International

This will be the biggest election year around the world

2024 will be a record year for elections across the globe, as more people will be voting than ever before. Over half of Earth’s population in 60 different countries (around 4 billion people) will be casting their ballots for regional, legislative, and national leaders, this year, according to Politico.

Of course, in the US, Americans will be waiting to get their red “I Voted” stickers hot off the press in the coming election; which has the most political advertising money behind it in history. So, it will be a busy year politically in the States too.

Throughout the world people are gearing up to vote, and with record numbers showing out, things might be changing up this next year. We’ll look through (expectedly) some of the most impactful elections coming up.

Let’s take a look at what’s in store

Taiwan: Taiwan’s citizens will vote for their president next weekend in a contest that has massive implications for the nation’s relationship with China, which is pursuing to fold the island back into its country. The current vice president, Lai Ching-te, who is leading in the polls, promotes Taiwan’s close ties to the US and has a direct pro-independence stance. His main opponent, Hou Yu-ih, embraces a more passive position toward China.

• Taiwan’s ability to avoid a confrontation with its mainland neighbor is a major prerequisite for peaceful US–China relations, as the US has promised to defend Taiwan if China invades it.

Russia: President Vladimir Putin is heading for his fifth term in an election that many independent experts view as an exercise of performative democracy. The vote in March will be anything but democratic, with faux candidates filling the ballot and vote count falsifications expected. But voting against Putin could be a way for Russians to show their discontent as the war in Ukraine drags on.

India: The largest democracy in the world and the fifth-largest economy will decide whether its current prime minister, Narendra Modi, gets a third term with voting in April and May. Many pundits predict that Modi will win since his campaign is popular with Hindus, along with a personable image many Indians identify with. However, he has had his criticisms.

Modi’s tenure has been dotted by courts losing their independence, curbs placed on press freedoms, and crackdowns on opposition. His critics worry another victory could enable him to further undermine democratic institutions.

South Africa: The most prosperous country on the continent is one of 15 African nations that will head to the polls this year. Its vote in the spring will be a referendum on the governing African National Congress, the party of Nelson Mandela that spearheaded the anti-apartheid movement and has been in power since 1994.

But polling shows it’s steadily lost its luster for many South Africans as the nation struggles with vast inequality, high unemployment, elevated crime, regular power outages, and government corruption.

European Parliament: Europeans will head to the polls early this summer to elect representatives for the institution that passes EU laws and chooses the president of the European Commission. Many are waiting to see whether right-leaning parties will make significant electoral gains as they recently have in some EU states like the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Poland.

Moderate/centerist parties are expected to retain their majority in the only EU-wide governing body that’s directly elected. Though the parliament has limited power, and many Europeans are unsure on its actual purpose, the election results can be a judge of voters’ attitudes.

Overall, we can look forward to a large array of consequential elections this year, the implications of which are likely to be widespread.

Boeing under fire for safety concerns after Alaska Airlines flight suffers critical malfunction

The stuff of nightmares came true for many onboard an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet bound for Ontario, CA. Last Friday, an Alaska Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing because a panel on the plane blew out mid flight, around 10 minutes after takeoff (see video here).

Luckily, no one was seriously injured or killed, but Boeing is facing fresh criticism just as it hoped to put past safety issues behind it. Plus, it could have been much worse.

The seats near the blowout were unoccupied, and it’s probable all passengers were wearing seat belts, since the aircraft was still climbing at an altitude of around 16,000 feet.

Boeing has had problems in the past with safety… The 737 Max was previously grounded after two disasters almost five years ago killed 346 people, which were ultimately linked to an unrelated issue with new autopilot software. And more recently, Boeing has grappled with manufacturing defects that have involved its biggest supplier.

What happens now?

Three days after the panel blew out midair on the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, over 170 flights were grounded as the FAA directed US airlines with Max 9s (Alaska and United) to inspect their fleets.

During the inspections, both airlines said they found loose bolts on plug doors. Meanwhile, federal officials revealed that the plane involved in the incident was restricted from flying long flights over water due to a known pressurization problem, though that may have been unrelated to the door plug incident.

