2022.06.15斯里兰卡公务员每周放假一天，在家里种菜

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The European Central Bank called an unscheduled meeting on Wednesday to “discuss current market conditions”, just six days after saying that it would raise interest rates in July. The announcement provided some respite to the euro, Italian government bonds and European shares. After its meeting today the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by as much as 0.75 percentage points to combat inflation. On Tuesday the S&P 500 index fell for the fifth straight day, sliding deeper into bear-market territory.

Russia demanded the surrender of Ukrainian forces fighting to defend Severodonetsk. The governor of Luhansk, the region containing Severodonetsk, said it was getting “harder” to defend the city, which Russia now controls 80% of. Evacuations of civilians sheltering in the Azot chemical factory are underway.

Coinbase, America’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, announced it has sacked 18% of its workforce amid a market meltdown. Brian Armstrong, the CEO, reckoned the “crypto winter” could last for “an extended period” and would shrink trading revenues, the company’s biggest source of income. He also conceded that Coinbase had grown too quickly during the crypto boom.

The European Union said it would sign an agreement to procure 110,000 doses of a monkeypox vaccine, to be delivered from the end of June, without naming the supplier. The bloc has so far recorded 900 cases of the virus. America’s drugs regulator has already approved the use of an existing smallpox vaccine. The WHO, in preparing for an emergency committee next week, announced it would rename the virus to avoid stigmatising patients.

The first flight carrying asylum-seekers from Britain to Rwanda was cancelled just hours prior to its departure, after the European Court of Human Rights issued last-minute injunctions stopping the deportations. The number of migrants to be deported had already fallen to single digits in recent days. Earlier in the day Boris Johnson, the prime minister, had hinted that Britain might simply withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights to get its way.

Government workers in Sri Lanka will be given one day off a week to grow crops at home, in a bid to stave off a looming food catastrophe. Several food staples, along with fuel and medicine, are in short supply. Annual inflation in the country hit 39% in May, ravaging household budgets. A statement from the cabinet said that the four-day week would also help to reduce fuel consumption.

BTS announced a “hiatus”, prompting shares of Hybe, the agency that manages the South Korean pop phenomenon, to collapse by 28%. This was no black swan: Hybe’s valuation had been sinking amid uncertainty over the group’s future. In a video posted on YouTube, BTS assured their fans that life goes on; though their members may be pursuing individual projects, the boy band insists this is not a break-up.

Fact of the day: 48%, the share of South Africans who think migrants are “dishonest”. Read the full article.


The Fed eyes a jumbo rate rise

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As chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell prizes predictability, giving investors ample guidance to prepare them for policy changes. But the past few days have been a whirlwind. Before Monday, virtually all bets were on the Fed raising interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday at the end of a regular rate-setting meeting. Suddenly, the table has slanted in a more hawkish direction: markets have now priced in a three-quarter-point increase.

That larger increment, taking rates to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%, would be the biggest single rise since 1994. The message would be clear: with inflation running at more than 8% year-on-year, the Fed is determined to bring prices under control. History suggests that rapid monetary tightening often precedes a recession. But the Fed knows that runaway inflation would be even worse.


Apple’s labour fight

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After years of declining membership, American unions are having a moment. Spurred by a tight labour market, union drives are spreading in the technology and retail industries. In the past six months an Amazon warehouse in New York City and a Starbucks café in Buffalo, New York have become the first unionised branches in those companies.

Apple could be next. Employees at its shops are frustrated about stagnant wages and claim that the company’s management disregards health and safety. On Wednesday workers at a shop in Maryland will begin voting on whether to unionise.

Apple is not taking to the idea. Like Amazon and Starbucks, it has been campaigning hard against unionisation. A shop in Atlanta has already cancelled a vote. Even if Maryland workers choose to organise, unions will have a long way to go. There are 271 other Apple stores in America.

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China’s economic loop

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Economic policymakers sometimes complain that their job is like steering a car by looking in the rear-view mirror: the data that guides them reflect the past, not the future. That is less of a problem when the economy is going round in circles.

On Wednesday China published figures on industrial production, retail sales and unemployment for May. Shanghai was then under a strict lockdown to contain a covid-19 outbreak and other parts of the country were also trammelled by restrictions on free movement and gathering. Yet the figures were better than expected and less bad than the month before. The hope is that China can put this covid outbreak behind it and stage a rapid recovery. But infections in both Beijing and Shanghai are already raising fears of another lockdown. The worry, then, is that China’s bad economic data will be a guide to the country’s future as well as its past.

How India squashes protest at home

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Nupur Sharma, a spokesperson for India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party, was hardly blazing a trail when she disparaged the Prophet Muhammad on right-wing chat shows last month. Taboos against offending the Muslim minority are falling by the day. A former BJP officeholder, campaigning in the state of Uttar Pradesh, boasted recently that local Muslims “have stopped wearing skull caps…If you vote for me again, they will start wearing tilak”, a mark on the forehead worn only by Hindus.

