The end of the iPhone growth era, explaining the Zika virus and the restaurant keeping 27,000 people waiting

Apple signalled that its flagship smartphone would suffer its first ever decline in sales in the current quarter as it reported record quarterly profits.

The guidance is at the low end of Wall Street’s already radically reduced estimates and implies that iPhone sales could drop as much as 25 per cent. (FT)

In the news

China takes aim at Soros Beijing warned billionaire George Soros against going to “war on the renminbi” in a front-page article in the Communist party’s mouthpiece. It comes as China struggles to stem capital flight and support its currency, and as Mr Soros lost his spot atop the list of the world’s most successful hedge fund managers to Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater. (FT)

Trump vows to boycott debate Donald Trump, the property mogul running for the White House, plans to skip the final Republican presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses after Fox News mocked him in a long-running spat related to one of its anchors. (FT)

JPMorgan’s $2.5bn settlement The bank finally settled two of its biggest legal headaches left over from the financial crisis. The bank will pay insurer Ambac almost $1bn, and another $1.42bn to end most of its remaining disputes with the estate of the defunct Lehman Brothers. (FT)

AIG to return $25bn after activist siege The insurer unveiled a series of measures including a partial flotation of AIG’s mortgage insurance arm, accelerated cost-cutting and a separation of troubled legacy assets in an effort to rally shareholder support. But the plan falls well short of the demands of Carl Icahn and John Paulson, who want a wholesale break-up of the company. (FT)

Counterfeit products driving Chinese shoppers overseas Two weeks before the Chinese new year, Japan’s tourism and retail industries are excited about another round of bakugai(explosive buying) by Chinese visitors fed up with fake goods back home. But for policymakers in Beijing, Chinese consumers’ insatiable appetite for overseas goods is a headache. All that buying represents an outflow of money. (NAR)

It’s a big day for

HSBC The board meets to consider whether to move the company’s headquarters to Hong Kong. The discussion comes amid concerns about the growing influence of Beijing over the financial hub. (Reuters)

Rate watchers The Fed completes its first two-day meeting after its historic decision to raise rates in December. A host of negative data — on everything from China to oil to equities — along with some positive data — on US employment in particular — will complicate the picturefor policymakers. (FT)

Read our full coverage of the Week Ahead.

Food for thought

The Zika virus: an explainer The mosquito-borne virus has prompted worldwide concern due to its link to a surge in the number of cases of microcephaly, a neurological disorder that results in babies being born with abnormally small heads. The FT’s Clive Cookson looks at the origins and symptoms of the virus and whether it is safe to travel to affected countries. (FT)

The economic losers are in revolt Nativist populists, such as Donald Trump in the US or Nigel Farage in the UK, must not win, writes the FT’s Martin Wolf. “We know that story: it ends very badly. In the case of the US, the outcome would have grave global significance . . . The results could be catastrophic”. (FT)

London spies Espionage aficionados can now relive the intrigue of wartime London thanks to a new app that details which buildings were used by spies . Among the notable entries include an underground shooting range next to Baker Street Tube Station where operatives could practice their marksmanship, as well as the Natural History Museum. (ITV)

The neurologist who hacked his brain When Phil Kennedy flew to Belize City in 2014, there was nothing wrong with him. But he wanted brain surgery, and he was willing to pay $30,000 to have it done. He believed the only way to advance his dream of building better cyborgs and developing a way to fully digitise a person’s thoughts was to make it personal. In the process,he nearly lost his mind. (Wired)

Europeans like to drink (maybe too much) A common argument against the US legal drinking age of 21 is that it promotes teenage binge drinking, and that Europe has a much safer drinking culture despite — and perhaps because of — its lower drinking age. But according to World Health Organisation data, European teens binge drink at greater levelsthan their American peers. (Vox)

The restaurant keeping 27,000 people waiting A pop-up restaurant in Sydney is proving so popular that prospective diners have been forced to adopt some rather unorthodox tactics to secure their booking. One businessman has offered up his family home. (The Guardian)

Video of the day

Martin Wolf on China capital controls FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf onwhether China should tighten its capital controls to stem huge outflows of money, and the challenges posed by market turmoil and its slowing economy. (FT)