First it was the tech downturn, now the bank failures are hitting San Francisco's economy hard. Bloomberg's Karen Breslau helped write "The Big Take."

San Francisco

Three U.S banks including the Silicon Valley Bank have failed and Credit Suisse has been taken over amid the biggest crisis since 2008.

Banking Crisis

Banking crisis hits San Francisco startup scene

Because we want to dig in a little bit more where you are currently residing in because it's been hit hard. We know San Francisco by the pandemic. It's had a tough time coming back as tech workers just kept working from home. They left many of the downtown perhaps empty. The many would have liked to now that old school bang run that turned the tech hub into the center of the financial turmoil has just of course still hit a city when it's down. Bloomberg San Francisco bureau chief Karen Breslau is with us for more on what does this mean for San Francisco's future. You've got a beautifully written really thought provoking piece on the terminal today. Thank you Caroline. I think the storms that have pounded the city nonstop since January really are a metaphor for the storm of bad news that just has hit this city over and over. I mean you talked about that you know the bust hitting the city. Obviously the tech downturn was one thing. But then we had SVB and the shakiness in the banking sector. We have the affordability crisis a public safety crisis. And it has. And the fact that that this is a city where you know return to office rates are the lowest in the United States. So it's just all hit the city at once. It's a triple whammy. We're looking at live pictures facing down the embankment arrow towards downtown. Two key data points occupancy and unemployment. What have you learned in our reporting. Well there's a paradox there. Occupancy is a is a really shocking. Twenty nine point seven percent the highest anywhere. Right. Twenty nine point seven percent of those buildings nearly a third are empty. And yet the unemployment rate in the city is two point eight percent. So that is the paradox of San Francisco that you have so much innovation self-employment startups. And those typically are not companies in those early stages that need these giant office. I've called this city home for five years now. Caroline has lived in this city. We ask ourselves the same questions. One crisis at a different time. You spoke to the mayor. What's her proposal to fix all of this in the long term health. Well her proposal I mean she heard her job is to be the cheerleader. And I thought she she she gave a you know a noble effort. What she has talked about relentlessly is diversification. She has always argued that that this over reliance on the tech sector is is dangerous for San Francisco's economy. Of course she's right. She's not the first person to have that observation but she wants to attract bioscience life science tourism convert some of these empty towers into housing which would you know basically deal with two crises at once yet is incredibly expensive and doesn't always pencil out. So you know she and lower back tourists. So all of that is going to take a cleanup and a perception that this is a safe and beautiful city. And it certainly is beautiful. Can't argue with that. It is. It's going to take a big marketing campaign to remind everyone of that. Karen the tourists are back. Yes. They're coming. I mean I've been going there and it feels like and that's what sort of also the juxtaposition here is that when you're in some of the areas that tourists are busy it feels thriving. The restaurants are busy and humming. But then you go to downtown and does feel empty. Yeah. Will you yes. And then the neighborhoods are hopping. Well will they feel even emptier if you're getting matter getting some of the key tech companies doing layoffs as well. I think it is so empty right now. It's hard to imagine you know another few thousand missing from downtown. And those employees are also distributed. Some of them in San Francisco. Some of them are at the company's headquarters south of here in San Mateo County. But I think what has to happen is you know pretty soon as the prices plummet right for this commercial real estate there will be a value proposition and somebody you know some companies will move in. The neighborhoods are hopping. We talk about that in the story particularly around Hayes Valley which is now a valley or cerebral valley. Right. Brain part. Yeah. But there is action.

April was the eleventh consecutive month to break its own heat record, the European Union climate monitor Copernicus said, while ocean temperatures have been off the charts for even longer.

Brussels

Climate Crisis

Hottest April on record extends global temperature streak

The White House condemned the interruption of humanitarian deliveries to Gaza, with a senior U.S. official later revealing Washington had paused a shipment of bombs last week after Israel failed to address concerns over its Rafah plans.

Washington

Israel-Gaza War

U.S. pauses bomb shipments to Israel amid concerns over Rafah

The death toll continues to rise in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande Do Sul, in the wake of torrential rains and floods. At least 138 people have died and thousands lack water and electricity as floodwaters inundate entire towns.

State of Rio Grande do Sul

‘Desperate’ rescues under way as Brazil floods kill hundreds

The grief-stricken parents of murdered Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson have spoken for the first time since the pair were killed in Mexico. In an emotional statement on a San Diego beach, Debra and Martin Robinson confirmed they had identified their sons bodies, and are now planning to bring them home.

San Diego

Parents of Australian brothers open up on heartbreak

A 39-year-old woman has been stabbed in the carpark of the Crunch Fitness gym in Alexandria, Sydney's inner-south. Witnesses say the woman ran into the gym bleeding from her face. Police say it is a suspected domestic violence incident.

Alexandria

Manhunt underway after woman stabbed in Sydney gym carpark

As Israeli tanks roll through the southern Gaza city of Rafah after rejecting Hamas's ceasefire offer, the country's leaders are facing increasing pressure from both inside and out to reach a deal to stop the fighting.

Rafah

Israel rejects Hamas truce offer, takes control of Rafah crossing

Adult film star Stormy Daniels took the stand in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, outlining the salacious details of her alleged sexual encounter with the former U.S. president and the payments she says she received for her silence.

