2022.03.30 俄罗斯愿意 "从根本上 "削减军队

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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 A spokesman for America’s defence department said that, though “small numbers” of Russian troops had withdrawn from around Kyiv, it was probably “a repositioning, not a real withdrawal”.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.

Daily quiz

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Tuesday: Which drummer, noted for his lengthy solos, was a co-founder of the supergroup Cream?

Monday: Which company, set up in 1670, controlled the fur trade in British North America, before evolving into a retailer?

Remember that the worst accidents occur in the middle of the road.

Eugene McCarthy



世界简讯
迅速了解重要的全球事件

8小时前更新 (21:51 GMT+1 / 16:51 New York)

在伊斯坦布尔举行的和平会谈上，俄罗斯表示，它愿意 "从根本上 "削减驻扎在乌克兰首都基辅周围的部队数量，以 "加强信任"。一位乌克兰发言人表示，他的国家需要安全保障和停火。俄罗斯希望其对克里米亚的吞并得到承认，并希望顿巴斯地区独立，但不再要求乌克兰 "去纳粹化"，据说准备让其加入欧盟。乌克兰总统沃洛基米尔-泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelensky)表示，该国不会对其领土完整做出妥协。

但五角大楼建议不要相信俄罗斯的话。美国国防部的一位发言人说，尽管有 "少量 "俄罗斯军队从基辅周围撤出，但这可能是 "重新定位，而不是真正的撤出"。他补充说，"这并不意味着对基辅的威胁已经结束"。美国总统乔-拜登说，他不会 "在看到他们的行动之前，对[俄罗斯的主张]进行任何解读"。

美国的股指上涨，因为有迹象表明俄罗斯和乌克兰之间的和平谈判取得了进展，市场受到了提振。华尔街的恐惧指数CBOE波动性指数降至19.3，为1月中旬以来最低。俄罗斯的入侵推动了金属价格的上涨，但黄金现在已经跌至一个月来的最低点。然而，不确定因素仍然存在：美国三大指数将创下自大流行病开始以来最糟糕的季度。

据一位官员称，美国财政部正准备对俄罗斯的军事供应链进行制裁。该部门表示，其目的是打击 "俄罗斯建造和维护依赖这些投入的战争工具的能力"。早些时候，泽伦斯基先生敦促西方对俄罗斯实施更多制裁，包括欧洲石油禁运，并继续向乌克兰供应武器。

几个欧洲国家表示，他们将驱逐43名被指控从事间谍活动的俄罗斯外交官。比利时让21名俄罗斯人离开，而荷兰则赶走了17名。爱尔兰和捷克共和国共驱逐了5名。俄罗斯承诺将进行报复。早些时候，其他欧洲国家，包括保加利亚、波兰和波罗的海国家，命令几十名俄罗斯人离开。

其他新闻

美国的监管机构授权50岁以上的人可以接种Moderna或辉瑞/生物技术公司生产的covid-19疫苗的第四剂 - 伦敦警方将对违反covid-19规定的政府大楼开出20张罚单，包括英国首相鲍里斯-约翰逊生活和工作的唐宁街10号。派对门 "丑闻涉及2020年和2021年期间的至少12项活动--上海东半部的居民周二被禁止以任何理由外出，除了接受covid-19检测，此前当地的日感染率达到创纪录的4477人。该市的西部地区将在周五进入封锁状态。

巴西总统Jair Bolsonaro赶走了国营石油公司Petrobras的CEO。据报道，博尔索纳罗先生对巴西石油公司上个月提高燃料价格感到不满。巴西国家石油公司的股价应声下跌--弗雷德-史密斯(Fred Smith)说他将卸任联邦快递(FedEx)的首席执行官，联邦快递是他在50多年前创立的美国物流公司。总裁兼首席运营官Raj Subramaniam将接任。

今天的事实。110,000，中国的居委会数量。他们帮助执行该国的零居室政策。阅读全文。

更正。3月26日，我们错误地将纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫称为 "阿尔巴尼亚族的飞地"。它当然是一块亚美尼亚族的飞地。对不起。


在土耳其举行的更多和平会谈

照片。REUTERS
在俄罗斯和乌克兰新一轮和平会谈的第一场会谈后，俄罗斯国防部副部长亚历山大-福明宣布，俄罗斯决定 "大幅 "缩减其在乌克兰首都基辅附近的攻势。虽然停火似乎仍然遥不可及，但这一声明表明，俄罗斯的入侵正在耗尽力量。

土耳其外交部长梅夫卢特-卡武索格鲁（Mevlut Cavusoglu）说，在伊斯坦布尔举行的会议标志着自谈判开始以来的 "最有意义的进展"，尽管他没有详细说明。一个可能达成共识的领域可能是乌克兰的中立问题，乌克兰总统沃洛基米尔-泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelensky)曾表示，他准备接受这一问题作为和平的代价。泽伦斯基先生还表示，任何协议都必须包括对乌克兰的安全保证。俄罗斯已经降低了其要求，但其坚持承认卢甘斯克和顿涅茨克的独立，这表明普京想要的不是和平协议，而是投降。乌克兰不会给他这个机会。

