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☆ Zelenskyy appeared to confirm Ukraine is no longer in control of Bakhmut: 'For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian forces have been waging a monthslong battle in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine. The fighting has reduced the city to rubble and claimed thousands of lives. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to confirm at the G7 summit that Ukraine is longer in control of Bakhmut. During a meeting with President Joe Biden on Sunday at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Zelenskyy told reporters that he believes Ukraine has lost control of the city. ... For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts."

☆ CEO and Google X co-founder: 'Mission doesn't come so easily'—how she found hers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Gili Malinsky | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

It's taken decades to connect the dots between her mission and the best way to implement it on the ground. Here's how she went from tennis player to Google X co-founder to entrepreneur. 'Do you want to help start this new unit called Google X?' In 2009, "I basically got a call saying, 'Hey, do you want to help start this new unit called Google X?'" "I wanted to build a combination of hardware, software and people to build the solutions to help everyday people," she says.

The return of tourists to Southeast Asia, he says, bodes well for the group’s core mobility business in the second half. The next challenge is resetting investor expectations so that beats can shine through. Lower incentives helped it to cut its adjusted operating loss to $66 million from $287 million a year ago. It also narrowed its forecast for annual adjusted operating loss to $195 million-$235 million, from a previous forecast of $275 million-$325 million. China’s Alibaba on May 18 reported revenue of 208 billion yuan ($30.1 billion) in the three months to end-March, up 2% year-on-year.

☆ Some of the Books That Hernan Diaz Owns Surprise Even Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Scott, Deborah Eisenberg, Paul Yoon, Ottessa Moshfegh, Michael Ondaatje, Louise Erdrich, Colson Whitehead, Sigrid Nunez, Jean Strouse, Lorrie Moore. The novel contains four different books, written by different fictional authors in disparate genres and styles. “Trust” closes with a personal diary that is also a sort of a prose poem and a love letter to modernism. While writing this, I read and revisited authors as different as Jean Rhys, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Dawn Powell, Theodor Adorno and Gertrude Stein. Wodehouse section of my library and can report that I’ve read 29 of his books.

XIAN, China, May 17 - China will for the first time host an in-person summit of central Asian leaders this week, seeking to cement ties in a region seen as Russia's backyard as its relations with the West sour. "Beijing wants to promote a new alternative to the global order, and try to persuade the Central Asian region that this new global order is better for them too," said Adina Masalbekova, a research fellow at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. For the first in-person summit, Xian is a symbolic nod to the importance of economic ties as the city was pivotal in the ancient Silk Road trade route that spans Central Asia. "One of the biggest trump cards that we expect to see at this summit is a serious opening for Central Asian products to enter the Chinese market. But with the region's main backer Russia caught up in a grinding war with Ukraine and subject to international sanctions, analysts say the Central Asian states will welcome Beijing's overtures.

☆ Russia's economic war against with the West is entering a dangerous new stage, scholar says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's economic war against with the West is entering a dangerous new stage, Alexandra Prokopenko wrote. "Russia's economic confrontation with the west following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine is entering a dangerous new stage," she warned. After Moscow suffered court defeats that kept Russian assets frozen in Europe, the Kremlin has since established a legal framework to temporarily nationalize foreign assets in Russia, Prokopenko added. "So far, neither Russia nor Europe has a comprehensive strategy on how to deal with the stranded assets," she said. The appetite of Putin's cronies to seize western assets in Russia will only add insult to injury."

☆ Claire Chase Is Changing How People Think of the Flute
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Joshua Barone | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Something unusual happens when people speak about the flutist Claire Chase. They use superlatives that would seem reckless if they weren’t repeated so often. “It’s so difficult to talk about Claire,” the composer Marcos Balter said. “She’s so much more than a virtuoso flutist or a pedagogue. Earlier in May, she played Kaija Saariaho’s concerto “L’Aile du Songe” with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investing in China need not be too stressful, provided you avoid investing in Chinese companies. A spending pop in the transport, food and beverage and hospitality sectors helped lift first-quarter GDP to 4.5%. But that data was flattered by comparison to a grim 2022, and April data on imports, inflation and bank loans all disappointed. While Beijing’s crackdowns on domestic technology companies and property developers have eased, other risks are rising. Separately, quarterly revenue at Alibaba is expected to rise 3% year-on-year to 211 billion yuan ($30.5 billion) in the three months to March, according to the average analyst forecast on Refinitiv.

☆ A viral TikTok video of a strap-on shoe that helps you walk faster has gotten 25 million views. The founder says it's designed for everyone — even though it costs $1,400.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Reena Koh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A TikTok video of shoes that claim to help you walk 250% faster went viral earlier this year. That's because the shoe will make you walk 250% faster, according to Xunjie Zhang, who developed it. An average person can cover about three miles per hour at a walking pace, Zhang says in the TikTok video. "The faster you walk, the faster the shoes walk with you," Zhang said. "For the small small price of $1399," a sarcastic comment read on the viral TikTok video.

