Good morning. The Justice Department is seeking the breakup of Google’s business brokering digital advertising across much of the internet, a major expansion of the legal challenges the company faces to its business in the U.S. and abroad.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday, the Justice Department’s second against the Alphabet Inc. unit following one filed in 2020, alleges that Google abuses its role as one of the largest brokers, suppliers and online auctioneers of ads placed on websites and mobile applications. The filing promises a protracted court battle with wide-ranging implications for the digital-advertising industry.

Filed in federal court in Virginia, the case alleges that Google abuses monopoly power in the ad-tech industry, hurting web publishers and advertisers that try to use competing products. Eight states, including California and New York, joined the Justice Department’s lawsuit.

By calling for specific divestitures from Google’s ad-tech business, the Justice Department lawsuit went further in seeking a breakup than some antitrust experts had expected. A Google spokesman said the lawsuit “attempts to pick winners and losers in the highly competitive advertising technology sector.”

The case comes as big tech companies such as Google are under a barrage from lawmakers and regulators across multiple continents who have targeted the companies’ dominance in online markets. Justice Department officials also are investigating Apple Inc. The Federal Trade Commission has sued Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook unit over antitrust allegations and Microsoft Corp. to block its planned $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc.

President Biden recently urged lawmakers from both parties to unite behind legislation seeking to rein in tech giants. The European Union also has opened cases looking at alleged anticompetitive conduct by Google, Meta and other companies.

As more companies introduce or expand sustainability programs they are often unclear on which initiatives deliver the best results. Join us on Feb. 2 for a two-part webinar featuring discussions with executives about programs that have improved the sustainability standing of their companies. Register here.

Lender Popular Bank fined over bad Covid relief loans. Popular Bank has been fined $2.3 million for allegedly failing to stop fraud by applicants to the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal government’s massive Covid-related bailout for struggling small businesses.

Though the government has taken action against PPP borrowers who committed fraud, the fine against Popular Bank represents the first time the Fed has taken action against a bank in connection with the program, a Fed spokeswoman said. She declined to say whether the regulator intended to file more actions targeting banks.

The hire came as the exchange continues to revamp its compliance program after a sanctions violation settlement amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of the crypto sector.

Kraken, which was founded in 2011, began its search for a new compliance chief after Steven Christie left the company after four years for rival exchange Binance last May.

Congress on the sidelines as U.S. takes on Google. The Justice Department lawsuit against Alphabet Inc. unit Google seeks to achieve in court what some in Congress have tried and failed to do: curb the power of America’s largest technology companies.

Tech companies spent heavily last year to successfully block major technology legislation, and that winning streak is expected to continue as Washington transitions to two years of divided government. With Republicans now in control of the House, compromise on any legislation will be a steeper climb, especially when it involves some of America’s most valuable and influential companies.

Finra enforcement boss to leave. Finra enforcement head Jessica Hopper will leave her job on Feb. 3 after an 18-year tenure at Wall Street's self-regulatory arm. Ms. Hopper’s deputy, Christopher Kelly, will assume the top enforcement role while Finra looks for a replacement, the organization said.

Ms. Hopper, who started as an enforcement lawyer, presided over Finra’s largest-ever enforcement action, a 2021 case against Robinhood Financial LLC that resulted in the broker paying $70 million. Under her leadership, Finra’s enforcement department also brought the organization’s first-ever disciplinary actions against crowdfunding portals.

• Elon Musk testified in federal court Tuesday that he tweeted about potentially taking Tesla Inc. private in 2018 to share his thinking with shareholders and that he intended to convey that funding wouldn’t be an issue.
   
• Live Nation Entertainment Inc. faced accusations of exorbitant ticket fees, flawed customer service and anticompetitive practices during a Senate hearing Tuesday, held after the company’s Ticketmaster unit last year botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s coming tour.
   
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Japan and the European Union would need to negotiate new trade agreements with the U.S. to meet the mineral-sourcing requirements for an overhauled electric-vehicle tax subsidy.