Due to the incident, Boeing stock plummeted to its lowest point in more than a year, and as inspections continue, it’s likely the company will continue to be run through the gutter.

NASA suffered a lunar mission failure that would’ve made history

The Peregrine moon lander had a bit of an oopsie. The 202-foot-tall Vulcan Centaur rocket blasted off Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, successfully sending the Peregrine moon lander on its way… but it didn’t reach the moon.

The NASA-funded robotic lunar mission would have returned the US to the moon's surface for the first time in 50 years, but after a successful launch on Monday, Astrobotic posted on X that an anomaly led to a “critical loss of propellant,” forcing the company to change its mission objective.

What happened exactly?

Roughly seven hours into the flight, Peregrine's propulsion system malfunctioned, depleting the spacecraft's propellant and preventing a solar panel from properly pointing toward the sun.

Peregrine was carrying NASA scientific equipment and human remains from two commercial space burial companies. The lander was previously expected to reach the moon's surface Feb. 23.

Peregrine was the first mission under NASA's 2018 Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, which has awarded billions to private companies to help land their spacecraft on the moon. Houston-based Intuitive Machines is expected to launch its own lander with a SpaceX rocket next month.

Business

Reese’s is facing a $5 million lawsuit over Halloween candy

A woman in Florida is suing Reese’s for millions… over a candy design. Plaintiff Cynthia Kelly is seeking $5 million over a misleading design on Reese’s Halloween candy, claiming the product looks nothing like the image shown on the wrapper.

The packaging on the candy shows each individual candy with a jack-o’-lantern face inscribed on it, allowing the peanut butter filling to peek through. However, when unwrapped, they more closely resemble homogenous blobs that vaguely look like the figure shown on the packaging.

Is this really enough to sue for $5 million? Well, that’s debatable. While Kelly may be right about the candy not resembling the image shown on the packaging, it might not be enough to garner the $5 million she’s looking for. However, brands have been run through the gauntlet of false advertising as of late, which will likely increase her chances.

Reese’s isn’t the first company to be sued for false advertising

Reese’s (Hershey) joins a growing list of food brands being sued for false advertising, many of which have been successful for the plaintiffs.

• Taco Bell, Starbucks, McDonald's and Subway are chains who have fought claims in recent years.

• Kelly’s attorney Anthony Russo is also involved in a similar class-action lawsuit against Burger King, and says the $5 million is mostly to prove a point.

Subway has also been sued multiple times for chicken that isn’t chicken, tuna that isn’t tuna, and bread that isn’t bread.

One New York attorney has filed over 400 class-action lawsuits against food and beverage companies, covering a little of everything:

• They argued some “fudge” products aren’t technically fudge.

• Strawberry Pop-Tarts contain too few strawberries in the filling.

• And that “hint of lime” Tostitos don’t use enough lime juice.

But, are things as bad as Russo says?

Well, he’s not really wrong about false advertising stepping into the housing and vehicle markets.

• Six years ago, the FTC zeroed in on a group of rental sites that were “rife with inaccurate or unavailable listings,” and last year fined Roomster due to false listings and reviews.

• Last month, a group called Public Citizen filed a complaint with the FTC against Toyota for allegedly marketing hybrid vehicles with internal combustion engines as EVs.

In short, if you think the $4 you spent on a pack of Reese’s didn’t buy what was advertised, shoot for the stars, my friend.

Advertisers are struggling to reach Gen Z

Advertisers are having a hard time marketing to Gen Z because, well, they simply don’t want to see advertisements. Young people are sick of scrolling through a plethora of advertisements on their social media feeds, and it’s showing.

Gen Z holds over $450 billion in spending power and are the generation that will have the most impact on the future of the market, so advertisers are doing everything they can to reach them.

Brands have been increasingly using targeted ads and influencer marketing to try and get a piece of their attention, but it isn’t enough.

Why is it so hard for them to reach Gen Z?

Gen Z is simply tired of scrolling through a barrage of advertisements in their feeds.

Now, teens and young adults are migrating to more secluded online spaces (like a group chat) to communicate without seeing a mass of marketing campaigns, per Digiday.