☆ Eton v Harrow: Why this centuries-old schoolboy match has been the cause of division and debate in England
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord’s, sought to axe the match from the ground’s schedule before granting it a reprieve after some of its members protested. As a compromise, the MCC announced in March that it would host both the Eton vs. Harrow and Oxford vs. Cambridge fixtures for another five years, before another consultation with members. Schoolboys look on from the grandstand during the Eton vs. Harrow cricket match at Lord's on Friday. Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty ImagesThe club will also host the finals of the UK’s school and university cricket competitions, rather than only the historic fixtures. They took to the field on Friday and Harrow emerged victorious by just four runs.

☆ Utah bicycling groups and Democrats call on Mitt Romney to rethink his comments calling bike lanes 'the height of stupidity'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Romney faced widespread criticism after telling Insider that bike lanes are "the height of stupidity." "I love Mitt," Schatz told Insider recently in the Capitol. "We're not forcing anybody from an automobile onto a bike, but the truth is, the market is starting to demand that, but the bike lanes haven't caught up. And then in a matter of months, people are putting in their real estate advertisements that it's next to a bike lane. "As much as I ride my bike, unless it's a protected bike lane I don't trust it," he said.

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) - Turkey's elections on Sunday are a key moment not just for the country itself but also for its European neighbours. Its internationally recognised government, composed of Greek Cypriots, is an EU member, while the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state is recognised only by Ankara. However, EU officials see little sign that Kilicdaroglu would change much on Cyprus. EU leaders designated Turkey as a candidate to join the bloc in 2004 but the talks ground to a halt years ago. There is already a lot of European money that has made its way to Turkey," said a European diplomat.

☆ Review: After 55 Years, the Helsinki Philharmonic Returns to Carnegie Hall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Joshua Barone | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Until Tuesday, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra hadn’t been to Carnegie Hall since 1968. Its chief conductor at the time was Jorma Panula, who was at the podium for that visit. Now, 55 years later, the group is led by one of his former students: Susanna Mälkki. Her tenure in Helsinki, where she has been the chief conductor since 2016, ends this season. In Los Angeles, Mälkki’s repertoire has been varied: a lot of well-shepherded contemporary music, but also insightfully transparent interpretations of the classics.

☆ For Syrian refugees, Assad’s rehabilitation prompts fear of forced return
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

According to a 2022 UNHCR poll of Syrian refugees living in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, only 1.7% said they would return to Syria in the next 12 months. Even before Arab normalization with the Assad regime began, human rights organizations had repeatedly warned that Syrian refugees risked facing forced returns home amid concerns for their safety. Earlier this year, Denmark – which hosts more than 35,000 Syrian refugees – deemed more areas controlled by the Assad regime to be safe for return. “The further normalization goes, the deeper the pressure will be.”Alshogre worries for himself as well as other Syrian refugees. “If I am sent back to Syria, I will be cut into small pieces by the Syrian regime; I won’t make it out of the airport in Damascus.”

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - China is facing a growing backlash from the United States and other Western governments over its controversial efforts to pressure dissidents and their advocates abroad, but Beijing has appeared undeterred. Authorities in the U.S., Canada, Britain and elsewhere recently have taken a hard line, including with expulsions, indictments, arrests and probes, against Chinese operations they say are aimed at intimidating critics and pursuing officials accused of corruption living abroad. Among Beijing's alleged tactics are threats of harm, online harassment and clandestine operations on foreign soil to hunt pro-democracy activists. Beijing responded within hours by ordering a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai to leave over what it called Ottawa's "unreasonable actions". Despite the latest diplomatic spat between China and Canada, “I don't think that you can say that these particular actions are harming the business relationship," said Sarah Kutulakos, the executive director of the Canada China Business Council.

☆ Analysis: Arabs bring Syria's Assad back into fold but want action on drugs trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

While denying any role in the trade, for which Syrian officials and Assad relatives have faced Western sanctions, Damascus has sought leverage from the issue. Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The Syrian source confirmed Riyadh had proposed a sum that would be paid as humanitarian aid, but could not say how much. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.

☆ Arabs bring Syria's Assad back into fold but want action on drugs trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The United States, United Kingdom and European Union have all placed new sanctions on Damascus in recent weeks over captagon. The United States has said it will not normalize ties with Assad and its sanctions remain in full effect. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.

