2022.08.22 俄罗斯继续在乌克兰的几个地区发动攻势

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Russia pressed on with its offensive in several areas of Ukraine, having bombarded it with unusual severity over the weekend. Russian forces pounded Nikopol, a city near Zaporizhia, and fired cruise missiles into Odessa. In Russia, police opened a murder investigation into a suspected car bomb attack that killed the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a Russian ultra-nationalist ideologue. Russia’s Federal Security Service blamed the attack on Ukrainian secret services; Ukraine has denied involvement.

Germany’s economy is increasingly likely to slip into recession with inflation rising above 10% this autumn, according to the country’s Bundesbank. The euro zone’s largest economy is highly reliant on Russian gas supplies, which will again be choked off in a three-day closure of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline next week. Dutch TTF prices, a key benchmark for Europe’s wholesale gas price, jumped by 20% to above €290 per MWh.

China’s central bank slashed key lending rates in an attempt to revive the beleaguered property sector and reignite the economy. The five-year loan prime rate, the benchmark for mortgages, was cut by 0.15 percentage points to 4.3%, in step with an identical reduction in May. On Friday officials announced additional financing to prop up the real-estate sector.

Turkey doubled its imports of Russian oil this year, according to Refinitiv, a financial-data provider. Imports rose to over 200,000 barrels per day so far in 2022, compared with 98,000 in the same period of 2021. Trade between the two countries has grown rapidly since Turkey elected not to join Western sanctions against Russia, citing its reliance on Russian energy.

President Joe Biden spoke with heads of government from Britain, France and Germany about reviving a nuclear deal with Iran. The four Western leaders discussed ways to “deter and constrain Iran’s destabilising regional activities”. They also spoke about the war in Ukraine and the importance of protecting the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the site of intense shelling in recent weeks.

Pakistan charged Imran Khan, the former prime minister ousted in April, with crimes under an anti-terrorism act. On Saturday he had addressed supporters at a rally, denouncing police and judges for jailing and torturing his colleagues. On Sunday he was accused of incitement against the state. He was banned from television and, Mr Khan complained, YouTube was blocked to censor him.

Cineworld, the world’s second-largest cinema chain, said it was considering filing for bankruptcy in America. The British business, which also owns Regal cinemas in America, said that a shortage of blockbuster films and the popularity of online streaming had threatened its recovery from the pandemic, which saw its debts soar. The company had a market value of just £56m ($66m) at Friday’s close.

Fact of the day: $16bn, Amazon’s expected spending on media content this year. Read the full article.


America and South Korea back in full battle rattle

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On Monday America and South Korea began full-scale joint military drills for the first time in five years. In 2018 Donald Trump, then America’s president, had called for an end to the exercises as he courted Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, who resented them. But those were different times. America and North Korea were talking to one another, and South Korea’s doveish then-president, Moon Jae-in, was keen for inter-Korean rapprochement. Reality has since set in. North Korea is back to developing weapons openly, while America and South Korea warn of “strong and firm” action, if need be.

The drills mark a return to the status quo. They are designed to test readiness for an attack; to reassure the South Koreans they are safe; and to dissuade the North Koreans from trying anything too bold. At the very least, expect the normal North Korean reaction: fiery words to match its enemies’ live-fire exercises.

Cloak-and-daggers drawn for Greek politicians

PHOTO: EYEVINE
Greece’s lawmakers returned from summer break on Monday to discuss a demand by Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the left-wing opposition, for a parliamentary probe into the activities of the national intelligence service, EYP. It stands accused of hacking into the phones of politicians and journalists. The scandal could topple the government. The conservative prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will be pressed to explain why EYP, which he oversees personally, was eavesdropping on Nikos Androulakis, a member of the European Parliament, while he campaigned for the leadership of a small socialist party.

Meanwhile the European Parliament’s spyware watchdog, PEGA, wants Greece to investigate Intellexa, the Athens-based, Israeli-owned maker of Predator, a spyware system that was used in another, unsuccessful attack on Mr Androulakis’s phone. Predator was also detected lurking in a Greek journalist’s phone. Mr Mitsotakis claims that he was unaware of EYP’s surveillance of Mr Androulakis and that Greece’s government does not possess Predator.

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Africa’s many health problems

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This week scores of officials, ministers and other bigwigs descend on Lomé, Togo’s capital, for an annual World Health Organisation conference about the state of health in Africa. The past two sessions had to be held virtually. This year the four-day pow-wow includes a session on how countries have maintained essential health services while fighting covid-19. Yet the pandemic is just one of many items on the agenda.

