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13/04/2022

President Biden for the first time said Moscow was committing genocide against the Ukrainian people, but it was unclear whether his statement would lead to new U.S. steps in the war. Authorities exhumed bodies outside Kyiv, even as Russian troops appeared to be massing for a new offensive.

11/04/2022

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently became Twitter's largest individual shareholder, has decided not to join the social media company's board.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted the news Sunday night.
"Elon's appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board," Agrawal said in the tweet. "I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input."
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed Musk decided not to join the Twitter board and referred to Agrawal's statement.
The development comes less than a week after the Tesla and SpaceX founder disclosed that he had purchased a more than 9% stake in the company, and Twitter (TWTR) said in a regulatory filing that it planned to appoint Musk to its board for a term ending in 2024. Both Musk and Twitter's leadership had expressed excitement about his addition to the board.

11/04/2022

10/04/2022

Having children is expensive, no matter where in the world you live. But, while America finds itself in the middle of the cost scale, China has become one of the priciest places to raise kids.

South Korea tops the list of most expensive places to raise a child from birth to age 18, measured as a percentage of per capita gross domestic product, according to research from Jefferies (JEF) which used data from Yuwa Population Research. GDP is the broadest measure of a nation's economic activity. However, in terms of the absolute amount of money spent, China is one of the cheapest places to have kids. But it's all relative: "If we then adjust that data to percentage of average disposable income, China becomes the most expensive place to raise kids," said the Jefferies researchers.
So what makes it so costly to raise kids in the Far East?
A big part of it is the cost of education and the cost and availability of care when the child is in their younger years. Pre-school services in China have been mostly private until recently, according to Jefferies.
It takes more than $75,000 to raise a child until the age of 18 in China, and another $22,000 to get them through university.
While that sounds like much cheaper tuition than students in the United States might face, there's a key difference: "In many other Western countries, a student loan provided by state is more common, and the burden is lifted from parents and transferred to children themselves," the Jefferies analysts said.
In America, for example, 55% of undergraduate students graduated with debt in the 2019-2020 academic year, according to data from the College Board.

09/04/2022

China's unwavering commitment to stamping out Covid by locking down big cities such as Shanghai threatens to deal a hefty shock to its vast economy, place more strain on global supply chains and further fuel inflation.

Shanghai — home to China's leading financial center and some of its largest sea and airports — has been under lockdown for 12 days, and there's no sign of it ending. Small businesses have been hit hard, with shops and restaurants being forced to shut down. Tesla, as well as many Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers, are unclear about when they can restart their factories. Meanwhile, port delays are getting worse, and air freight rates are soaring, putting even more pressure on global trade.
The stringent restrictions have dispelled any expectations that the country may relax its zero-tolerance approach towards Covid-19.
"The surging cases in Shanghai convinced top leaders that there is no middle ground between zero-Covid and living with Covid. From now on, snap lockdown could be the prevailing strategy," said Larry Hu, chief economist for Greater China at Macquarie, in a research report this week.
President Xi Jinping has pledged to "minimize" the economic impact of his Covid policy, but the deteriorating situation in Shanghai — and the extended lockdown — raise tough questions about Beijing's approach to outbreaks of Omicron, a much more infectious variant of the original virus.

08/04/2022

08/04/2022

Emperor penguins releasing millions of micro-bubbles from their feathers, children's dresses hanging on a laundry line on a porch in Puerto Rico, and students standing among fountains in Kyiv are all works by National Geographic photographers that are on sale to support Ukraine.
The flash print sale, which will run until April 20, has been organized by Vital Impacts, a nonprofit organization that supports local groups that protect human and wildlife habitats.
Vital Impacts has partnered with National Geographic photographers to sell their work, with 100% of profits going to Direct Relief, a humanitarian organization currently working in Ukraine to provide medical aid to people affected by the war.
Vital Impacts said its most recent sale for conservation initiatives raised $620,000. Organizers hope this one will exceed $1 million.

07/04/2022

Russian military forces are trying to wipe the besieged southern city of Mariupol “off the face of the Earth,” a Ukrainian military commander currently in Mariupol told CNN Wednesday night.

“It is a humanitarian catastrophe. The military that were involved in active hostilities here are completely surrounded. There are supply problems with water, food, medication and general supply. It’s a very difficult situation,” said Serhiy Volyna, deputy commander of the Marine Battalion in Mariupol, who has been fighting in the region since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

“We have been encircled in Mariupol for more than 40 days. The enemy outnumbers us and in terms of weaponry, their artillery, they have sea-based artillery, tanks, armored vehicles and of course mortars. It is difficult for us,” Volyna said.