Saturday, January 21, 2023 |
Hello everybody. We’re covering the latest news on tanks for Ukraine, tension in Peru, technology-industry layoffs, and what effect a speed limit on Germany’s Autobahns would have on the environment. |
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People protest in Berlin, urging the delivery of Germany's Leopard 2 tanks to support the Ukrainian military, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner |
- Weaponry: Western allies dampened Ukraine's hopes for a rapid shipment of battle tanks to boost its firepower for a spring offensive against Russian forces. “To be continued,” Ukraine’s defense minister said after a meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
- Strategy: While the U.S. is sending hundreds of armored vehicles to Ukraine, an unnamed official said Washington is advising Ukraine to avoid a major offensive against Russian forces until the latest supply of weaponry is in place and troops are trained to use it.
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- Friday evening: Dozens of Peruvians were injured as police clashed with protesters in anti-government demonstrations that are spreading across the country.
- Economic impact: Glencore’s Antapaccay copper mine suspended operations after protesters attacked the premises for the third time in a month. Peru is the world’s second-largest producer of copper.
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- Next week: A U.S. Federal Reserve governor who advocated aggressive rate increases last year to control inflation now supports scaling things back. I also recommend this story on how inflation and rising raw-materials costs are affecting this supermarket owner in a Tokyo suburb. It's an approachable read on a difficult topic.
- Bedeviled eggs: The price of eggs is up an astounding amount, and while the top U.S. producer says it’s because avian flu decreased supply, a farm group urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the possibility of price gouging.
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- The week in Davos: Attendees ended this week’s World Economic Forum meeting in the Swiss Alps with a general sense that the economic outlook is better than they feared. Here are other highlights from the dizzying heights.
- An evergreen talking point for next year’s après-ski: The world remains on course to miss its climate goals, which gave bankers and executives at Davos an opportunity to talk about how they must speed up the transition to a greener future.
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- The cost of a corporate takeover: Spending among Twitter’s top 30 advertisers fell 42% to an estimated $53.8 million for November and December after Elon Musk bought the social-media platform, according to a report that research firm Pathmatics made for Reuters. Separately, Musk said Twitter has 2,300 active employees, following a CNBC report that put headcount at 1,300.
- Speaking of tech costs: Layoffs at the four biggest U.S. tech companies totaled 51,000 jobs in recent months after Google’s parent company Alphabet said it would cut 6% of its workforce. Microsoft earlier this week said it would eliminate 10,000 jobs, a bit less than 5% of its total.
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Before I forget… First, I strongly recommend this story on the deadly price of doing journalism in Mexico. And here are some noteworthy items: China said a COVID-19 rebound over the next few months is remote, the Church of England apologized to LGBTQI+ people for ‘shameful’ treatment, experts remain baffled after thousands of dead crabs and lobsters washed up dead on England’s shorelines, and Rishi Sunak forgot to buckle his seatbelt.
And finally, in other news from Europe’s roadways: Putting a speed limit of 75 miles, or 120 kilometers per hour on Germany’s Autobahns could cut almost three times more CO2 emissions than previously thought, a study says. (Side note: I topped out at 160 kmh on the A 27 between Hanover and Bremen a few years ago, a speed I thought was fearsome until I noticed all the motorists who were passing me.)
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