But this leaves brands struggling to adapt so they can reach their target audience. Some are experimenting with other private communities:

• Discord, a private chat app with almost 200 million monthly active users, has been used by brands like Wendy’s, Gucci, and Sephora to create communities.

• Smaller group chat app Geneva launched in 2021 and has raised $22 million in funding.

Trying to find a way to reach a community that is actively avoiding your presence isn’t easy, and brands will have to find further ways to innovate.

• This will likely involve guiding users into ad-supported, brand-friendly communities that are easier to invade.

• Many already exist, like Fortnite, Roblox, and the metaverse, and are joined by newbies like RTRO — a ChatGPT-powered messaging app made for Gen Z.

These online spaces allow brands to advertise more naturally without disrupting users, or worse, losing valuable customers. So look forward to seeing more subliminal advertising in your feeds, because we all know that’s exactly what we need.

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Grab Bag

Tokyo’s tuna auction fetches nearly $800,000

Willing to spend $1 million on tuna? This auction is for you. Auctions are typically a show of wealth and grandeur, but in Tokyo, things are a bit different this time of year.

On Friday, if you were willing to wake up early enough, you would’ve seen a sight millions get in line for after the New Year. The Toyosu Market has become legendary for its tuna auction, where restaurateurs compete for the coveted fish between 5:30am and 6:30am.

When the market opened for the New Year’s auction last Thursday, the team of seafood wholesaler Yamayuki and sushi chain operator Onodera Group paid $788,440 for a 525-pound giant bluefin tuna, the fourth-highest total on record, according to a market official.

The record was set in 2019, when restaurant owner Kiyoshi Kimura paid $3.1 million for a tuna that weighed 613 pounds… and admittedly expressed buyer’s remorse afterward.

I can’t say I wouldn’t feel the same. Poor guy.

A Russian oligarch is suing an esteemed auction house

Prestigious auction house Sotheby’s convinced a Russian oligarch to spend over $1 billion. Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev claimed Sotheby’s manipulated him into buying over a billion dollars worth of art treasures. Tough break.

The Monaco-based fertilizer mogul is taking auctioneers to a Manhattan court this week for allegedly conspiring to defraud him.

Rybolovlev claims Sotheby’s abetted his longtime art advisor, Yves Bouvier, in deceitfully inflating the prices of a Modigliani sculpture, as well as paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, René Magritte, and Gustav Klimt. The trial will give art enthusiasts a rare glimpse under the hood of the unregulated and often speculated private art market.

What’s the situation?

Rybolovlev spent $2 billion buying up masterpieces between 2002 and 2014 via purchases arranged by Bouvier, with 12 of them brokered by Sotheby’s.

But then Rybolovlev apparently learned:

• The 38 artworks he bought actually belonged to Bouvier, who pretended to negotiate the prices with nonexistent sellers.

• In a few circumstances, the oligarch may have been overcharged: He paid $127.5 million for a 500-year-old da Vinci a day after Bouvier obtained it for $83 million (which didn’t turn out too bad, since Rybolovlev later sold it for $450.3 million).

A brutal legal battle started between the two art savants, fighting in multiple jurisdictions in Europe and Asia. They recently settled things out of court, and Bouvier stressed that investigators found no criminal wrongdoing.

One of Sotheby’s lawyers later said there’s “zero evidence” that the auction house knew Bouvier was lying to Rybolovlev, prompting further escalation.

Fast Facts

Churro or Cookie? Costco has replaced its churros with a giant cookie. Some say it’s much better, others say its worse. You be the judge.

Crypto Crime: The CEO of the now-collapsed crypto hedge fund HyperVerse allegedly isn’t a real person.

Receded Romance: In Japan, a record 34.1% of adults between the ages of 20 and 49 have never been in a romantic relationship, and more than 25% have no intention of getting married, according to a survey.

Secret Spy: China said it detained an individual who it claims is a spy for the UK’s intelligence service, MI6.

Goodbye, Kim: Sadly, after a decade of entertaining mobile gamers, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood will shut down in April.

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