1. The world’s most, and least, affordable cities are in Asia. An EIU survey highlights a region of cost-of-living extremes. No other place is as diverse as Asia

Its regimes range from autocratic to democratic. Some Asian countries have populations that are among the world’s oldest, but in others they are relatively young. To such contrasts, add differences in affordability. Asia is home to some of the world’s most expensive cities and also some of cheapest, according to the latest Worldwide Cost of Living survey, a twice-yearly tally by EIU, sister company of the Economist. At the top end of the index is Singapore, which was the world’s joint most expensive city in 2022, along with New York. At the other end, five of the 12 least expensive cities in the world are in South Asia. Living costs in Karachi are about a third of those in Singapore—although it is also Asia’s hardest place to live in, according to a separate EIU index. Four of the five least expensive countries in are in India and include Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and New Delhi.

Despite the high ranking of Singapore and Hong Kong, Asian cities became comparatively less expensive in 2022. Two Japanese cities, Tokyo and Osaka, were among the 20 most expensive worldwide in 2021, but they slid down the rankings in 2022, to 37th and 43rd respectively (and 11th and 15th in Asia). Their decline was the sharpest among all 57 Asian cities surveyed by eiu. Even Colombo, in Sri Lanka, fell seven spots, despite an annual inflation rate that reached 70% last year (it ranked 53rd within Asia).

Part of this is explained by the survey’s methodology. It was designed to help companies make salary adjustments for the employees they send abroad. It compares the prices of more than 200 products and services in 172 cities—all converted into dollars. So when the greenback surges, as it did last year, cities outside America get cheaper in dollar terms.

2.Its official-Google is working on a competitor to OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT. The ‘experimental conversational AI service’ is called Bard and is only being tested by a limited group.

It’s not clear exactly what capabilities Bard will have, but it seems the chatbot will be just as free ranging as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. A screenshot encourages users to ask Bard practical queries, like how to plan a baby shower or what kind of meals could be made from a list of ingredients for lunch.

Writes Pichai: “Bard can be an outlet for creativity, and a launchpad for curiosity, helping you to explain new discoveries from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to a 9-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills.”

3.Salman Rushdie's magical new novel 'Victory City' contains 'the wisdom of a lifetime'.

Salman Rushdie’s new novel Victory City is released today. Set in fourteenth-century southern India, it tells the story of a young girl’s divine encounter and the creation of a metropolis in which women resist patriarchal rule. It is Rushdie’s fifteenth novel, the first to be published after a near-fatal attack at a literary event in August that left him blind in his right eye. “I’ve always thought that my books are more interesting than my life,” he told The New Yorker in his first interview since the stabbing. “Unfortunately, the world appears to disagree.”

4. Iran’s ‘ghost fleet’ switches into Russian oil: Sanctions-busting vessels make sudden shift after introduction of oil price cap and other restrictions according to a report in Financial Times.

Tankers in Iran’s “ghost fleet” have switched to carrying Russian oil since western curbs on Moscow intensified in December, as the Kremlin turned to sanctions-busting techniques pioneered by Tehran. At least 16 vessels that formed part of the “ghost” network that allowed Iran to breach US sanctions have begun to ship Russian crude oil over the past two months, according to Financial Times research. Before the surge, just nine vessels had switched on to the Russian route during the nine months since the start of the war in February last year.

So-called ghost ships are vessels that disguise their ownership and movements in order to facilitate breaches of sanctions. Networks of ghost ships enable the trade in Iranian and Venezuelan oil. Shipbrokers and analysts said that Russia was enticing tanker owners and operators with premium rates, as it seeks to shield its main source of export revenues from western measures such as the G7/EU oil price cap. Estimated Russian oil export revenue is markedly down on its prewar levels.

“We’ve seen a number of vessels involved in Russian trade that previously did Iranian barrels,” said Svetlana Lobaciova, a tanker analyst at shipbrokers EA Gibson in London.

“The premium for Russian trade is at least 50 per cent above the normal market rates and could be even more than 100 per cent in some instances, making the economics even more attractive than shipping Iranian oil.”

Iran has been able to maintain or even increase its crude exports in recent months. Tehran, which co-operates on oil policy with Moscow through the Opec+ group, has emerged as a key backer for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

5.Research finds women are 65% more likely than men to lose jobs in ongoing wave of tech layoffs

Tech layoffs are impacting women at a disproportionately higher rate than men, representing a possible setback for the industry’s efforts to improve its gender diversity, according to research by talent intelligence platform Eightfold AI. The key finding : women in tech are 65% more likely than men to lose their job. For more details hear on Geekwire Podcasts (Feb 2) on Spotify or Apple podcasts (https://open.spotify.com/show/2PPEGel5l0v3XxlD8fVxAh)