GENERAL
The world in brief.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said Russia has launched its anticipated attack on the Donbas, a region of eastern Ukraine. In a video address, Mr Zelensky proclaimed that Ukraine would fight on, “No matter how many Russian troops they send there”. Earlier, Russia added around 11 battalion tactical groups in southern and eastern Ukraine, an American official said, bringing the total number to 76. Each unit comprises around 800-1,000 soldiers. Ukraine said that a lack of an agreement with Russia means that for the third consecutive day no new humanitarian corridors have opened to allow civilians to escape.
Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, said his dialogue with Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, has stalled after “massacres” in Bucha and other cities in Ukraine came to light. But Mr Macron did not rule out speaking to Mr Putin in the future. Meanwhile Ukrainian officials said at least 17 civilians, including seven in the western city of Lviv, were killed by Russian strikes on Monday.
An American federal judge ruled that mask mandates on aeroplanes and other forms of public transport are unlawful. In turn the Transportation Security Administration said it will no longer enforce compulsory mask-wearing. Several airlines welcomed the decision. Last week America’s public-health agency extended the mandate up to May 3rd but was found to have exceeded its legal authority in doing so.
Sri Lanka, which defaulted on its sovereign debt last week, said that the International Monetary Fund is considering its request for help paying for imports of fuel, food and medicines. The prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, wants to change the country’s constitution to shift some powers from the president to parliament—he says that would both support the IMF application and help to quell street protests.
Johnson & Johnson, an American pharmaceutical company, said it would pay West Virginia $99m to settle a lawsuit alleging that the company fuelled the state’s opioid epidemic. West Virginia was not part of the $5bn settlement the company made with scores of local governments in February. Opioids have wreaked havoc in Appalachia—West Virginia’s overdose rate is America’s highest—but the epidemic has mutated as heroin and then fentanyl have proliferated.
At least four people were killed in a suspected suicide bombing outside a boys’ school in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The school is in an area of the city with a largely Hazara Shia population—a minority that has been targeted by Sunni militant groups including Islamic State. So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mexico’s president vowed to nationalise lithium production a day after opposition lawmakers rejected a controversial energy-reform package that would have given a state-owned operator control of the electricity market. Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the opposition committed “treason” with its vote. Unlike the supermajority required for that proposal, nationalisation of the lithium sector only requires simple majorities in Congress, which his party holds.
Correction: Last week our quiz answers were linked by the theme of state capitals. Except we got two answers wrong ourselves. Charleston is the state capital of West Virginia, not South Carolina. (The capital of South Carolina is Columbia.) And the state capital of Nevada is Carson City, not Carson. All of our winners gave the correct answers. Thank you to everyone who pointed these out.
Speeding up carbon removal
To mitigate the worst effects of climate change, governments and businesses must remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This can be done through natural means (such as reforestation) or chemical ones (such as using reagents to bind carbon dioxide before storing the byproduct underground).
But the technology required for carbon capture is still in its infancy. Frontier, a new fund run by Stripe, a payments company, and backed by Alphabet, Meta, Shopify and McKinsey, has announced that it will spend $925m on advance purchases from a range of companies working to remove carbon, using everything from kelp to pulverised rocks.
The hope is that this will hurry along the development of carbon-capture technologies by attracting investors. It is the biggest bet on the industry yet. But such schemes have a promising track record, having encouraged the development of covid-19 vaccines.
Healthy results expected for J&J and P&G
It should be a bumper 24 hours for earnings in consumer health. Johnson & Johnson, a drug-making giant, publishes first on Tuesday. Its bottom lines have been buoyed by covid-19 vaccines and sustained demand for medical equipment. Procter & Gamble, a consumer-goods multinational, reports on Wednesday. Investors are confident about growth in core lines such as cleaning products.
This bullishness comes despite the damage done by Western sanctions on Russia. Higher prices for energy and commodities have hit gross margins, and J&J is absorbing a 1% drop in global sales after taking personal-care products off Russian shelves. P&G has also reduced its operations in the country. The resilience of these firms shows the pandemic is still a boon for some businesses.
Catching a rocket booster in mid-air
Only SpaceX, an American firm, has managed to recover and reuse part of the boosters that propel its rockets into space. Now a smaller competitor, Rocket Lab, aims to pull off the same feat during a launch window that begins this week. The reusable stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is slowed by thrusters as it plummets back to Earth. Rocket Lab’s 18-metre-tall Electron launcher—less than a third of the height of the Falcon 9—is instead meant to have its parachute snagged by a helicopter dangling a line and hook.
Rocket Lab’s offering will lift off from New Zealand, along with 34 small satellites destined for low orbits. The booster stage is meant to separate about 80km up before falling into a “catch zone” 280km from the coast. If it all works, Rocket Lab, which has busy factories in California and New Zealand, reckons it will be able to launch more frequently and at lower prices.
Netflix, chilled
The world’s biggest streaming service was popular with both investors and home-bound viewers during lockdowns. But as covid-19 restrictions have eased, subscriber growth has slowed and Netflix’s share price has tanked. It has fallen by more than 50% since its high in mid-November. It is a gloomy backdrop for the publication of quarterly results, which are out on Tuesday.
Netflix is looking for ways to recover. As well as building on established hits (see next story) and raising prices, the firm is experimenting with password sharing—a trial programme in some Latin American countries will let subscribers share their accounts with other households for a fee. Other trials are also rumoured, such as staggered releases to keep subscribers hooked. Netflix has long dismissed introducing ads, but when asked about them in March, a senior executive said “never say never”. Expect plot twists.
Russian Doll again (and again)
Netflix enjoyed a surprise hit with the quirky, dark “Russian Doll” in 2019. Across eight episodes, Nadia (played by Natasha Lyonne) dies 22 times. Each time she resurfaces in the bathroom at her own birthday party, staring at herself in the mirror.
As with other time-loop stories, the protagonist faced a metaphysical quest to find the cause of the trap. Nadia probed her own morality, trauma and guilt, and found Alan (Charlie Barnett), trapped in the same situation. They helped each other navigate their quandaries together, and reviewers praised the skillful ending.
Some writers may have left it there. But a second season of “Russian Doll” lands on Wednesday. Thanks to another wrinkle in time, Nadia and Alan are able to travel in history, with Nadia attempting to track down goods stolen from her Hungarian Jewish ancestors by the Nazis. As before, the supernatural setup allows the writers to probe human themes, this time of justice and inheritance.