☆ A new law allows Putin to draft Russians via an online portal — even if they don't have an account. It 'brings the digital Gulag much, much closer,' critics say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A new law allows Russian conscripts to be notified of their military service via government portal. Critics say the move creates "a digital system of social control" akin to a virtual Gulag labor camp. The new conscription law, she wrote, "brings the Digital Gulag much, much closer." What is the Digital Gulag? With the digital registry and harsh punishments for noncompliance, "the government wants to create a digital system of social control by regulating individual access to rights and benefits," Stanovaya wrote.

CNN —The Arab League has re-admitted Syria after an 11-year absence, the organization said Sunday, following an extraordinary meeting at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The Arab League is an organization of Middle Eastern and African countries and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Member states agreed during Sunday’s meeting to “resume the participation of the delegations of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in the meetings of the Council of the League of Arab States,” according to an Arab League statement. The Arab League also stressed the need to take “practical and effective steps” to resolve the Syrian crisis, the statement added. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could participate in the upcoming Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia if he is invited and if he wants to attend, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told journalists Sunday.

☆ Ukraine's risky gamble in Bakhmut may be paying off as infighting in Russia's ranks threatens its hopes of capturing the city, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Jake Epstein | Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The battle has hurt Russian forces, and Wagner Group mercenaries are threatening to pull out. Wagner's withdrawal, however, suggests that Ukraine's risky decision to stay may be paying off, Russia experts told Insider. Ukrainian army snipers change their position facing Russian troops near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Russian forces, including Wagner mercenaries, steadily surrounded Ukrainian positions, leaving only one road out of the city. Ukrainian army Grad multiple rocket launcher fires rockets at Russian positions in the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

☆ Arab nations set to rehabilitate Syria’s pariah president in defiance of US
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Officials and analysts have said that Syria’s re-admission into the Arab League, while symbolic, comes with the hope that it could pave the way for President Bashar Al Assad’s rehabilitation internationally, and potentially the removal of crippling sanctions against his regime. Arab states have argued that the status quo in Syria is untenable and has caused them a headache at home. Syria has over the past decade turned into a narco-state, exporting highly addictive amphetamines across the border to Jordan and to Saudi Arabia. It’s unclear if the US will stand in the way of Arab states’ efforts to bring Syria back into the regional fold. “The US will not impose a veto on their allies when it comes to normalization with Assad,” said Hellyer.

HONG KONG, May 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Chinese travellers are opening their suitcases again, but not their wallets. Domestic travel bookings during the holiday surged eightfold from a year earlier, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to online travel agency Trip.com (9961.HK). The return of Chinese holiday-goers should be a huge relief at home and abroad. Before the pandemic, domestic tourism contributed a whopping 11% of GDP and 10% of national employment, according to Fitch. The country's Big 3 carriers - Air China (601111.SS), China Southern (600029.SS), and China Eastern (600115.SS) - are grappling with high oil prices, a weak yuan and geopolitical tensions.

☆ Can Artistry Be Built Into a Machine?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Oliver Whang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

One day recently, on a table in Jean Oh’s lab in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, a robot arm was busy at a canvas. Her doctoral student, Peter Schaldenbrand, stood alongside. In recent years, Mr. Schaldenbrand has led an effort to bridge the sim-to-real gap between sophisticated image-generation programs like Stable Diffusion and physical works of art like drawings and paintings. This has mainly been manifest in the project known as FRIDA, the latest iteration of which was rhythmically whirring away in a corner of the lab. The process of moving from language prompts to pixelated images to brushstrokes can be complicated, as the robot must account for “the noise of the real world,” Dr. Oh said.

HONG KONG, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Money flowing into the People's Republic is getting uncomfortably hot. Yet recent reversals in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai suggest that is driven by fickle short-term funds – exactly what Beijing doesn’t want. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsFollow @mak_robyn on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSChinese spirit maker ZJLD shares closed down 18% lower than their initial public offering price on their trading debut April 27. The KKR-backed company raised $676 million in what was the biggest offering in Hong Kong since October 2022. Separately, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Canada's third largest pension fund, closed down its China equity investment team based in Hong Kong, Reuters reported on April 25, citing sources.

☆ Why Apple TV+ could be hit harder than Netflix, Disney+, and other streamers by a looming Hollywood writers' strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

But ahead of a potential Hollywood writers' strike, the streamer faces two key vulnerabilities. Hollywood is bracing for a possible writers' strike that could begin at midnight PT, following an overwhelming strike authorization by members of the Writers' Guild of America West and East last month. But, by comparison, Prime Video, Netflix, and Discovery+ offer viewers thousands of TV series, according to ReelGood data from the end of 2022. "They're building a long-term brand of Apple TV+, which is something apart from all their devices and their cool software. It would not damage the perception that people have of Apple TV+."

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