The health ministers have a myriad of problems to consider, from sickle-cell disease to tuberculosis; African countries have some of the highest rates in the world. Polio, non-communicable diseases and mental health will also be in focus. Most of the continent’s health ministries are short on resources and struggle with unenviable decisions about how to prioritise covid-19 vaccinations relative to perennial needs, such as jabs against tetanus and measles. And with just 22% of Africans fully vaccinated against covid-19, another wave could force priorities to change quickly.

Zoom’s shrinking earnings

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Today Zoom, a videoconferencing service, will report its second-quarter results. The firm’s popularity soared during the pandemic, but now it faces emboldened competitors, such as Microsoft Teams. Another problem is that demand for Zoom’s services is waning as more workers return to the office. Its operating margins declined from 32% in last year’s first quarter to 17% this year. Investors took heed. Zoom’s share price has fallen by 46% since the start of the year, against a 17% decline across the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index.

Yet remote work has survived. Some 58% of America’s employees say they work from home at least some of the time. But firms that benefited during the pandemic’s heyday are now suffering. Consider Peloton, which makes internet-connected exercise bikes; Netflix, a video-streaming service; and DocuSign, an electronic-signatures firm. Each of their share prices has fallen by more than 50% this year. The buzz around remote-work stocks has all but worn off.


Making jet fuel green

PHOTO: ALAMY
Air-travel emissions are notorious—and hard to do without. Batteries show promise for powering short-range flights, but decarbonising longer journeys is much harder.

The solution may be sustainable aviation fuel, a “drop-in” replacement for the conventional stuff. Innovators are working on various ways to produce SAF. Some use discarded cooking oil and animal fats. Others start with plant matter left over from forestry and agriculture. Still others turn carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and then combine that with hydrogen to create hydrocarbons. Some are even trying to engineer single-celled algae to produce fuels directly.

For now, SAF is about three times as costly as ordinary jet fuel. Even so, airlines have undertaken 450,000 flights with SAF in the fuselage. With the industry aiming to become carbon-neutral by 2050, that number is set to soar. Someday even the most environmentally finicky passenger may board aircraft with a clean conscience.

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.

Monday: What is the traditional title for an adult male Mormon who has taken the lowest office in the Melchizedek priesthood?





俄罗斯继续在乌克兰的几个地区发动攻势，在周末对其进行了异常严厉的轰炸。俄罗斯军队轰炸了扎波罗热附近的城市尼科波尔，并向敖德萨发射了巡航导弹。在俄罗斯，警方对一起疑似汽车炸弹袭击事件展开了谋杀调查，该事件导致俄罗斯极端民族主义思想家亚历山大-杜金的女儿死亡。俄罗斯联邦安全局将此次袭击归咎于乌克兰特工部门；乌克兰则否认参与其中。

据德国联邦银行称，德国的经济越来越有可能陷入衰退，今年秋季的通货膨胀率将超过10%。这个欧元区最大的经济体高度依赖俄罗斯的天然气供应，而下周北溪1号管道将关闭三天，天然气供应将再次被掐断。作为欧洲天然气批发价格的关键基准，荷兰TTF价格跳涨20%，超过每兆瓦时290欧元。

中国央行削减了关键贷款利率，试图重振陷入困境的房地产行业并重振经济。作为抵押贷款的基准，五年期贷款最优惠利率下调了0.15个百分点，至4.3%，与5月份的相同降幅保持一致。周五，官员们宣布了额外的融资，以支持房地产行业的发展。

根据金融数据提供商Refinitiv的数据，土耳其今年对俄罗斯石油的进口翻了一番。到目前为止，2022年的进口量上升到每天20多万桶，而2021年同期为9.8万桶。自从土耳其以其对俄罗斯能源的依赖为由，选择不加入西方对俄罗斯的制裁，两国之间的贸易就迅速增长。

美国总统乔-拜登与英国、法国和德国的政府首脑就恢复与伊朗的核协议进行了交谈。四位西方领导人讨论了如何 "威慑和限制伊朗破坏稳定的地区活动"。他们还谈到了乌克兰的战争以及保护扎波罗热核电站的重要性，该核电站最近几周遭到密集炮击。

巴基斯坦根据一项反恐怖主义法案指控4月份被赶下台的前总理伊姆兰-汗犯罪。周六，他在一次集会上向支持者发表讲话，谴责警察和法官监禁和拷打他的同事。周日，他被指控煽动反对国家。他被禁止上电视，而且，汗先生抱怨说，为了审查他，YouTube被封锁了。

世界第二大连锁电影院Cineworld表示，它正在考虑在美国申请破产。这家在美国也拥有Regal电影院的英国企业说，大片的短缺和在线流媒体的流行威胁到了它从大流行中的复苏，它的债务飙升。该公司在周五收盘时的市值仅为5600万英镑（6600万美元）。

