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Modi’s supermajority goal loses steam

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of achieving a parliamentary supermajority is in jeopardy. Modi’s Hindu nationalist party-led coalition is eyeing 400 of the 543 seats in India’s lower house of parliament, up from the 350 it currently holds, but analysts say low turnout in the ongoing elections shows rural voters especially have become “unenthused, or simply disengaged” over economic issues like unemployment, the India Link newsletter wrote. Troubling early voting trends saw Modi adopt a more aggressive, anti-Muslim rhetoric to rile up his base. Still, he is likely to win, and in a rare interview Thursday, Modi told The Economic Times he has a “clear signal from the people” that he will win with a “historic mandate.”

Putin purges top army ranks

Russian President Vladimir Putin is purging his top military ranks. A lieutenant-general detained Thursday on suspicion of bribe-taking was the fourth high-ranking military official arrested in the last month, amounting to the “biggest Russian army scandal in years,” Politico wrote. The reshuffling is underpinned by an anti-corruption campaign, and comes as Putin replaced his defense minister. The “huge irony” in the Kremlin’s moves, the BBC’s Russia editor wrote, is that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former head of the Wagner mercenary group, had called for the ouster of top military chiefs, accusing them of corruption and incompetence. His spat with Putin resulted in a failed mutiny, and he died in a plane crash two months later.

Asia boosts chips investment

Asian governments are boosting investments in artificial intelligence and chip technology as global competition heats up. Japan will work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to train 100,000 digital professionals in AI and semiconductors over the next five years, and South Korea unveiled a $19 billion support package for its chip industry. East and Southeast Asia already account for more than 80% of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing. As the AI boom increases chip demand, the US and other countries are incentivizing domestic chip production, “which may come at the expense of the big manufacturing hubs that are currently located in East Asia,” the Asian Development Bank wrote in a report this month.

Nvidia shares reach record high

Nvidia’s share price passed $1,000 for the first time Thursday in a 10% jump, after the tech giant reported better-than-expected revenue fueled by intense demand for its AI chips. Nvidia also announced plans to make new chips every year instead of every two years, with analysts saying the company will likely keep up its momentum; one said Nvidia is “likely nowhere near its peak.” But other AI companies could eventually threaten its dominance, The Wall Street Journal wrote, by making smaller models that don’t require as much computational power, and therefore don’t need Nvidia’s chips.

Taylor Swift boosts Singapore GDP

Taylor Swift helped Singapore log its highest quarterly GDP growth in over a year. More than 4.3 million people visited Singapore in the first three months of 2024, a 50% increase from a year earlier. Swift played six shows there in March, and concerts by Coldplay and Ed Sheeran also boosted the local service economy. Singapore struck a deal with Swift to make the country the only Southeast Asian stop on her Eras Tour, sparking anger from neighboring governments who said Singapore wasn’t playing fair. The economic data shows they have valid concern over being left out.

Hurricane season to break records

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is set to break records, with storms hitting harder and faster, the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration forecast. In its highest-ever outlook for May, the NOAA predicted 8 to 13 hurricanes and 17 to 25 named storms, meaning they have wind speeds of 39 mph or higher. The aggressive forecast is due to a mix of record sea surface temperatures and the La Niña event, which reduces the upper-level winds over the Atlantic that ordinarily weaken storms and hurricanes. Studies have shown that global warming is making storms more intense when they make landfall — so much so that some scientists have suggested adding a Category 6 to the Saffir-Simpson scale that measures intensity.

Europe wants its own SpaceX

The European Space Agency awarded contracts to two commercial startups to study carrying cargo and crew into space. The model is based on a program NASA introduced in 2006 to bolster private space exploration, which led to the rise of SpaceX, and is seen as one of the most effective uses of NASA funding. Thales Alenia Space and The Exploration Company will put forward ideas for carrying ESA cargo to the International Space Station and elsewhere. In another sign that the European space industry is blasting off, aerospace company Airbus UK was chosen to build a new sun-monitoring satellite to detect future solar storms. The storms this month led to what may have been the strongest auroras for 500 years, NASA said.

Old cars on US roads

The average car on US roads is a record 12.6 years old. Rising prices and rapidly changing technology are encouraging drivers to hang onto their old motors for longer, an S&P report said. The average vehicle age is up by two months from 2023, but the growth in average age is slowing as a pandemic-era shortage of parts eases and reduces prices. Still, new vehicles are selling for more than $45,000 on average, a “prohibitively high” price for most households, one analyst told the Associated Press. Some drivers are also holding off buying new cars as they decide whether to buy an electric or hybrid one. Another factor is that modern cars are simply better, and last longer before they break down.