But Ms Sharma overstepped, by offending Muslims abroad. Countries in the Gulf led a diplomatic backlash. Eventually the BJP suspended her. But the past week has shown why India’s 200m Muslims tend to be quiescent. Police crackdowns against local protesters were fierce: two were killed, 30 wounded and 400 arrested. In Uttar Pradesh activists’ homes were demolished. On Monday Indian Muslim groups asked their followers to suspend further demonstrations.


More TV shows are out and proud

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The third and final season of “Love, Victor” is released on Wednesday. The comedy-drama follows an American secondary-school pupil as he comes to terms with being gay.

The show—a spin-off from “Love, Simon”, a film about a pupil at risk of being outed—once struggled to find a home. At first it was intended for release on Disney+ but was moved to Hulu because of its “adult themes”. There, it became one of the platform’s most-binged programmes in 2020 and was praised for a less saccharine depiction of LGBT issues than the original.

The third season will air on both platforms. LGBT dramas are becoming more popular on big streaming services. In April Netflix’s “Heartstopper”, based on a web-comic, charmed audiences with its portrayal of queer romance at a British all-boys school. “First Kill”, also on Netflix, hopes to draw on the same success with a tale of a lesbian vampire and vampire hunter. Fans of “Love, Victor” will have choices this pride month.

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.

Wednesday: Which rock star wrote books such as “In His Own Write” and “A Spaniard in the Works”?

Tuesday: Who was the second-longest-serving Indian prime minister to date, surpassed only by her father?

If fate means you to lose, give him a good fight anyhow.

William McFee



欧洲央行周三召开了一次不定期的会议，以 "讨论当前的市场状况"，这距离其表示将在7月加息仅有6天。这一宣布为欧元、意大利政府债券和欧洲股票提供了一些喘息机会。在今天的会议之后，美联储预计将加息多达0.75个百分点，以对抗通货膨胀。周二，标普500指数连续第五天下跌，更深地滑入熊市区域。

俄罗斯要求为保卫Severodonetsk而战的乌克兰军队投降。包含塞维罗多涅茨克的卢甘斯克州州长说，保卫这座城市越来越 "困难"，俄罗斯现在控制了80%的地方。疏散躲在Azot化工厂里的平民的工作正在进行中。

美国最大的加密货币交易所Coinbase宣布，在市场崩溃的情况下，它已经解雇了18%的员工。首席执行官布莱恩-阿姆斯特朗(Brian Armstrong)估计，"加密货币的冬天 "可能会持续 "很长一段时间"，并将缩减交易收入，这是公司最大的收入来源。他还承认，Coinbase在加密货币热潮中发展得太快了。

欧盟表示，它将签署一项协议，采购11万剂猴痘疫苗，从6月底开始交付，但没有指明供应商的名字。到目前为止，该集团已经记录了900起病毒病例。美国的药品监管机构已经批准使用一种现有的天花疫苗。世卫组织在为下周的紧急委员会做准备时，宣布它将重新命名这种病毒，以避免对病人造成污名。

在欧洲人权法院在最后一刻发出阻止驱逐出境的禁令后，第一架从英国运往卢旺达的寻求庇护者的航班在起飞前几小时被取消。最近几天，将被驱逐的移民人数已经降到了个位数。当天早些时候，英国首相鲍里斯-约翰逊曾暗示，英国可能会直接退出《欧洲人权公约》以达到自己的目的。

斯里兰卡的政府工作人员每周将有一天假期，在家里种植农作物，以避免迫在眉睫的粮食灾难。几种主食以及燃料和药品都处于短缺状态。该国的年度通货膨胀率在5月达到39%，破坏了家庭预算。内阁的一份声明说，四天工作制也将有助于减少燃料消耗。

BTS宣布 "暂停活动"，促使管理这一韩国流行音乐现象的机构Hybe的股票崩溃了28%。这不是黑天鹅：Hybe的估值在该集团未来的不确定性中一直在下降。在YouTube上发布的一段视频中，BTS向他们的粉丝保证，生活还在继续；尽管他们的成员可能在追求个人项目，但这个男孩乐队坚持认为这不是分手。

今天的事实。48%，认为移民 "不诚实 "的南非人的比例。阅读全文。


美联储关注巨额加息

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作为美联储主席，杰罗姆-鲍威尔崇尚可预测性，给予投资者充分的指导，让他们为政策变化做好准备。但是，过去的几天是一阵旋风。周一之前，几乎所有的赌注都是美联储在周三的常规利率制定会议结束时将利率提高半个百分点。突然间，赌桌已经向更加鹰派的方向倾斜：市场现在已经将加息四分之三作为价格。