今天的事实：160亿美元，亚马逊今年在媒体内容上的预期支出。阅读全文。


美国和韩国重新进入全面战斗状态

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周一美国和韩国开始全面联合军事演习，这是五年来第一次。2018年，时任美国总统的唐纳德-特朗普曾呼吁结束演习，因为他向朝鲜领导人金正恩示好，后者对演习很反感。但那是不同的时代。美国和朝鲜正在相互交谈，而韩国当时的总统文在寅热衷于朝韩关系的缓和。此后，现实发生了变化。朝鲜又开始公开研制武器，而美国和韩国则警告说，如有必要，将采取 "强有力的、坚定的 "行动。

这些演习标志着现状的回归。它们的目的是测试攻击的准备情况；向韩国人保证他们是安全的；并劝阻朝鲜人不要做任何太大胆的尝试。至少，预计朝鲜会有正常的反应：用火热的语言来配合其敌人的实弹演习。

希腊政治家的隐身衣和匕首

照片。EYEVINE
希腊立法者周一结束夏休返回，讨论左翼反对派领导人亚历克西斯-齐普拉斯提出的要求，即议会调查国家情报部门EYP的活动。该机构被指控入侵政治家和记者的电话。这一丑闻可能会使政府倒台。保守派总理Kyriakos Mitsotakis将被要求解释为什么他亲自监督的EYP在欧洲议会议员Nikos Androulakis竞选一个小型社会主义政党的领导人时对他进行窃听。

同时，欧洲议会的间谍软件监督机构PEGA希望希腊对总部位于雅典的以色列Predator公司进行调查，Predator是一个间谍软件系统，被用于对Androulakis先生的手机进行另一次不成功的攻击。Predator也被发现潜伏在一名希腊记者的手机中。Mitsotakis先生声称，他不知道EYP对Androulakis先生的监视，而且希腊政府并不拥有Predator。

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非洲的许多健康问题

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本周，数十名官员、部长和其他大人物来到多哥首都洛美，参加世界卫生组织关于非洲卫生状况的年度会议。过去两届会议不得不以虚拟方式举行。今年，为期四天的会议包括一个关于各国如何在抗击19型病毒的同时维持基本卫生服务的会议。然而，大流行病只是议程上众多项目中的一个。

卫生部长们要考虑无数的问题，从镰状细胞病到结核病；非洲国家的结核病发病率是世界上最高的。小儿麻痹症、非传染性疾病和精神健康也将是重点。非洲大陆的大多数卫生部门都缺乏资源，并且在如何确定covid-19疫苗接种的优先次序和常年需求（如破伤风和麻疹疫苗）方面做出了令人羡慕的决定。由于只有22%的非洲人完全接种了covid-19疫苗，另一波疫苗接种可能迫使优先事项迅速改变。

ZOOM公司的收益缩水

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今天，视频会议服务公司Zoom将公布其第二季度业绩。该公司的知名度在大流行期间飙升，但现在它面临着胆大妄为的竞争对手，如微软团队。另一个问题是，随着越来越多的工人回到办公室，对Zoom服务的需求正在减弱。其营业利润率从去年第一季度的32%下降到今年的17%。投资者注意到了这一点。自今年年初以来，Zoom的股价已经下跌了46%，而科技股重镇纳斯达克综合指数则下跌了17%。

然而，远程工作仍然存在。大约58%的美国雇员说他们至少有一部分时间在家工作。但是，那些在远程工作全盛时期受益的公司现在正在遭受损失。比如制造与互联网连接的运动自行车的Peloton公司、视频流媒体服务的Netflix公司和电子签名公司DocuSign公司。今年以来，它们的股价都下跌了50%以上。围绕远程工作股票的喧嚣已经完全消失了。


让航空燃料变得绿色

照片。阿拉米
航空旅行中的排放物是臭名昭著的，而且很难避免。电池显示出为短途飞行提供动力的前景，但长距离旅行的去碳化要难得多。

解决办法可能是可持续航空燃料，即传统燃料的 "现成 "替代品。创新者正在研究生产SAF的各种方法。一些人使用废弃的食用油和动物脂肪。其他人则从林业和农业留下的植物物质开始。还有一些人将二氧化碳转化为一氧化碳，然后与氢气结合，生成碳氢化合物。有些人甚至在尝试用单细胞藻类来直接生产燃料。

就目前而言，SAF的成本是普通喷气燃料的三倍左右。即便如此，航空公司已经在机身中使用SAF进行了45万次飞行。随着该行业的目标是在2050年之前实现碳中和，这一数字还将飙升。有一天，即使是对环境最挑剔的乘客也可能带着干净的良心登上飞机。

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。

星期一。在麦基洗德圣职中担任最低职位的成年男性摩门教徒的传统称号是什么？