标题: 2022.06.17 马斯克知道Dogecoin "没有价值 " [打印本页] 作者: shiyi18 时间: 2022-6-17 19:24 标题: 2022.06.17 马斯克知道Dogecoin "没有价值 " The world in brief
Catch up quickly on the global stories that matter
Updated less than 1 hour ago (11:43 GMT+1 / 06:43 New York)
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Ukraine’s navy claimed to have hit the Spasatel Vasily Bekh, a Russian boat. It suggested the boat, which it said was carrying Russian personnel, weapons and ammunition, would join the Moskva, a Russian warship sunk earlier in the war. Meanwhile, the governor of Luhansk said shelling continued in Severodonetsk, with 568 civilians trapped in the Azot chemical plant.
The congressional committee investigating America’s Capitol riot of January 6th 2021 heard testimony about how Donald Trump tried to press Mike Pence, his vice-president, into overturning the results of the 2020 election. Mr Trump’s supporters had chanted “hang Mike Pence” as they stormed the building where the vice-president was preparing to certify Joe Biden’s victory. The committee also asked Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court justice, to testify about her part in Mr Trump’s effort.
The 164 countries of the World Trade Organisation approved an “unprecedented” trade deal, the first in nine years. The deal includes agreement on two highly contentious issues: curbing fishing subsidies; and a partial waiver of intellectual-property rights for covid-19 drugs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO’s director-general, said the package “will make a difference to the lives of people around the world”.
Britain’s home secretary approved the extradition of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks co-founder, to America. Mr Assange faces multiple charges of espionage in America, where authorities allege he illegally helped Chelsea Manning steal military files. Despite losing previous legal battles, Mr Assange is likely to appeal the new decision.
Central banks in Britain and Switzerland followed America’s Federal Reserve in raising interest rates, and thus spooked stockmarkets further. The Bank of England increased interest rates by 0.25 percentage points. More unexpectedly, its Swiss counterpart raised them by 0.5 percentage points, the first increase since 2007. America’s S&P 500 fell 3.2% by the end of Thursday. Early Friday the Bank of Japan cut against the grain, keeping its interest rates at virtually zero. Which sent the yen plunging further down against the dollar.
China launched a new-generation aircraft-carrier, its largest such ship and the first to be built entirely within the country. The Fujian left its dry-dock in Shanghai on Friday, according to state-media reports. The ship’s capabilities are said to rival those of American carriers. The launch will be taken as another sign of China’s growing naval ambitions in the Pacific.
Worries about cryptocurrency contagion coalesced around Three Arrows, a crypto-based hedge fund in Singapore. The Financial Times reported that it missed margin calls at the weekend, even before Bitcoin plumbed an 18-month low. Separately an investor in New York sued Elon Musk for $258bn for having driven up the value of Dogecoin despite being aware it “had no value”.
Fact of the day: $800m, the forecast size of Japan’s cannabidiol (CBD) market in 2024, up from $59m in 2019. Read the full article.
Ukraine’s bid to join the EU
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has nudged Sweden and Finland towards NATO. It may also have started to open the European Union’s doors to Ukraine. On Thursday Ukraine’s bid to become an official EU candidate, the first step on the road to full membership, won the backing of France, Germany and Italy. On Friday the European Commission followed suit. Next week the EU’s 27 heads of government will meet to discuss Ukraine’s bid (along with that of Moldova, Georgia and others). All must give the green light for it to proceed.
But negotiating full membership could take a decade or more. Ukraine’s allies argue it deserves special consideration, but others are reluctant to ease the usual exacting requirements. Long-suffering Balkan aspirants such as Serbia and Montenegro will be furious at any hint of queue-jumping. Ukrainians should prepare for a long, difficult slog.
A global taxation agreement inches closer
PHOTO: EYEVINE
For years governments have struggled to close the gap between the places where multinationals do business and where they book profits. Companies increasingly create value via hard-to-measure activities such as R&D and software, which makes it easier to cut their overall tax bills by reporting profits in low-tax jurisdictions. But change is afoot.