这一较大的增量，使利率达到1.5%至1.75%的范围，将是1994年以来最大的一次上涨。信息将是明确的：由于通货膨胀率同比超过8%，美联储决心将价格控制住。历史表明，快速的货币紧缩往往发生在经济衰退之前。但美联储知道，失控的通货膨胀会更糟糕。


苹果公司的劳工斗争

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在经历了多年的会员人数下降之后，美国的工会正在迎来一个新的时刻。在紧张的劳动力市场的刺激下，工会活动正在科技和零售业中蔓延。在过去六个月里，纽约市的亚马逊仓库和纽约州水牛城的星巴克咖啡馆已经成为这些公司的第一个工会分支机构。

苹果可能是下一个。其商店的员工对停滞不前的工资感到沮丧，并声称该公司的管理层无视健康和安全。周三，马里兰州一家商店的工人将开始投票决定是否成立工会。

苹果公司并不接受这一想法。与亚马逊和星巴克一样，它一直在大力宣传，反对成立工会。亚特兰大的一家商店已经取消了投票。即使马里兰的工人选择组织起来，工会也会有很长的路要走。在美国还有271家苹果商店。

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每周六次在早餐前送达。

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中国的经济圈

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经济政策制定者有时会抱怨，他们的工作就像通过看后视镜来驾驶汽车：指导他们的数据反映的是过去，而不是未来。当经济在兜圈子的时候，这就不是一个问题了。

周三，中国公布了5月份的工业生产、零售销售和失业数据。当时上海被严格封锁，以控制19号病毒的爆发，该国其他地区也因限制自由流动和集会而受到阻碍。然而，这些数字比预期的要好，也没有上个月那么糟糕。人们希望中国能够将这次柯维德病毒的爆发抛在脑后，并实现快速恢复。但是北京和上海的感染情况已经引起人们对另一次封锁的担忧。那么，令人担忧的是，中国糟糕的经济数据将成为该国未来的指南，也是该国的过去。

印度如何压制国内的抗议活动

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印度执政的印度人民党发言人努普尔-夏尔马(Nupur Sharma)上个月在右翼聊天节目中贬低先知穆罕默德时，几乎没有开辟新的道路。反对冒犯穆斯林少数民族的禁忌正在日渐减少。一位前印度人民党官员最近在北方邦竞选时吹嘘说，当地的穆斯林 "已经不再戴骷髅帽了......如果你再投我一票，他们就会开始戴提拉克(Tilak)，这是印度教徒才戴的额头标志。

但是，夏尔马女士越界了，她冒犯了国外的穆斯林。海湾地区的国家导致了外交上的反弹。最终，印度人民党将她停职。但过去的一周表明，为什么印度的2亿穆斯林倾向于保持沉默。警方对当地抗议者的镇压非常激烈：两人被杀，30人受伤，400人被捕。在北方邦，活动人士的房屋被拆毁。周一，印度穆斯林团体要求其追随者暂停进一步的示威活动。


更多电视节目出炉，傲视群雄

图片: HULU
爱，维克多》第三季也是最后一季于周三发布。这部喜剧剧情片讲述了一名美国中学生在接受同性恋身份时的情况。

这部剧是《爱，西蒙》的衍生剧，一部关于一个有可能被揭发的学生的电影，曾经努力寻找一个家。起初，该剧打算在迪斯尼+发布，但由于其 "成人主题 "而被转移到Hulu。在那里，它成为该平台2020年点播率最高的节目之一，并因对LGBT问题的描述比原版更少而受到赞扬。

第三季将在两个平台上播出。LGBT剧在大型流媒体服务中越来越受欢迎。4月，Netflix的 "Heartstopper"，根据网络漫画改编，以其对英国一所纯男孩学校的同性恋浪漫的描述吸引了观众。同样在Netflix上的 "首杀"，希望通过一个女同性恋吸血鬼和吸血鬼猎人的故事获得同样的成功。爱，维克多》的粉丝们在这个骄傲的月份将有选择。

每日小测验

本周，我们的咖啡师将每天为您提供一个新问题。在星期五，你的挑战是给我们所有的五个答案，并且，同样重要的是，告诉我们连接的主题。在北京时间周五17点前，将你的回答（包括提及你的家乡城市和国家）发到 QuizEspresso@economist.com。我们将从那些有正确答案的人中随机挑选，并在周六为每个大洲选出一名获胜者。

星期三。哪位摇滚明星写了《在他自己的笔下》和《一个西班牙人的作品》等书？

星期二。谁是迄今为止任职时间第二长的印度总理，仅被她的父亲超过？

如果命运意味着你会输，那么无论如何都要给他一场精彩的比赛。

威廉-麦克菲