1.25.2023

Ukraine Corruption

At least a dozen senior Ukrainian officials were dismissed Tuesday over allegations of corruption, the embattled country's largest shake-up since the war began in February. Several cabinet ministers, as well as leaders of battleground provinces Kherson and Zaporizhzhia (see list), were accused of taking bribes or facilitating inflated purchasing contracts. 

Ukraine ranks 122 out of 180 countries on the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, the lowest of any European country, other than Russia. Analysts claim its persistent corruption stems partly from an oligarchical system inherited from the Soviet Union after attaining independence in 1991 (see background). Current President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the election in 2019 on an anticorruption campaign, and the country must demonstrate anticorruption reforms as part of its candidacy for the European Union.

Separately, Germany signaled approval of the transfer of its highly sophisticated

Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which analysts claim are a significant improvement over those currently in use. 

Google Lawsuit

The US Justice Department is suing Google, claiming the company has monopolized the digital advertising market, and is seeking to force Google to divest parts of its business. The complaint (read here), joined by eight states, alleges Google carried out a series of projects to manipulate its advertisers’ spending to reduce competition from rival ad exchanges, among other actions.

Google, for years, has led the US digital advertising market, capturing 34.7% of the market at its peak in 2017, though the company appears to be losing its hold on the space thanks to competition from TikTok and Amazon. Still, Google earned $209B from advertising in 2021 and is expected to see similar results for 2022 in next week's full-year earnings report. Google makes about 80% of its revenue from digital advertising (see overview).

The lawsuit is the second federal antitrust (see 101) challenge against Google. The Justice Department filed a suit in 2020 over Google allegedly stifling competition for internet searches; the case is headed to trial in September. 

Oscar Nominations 

Nominations for the 95th annual Academy Awards were announced yesterday, led by "Everything Everywhere All at Once," with 11 nominations. The multiverse science fiction film's Michelle Yeoh becomes the first Asian woman nominated for best actress. "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "The Banshees of Inisherin" follow with nine nominations each.

Major blockbusters hit big this year—the 10 best picture nominees have grossed a combined nearly $1.6B in domestic ticket sales, with "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" accounting for a combined $1.3B. The nominations come at a time when the Academy is trying to attract more viewers. Last year's ceremony marked the second least-watched and lowest-rated telecast in Oscars history.

See the biggest snubs and surprises here. Winners in all 23 categories will be announced live during the ceremony, which takes place March 12 (8 pm ET, ABC), with Jimmy Kimmel returning as host. 

See the Muppet version of each best picture nominee here.

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

A TED Talk on how to deal with rejection. 

Remote work saves commuters 72 minutes a day.

Scroll through a Lunar New Year feast.

Rare spinning ice disk found in the Scottish Highlands. 

How to defog your car windows the right way.

This year's Razzie nominees, celebrating the worst of cinema.

The best places to write your novel, according to authors.

Introducing bourbon aged in space.

Clickbait: Troublemaking pet fish commit credit card fraud. 

Historybook: First Winter Olympics take place in Chamonix, France (1924); Battle of the Bulge comes to an end (1945); Al Capone dies (1947); Alicia Keys born (1981); Mary Tyler Moore dies (2017).