俄罗斯的黑客们在哪里？

照片。ALAMY
许多分析家预计，俄罗斯对乌克兰的军事入侵将伴随着旨在破坏关键基础设施的网络攻击。但是，俄罗斯曾经使用过的这一战术，却明显没有出现。尽管如此，乌克兰的盟友，甚至那些远离战场的盟友，都在担心。在3月21日的一次演讲中，美国总统乔-拜登引用了情报评估，说俄罗斯正在 "探索 "对美国及其公司的网络攻击。

这种攻击是在普通的间谍活动（即数据盗窃）和常规战争（关闭电网或破坏一个国家的核武器计划）之间的灰色地带进行。因此，对于攻击后应采取何种行动，几乎没有共识。但这种不确定性可以被所有人利用，而不仅仅是俄罗斯。美国也有自己的黑客；他们可能会以牙还牙。旨在传递信息的戏剧性攻击有可能激起同样戏剧性的反应。

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西班牙的痛苦

照片。新闻协会
乌克兰的战争推动了整个欧洲的能源价格上涨。但在伊比利亚地区，它以一种特殊的方式进行。西班牙通过两条天然气管道与法国相连，并通过一条管道与阿尔及利亚相连。葡萄牙也通过西班牙获得天然气。大多数西班牙客户支付的电价与（现在飞涨的）天然气价格挂钩。因此，上周西班牙首相佩德罗-桑切斯和葡萄牙总理安东尼奥-科斯塔赢得了其他欧盟领导人的许可，暂时限定天然气价格。现在，他们必须解决如何避免触犯集团的单一市场规则。

桑切斯先生还必须努力向卡车司机推销他的燃料补贴新计划。一群西班牙卡车司机已经罢工了两周，导致食品短缺。在西班牙语中，"de mala leche"（"坏牛奶"）意味着心情不好。这就是西班牙人的态度，现在商店的货架上不见了白色的东西。


CNN加入流媒体业务

照片。阿拉米
继迪士尼+、派拉蒙+和苹果电视+之后，CNN+也来了。周二，这家有线电视新闻巨头在美国推出了每月5.99美元的流媒体服务，随后将在国际上推广。

CNN+的用户将获得新闻和纪实节目的组合，包括女演员伊娃-朗格利亚(Eva Longoria)制作的关于墨西哥食品的系列。但是，CNN的旗舰滚动新闻频道在美国是不存在的，在那里它仍然是为有线电视用户保留的。业内人士说，在其他国家的CNN+用户中，有线电视不太受欢迎，他们可能会得到包括新闻频道在内的服务。

随着越来越多的家庭用户切断他们的电缆，这可能也是美国事情的最终走向。仅有一半以上的家庭拥有有线电视服务，比十年前的近十分之九有所下降。流媒体已经抢走了有线电视中最好的电视剧、喜剧和纪录片，并开始购买体育比赛的版权。CNN进入流媒体是另一个迹象，表明有线电视很快将成为旧闻。


蓝色起源的最新发射

照片。BLUE ORIGIN
在又一次推迟之后，杰夫-贝索斯的航空航天公司现在计划在周四发射其第四次前往地球大气层边缘的乘客之旅，比计划晚了八天。这些延误使电视喜剧演员皮特-戴维森(Pete Davidson)从六名乘客的名单中被剔除。取代他的是加里-赖，一位在蓝色起源工作了18年的工程师。这种长寿使他成为越来越罕见的品种。

在航空航天领域，人员流动是很痛苦的，离职者会带走专业知识，培训新员工可能需要一年时间。蓝色起源也不例外。但该公司的问题因离职员工对有毒工作文化的抱怨而变得更加复杂。

蓝色起源公司的野心不仅仅是让有钱人去兜风。它希望其 "新格伦 "火箭能够通过运行常规航天飞机和发射卫星，参与到更广泛的太空经济中。但人员问题--加上大流行病和失去的合同--已经造成了伤害。原本计划在2020年发射的新格伦号，至少要到2023年才会发射。

每日小测验

我们的咖啡师每天都会为你提供一个新问题。在星期五，你的挑战是给出所有五个答案，并告诉我们连接的主题。在周五格林尼治标准时间17点之前，将你的回答（包括提到你的家乡和国家）发到 QuizEspresso@economist.com。我们将从正确的答案中随机挑选，并在周六为每个大洲选出一名获胜者。

星期二。哪位鼓手因其冗长的独奏而闻名，是超级组合Cream的创始人之一？

周一。哪家公司成立于1670年，控制着英属北美地区的毛皮贸易，后来发展成为一家零售企业？

请记住，最糟糕的事故发生在道路中间。

尤金-麦卡锡