U.S. economy slows, but Europe’s picks up. Two of the world’s largest economies moved in opposite directions at the start of the year, with U.S. businesses reporting further declines in activity in January while the eurozone saw a modest pickup.

Combined, the surveys point to a global economy that looks likely to slow this year but could avoid recession. The receding threat of energy shortages in Europe, a still-growing U.S. economy, and China’s postpandemic reopening could offset the effect of higher prices and interest rates and keep the world from a steep downturn.

Europe stays in Washington’s shadow in spat over tanks for Ukraine. Fear that the U.S. could eventually dial back its support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion is adding to the pressure on Europe to increase its own military and financial aid to Kyiv.

The frustration in many European capitals over Berlin’s delay in agreeing to send German-made tanks hasn’t been only because of their battlefield utility, but also because Germany made Europe’s response to the war even more dependent on the U.S., officials and analysts say.

• U.S. Poised to Provide Abrams Tanks to Ukraine

Microsoft’s outlook and teams down for thousands of users. Microsoft Corp. said it was investigating reports of outages to its services including Teams and Outlook, with thousands of users globally reporting that the products were down.

The company said in a tweet that it had identified a potential networking issue and was working to troubleshoot the next steps. Thousands of people reported they were unable to access Microsoft’s collaboration software Teams, as well as Outlook and Xbox Live services and its 365 products early Wednesday, according to Downdetector, a website that tracks service disruptions on the internet.

Assessing the likelihood of a ‘catastrophic’ cyberattack. A “catastrophic cyber event” is likely in the next two years, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2023, released last week at the annual WEF meeting in Davos. The survey found that 86% of business leaders expected such an event and 93% of cybersecurity leaders did.

WSJ Pro Cybersecurity spoke to several cybersecurity experts to see if they agree with this dire outlook.

Rupert Murdoch withdraws merger proposal. Mr. Murdoch called off his effort to merge the two parts of his media empire, News Corp and Fox Corp., saying the transaction “is not optimal” for shareholders of the companies at this time.

Mr. Murdoch proposed reuniting News Corp and Fox last fall, nearly a decade after they split. In statements on Tuesday, the boards of the two companies said they received a letter from Mr. Murdoch withdrawing the proposal.

• Dollar Tree Inc. said it is replacing its chief executive with the former head of rival discount retailer Dollar General Corp.
   
• Tyson Foods Inc. Chief Financial Officer John R. Tyson pleaded guilty to charges after being arrested in November for falling asleep in a house that wasn’t his, according to the Fayetteville, Ark. prosecutor’s office and the district court.

Job market for remote workers is shrinking. Many prospective workers who were determined to get a remote job just a few months ago are hitting a wall as remote listings rapidly dwindle.

The decline in remote listings marks the latest shift in the power dynamic between employers and employees. Companies are showing they can be choosier in their recruiting after months of scrambling for new talent. Hiring and wage growth have slowed from the red-hot pace of much of 2022. And while many laid-off workers in tech and elsewhere are finding employment again, it is taking, on average, longer to secure a new job than it did last spring.

Germany to send tanks to Ukraine, U.S. set to follow. Germany will send 14 of its modern Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine as part of a coordinated push with the U.S. and other allies to escalate their support for Kyiv ahead of an expected Russian offensive, the government said Wednesday.

The announcement follows days of intense diplomacy between Berlin and Washington, which is expected to announce a donation of up to 50 U.S.-made Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine later Wednesday.

• The two largest U.S. defense contractors said ongoing supply-chain challenges are hampering efforts to deliver on record weapons orders, driven by the conflict in Ukraine and tackling China’s military expansion.
   
• Walmart Inc. said it is raising wages for its U.S. hourly workers at a time when the market remains tight for front-line staff.
   
• Microsoft Corp. recorded its slowest sales growth in more than six years last quarter as demand for its software and cloud services cooled on concerns about the health of the global economy.
   
• 3M Co. said it is cutting 2,500 manufacturing jobs globally as the company confronts turbulence in overseas markets and weakening consumer demand.