Flagship

Iran blames Israel for commander death

An airstrike near the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed a senior Iranian military commander in charge of Tehran’s operations in Syria and Lebanon, according to Iran state media, which blamed Israel for the attack. Four Israeli officials told The New York Times that Israel was behind the attack to kill Mohammad Reza Zahedi. The strike comes days after Israel struck other targets in Syria, killing Hezbollah members as well as civilians. “Overall this seems to still be a low-simmer regional war,” said the Iran Project’s head at the left-leaning International Crisis Group. The Israeli government also took steps Monday to block Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera from broadcasting in the country, a move the U.S. called “concerning.”

China influence operation targets US

China is trying to sway the U.S. presidential elections, using fake social media accounts of Donald Trump fans to target President Joe Biden, The New York Times reported. The tactics are similar to those Russia used during the 2016 election, according to researchers and officials, who linked the activity to the long-running pro-China influence campaign known as “Spamouflage.” Past efforts were seen as “clumsy” and largely ineffective, but the latest network of pro-China accounts have successfully generated attention and engagement, The Times reported, and signals that Beijing might favor Trump over Biden.

Taiwan needs more drones, experts say

Taiwan is racing to catch up with China’s dominance in military drones. Taiwan’s defense ministry this week proposed buying thousands of local and U.S.-made drones and setting up a new training center for operators. The self-governed island is five to 10 years behind Beijing in drone development, according to the head of a Taiwanese think tank who sees a full fleet as crucial in the event of Chinese military escalation. The U.S. government should also counter China’s drone dominance by helping American manufacturers speed up commercial production, Bloomberg columnist Thomas Black argued: “Russia’s war on Ukraine is a wake-up call on the dangers of letting an unfriendly nation dominate the drone market.”

Truth Social stock plummets

Shares of former President Donald Trump’s media company centered around his Truth Social platform plunged on Monday after it reported a loss of $58 million last year and a revenue of only $4.1 million. The company, which went public last week, closed 21% down, following a rush of interest after its initial public offering in New York. It has lost $4 billion in value, but is still worth $6.7 billion, more than companies like Bausch & Lomb and Harley-Davidson, which have annual revenues in the billions, CBS News reported. The early momentum made Trump Media a kind of “meme stock,” like AMC and GameStop, but the latest slump suggests that attraction is already fading.

‘Golden passport’ prices increase

It’s getting more expensive to buy your way to citizenship in parts of the Caribbean. Four small island nations — Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda — agreed to charge at least $200,000 for their citizenship-by-investment programs, following pressure from the U.S. and European Union over concerns that the schemes could be a gateway for crime. Demands for “golden passports” — which allow visa-free travel in the EU and U.K. — have soared, in part due to U.S. citizens who want a second passport “as a hedge against geopolitical turmoil,” Bloomberg reported. The programs generate more than $550 million annually in the Caribbean, and have granted citizenship to more than 88,000 people, including many from China, Russia, and Nigeria.

US was biggest LNG exporter in 2023

The U.S. was the world’s largest exporter of liquified natural gas in 2023. The country exported an average of 11.9 billion cubic feet of gas every day, up 12% from 2022 and roughly 20 times the average in 2016. The increase in artificial intelligence data centers that guzzle large amounts of electricity spells an ongoing need for fossil fuel supplies, gas producers said. Big Tech and the U.S. government are trying to boost renewable energy — Google and Microsoft both want to use green energy to power their operations — but gas is “the only cost-efficient energy generation capable of providing the type of 24/7 reliable power required” for the AI boom, one energy company partner told the Financial Times.

FAA reviews pilot therapy rules

Airline pilots should not have to disclose that they go to therapy, a panel of experts recommended to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Monday. The experts said the FAA’s requirements forcing pilots to report talk therapy sessions would indisputably lead to “healthcare avoidance.” Mental health in aviation has come under scrutiny after an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who was charged with trying to disable engines mid-flight last year said he was undergoing a nervous breakdown. The FAA said it is reviewing the recommendations. Pilots can also be grounded for six months if they change their antidepressant dosage or medications for mental health issues, Reuters reported.

Lael Brainard, Director of the White House National Economic Council; Christian Lindner, German Minister of Finance; Richard Lesser, Global Chair, Boston Consulting Group; Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission EVP and Commissioner for Trade; Suzanne Clark, CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Steve Rattner, Chairman & CEO, Willett Advisors LLC will join the Global Growth Session at the 2024 World Economy Summit to discuss shifts from global to regional trade, impacts on capital allocation and market efficiencies, as well as strategies for navigating the ever-changing economic landscape.

April 17 | 9 a.m.-12 p.m. ET | Washington, D.C.

Gmail, no April Fools’ joke, turns 20

Gmail — which many thought was an April Fools’ Day joke when it launched — turned 20 on Monday. People in 2004 were incredulous that the email platform could support 13,500 emails; leading email providers at the time could only store 30 to 60. The ability to search inboxes was also revolutionary at the time. Gmail became “a central part of our online identities,” The Verge’s Victoria Song wrote. While email has fallen by the wayside as a daily communication tool, superseded by apps like Slack and social media messaging, Gmail remains “a passport for the internet,” providing access to apps, taxes, and bank information.

Arizona claims Pluto

The U.S. state of Arizona declared Pluto, which was discovered by scientists based in the state in 1930, to be its “official state planet.” In a blow to state pride, however, the International Astronomical Union declared in 2006 that Pluto did not meet planetary criteria, and was declared a “dwarf planet.” A state lawmaker glossed over this detail, saying there was no need to “get picky or persnickety about stuff.” The Arizona Capitol Times noted that Pluto joins an illustrious list of official Arizona state items, including turquoise, the state gemstone, and Sonorasaurus, the state dinosaur.

New Marvin Gaye records discovered

Previously unheard Marvin Gaye records were discovered in Belgium. Gaye, one of the world’s most popular artists, was shot dead by his father in 1984. He recorded one of his biggest hits, Sexual Healing, while recovering from cocaine addiction during his time living with a Belgian musician, Charles Dumolin, in Ostend in 1981. After Dumolin died, a box containing 66 demo recordings was passed to his family. It’s unclear if Dumolin’s family owns the rights to the songs — Belgian law says anything held for 30 years becomes the holder’s property, but that does not apply to intellectual property, potentially implying that the Dumolins own the tapes but not the music on them.

April 2:

• Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is sworn in as president for a third term.
• Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto visits Japan to meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after meeting Xi Jinping in Beijing.
• Genre-defying American writer Maggie Nelson releases her new book, Like Love, a collection of essays spanning two decades of work.

The percentage of U.S. adults who say their lives are completely back to normal four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to recent Gallup data. Nearly 60% said they believe the pandemic is over, while 20% said they are worried about getting COVID. Though concerns about the pandemic have declined, overall “happiness” in the U.S. decreased in the last year, according to the 2024 Gallup World Happiness Report. Americans’ evaluations of their own lives, measured on a scale of one to 10 and averaged over three years, narrowly decreased to 6.7 in this year’s report, down from 6.9 in 2020.

Thousands of people in Antigua, Guatemala celebrated Holy Week by covering the streets with laboriously created carpets of colorful sawdust for float processions to walk over. The carpets are one of the country’s most popular Holy Week traditions: “Each speck of sawdust is a prayer,” one devout Catholic told the Associated Press. The carpets are also seen as a way for families to bond over their faith and for residents to reclaim their streets in a city inundated by foreign tourists. “Antigua keeps belonging less and less to the people of Antigua,” one devotee said.

• How stopping squatters became a hot conservative crusade.
• Japan walks tightrope away from China.
• Apple muscles in on subscription podcasts.