Flagship

Hundreds gather for Navalny’s funeral

Crowds gathered in Moscow for the funeral of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny amid a heavy police presence and fears of arrests. Navalny, the most vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, died in an Arctic prison camp last month, after being jailed on what are widely considered trumped-up charges. Navalny’s widow accuses Putin of having him murdered. How the funeral will unfold is unclear: Navalny’s spokeswoman said that they could not find a hearse, because “unknown people are calling mortuaries and threatening them if they accept to take Alexei’s body.” Hundreds were arrested at earlier attempts to commemorate Navalany’s death.

Zara to reopen stores in Ukraine

Zara, the Spanish fast-fashion giant, will begin reopening stores in Ukraine that it closed shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Kyiv will welcome Western businesses reinvesting in the country after a two-year hiatus: Ukrainian entrepreneurs have struggled since the start of the war as interest rates soared above 20% while Western investors remain wary of operating in the conflict-torn country. However some in Ukraine believe conditions for investment are better than many outside suspect. “The biggest problem is not people, technology or equity,” a Kyiv-based businessman told The Wall Street Journal. “The biggest problem is to raise project finance.”

Biden, Trump visit Texas border

U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both visited the Texas-Mexico border, each blaming the other for record illegal migration levels. Biden called on Trump to back a bipartisan bill which congressional Republicans torpedoed at Trump’s urging, while Trump said the president had “blood” on his hands for a “Biden migrant crime” wave. Nearly 250,000 migrants crossed into the U.S. in December, a figure both men agree is unsustainable. The New York Times’ political correspondent said the visits revealed the two would-be presidents’ “competing visions of power and presidency”: Biden’s “intrinsic and institutional belief in legislating,” versus Trump’s pledge to “be a dictator” for the first day of his presidency, closing the border by executive order.

AI drives Nasdaq to record

The Nasdaq stock index hit a record high, apparently driven by a surge in optimism over artificial intelligence. The index, home to many tech companies, rose 0.9%, suggesting investors “expect AI to unleash a new wave of growth,” the BBC reported: Microsoft and Nvidia were among the firms that saw the biggest gains. The Dow Jones and S&P were both up as well, the fourth month in a row all three indices rose. The U.S. central bank is also winning its fight against inflation, and investors hope that it will lower interest rates soon, making borrowing cheaper and allowing money to move more easily.

Energy emissions up despite green surge

Global carbon emissions from energy production reached a record high in 2023, despite the growth in zero-carbon sources. An International Energy Agency report said that energy emissions rose 1.1% to 37.4 billion tonnes, mostly driven by coal use, especially in China. Also, drought caused a shortfall in hydropower generation, which would have helped emissions drop. And had it not been for the growth in green tech the emissions growth would have been three times larger, the report said. The IEA also noted a decoupling of economic growth from emissions: Advanced economies grew 1.7% but their emissions fell 4.5%.

Zambia declares drought emergency

Zambia declared a national emergency after a drought devastated food and electricity production. The drought has been aggravated by El Niño, a warm-weather pattern that has destabilized climates throughout the world for months. New research published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests El Niño’s impact may be worse still in 2024: According to the researchers, there’s a 90% chance that global average surface temperatures will reach a record high for the year. “We have seen that this type of warming can cause a lot of troubles in the world, so we want to give people a heads up,” one of the researchers told The Verge.

Yellen praises Milei

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Argentina’s President Javier Milei had taken “important steps” in restoring fiscal sustainability and combating inflation. Although Milei has largely had to rely on governing through decree — his party holds a small minority in both chambers of Congress — thus blunting his ambitious reform efforts, “it seems the market is starting to believe” in his program, an Argentinian financial analyst told Reuters. Some, however, remain wary that Milei’s “economic shock” risks destabilizing the country’s beleaguered economy. The president remains defiant: “Why would it be risky,” Milei asked during an interview with the Financial Times, “when I’m doing exactly what the textbooks say I need to?”

