America’s biggest hunt

Six thousand miles from Wall Street, in the ancient Silk Road city of Almaty, lies a little-known financial empire. Inside a members-only club, two cockatoos keep watch. Above a bronze samovar, a flat screen television shows the corporate crest: a green “F” on a green shield. Few can explain how this obscure brokerage in Kazakhstan has outrun Wall Street firms. But outrun them it has. —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic worldwide.

U.S. consumer sentiment fell to the lowest level in almost a decade—and well short of estimates—as Americans grew more concerned about the economy’s prospects, inflation and the latest wave of coronavirus cases. U.S. stocks retreated on the news. Here’s your markets wrap.

Richard Branson sold about $300 million in Virgin Galactic Holdings stock, again tapping his biggest listed asset to prop up his business empire.

It’s 2021 in Kabul, but to some observers of U.S. military history it looks like 1975 in Saigon. A war begun to destroy Al Qaeda was ultimately lost, some experts contend, the moment President George W. Bush invaded Iraq on what turned out to be false pretenses. Now, hundreds of thousands of dead later, the Afghan capital is increasingly isolated as the Taliban, former hosts to Osama Bin Laden, sweep across the country. U.S. President Joe Biden—having done what his two predecessors failed to do by withdrawing U.S. troops—faces blowback for an arguably unsurprising result. At the U.S. embassy, they’re already burning documents while the Afghan government has some very unpleasant choices. The Afghan people, however, have it much worse.

A temporary U.S. ban on evictions in parts of the country hit hardest by the pandemic can continue, a federal judge ruled, in a victory for the Biden administration’s efforts against the spread of the coronavirus.

Moscow reported a Covid-19 mortality rate of 4%. The German government has elevated Turkey, the U.S. and Israel to high-risk status. The Belize Tourism Board said 27 people tested positive for Covid-19 on a Carnival cruise ship this week. U.S. health authorities signed off on a third coronavirus shot for the most vulnerable. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

Airbnb said it will allow hosts and guests to sue the company over claims of sexual assault and harassment in its listings, lifting a mandatory arbitration clause that’s been buried in its terms of service for more than a decade.

Amazon Studios will film the second season of its “Lord of the Rings” series in the U.K., shifting the production base from New Zealand, where the popular movie adaptations of the fantasy novels were shot.

The Route 127 Yard Sale stretches clear across America. Starting in the Deep South, the annual event runs 690 miles to just a few hours’ drive from Canada. It spans six states and attracts vacationing motor home enthusiasts, antique pickers and anyone who loves to haggle. The sale is actually hundreds of little sales in hundreds of front yards, with perhaps just as many commercial vendors. From South to North, it’s all about the hunt.

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