May 8 update

At an emergency meeting in Egypt the Arab League voted to re-admit Syria, which was suspended in 2011. The meeting also discussed the war in Sudan. Syria’s neighbours have been normalising relations with the country in recent months. Saudi Arabia, which will host the League’s scheduled meeting on May 19th, had sought to keep the country’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad, a pariah, but has conceded of late that its efforts have failed.

America’s treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, warned that Congress could create a “constitutional crisis” if it fails to raise the debt ceiling, which could be breached as soon as June 1st. Republicans are demanding federal spending cuts in exchange for lifting the government’s borrowing limit. President Joe Biden’s officials have considered invoking a constitutional amendment to get around congressional approval, should negotiations, which begin on Tuesday, become deadlocked.

The Wagner mercenary group appeared to abandon its threat to withdraw from Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian town that has been the site of intense fighting for more than ten months. The group’s head said that it had been promised more ammunition and weapons from Russia. A Ukrainian defence official in Bakhmut reported that Russia had stepped up shelling.

Slovakia’s prime minister, Eduard Heger, stepped down after resignations from his cabinet weakened his government. Mr Heger had been due to serve until an election in September. His government has sent aid and weapons to Ukraine but the pro-Russian Smer-SD party, which opposes sending more, is ahead in the polls. Slovakia’s president will appoint a new prime minister.

Russia blamed Ukraine for a car bombing that wounded Zakhar Prilepin, a Russian nationalist blogger, and killed his driver. The Kremlin said it has detained a suspect who acted on “instructions of the Ukrainian special services”. Ukraine denied any involvement. Mr Prilepin is a prominent supporter of Russia's invasion of Ukraine; he is the third such figure to be targeted since the war began.

Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway were greeted at the investment firm’s AGM by the news that first-quarter operating profit—the number Warren Buffett, the boss, urges them to focus on—had risen from $7.2bn a year ago to $8.1bn in 2023. But the mood might have been dampened by Mr Buffett’s comments. The 92-year-old “Sage of Omaha” predicted that the American economy’s “incredible period” was coming to an end, and that earnings across much of the company’s businesses would fall this year.

A new genus of butterflies has been named after Sauron, a character in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” novels. Saurona triangular and Saurona aurigera have black marks on their wings which reminded biologists of Sauron’s eye, which scours Mordor for troublesome hobbits. Researchers at the Natural History Museum in London hope that the name will generate interest in conservation.

Fact of the day: 80,000, the number of war-crimes cases opened by Ukraine since Russia’s invasion. Read the full story.

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PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

NATO’s formidable show

Thirteen countries; 20-odd warships; 35 aircraft; and some 4,000 personnel. Exercise Formidable Shield, the air-defence exercise NATO holds every two years, begins on Monday in and around the High North, close to the Arctic Circle. Though a routine exercise, it comes just when the need for strong air defences has become grimly apparent from Russia’s heartless strikes against Ukrainian cities.

The wargame has a threefold purpose. First, to improve allies’ ability to operate seamlessly in fending off enemy aircraft, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. Second, it offers reassurance to nervous allies, especially those neighbouring Russia. And third, it is a warning to Russia against trying to intimidate NATO members.

The live-fire exercise, running until May 26th, will use missile ranges in Scotland and Norway, and will be commanded from a Spanish frigate. It will feature F-35 jets, in service with several of the allies. Commanders say the exercise will “integrate joint capability from the ocean bottom to low earth orbit.” Expect Russia to be watching closely, from the sea floor to space.

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Europe’s divided economy

On May 4th the European Central Bank slowed down the pace of its monetary tightening with an interest-rate increase of just 0.25 percentage points, to 3.75%, despite stubbornly high inflation. The ECB argued that higher rates were already having the desired effect of cooling down the economy. On cue, data released the following day showed German industrial orders dropping by a whopping 10.7% in March, compared with a month earlier. The country’s industrial production figures for March will follow on Monday.

Having dodged a recession last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis, Europe is still hoping for a soft landing from high inflation. Yet the economy is increasingly divided: services are still doing well, according to the latest survey data, but manufacturing is being squeezed by lower demand. A sizeable drop in Germany’s production numbers may lead central bankers to conclude that their policies are working rather too well.

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Pulitzer prizes

This is a difficult time for American journalists. Public trust in the media is slumping: more than 80% of Americans see fake news as a big problem, says Pew, a pollster. Some shun the news as too depressing. In a recent survey published by the Associated Press, almost 75% of respondents blamed the media for political polarisation. Nearly half had no faith in media impartiality.

Nonetheless, journalism done right brings public benefits. Expect the winners of this year’s Pulitzer prizes, announced on Monday, to provide examples of this. Consider those recognised in 2022. The Pulitzer foundation honoured outlets for coverage of the Capitol riot, police violence, the legacy of 9/11 and lead in drinking water.

Prizes, however, don’t deliver financial security. Buzzfeed News, which picked up a Pulitzer in 2021, closed in April. And local papers continue to vaporise: last year an average of two papers folded every week.

PHOTO: THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSE

Greek and Persian riches on display

“Treasure there was in plenty—tents full of gold and silver furniture,” wrote Herodotus, a Greek historian, in the fifth century BC. He was describing the quarters of a Persian commander, captured during one of the many Greek-Persian wars. Records from this turbulent period, mostly written by the Greeks, claim that their civilisation rejected such displays of wealth. But an exhibition at the British Museum in London suggests the story was more nuanced.

Through ancient artefacts unearthed in Afghanistan, Bulgaria and beyond, “Luxury and power: Persia to Greece” shows that the warring societies were more entwined than Herodotus and his contemporaries cared to admit. On display are gilded amphora and intricate drinking vessels deployed by the Persian court to show their wealth and power. In turn, the Greeks reinterpreted decorative items from Persia. Jewellery found in Greece, for instance, bears the same animal motifs that caper across Persian treasures. An appreciation for opulence transcended the rivalry.

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A gel to treat brain cancer

Glioblastoma is a fiendish disease in which fast-growing tumours spread mesh-like through the brain. Even after treatments including surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy, glioblastoma nearly always returns. Only 10% of those afflicted survive beyond five years. Now, as reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have taken an encouraging step forward with a new treatment on mice.

The treatment is a hydrogel combining paclitaxel, a chemotherapy drug, with an antibody called aCD47. After removing glioblastoma tumours from the brains of mice, researchers spread the gel around the cavity. There it filled the tiny grooves left behind and killed any lingering cells. Removing the tumour and using the gel cured 100% of the mice. Even more hopefully none showed regrowth of glioblastoma when reinjected with tumour cells after the treatment. What works in mice does not necessarily mean a miracle cure for humans, but the progress bodes well for tackling one of the most insidious of cancers.