Researched by: Sara Varghese, Nirmal Bhansali & Aarthi Ramnath
The high cost of soaring fertiliser prices
There has been great hue and cry over the blockade on wheat exports from Ukraine and Russia—the two largest suppliers in the world. But the price of nitrogen-based fertilisers—made from natural gas—have been rising due to the war, as well. New research suggests that it will have a far greater impact on global hunger than the grain shortage. Halting exports from Russia and Ukraine would increase food costs by 2.6% in 2023. In comparison, spikes in energy and fertiliser prices would trigger a 74% surge.
The trend is likely to leave 100 million people undernourished. The pain will be felt the most in Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East—but everyone will experience its effects:
This could be the end of an era of cheap food. While almost everyone will feel the effects of that on their weekly shop, it’s the poorest people in society, who may already struggle to afford enough healthy food, who will be hit hardest.
Qatar goes shopping… for a football club
Qatar Sports Investments—a subsidiary of the country’s wealth fund—is in the market for a football club. It already owns Paris St Germain, and has a stake in Portuguese soccer club SC Braga. But its board is now eying a number of Premier League teams—including Manchester United and Liverpool. QSI has also reportedly held exploratory talks with Tottenham Hotspurs—though the club has stoutly denied it. Access to generous Arab financing has fueled the success of Manchester City and the recent resurgence of Newcastle. Expect the Qataris to get a warm reception from any of these clubs. (Reuters)
Closer to home: Unconfirmed reports claim that BCCI is planning to have a serious heart-to-heart with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma—to let them know that their T20I days are over. Hardik Pandya is likely to replace Sharma as captain. Much of this has to do with the soul-searching after India’s exit from the last T20I World Cup in Australia (explained in this Big Story). The board now wants a young and “bold” team who “can seamlessly fit the format which dictates batters to go on the offensive from the word go.” (Indian Express)
Jack Ma steps away from Ant
The context: Jack Ma—the billionaire who founded Alibaba and the Ant Group—got into hot water when he criticised the Chinese government back in 2020. The faux pas scuttled Ant’s planned IPO—and triggered a wider crackdown on big tech companies. Ma has been keeping a low profile ever since.
What happened now: Ma announced that he is cutting back his 50+% stake in the Ant Group to just 6.2%. This also means that he no longer has any control over the company. The move has been interpreted as a sign of peace: "The market believes the governmental investment means that the conflict between Jack Ma and the authorities has come to an end.”
Why it matters: The decision spells the advent of a softer, kinder Beijing chastened by pandemic setbacks: "The government is looking to signal its commitment to growth, and the tech, private sectors are key to that as we know." The country’s top bank official announced that the “special campaign to rectify 14 internet platform companies' financial businesses is basically complete.” (Markets Insider, Reuters)
Noma is no more!
The world’s best restaurant is closing its doors. The Copenhagen restaurant disrupted fine dining—and became a destination for “gastro tourists” who hopped on their first-class flights for the privilege of paying at least $500 per person for its tasting menu. The reason for this drastic move, according to chef/owner René Redzepi:
The style of fine dining that Noma helped create and promote around the globe — wildly innovative, labour-intensive and vastly expensive — may be undergoing a sustainability crisis. Mr. Redzepi, who has long acknowledged that grueling hours are required to produce the restaurant’s cuisine, said that the math of compensating nearly 100 employees fairly, while maintaining high standards, at prices that the market will bear, is not workable.
One of his former employees put it more bluntly: “Everything luxetarian is built on somebody’s back; somebody has to pay,” Noma will become a full-time lab and continue to sell products online. But you can still line up to eat at the restaurant until the end of 2024. (New York Times)
A trigger alert ‘Peter Pan’?
Aberdeen University in Scotland has begun issuing ‘trigger warnings’ for JM Barrie’s novel—warning students that the content could be “emotionally challenging.” Other novels on this list of uncomfortable reading: ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson and ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ by CS Lewis. The list was discovered through a Freedom of Information request, and has drawn wide ridicule. But the university is doubling down:
Our guidelines on content warnings were developed in collaboration with student representatives and we have never had any complaints about them — on the contrary students have expressed their admiration for our approach.
For more, check out The Times (paywall) or The Scotsman.
Speaking of schools: Seattle public schools have sued Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube—accusing them of creating a “mental health crisis among America’s youth.” There is plenty of research proving the ill-effects of social media on young people. But, but, but: online platforms have legal immunity for the content posted by their users. Hence, they are suing these companies for “recommending, distributing and promoting content and marketing their social media platforms ‘in a way that causes harm’.” The Guardian has more details.
A drug mule with feathers!
Officers at a Canadian prison spotted a pigeon strapped with a small backpack. After “a lengthy period of time,” they were able to catch it: "They had to corner it. You can imagine how that would look, trying to catch a pigeon." What did they find? About 30 gms of crystal meth. Now, pigeons have been used to transport drugs—but that was over a century ago. This is the first case in recent memory—and may be an attempt to elude cops who are mostly on the lookout for drug-carrying drones. (CBC)
Two things to see
One: The very first day of the Assembly session in Tamil Nadu turned out to be rather dramatic. Governor RN Ravi was heckled all through his ceremonial speech because he omitted three key sections about Dravidian culture, BR Ambedkar and law and order in TN. FYI: be it the president or the governor, they are expected to parrot whatever speech they are given by the elected government in the legislature. In the end, the governor staged an unprecedented walkout. To be fair, Ravi had already stirred the pot with his comments about the state’s name:
He suggested that ‘Tamilagam’ would be a more appropriate name for Tamil Nadu. ‘Nadu’ in Tamil means country, and the Governor seems to suggest that he sees the name ‘Tamil Nadu’ as more indicative of an autonomous region than one that is part of India. He reportedly said that for over 50 years, efforts have been made to reinforce the narrative that Tamil Nadu is not an integral part of India.
You can see the chaotic (and kinda amusing) scenes below. (The News Minute)
Two: China’s Covid troubles seem neverending. Workers at a factory that manufactures Covid tests staged an angry protest because they were being laid off—and will not get their full salary. The reason: now that Beijing has junked its zero-Covid policy, there is no longer a high demand for Covid testing. You can see them throwing the test kits at the riot police below. You can read our 3-part explainer on the zero-Covid policy and unrest in China here. (BBC News)
