The next Netanyahu, Nepal’s crisis, real-life “Schitt’s Creek”
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Here’s what you need to know
Israel’s opposition is uniting to eject Benjamin Netanyahu. A potential deal could see far-right millionaire Naftali Bennett rotating the prime ministership with a more centrist leader. Meanwhile, Israel is working with Egypt to solidify its cease-fire in Gaza.
Denmark allegedly helped the US spy on Europe. Its Defence Intelligence Service collaborated with the National Security Agency to gather data on top officials in Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway, according to a joint investigation by European news outlets.
Vietnam found a worrisome new Covid-19 hybrid. The southeast Asian nation uncovered a “very dangerous” variant that combines the characteristics of two existing variants first found in India and the UK.
Naomi Osaka boycotted the media at the French Open. The Japanese tennis star was fined $15,000 dollars for refusing to fulfill her media commitments and now faces expulsion from the tournament. Osaka has cited mental health reasons for her decision.
Nepal is on the brink of a health emergency. Migrant workers returning from India during the latter’s ferocious second wave have driven a surge of Covid-19—40% of tests are returning positive.
Mali’s constitutional court ratified last year’s coup. After the court appointed colonel Assimi Goita interim president, a regional bloc yesterday expelled Mali over its lack of efforts to restore civilian leadership, which could jeopardize efforts to combat Islamist militants.
What to watch for
After a ferocious second wave of Covid-19, India’s capital will slowly emerge from a six-week lockdown starting today (May 31). In the first phase, construction sites and factories will be permitted to resume operations, to help daily wage workers whose livelihoods were devastated by the pandemic. But Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal urged others to stay home, warning that Delhi would lock down again if cases rise.
A suffering capital: Through April, Delhi provided some of the most wrenching news of India’s second wave: hospitals running out of oxygen, patients begging doctors for treatment, cremation grounds so full that parks and parking lots had to be repurposed to burn dead bodies. Between April 1 and May 30, at least 13,000 people died in the city, likely an underestimate of the full toll.
Vaccines needed: Delhi has administered only around 5.3 million vaccine doses, so there’s a long way to go to reach all the 31 million or so people who live in the greater metropolitan area.
A test case: Much of the rest of India is still locked down, so Indians will keenly watch Delhi’s tentative foray into the open. From June 7, Delhi’s residents can move around the city for non-essential activities, but the Metro will remain suspended. The government hasn’t indicated when restaurants and non-essential shops will reopen. Delhi will thus become a test case for India’s dire dilemma: balancing the need to save lives with the need to restart a struggling economy. “It shouldn’t be the case,” Kejriwal said, “that people survive the coronavirus but die of starvation.”
Charting US inflation
The talking point from the latest US government report on consumer spending will be the increase in prices paid by Americans for what they’re buying. Prices increased 3.6% in April 2021, compared to the same time last year.
But this increase is due to the unusual situation of the economy recovering from the shock of the pandemic, which shut down businesses and disrupted supply lines in arbitrary ways. When people want to buy goods and services that haven’t been available, they are going to find that some of the businesses that provided them closed, others need to raise prices to recover, and that supply chains have been disrupted and need to be reconstituted. These factors will drive higher prices.
This kind of inflation is not taking the Federal Reserve by surprise: It is the intentional result of its policy stance. Since last summer, the Fed has said it will sometimes aim for inflation “moderately above 2%” to ensure that it hits its goal of an average of 2% inflation over time.
Making VC more inclusive
There’s no question that there’s lots of money in venture capital (VC) these days—spending soared to a record $131 billion in 2018. But barely 1% of VC funding that year went toward Black or brown entrepreneurs.
Anthony Oni, managing partner and CEO of Elevate Future Initiative at investment firm Energy Impact Partners, has some suggestions for how VCs can approach opportunities to fund Black founders:
💡 Provide space for ideation and access to world-class technology
👯 Provide access to mentors and a supportive community
👂 Hear and empathize with Black founders’ stories, demonstrating success against all odds
✦ Read the op-ed here as part of your Quartz membership. Try it free for a week.
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Surprising discoveries
A real-life “Schitt’s Creek.” For years now, the owner of Nipton, an 80-acre, 25-resident town an hour from Las Vegas, has been trying to sell it. The price? $2.75 million.
A Bitcoin mine was hiding in a marijuana farm. In Birmingham, UK, police raided a cannabis farm and found a Bitcoin mine that was stealing electricity from the grid.
Boris Johnson got married in secret. The British prime minister and his partner Carrie Symonds tied the knot in front of 30 guests at Westminster Cathedral.
Germs are cleaning Michelangelo’s sculptures. In the Medici Chapel in Florence, scientists and restorers are deploying bacteria to eat away at stains on marble sculptures.
Mice overrun eastern Australia. In “the worst mouse plague in living memory,” the rodents are eating their way through stores of grain, nibbling at people as they sleep, and biting the toes off chickens.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, mouse traps, and bids for the town of Nipton to [email protected]. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Tripti Lahiri, Leslie Nguyen-Okwu, Samanth Subramanian, Tim Fernholz, and Walter Frick.