May 3 update

Shares in PacWest, a mid-sized bank, fell by 28%, as investors remained nervous about the prospects for America’s regional lenders. The share price of Western Alliance, another bank considered vulnerable to a run on its deposits, also plunged. Regulators had hoped to halt the bank-share sell-off when they arranged JPMorgan Chase’s acquisition of First Republic last weekend.

Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza reportedly agreed to a ceasefire. The truce follows fighting on Tuesday, provoked by the death in Israeli custody of Khader Adnan, a high-profile Palestinian prisoner. Some rockets had been fired towards Israel. The “reciprocal and simultaneous” ceasefire was brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the UN, two Palestinian officials told Reuters.

The chief executives of Anthropic, Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and OpenAI will meet Kamala Harris, America’s vice-president, and other Biden administration officials on Thursday to discuss worries about artificial intelligence. The White House said it expected their firms, which have launched AI chatbots, to “make sure their products are safe”. Meanwhile, the co-founders of LinkedIn and DeepMind, an AI research company, launched Pi, another new chatbot.

The leaders of Sudan’s warring factions agreed to a one-week truce from Thursday and will select envoys for peace talks, according to neighbouring South Sudan, which has been working to negotiate an end to the fighting. Air strikes and shooting near Khartoum, the capital, undermined the latest ceasefire.

An explosion derailed a freight train in south-west Russia, near the border with Belarus and Ukraine. Officials called it “illegal interference in the work of railway transport”. The area has been subject to sabotage attacks since the start of the war. A similar incident on Monday, closer to the border with Ukraine, caused another train to catch fire.

Greece’s highest court upheld legislation that in effect bans the far-right Greeks party from standing in upcoming parliamentary elections. It is believed to be the first such disqualification since the end of military rule in 1974. In February lawmakers barred parties headed by anyone convicted of serious crimes. Until recently the Greeks were led by a neo-Nazi who is currently in prison.

Three of the world’s ten highest-paid athletes have links to Saudi Arabia, according to Forbes. The magazine’s ranking highlights the kingdom’s growing clout in sport. Cristiano Ronaldo—the world’s best-paid athlete, who will earn an estimated $136m in 2023—recently signed for a Saudi football club, Al-Nassr. Two golfers, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, make the list after joining the breakaway Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour. Mr Johnson didn’t make the top 50 in 2022.

Fact of the day: 80%, the proportion of Afghanistan’s 2.5m school-age women and girls who are not being educated. Read the full story.

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PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Press freedom is in decline

The spread of authoritarianism and attacks on democracy have eroded press freedom around the world. A 2022 analysis of 180 countries by Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit group, classified the situation as “very bad” in 28 countries—a record number. Its latest analysis will be published on Wednesday, designated as World Press Freedom Day by the United Nations.

It will probably show that things have become even worse. Attacks on journalists, both physical and online, are all too common. The Russian authorities’ arrest of Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, in March on spurious charges showed the extreme lengths governments will go to silence reporters.

The media also increasingly faces another, more insidious, threat: fake news. Artificial intelligence is making it easier to tamper with content and pump out disinformation. When the public no longer knows what to believe, the job of a newsroom is tougher than ever.

PHOTO: ALAMY

The Fed’s final hike?

The market’s mantra is “one and done”. America’s Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday, in what would be the tenth increase in a row. Investors expect the Fed to lift short-term borrowing rates to a floor of 5%, up from 0% in March 2022—the country’s sharpest monetary tightening in four decades. But as suggested by the motto—which should perhaps be the less pithy “one more and done”—many think this should be the final turn of the screw.

The Fed’s rapid tightening has engendered financial risks, as evidenced by bank failures in recent weeks. And America’s economy is slowing: employment data released on Friday is likely to show another drop in job creation last month (though no recession, yet). But inflation—the trigger for the tightening—remains uncomfortably high. So even if the next rate increase is the final one in this cycle, the Fed may signal that it will keep rates high until inflation is vanquished.

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A deadline for Ukraine’s grain deal

Talks on extending a deal designed to allow Ukrainian ports to export grain are due to resume on Wednesday. The initial agreement, brokered by the UN and Turkey last July, granted Russia sanctions relief on agricultural produce in exchange for unblocking Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. But it expires on May 18th, and the Kremlin has indicated that it is unwilling to agree to an extension.

Ukrainian officials say that Russia is undermining the agreement anyway. One minister has accused it of making exports unviable by taking longer to inspect Ukrainian vessels for no apparent reason. Even with the deal in place grain exports currently stand at around 30% of the pre-war norm. (In peacetime, Ukraine’s ports could export up to 7m tonnes a month.)

To get around Russia’s troublemaking Ukraine has been developing export terminals along the Danube. These ports’ proximity to the territorial waters of Romania, a NATO member, helps protect them from Russian guns. Yet few observers think exports from the Danube can fully compensate for the Black Sea. A lot rides on renewing the deal.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

The travails of the Trump Organisation

In recent days a jury in Manhattan has heard E. Jean Carroll, a writer, accuse Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s. Mr Trump, who denies the allegations, skipped the civil trial citing logistical “burdens”. But he seems unburdened enough to travel to, as he says, “inspect my great properties”. On Monday he opened a new golf course in Scotland; on Wednesday he will tour Trump Doonbeg, another resort in Ireland.

During Mr Trump’s presidency, his real-estate company paused foreign dealmaking. Since he left office it has inked just one deal, with a Saudi firm for a resort in Oman. The Trump Organisation has been preoccupied with lawsuits instead. In January it was fined for tax fraud. And New York’s attorney-general alleges that Mr Trump fraudulently inflated his net worth to secure bigger loans (a charge that he denies). She wants to bar him from real-estate deals in the state for five years. That would at least free up some time for more legal proceedings.

PHOTO: DAVID FREEMAN / THE ROCKY HORROR

Fifty years of “The Rocky Horror Show”

When the “Time Warp” comes on, everyone knows the moves: “it’s just a jump to the left! And then a step to the right!” “The Rocky Horror Show”, Richard O’Brien’s campy send-up of horror films, was first performed in 1973 in a theatre with just 63 seats. It has now been seen by 30m theatregoers and is one of the longest-running musicals in the world. Fifty years after its debut, on Wednesday the raucous comedy returns to London’s West End.

A film from 1975—“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”—further cemented the musical as a subversive cult classic. Audience participation is now a tradition at many showings: spectators shout out lines and dress up like the cast. And Dr Frank-N-Furter’s gender-bending universe was ahead of its time: though some numbers such as “Sweet transvestite” may seem outdated today, it presaged more modern theatrical depictions of drag such as “Kinky Boots” and “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”. Audiences will probably be doing the Time Warp for many years to come.