On Friday the finance ministers of the EU’s 27 governments will discuss how to codify an agreement that no multinational corporation should pay less than 15% tax anywhere in the world. Last year the G20, a club of the world’s biggest economies, agreed to similar rules. In theory, such a provision would reduce the gains to firms from siphoning away profits to havens. The extra revenues would also be useful for cash-strapped governments. But such an arrangement would hurt countries that have benefited from low-tax regimes, such as Ireland. Plenty of taxing work lies ahead.
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The resurgence of Greece’s far right
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
As Greece’s economy collapsed in the 2010s, the far right surged. The swastika-like emblem of Golden Dawn, an extremist party, along with torchlit parades and attacks against immigrants, struck a chord with a segment of the electorate. In 2015 they made Golden Dawn the third largest party in Parliament. But in 2020 the party’s leaders were convicted of running a criminal organisation under the guise of a political party. On Wednesday their appeals began, but were immediately adjourned as judges considered a postponement request by Nikos Michaloliakos, Golden Dawn’s anti-vax founder, who is recovering from covid-19. The hearings will resume on July 6th.
Yet Greece’s far right is far from moribund. Ilias Kasidiaris, Golden Dawn’s former deputy boss and one of those convicted in 2020, runs a new extreme nationalist party from behind bars which may find a way to participate in next year’s general election. Meanwhile Greek Solution, the only far-right party still in parliament, is making gains among low-income voters as Greece’s economy wobbles again. The future may offer a grim echo of the recent past.
India aims for an EU trade deal
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Indian exports are booming. In May $62bn-worth of goods and services were sold abroad, up 24% compared with the same period last year. The government hopes annual exports will reach $1trn by 2030, an increase of 250% from 2021’s figure. But that will depend on whether it can secure bilateral free-trade agreements. India is already negotiating with Britain. But a bigger prize awaits in the form of the European Union, India’s third-largest trade partner. On Friday an Indian delegation will travel to Brussels, hoping to kickstart a conversation.
Much could be gained. Both sides want to diversify their supply chains away from China. The EU has aggressively courted India since war broke out in Ukraine, eager to wean it away from Russia. The two sides aim to bash out a deal by 2024, but discussions will be fraught on issues ranging from agriculture to intellectual property. The last time the pair sat down for talks, in 2007, they dragged on for six years—before fizzling.
The end of the English bulldog?
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Few breeds of dog are more emblematic of their homeland than the English bulldog. Its squashed face and Churchillian jowls have proven enduringly popular. But these extreme features, for which bulldogs have been intensively bred, are taking a toll, according to research published in Canine Medicine and Genetics, a journal. The study analysed the veterinary records of tens of thousands of canids, several thousand bulldogs among them. Compared with the rest, English bulldogs were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a wide range of health disorders.
The poor pooches are particularly prone to conditions like dermatitis (in skin folds) and breathing problems (induced by their odd-shaped skulls). The authors call for a change in breeding standards, and say buyers should stop prizing extreme canine characteristics. Otherwise, Britain may have to join Norway and the Netherlands in banning English bulldogs—and condemn a national symbol to exile.
Daily quiz
Our baristas will serve you a new question each day this week. On Friday your challenge is to give us all five answers and, as important, tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 BST on Friday to QuizEspresso@economist.com. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown one winner per continent on Saturday.
Friday: Which French politician was responsible for the creation of the Fifth Republic?
Thursday: Which jazz musician appeared in the films “High Society” and “Hello Dolly”?
The winners of last week’s crossword
Thank you to everyone who took part in our new weekly crossword, published in the weekend edition of Espresso. The winners, chosen at random, were:
Cheng Eng Aun, Singapore
Rebecca Clements, Toronto, Canada
Sebastian Agudelo-Restrepo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Giedrius Kazakevicius, Vilnius, Lithuania
Max Yuao Li, Christchurch, New Zealand
They all gave the correct answers of Lysychansk, Leeds, coca and Kabul. Check back tomorrow for this week’s crossword.
The better you hear a thing put, the more certain you are there’s another view.