UK prepares public for emergencies

The British government urged citizens to stockpile three days’ worth of tinned food and bottled water for future emergencies. A government minister unveiled a new website advising people how to protect themselves against crises such as local floods or global pandemics, with an emergency package including a tin opener, wind-up torch, radio, first aid kit, and wet wipes, as well as food and water. The minister, who recently introduced a mobile phone emergency alert system, said it was “about sensible safeguards, not stockpiling.” During the pandemic, a rush on supermarkets for toilet paper and other essentials left shelves empty, thanks to a “just in time” supply model that involves keeping very little in warehouses.

First millennial to get sainthood

An Italian teenager who created a website documenting every reported Eucharistic miracle is set to become the first millennial saint. Carlo Acutis’ work earned him the moniker of “God’s influencer” after he died of leukemia at age 15 in 2006. Acutis’ eligibility for sainthood required Pope Francis to attribute at least two miracles to him: The first was healing a Brazilian child of a congenital disease, and the second was healing a university student with a brain bleed. The Catholic Church investigates potential miracles over several months or years based on whether the act was “beyond what is possible in nature,” the BBC reported.

May 24:

• The International Court of Justice rules on South Africa’s request to halt Israel’s Rafah offensive.
• RM of K-pop boy band BTS releases his second solo album, Right Place, Wrong Person.

May 25:

• The world’s first Doraemon drone show, based on the popular manga and anime series, is held in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.

Rojak is a colloquial Malay word for “eclectic mix,” and is the name for a Javanese dish that typically combines sliced fruit and vegetables with a spicy dressing.

Influencing the markets

Chinese nationalism is moving markets. Influencers have amassed huge followings by stoking nationalist fervor, such as by criticizing a mural at a Chinese train station for vaguely resembling the Japanese military flag. But the business of nationalism and its impact extends beyond a handful of online influencers, Amber Zhang wrote in Baiguan.

In March, a beverage brand was accused of using packaging that contained “unpatriotic,” pro-Japanese elements. A widespread social media boycott caused the company’s shares to drop nearly 5%, wiping $3 billion off its market capitalization. Conversely, some businesses are leveraging nationalism to boost sales: This month, a Chinese milk tea brand praised one of its employees who apparently went rogue and added a label with an anti-Japan message to cups of the drink in a Japanese supermarket, causing the tea company’s stock to rise. But inflaming tensions isn’t a “foolproof strategy for creating sustainable success,” Zhang wrote: Online buzz from the milk tea incident was short-lived, data shows.

Worried sick

More Germans are calling out sick from work — and the country is divided over whether that’s a good thing. People took an average of 22 sick days in 2022, up from 18 in 2021, and preliminary figures from health insurers suggest the number may have been even higher last year. Notably, the sick day surge happened after the peak of COVID-19.

The consensus is that people aren’t getting sick more often. Instead, the pandemic “led to a switch in mindset among the public” about what to do when you wake up with a sore throat, Jörg Luyken wrote in The German Review, with workers increasingly internalizing messaging around isolation and social distancing. Some say it’s a sign that Germans are listening to their bodies, and putting their health first. But others used the data to attack Gen-Z; one conservative commentator fumed: “The flip side of self-care is free-riding.”

‘New Chinese Style’ is in

If official propaganda is behind a new trend, does that render it “uncool and unstylish?” That’s the question Follow the Yuan’s Yaling Jiang had when she visited a government-run art market in China’s Fujian province where more than 70 independent vendors showcased products that tapped into “new Chinese style.” This aesthetic is part of the broader trend of guochao — meaning “China chic” — an effort to champion products that promote Chinese symbols, techniques, or technologies. It stemmed from Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s call to “strengthen cultural confidence,” Jiang wrote.

It’s becoming increasingly common for the government to organize cultural events, and while vendors and artists have creative license, they are often incentivized to work with local officials for quicker regulatory approval. Jiang wrote her art market visit proved that even the government can be a “tastemaker” when it taps into the same talent pool as private enterprises.

Men’s volleyball is booming in popularity in Japan thanks to a manga blockbuster that tells the story of a school team. Haikyu!! has sold 60 million copies since it began publishing in 2012, and has been turned into a hit anime series as well as a movie that is set to be released this month in North America. “I have all volumes of the manga myself,” a former captain of the Japanese national team said, adding that Haikyu!! features a “pretty realistic” depiction of the sport. More young people are playing volleyball ahead of the Paris Olympics; the Japanese men’s team is ranked fourth globally, after not being competitive for years.

• Semafor is launching a media podcast.
• Norway gets sued over a deep sea mining plan.
• Kosovo’s PM is nervous about a Trump return.