Gaza protest drives UK election win

George Galloway, a former Labour Party MP, won a seat in the U.K. Parliament after campaigning against the war in Gaza. The town of Rochdale, which has a large Muslim population, held a special election after its representative died. The result shows the strength of feeling in the West over Gaza — thousands of Democratic voters in Michigan also lodged a protest vote against Joe Biden earlier this week. It is embarrassing for the opposition Labour Party, which previously held the seat. But Galloway is a unique and polarizing figure in British politics: He once met then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and praised his “courage and indefatigability,” drank milk from a saucer in a catsuit on Celebrity Big Brother, and twice won seats running against Labour in the past. Drawing conclusions from his success is tricky.

Chinese wine contest opens

​​The world’s biggest Chinese wine competition kicked off today in Macau. Although China has long been one of the world’s biggest buyers of wine, it has made few inroads as a wine exporter, as it has struggled to compete “with new-world alternatives on price and old-world ones on reputation,” the Financial Times reported last year. However the 200 wineries taking part at the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards hope that years of investment will pay off when wine experts try their tipples, with the competition representing a make-or-break event for some. “Opening a vineyard is the easiest way to go bankrupt,” the owner of a vineyard in Xinjiang said.

Hollywood pins hopes on Dune

Dune: Part Two opened in cinemas. The first film grossed $402 million worldwide, raising hopes that the second installment would revive the movie industry after a weak holiday season and start to the year. Reviews are highly positive — The New York Times said “the art of cinematic spectacle is alive” — and its maker Warner Bros hopes the movie will make up for a series of disappointing DC Comics adaptations that followed last year’s Barbie smash hit. The early signs are good: One Flagship writer was in a packed London cinema last night watching a rerelease of the first film. Most of the audience was there for a double bill — Part Two was scheduled to start at midnight.

A world class line-up of global economic leaders has been announced for the 2024 World Economy Summit, taking place in Washington, D.C. on April 17-18. Speakers include Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America; Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury; Suzanne Clark, President & CEO; U.S. Chamber of Commerce; John Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; José Muñoz, President & COO, Hyundai Motor Company; Jared Bernstein, Chair, White House Council of Economic Advisors; Richard Lesser, Global Chair, Boston Consulting Group; Sim Tshabalala, CEO, Standard Bank and Gretchen Watkins, President, Shell USA, Pat Gelsinger, CEO, Intel; Sen. Ron Wyden, (D) Oregon and more. Speakers, Sessions & Registration here.

• The U.N. Human Rights Council discusses the situation in war-torn Sudan.
• U.S. President Joe Biden will host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House.
• Wales celebrates St. David’s Day in honor of the country’s patron saint.

Storytellers & Co, a children’s bookstore in Ottawa, recommends Dream Animals: A Bedtime Journey by Emily Winfield Martin, a book that encourages “little ones to close their eyes and discover what their dream animal might be.” Ash of Storytellers & Co says, “This is by far our favourite bedtime book! The tone and pace of the words is perfect for bedtime and the story is adorable.” Buy it at Storytellers & Co or your local bookstore.

A top Philippines university has launched a new celebrity studies course that examines Taylor Swift’s impact on global pop culture. It offers students a chance to study how the U.S. megastar is portrayed in the media — tackling issues such as sex, gender, and class – and also how in the Philippines she’s viewed as a “transnational” figure, a professor told Reuters. It’s not the first institution to offer a course on Swift, following in the footsteps of U.S. universities such as Harvard, Stanford, and Berklee College of Music. Swift is due to begin the Asia leg of her sold-out Eras Tour shows in Singapore on Saturday.

• Democrats loathed Mitch McConnell. They worry what’s next will be worse.
• Arrest of Binance executives shakes up Nigeria’s crypto ecosystem, again.
• Willy Wonka fiasco highlights risks of AI-made ads.