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The World
The number of refugees fleeing war in Ukraine neared five million, according to the UN, even as the country’s border force said more than one million Ukrainians have entered the country since the outbreak of the conflict. More than one in four people in Ukraine have fled their homes—either abroad or to other parts of the country—since Feb. 24, according to data from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. A further 13 million are trapped in areas affected by the war, the UNHCR said. (Wall Street Journal)
Russia rejected calls for a cease-fire to allow for civilian evacuations in Ukraine, saying that requests to pause the fighting were not sincere and would only provide time to arm Ukrainian fighters. The rejection, delivered at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine, came just hours after the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, called for a four-day cease-fire to allow for evacuations in battle zones and safe corridors to bring in food and medicine. (New York Times)
Russia's war in Ukraine revives internet connectivity fears among some Asia-Pacific countries, should China sever undersea cables as part of an attack on Taiwan. Taiwan receives and sends about 95% of its data-and-voice traffic via cables that lie on the seabed. Officials say about 14 cables—bundles of fiber-optic lines about the thickness of a garden hose—are in operation. (Wall Street Journal)
Biden considers delaying Title 42 repeal: President Biden's inner circle has been discussing delaying the repeal of Title 42 border restrictions, now set to end May 23, according to a source with direct knowledge of the internal discussion. The White House is looking for ways to buy time to avoid a massive influx of migrants that would add to already-historic border numbers. That already endangers Democratic incumbents in states that could decide the Senate majority in November. Biden officials recognize they're in a jam: moderate Democrats are pounding on them to delay the repeal but doing so would inflame the party's progressive base. (Axios)
Justice Department punts mask ruling appeal to CDC: The Justice Department’s announcement comes after hours of deliberation, with some Biden administration officials insisting that an appeal is essential to preserve the government’s public health authorities while others argued a fight would have relatively little political benefit or practical effect for the broader Covid response. (Politico)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes on Disney and Twitter on the same day:
Disney: DeSantis targets Disney’s self-governing status in escalation over ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ announcing that the GOP-controlled Legislature during this week’s special session will take up a bill that would dismantle the special district that has allowed Disney to operate its own local government in central Florida that is the home to Walt Disney World. (Politico, WTSP-TV)
Twitter: DeSantis threatens to go after Twitter board for trying to sink Elon Musk’s purchase. (New York Post)
Economy
The Education Department said it will grant federal student loan borrowers additional credit toward loan forgiveness under what is known as income-driven repayment plans. The move will bring more than 3.6 million people closer to debt cancellation, including 40,000 who will be immediately eligible. (Washington Post)
The cryptocurrency market has been in selloff mode recently even as hundreds of millions of people now trade bitcoin, ether and other digital assets. Bitcoin is down 11% this year. Ether is down 16%. As of Monday, the entire crypto market had fallen about 19%, though prices were off their year lows. Stocks of publicly traded, crypto-focused companies, however, are doing worse, falling as much as 60% so far this year. The largest U.S. exchange, Coinbase, is down 40% year to date. Silvergate Capital is down 11%. Marathon Digital is down 35%. Riot Blockchain is down 33%. TeraWulf, a bitcoin-mining company based in Easton, Md., is down 61%. (Wall Street Journal)
Yen falls to 129 per dollar as BOJ warning remains powerless. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Fortune is debuting a new list: the Modern Board 25, a ranking of S&P 500 boards that exhibit the hallmarks of innovation. Fortune considered gender, racial, and age diversity, among other factors, to determine which boards deserved recognition. (Data partner Diligent did not measure LGBTQ+ board diversity, which is not part of required reporting for companies.) As companies seek to drive change on talent management, sustainability, digital transformation, and a host of social issues, diversified leadership will become an ever-pressing requirement. Why have shareholders and regulators spent years advocating for increased board diversity? Sure, one reason is to better represent the customers and stakeholders they serve. But diverse boards often see higher returns, and have better director performance, and improved oversight mechanisms—all of which are critical for corporate governance. (Fortune)
Technology
Netflix shares crater 25% after the company reported it lost subscribers for the first time in more than 10 years. Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers during1Q22 — and is forecasting a global paid subscriber loss of 2 million for 2Q22. The company also estimated that legitimate Netflix passwords are being shared in violation of its rules with more than 100 million non-paying households worldwide, including over 30 million in the U.S. and Canada alone. Meanwhile, co-CEO Reed Hastings revealed the company will roll out less expensive plans, supported by advertising, and examining what those plans will look like “over the next year or two.” (CNBC, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter)
One take on Netflix and ads: “Hell has frozen over.” (The Information)
Jon Stewart’s struggles add to list of streaming talk show flops. Apple TV+ is proving to be a difficult perch for the former Comedy Central star. (Bloomberg)
Global Streaming: Respondents were asked if they prefer to subscribe to a low-cost streaming service supported by ads or a high-cost ad-free streaming service. (Morning Consult)
Warner Bros. Discovery has suspended all external marketing spend for CNN+ and has laid off CNN's longtime chief financial officer as it weighs what to do with the subscription streaming service moving forward, five sources tell Axios. Inside CNN, executives think the launch has been successful. Discovery executives disagree. CNN+ has roughly 150,000 subscribers so far. Warner Bros. Discovery wants to eventually build one giant service around HBO Max. (Axios)
Microsoft ups bug bounties 30% for cloud lines, pays more for 'scenario-based' exploits. (The Register)
33% of American kids living in lower income households do not have access to a family computer - in comparison to only 6 percent of high income families who do not. It’s a similar story for kids with access to tablets, where 60 percent of children from lower income families have access to one, versus 81 percent of children from more affluent families. According to the Pew Research Center, broadband gaps in the U.S. also feed into the problem, and are particularly prevalent in low income households. (Statista)
Smart Links
How Walmart and Alphabet jumped ahead of Amazon in drone delivery. (Ars Technica)
Here’s why Brex just paid $90M for 10-person software startup Pry Financials. (TechCrunch)
VCs quickly scale up climate software investments. (Crunchbase)
Report: Majority of renters can’t afford to buy in their city. (Washington Post)
These are the world’s most affordable and least affordable cities to buy a home. (Bloomberg)
Air pollution responsible for 180,000 excess deaths in tropical cities. (University College London)