likes are, and using those to your advantage. A critical component of any successful buddy adventure is the time you are not together. Eater’s restaurant editor Hillary Dixler Canavan has a lot to say about this and seven other tips about how to travel.

Tourists visiting the Sensoji temple, a popular tourist attraction, in Tokyo. Photographer: Philip Fong/AFP

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