EXCLUSIVE: A Pentagon hack in 2010. A breach at Intel in 2014. An FBI warning about malicious chips in 2015.
 
Each of these incidents had two things in common: China and Super Micro Computer Inc., a major U.S. computer hardware company.
 
They shared one other trait. U.S. spymasters discovered the manipulations but kept them largely secret as they tried to counter each one and learn more about China’s capabilities. Read more ➡️ http://bloom.bg/3qenHWp

🗾 Japan is assessing damage and restoring power after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Fukushima late Saturday. The government said there were no deaths and no incidents reported from reactors. http://bloom.bg/3rSHqez

🛢 Bill Gates promised to dump his oil and gas assets. But disentangling the world’s third-largest fortune from fossil fuel hasn’t kept him from investing in other carbon-heavy businesses. http://bloom.bg/3jMUNu5

🔬 Home to the world’s second-largest Covid outbreak, life in India seems back to normal. Scientists are puzzled by a steady drop in infections, with daily cases down nearly 90% from the peak, as other countries battle fresh waves. http://bloom.bg/3deD0dK

❄ The arctic freeze gripping the central U.S. has triggered rolling blackouts in Texas and is ratcheting up pressure on energy prices already trading at unprecedented levels.
https://bloom.bg/2ZjfdRW

😷 A push by Iceland to get Pfizer to conduct a study on vaccines and herd immunity has run into an unexpected snag: The tiny island nation has done too good a job keeping Covid-19 in check. https://bloom.bg/3ajzsoH

📈 And while Bitcoin's rally has seen some extreme moves, it’s not as chaotic as 2017. What's different now? A wider belief that the cryptocurrency will develop into a mainstream asset class and the backing of big investors. https://bloom.bg/2NtEENM

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🛢The biggest oil refineries in America are shutting down because of the arctic conditions that have cut electricity, water and fuel supplies across Texas. The Gulf Coast supplies more than three-fifths of the fuel for the entire U.S. East Coast. https://bloom.bg/2OwtDMf

🌍 The WTO chose its first female and first African leader: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The former Nigerian finance minister will be tasked with restoring trust in a global trading system shaken by protectionism and the pandemic. https://bloom.bg/3apIL6w

🌴 One thing that makes lockdown easier? A $70,000-a-month beach resort. Wealthy remote workers are fleeing to tropical getaways while waiting for the Covid vaccine to be available back home. https://bloom.bg/3qoqfRT

🐝 From real estate and Bitcoin to cows and beehives, every investment gets tallied. Switzerland offers a rare real-world example of how wealth taxes can rake in cash for governments. https://bloom.bg/2Zi9eg8

💸 For Masayoshi Son, these days are even better than the dot-com bubble. Shares in the Japanese billionaire's SoftBank Group surged on Tuesday to the highest close since the company went public in 1994. https://bloom.bg/3dem33j

🔌 Some retail power companies in Texas are making an unusual plea to their customers as a deep freeze sends electricity prices skyrocketing: Please, leave us. https://bloom.bg/3dgr1N1

✂ Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its Apple holdings and revealed three stakes it snapped up in secret, according to new filings. http://bloom.bg/2ZnaIWr

👀 Kim Jong Un's wife made her first public appearance in a year, ending an unusual absence that stoked speculation about her condition during the pandemic. http://bloom.bg/2NzuqLS

❄ In a matter of days, a cold blast in the U.S. froze natural gas pipelines, sent electricity prices skyrocketing and forced Texas's grid operator to plunge millions of homes into darkness. Here's how extreme cold turned into an energy crisis: http://bloom.bg/3be7hqt

📈 Bitcoin's incredible rally shows little sign of abating. The cryptocurrency rose almost 6% on Wednesday, jumping past $51,000 for the first time. It's surged fivefold this year. https://bloom.bg/3rYQEWI

🇺🇸 President Biden plans to "recalibrate" the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia. It's another sign that the U.S. is reassessing the close ties to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman that were forged under Trump. https://bloom.bg/2NgUifV

👵 Document shredding. Risky trades. A family divided. At 93 years old, Beverley Schottenstein decided her JPMorgan financial advisors needed to pay—even though they were her own grandsons. https://bloom.bg/3bcXNvF

