Flagship

US allows ceasefire resolution to pass

The White House was “very disappointed” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to cancel a delegation visit to Washington, after the U.S. declined to veto a resolution calling for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza. The United Nations Security Council resolution, the first of its kind approved by the body, is considered legally binding, but challenging to enforce. Netanyahu blamed the U.S. for changing its position, a charge the Biden administration denied. The White House views Israel’s canceled delegation visit — which was set to explore alternatives to Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah — as an artificial crisis orchestrated by Netanyahu for domestic political purposes, Axios reported.

Mumbai the new ‘billionaire capital’

Mumbai has narrowly eclipsed Beijing as Asia’s billionaire capital, according to a new “rich list” from a Shanghai-based research firm. India’s financial hub is now home to 92 billionaires, behind New York with 119 and London with 97. The wealth shifts signal how “confidence in the [Indian] economy grew to record levels,” the report’s researcher told Nikkei. China still has the most billionaires — thanks in part to AI-related success — but they’ve shrunk by 155 since 2022, while India’s roster grew by 94. China’s elites are increasingly looking to move their money overseas or relocate in the face of crackdowns on the finance sector and a rocky geopolitical climate, The Guardian reported last year.

Boeing CEO heads for the exit

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of the year, part of a huge shakeup at the embattled plane maker. Calhoun, who doesn’t have an engineering background, failed to resolve years-long safety issues plaguing Boeing, and keeping him around for three years — even raising his compensation in 2022 — was “an extreme embarrassment,” an aviation expert told CNN. His planned December exit “is way too much time to leave an already reeling company in limbo,” Bloomberg’s transportation columnist Thomas Black wrote, calling for Boeing to move faster in finding a successor. If anyone could resurrect Boeing, Black argued, it would be an “experienced turnaround artist” like Larry Culp, who is widely credited with rescuing General Electric.

Bolsonaro hid at Hungarian embassy

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro holed up at the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil for two nights in February after his passport was confiscated and his aides were arrested on allegations that they plotted a coup, according to security footage obtained by The New York Times. Bolsonaro may have been trying to use his friendship with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to evade prosecution and seek asylum, The Times wrote, since he cannot be arrested at a foreign embassy. The visit could be grounds for his arrest, according to Brazilian news reports, and Brazil’s foreign office summoned the Hungarian ambassador. But the country’s political establishment likely “does not want to send Bolsonaro to prison, believing it would upset stability of last 12 months,” the editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly wrote.

Senegal’s new young leader

Senegal elected its youngest president ever, just 10 days after he was released from jail, in a massive upset by the country’s left-wing opposition. Bassirou Diomaye Faye turned 44 on Monday as supporters in Dakar sang “Happy Birthday” to celebrate his party’s first win in an election that President Macky Sall attempted to delay, threatening Senegal’s reputation as one of the more democratically stable countries in a region where coups are now commonplace. Faye, one of 19 presidential contenders, was boosted by populist opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, with both men running a joint “quick-fire” campaign after their release from prison. Sonko’s rhetoric against political elites attracted Senegal’s massive youth base, according to The New York Times; half the country’s population is under 19.

Cocoa prices soar

Cocoa became more expensive than copper on Monday, surpassing $9,000 per metric ton for the first time ever. The sharp price increase was due to poor harvests in West Africa, where much of the world’s cocoa is produced; Ghana’s cocoa output for the season is expected to be almost 40% below target. It’s sparked a supply panic among chocolate manufacturers like Malaysia-based Guan Chong, which is scouring for beans from smaller suppliers like Ecuador, Peru, and Indonesia, Bloomberg reported. Shoppers will have to pay more for chocolate this Easter, and the International Cocoa Organization expects costs to keep rising into next year.

Truth Social going public

Donald Trump’s social media firm, which owns the Truth Social platform, will begin trading in New York on Tuesday under the ticket DJT. Truth Social merged with a shell company on Friday, raising Trump’s on-paper wealth by $3 billion and boosting shares of the shell company. But experts warned the market may be overvaluing the platform, which posted a net loss of $49 million in the first nine months of 2023 and has a shrinking user base, CNN wrote. It’s been a busy legal day for the former president: The start date for his trial over hush-money payments to a porn star was set for April 15, while a judge cut his bond in his New York civil fraud case.

Art market in freefall

The art market is in freefall. In 2021, Emmanuel Taku’s Sisters in Pink, sold for $189,000, Artnet’s art market reporter Katya Kazakina noted. This month it sold again — for $8,000. The industry has been keen to promote art as an alternative investment, rivaling the stock market. But dealers told Kazakina that most art, like cars, loses value the moment you buy it, and big returns are rare. Many works by artists formerly beloved by speculators are failing to sell or going for a fraction of their expected price: “It’s not a soft landing,” one auctioneer said. Collectors suggested that buying art shouldn’t be an investment, but a passion.

Saudi plans ‘Dragon Ball’ park

Saudi Arabia is building a Dragon Ball theme park. The beloved Japanese manga, loosely inspired by the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, first featured in 1980s’ comic books before being adapted into an animated series. It was in the vanguard of Japanese media becoming popular in the West, along with anime such as Akira. The theme park is set to be housed in a planned entertainment megaproject called Qiddiya, part of Saudi plans to diversify the country’s economy away from fossil fuels and become a tourist and green energy hub. But some Dragon Ball fans have criticized the project over the kingdom’s human rights record.

First woman finishes Barkley race

A British woman became the first female runner to complete the Barkley Marathons, one of the world’s toughest endurance races. The Marathons involve five 20-mile loops of hilly, wooded Tennessee country, equivalent to twice the elevation of Mount Everest. Since 1989, only 19 people had completed it in the allotted 60 hours. Jasmin Paris, from Scotland, became the 20th, with 99 seconds to spare. Ultramarathons, races longer than the 26.2 miles of a marathon, have taken off in recent years: A 2023 report found participation had increased more than 1,600% since 2000. The report also found that at the longest distances — over 195 miles — women are usually faster than men. Paris said she “did it for women worldwide.”

March 26:

• The annual Boao Forum for Asia — a four-day conference often described as “Asia’s Davos” — kicks off in southern China.
• French President Emmanuel Macron, who has criticized Brazil for failing to preserve the rainforest, visits the Amazon during a three-day visit to the country.
• The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a case that could limit access to mifepristone, a commonly-used abortion pill.

The difference between how older and younger people in the U.S. rate their lives, according to the 2024 Gallup World Happiness Report. Americans over 60 rated their lives at an average “life evaluation” of 7.2 on a scale of one to 10, the 10th-highest globally, while the average evaluation for those under 30 stood at only 6.4. Low youth sentiment dragged down the U.S.’s overall happiness ranking, pulling it out of the top 20 “happiest” countries for the first time.

Fans of the Japanese animated series Gundam are rushing to catch a final glimpse of a massive, moving replica of the series’ beloved robot before the exhibition ends this week. The 18-meter-tall giant first appeared in December 2020 in the city of Yokohama, just south of Tokyo, and is reportedly the world’s only Gundam replica that moves. The franchise’s cultural impact in Japan has been likened to that of Star Wars. “I take pictures of the robot from different angles and it shows something new each time,” a man who has visited the exhibition at least 20 times told The Asahi Shimbun. “It’s a cool robot. I’m really sad to see it go.”

• U.S. media is learning to live with Trump.
• Idris Elba is making a big bet on Africa’s creative opportunity.
• U.S. House speaker juggles key committee vacancies.