New York

Stormy Daniels delivers explosive testimony in Trump hush money trial

Millions of people have cast their ballots in India’s third of a seven-phase general election. It took place in eleven states and union territories. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a third term, cast his vote in Ahmedabad.

Gujarat

Millions vote in third phase of India's national elections

Ukraine says it thwarted a Russian plot to assassinate senior Ukrainian political and military figures, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. Two Ukrainian security officials were arrested for their links to Russia's Federal Security Service, which had aimed to carry out high-profile killings ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inauguration.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine says it foiled Russian attempt to assassinate Zelenskyy

A spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party has deflected blame for an altercation between a Chinese military jet and an Australian Seahawk Helicopter in waters off South Korea, claiming the helicopter was flying 'too close' to Chinese territorial waters.

Beijing

China blames Australia for mid-air military incident

President Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a new six-year term on Tuesday (May 7) at a Kremlin ceremony, boycotted by the U.S. and other Western countries, at which he said he was potentially open to nuclear talks with the West.

Moscow

Putin starts new six-year term with challenge to West

The Israeli military said it had taken operational control of the Palestinian side of Gaza's southern Rafah Crossing, which borders Egypt, and that special forces were scanning the area.

Israel claims control of Rafah crossing

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to hold nuclear weapons drills involving the navy and troops based near Ukraine, the defence ministry said Monday.

Putin orders nuclear drills near Ukraine

Australian and Chinese relations are strained following an incident involving military forces from both countries. During a routine operation in the Yellow Sea, within international waters, an Australian helicopter faced an aggressive manoeuver by a Chinese military jet.

Council of the City of Sydney

Australia hits out at China over helicopter incident

Interest rates will remain unchanged after the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate at 4.35%, a figure that has held steady since November. It comes amidst the ongoing struggle with rising costs of living pressures.

RBA keeps interest rates on hold

Israel has launched new airstrikes in Rafah, warning 100,000 people there to flee to a designated safe area ahead of an expected ground operation. The strikes came after Hamas agreed to a mediated ceasefire proposal but Israel did not.

Hamas accepts mediated ceasefire deal; Israel doesn't

The bodies of Perth brothers Callum and Jake Robinson have been formally identified after their grieving family arrived in Mexico. Authorities have arrested four people in connection with the alleged murders.

Baja California

Grieving family arrives in Mexico to identify brothers' remains

The Defence Minister has condemned the conduct of a Chinese fighter jet, which launched flares near an Australian Seahawk helicopter. The incident occurred over international waters in the Yellow Sea off the coast of South Korea.

Seoul

Chinese fighter jet detonates flares near Australian helicopter

Israel's military has carried out airstrikes in Rafah, residents said, hours after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza city where more than a million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering.

Jerusalem

Israel strikes Rafah after evacuation order, residents say

Chinese President Xi Jinping awoke in Paris on Monday on his first visit to the region in five years, with trade and Russia's war with Ukraine on the agenda in talks with France's Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Paris

China's Xi Jinping pays state visit to France

Israel has ordered civilians in Rafah to move towards Khan Younis, in the clearest sign yet that a military operation is imminent. A ceasefire in Gaza looks as distant as ever with Hamas refusing to lay down arms unless there is a complete cessation of the war. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would go it alone if necessary, even in the face of criticism from its Western allies.

Israeli army orders Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah

The bodies Australian brothers, Jake and Callum Robinson have been identified by authorities in Baja California, Mexico. It comes as their grieving parents arrive in the country.

Brothers identified as victims of Mexico robbery

Qantas has been ordered to compensate passengers following revelations that it sold tickets on thousands of flights that had already been cancelled. The airline has agreed to pay a $100 million fine and $20 million in compensation to affected passengers.

Mascot

Qantas ordered to pay compensation over 'ghost flight' scandal

A former detective is facing allegations of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman whose case he was initially assigned to investigate. Accused of exploiting his authority, Glenn Coleman, 55, has been charged with 10 offences,

Penrith

Police officer accused of assaulting rape victim

The death toll from heavy rains that have caused flooding in Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul has risen to at least 78, local authorities said, with more than 115,000 people displaced.

Death toll rises in record-breaking Brazil floods

China's President Xi Jinping has arrived in France for a rare visit with President Emmanuel Macron. They are set to discuss trade, amid growing tension between Europe and China over an imbalance between China's exports and European imports.

China's Xi Jinping visits Europe amid global tensions

While several pro-Palestinian campus protests in the U.S. were dismantled over the weekend, others became more disruptive and interrupted at least one graduation ceremony.

Chicago

Protests disrupt graduation ceremonies at U.S. universities

Prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appeared slim as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Gaza truce hopes fade as Israel, Hamas trade blame

The Israeli cabinet has voted to unanimously shut down Al Jazeera's operations in the country. That's according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on X. 
It is not clear when this decision will take effect.

Israel announces ban of Al Jazeera channel, website

Australian police said they have shot dead a boy after he stabbed a man in Western Australia's capital Perth, in an attack authorities said indicated terrorism.

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Banking Crisis