📵 Facebook has cut off the sharing of news articles on the social network in Australia, the strongest response yet to the country’s proposed law requiring tech companies to pay publishers — and one that could set a precedent for other places. http://bloom.bg/3rVzoSe

🐾 Cryptocurrency sleuths believe they’ve identified the owner of the world’s biggest Dogecoin wallet: Robinhood. The owner controls nearly 29% of the cryptocurrency, which has surged more than 950% since the start of the year. http://bloom.bg/3qIJdTv

💥 And in China, markets are reopening after the Lunar New Year break, and they’re poised to close at a record high. http://bloom.bg/3px1XDI

🌱 Almost a year after the WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic, some encouraging signs are emerging. Global cases of Covid-19 have dropped to the lowest level since October, at 2.7 million the week ending Feb. 14. https://bloom.bg/3jXEv1w

💻 Keith Gill, known as "Roaring Kitty," was one of the most influential voices that pushed GameStop on the WallStreetBets Reddit forum. Now a class-action lawsuit accuses him of misrepresenting himself as an amateur investor. https://bloom.bg/3avQMqT

🔦 And in Texas, millions of people are still without power and heat, and forced to boil their water, after a winter blitz led to rolling blackouts. It's unclear when service might return. https://bloom.bg/2ZFOu2h

📈 North America’s first Bitcoin ETF got off to a stellar start in its debut, with investors exchanging $165 million worth of shares. https://bloom.bg/3drHhe7

🚀🔴 NASA nailed a historic Mars landing. Its largest and most sophisticated science rover, Perseverance, touched down in an ancient river delta that may reveal whether the planet ever harbored microbial life. https://bloom.bg/2ZsQPNA

🇮🇳 And India’s $3.5 billion push to revive zombie homes is starting to pay off. Rebooting stalled projects will yield thousands of flats this year. https://bloom.bg/3qyKXP5

🚕 Uber lost a U.K. Supreme Court ruling over the rights of its drivers in a landmark decision that threatens the company’s business model in the country. https://bloom.bg/3dtMGRJ

💵 Elon Musk defended Tesla’s $1.5 billion Bitcoin bet in a tweeted reply to a Bloomberg TV interview, calling it “simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash.” https://bloom.bg/3qF5wcw

🗽 And even with sales activity surging, rock bottom for New York real estate is still a long way off, according to a new report. https://bloom.bg/2NK5AZK

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💉 The Pfizer vaccine stops the spread of Covid, a study in Israel showed. The shot appeared to protect the vast majority of recipients there from getting infected. https://bloom.bg/3aI0OFw

📈 The U.S. love affair with stocks is deepening as everyone from frenetic day traders to big institutions dive further into the market. Daily warnings about a bubble are going unheeded. https://bloom.bg/3aDPwSq

📱 A week after Clubhouse said it was taking steps to ensure the security of data, at least one user breached the app’s chatrooms and streamed audio feeds into a third-party website. https://bloom.bg/3bnyiIe

🇬🇧 Prime Minister Boris Johnson will unveil England's "road map" out of its third lockdown on Monday, and is planning a gradual reopening to make sure the pandemic restrictions don't have to be reimposed. Here's what to expect. https://bloom.bg/3ujqsrH

📈 For bond investors, inflation is pretty much all bad news. For equity traders, the tidings can be less categorically awful. While there will be plenty of stock-market casualties if price pressures perk up, history suggests there are opportunities, too. https://bloom.bg/37BD6bL

🌴 And after a year of pandemic lockdowns, a return to international travel is starting to look like a reality. People are looking for open spaces, safety, and sunshine — and are ready to put down serious cash to get it. These are the most desirable destinations. https://bloom.bg/3aF70he

📉 Elon Musk lost $15 billion in a day after Tesla shares slid on Monday, dethroning him as the world's richest person. The decline was fueled in part by the CEO's comments about Bitcoin. https://bloom.bg/3smMO9Q

🌎 The coronavirus death toll in the U.S. hit 500,000, more than twice the number recorded by the next highest country. https://bloom.bg/2NTEqQd

🇨🇳🇰🇷 Which Chinese companies should you be betting on? If you're thinking South Korean-style conglomerates, it’s probably best to run the other way, writes Bloomberg Opinion's Shuli Ren. https://bloom.bg/2ZJjA8W

🇬🇧 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

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🌊 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