标题: 2022.03.30 俄罗斯愿意 "从根本上 "削减军队 [打印本页] 作者: shiyi18 时间: 2022-3-30 13:43 标题: 2022.03.30 俄罗斯愿意 "从根本上 "削减军队 The world in brief
Catch up quickly on the global stories that matter
At peace talks in Istanbul, Russia said that it was willing to “radically” cut the number of troops stationed around Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in order “to strengthen trust”. A Ukrainian spokesperson has said his country needs security guarantees and a ceasefire. Russia wants its annexation of Crimea to be recognised and independence for the Donbas region, but is no longer demanding Ukraine be “de-Nazified” and is reportedly prepared to let it join the EU. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has said that the country won’t compromise on its territorial integrity.
But the Pentagon advised against taking Russia at its word. A spokesman for America’s defence department said that, though “small numbers” of Russian troops had withdrawn from around Kyiv, it was probably “a repositioning, not a real withdrawal”. “It does not mean the threat to Kyiv is over”, he added. President Joe Biden said he would not “read anything into [Russian claims] until I see what their actions are”.
Stock indexes in America rose as markets were boosted by signs of progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The CBOE Volatility index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, dropped to 19.3, its lowest since mid-January. Russia’s invasion had fuelled a rise in metal prices, but gold has now dropped to a one-month low. Still, uncertainties remain: the three major American indexes are set to record their worst quarters since the start of the pandemic.
America’s treasury department is preparing sanctions against Russia’s military supply chain, according to an official. The aim, the department said, is to hit “Russia’s ability to build and maintain the tools of war that rely on these inputs”. Earlier Mr Zelensky urged the West to impose more sanctions on Russia, including European oil embargoes, and to keep supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Several European countries said they would expel 43 Russian diplomats whom they accused of espionage. Belgium told 21 Russians to leave while the Netherlands kicked out 17. Ireland and the Czech Republic together expelled five. Russia pledged to retaliate. Earlier other European countries, including Bulgaria, Poland and the Baltic states, ordered dozens of Russians to leave.
Other news
Regulators in America authorised a fourth dose of the covid-19 vaccine made by Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech for anyone older than 50 • London’s police will issue 20 fines in connection with breaches of covid-19 regulations at government buildings including 10 Downing Street, where Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, lives and works. The “Partygate” scandal involves at least 12 events during 2020 and 2021 • Residents in the eastern half of Shanghai were banned from going out on Tuesday for any reason apart from getting a covid-19 test, after daily local infections reached a record 4,477. The western part of the city will go into lockdown on Friday.
Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president, ousted the CEO of Petrobras, a state-run oil company. Mr Bolsonaro was reportedly unhappy that Petrobras had raised fuel prices last month. Shares in Petrobras tumbled in response to the announcement • Fred Smith said he would step down as CEO of FedEx, the American logistics company he founded more than 50 years ago. Raj Subramaniam, the president and chief operating officer, will take over.
Fact of the day: 110,000, the number of neighbourhood committees in China. They help to enforce the country’s zero-covid policy. Read the full article.
Correction: On March 26th we mistakenly referred to Nagorno-Karabakh as an “ethnic Albanian enclave”. It is of course an ethnic Armenian enclave. Sorry.
More peace talks in Turkey
PHOTO: REUTERS
After the first of a new round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Russia’s deputy defence minister, Alexander Fomin, announced that Russia had decided to “drastically” roll back its offensive near Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. While a ceasefire still seems out of reach, that declaration suggests that Russia’s invasion is running out of steam.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said the meeting in Istanbul marked the “most meaningful progress” since the start of negotiations, although he did not go into details. One possible area of consensus may be the question of Ukraine’s neutrality, which president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he would be prepared to accept as the price for peace. Mr Zelensky also says any deal would have to include security guarantees for Ukraine. Russia has scaled down its demands, though its insistence on the recognition of the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk show that Vladimir Putin does not want a peace deal, but capitulation. Ukraine will not give him that.
Where are Russia’s hackers?
PHOTO: ALAMY
Many analysts expected Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine to be accompanied by cyber-attacks aimed at disabling critical infrastructure. But this tactic, which Russia has used before, has been notable in its absence. Nevertheless Ukraine’s allies, even those far from the battlefield, are worried. In a speech on March 21st Joe Biden, America’s president, quoted intelligence assessments that Russia was “exploring” cyber-attacks on America and its firms.
Such attacks operate in a grey zone between run-of-the-mill espionage (ie, data theft) and conventional warfare (shutting down power grids or damaging a country’s nuclear-weapons programme). As such there is little consensus on what sort of action should follow an attack. But that uncertainty can be exploited by everyone, not just Russia. America has hackers of its own; they might retaliate in kind. A dramatic attack, designed to send a message, risks provoking an equally dramatic response.
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The pain in Spain
PHOTO: PRESS ASSOCIATION
The war in Ukraine has driven up energy prices across Europe. But it has done so in a particular way in Iberia. Spain is connected to France by two gas pipelines and to Algeria by one. And Portugal gets its gas via Spain. Most Spanish customers pay electricity prices linked to (now-soaring) gas prices. So last week Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and Portugal’s António Costa won permission from other EU leaders to cap gas prices temporarily. Now they must work out how to avoid falling foul of the bloc’s single-market rules.
Mr Sánchez must also try to sell lorry drivers on his new plan to subsidise fuel. A group of Spanish truckers has been on strike for two weeks, causing shortages of food. In Spanish, to be “de mala leche” (“in bad milk”) means to be in a bad mood. Such is the attitude of Spaniards now that the white stuff is missing from shop shelves.
CNN joins the streaming business
PHOTO: ALAMY
After Disney+, Paramount+ and Apple TV+ comes CNN+. On Tuesday the cable-news giant launched a $5.99-per-month streaming service in America, with an international roll-out to follow.
CNN+ subscribers will get a mix of news and factual programming, including a series by actress Eva Longoria on Mexican food. But CNN’s flagship rolling-news channel is off the menu in America, where it remains reserved for cable customers. Insiders say that CNN+ subscribers in other countries, where cable is less popular, are likely to get the news channel included.
With more householders cutting their cables, that is probably where things are eventually heading in America too. Just over half of homes have cable services, down from nearly nine out of ten a decade ago. Streamers have already robbed cable of its best drama, comedy and documentaries, and have started buying the rights to sports games. CNN’s entry to streaming is another sign that cable will soon be old news.
Blue Origin’s latest launch
PHOTO: BLUE ORIGIN
After yet another delay, Jeff Bezos’s aerospace company now plans to launch its fourth passenger trip to the edges of Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday, eight days later than planned. The delays knocked Pete Davidson, a television comedian, off the six-passenger manifest. He will be replaced with Gary Lai, an engineer who has worked at Blue Origin for 18 years. That longevity makes him an increasingly rare breed.
Turnover is painful in aerospace, where leavers take specialised knowledge with them and training new recruits can take up to a year. Blue Origin is no exception. But the company’s problems have been compounded by complaints from departing employees of a toxic work culture.
Blue Origin has ambitions beyond taking rich people on joyrides. It hopes its New Glenn rocket will participate in a broader space-based economy by running regular shuttles and launching satellites. But staffing issues—along with the pandemic and lost contracts—have hurt. Originally planned for 2020, New Glenn won’t launch until at least 2023.
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Monday: Which company, set up in 1670, controlled the fur trade in British North America, before evolving into a retailer?
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