| | | | | | | Presented By Walmart | | | | Axios AM | | By Mike Allen ·Apr 02, 2022 | | Happy Saturday. Today's Smart Brevity™ count: 1,123 words ... 4 mins. Edited by Justin Green. 🔮 Coming Tuesday: Our debut What's Next Summit, with CEOs and top thinkers on "Electric Everything," plus the future of cities, work, finance and tech. Register to watch. | | | | | | 1 big thing: Trump failure to launch |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Former President Trump's social media app Truth Social remains unavailable for many, despite promises that it would be "fully operational" in the U.S. by yesterday - Why it matters: Trump fans flooded into a SPAC (explainer) that agreed to take Truth Social public. They could lose their investments if the app doesn't get its act together, Axios' Sara Fischer and Dan Primack report.
Behind the scenes: Sources tell Axios that tech issues are likely what's preventing the app from being released to all interested users. - The SPAC has disclosed it is cooperating with regulators, and missed a filing deadline because of what it said were accounting delays.
- Shares of that SPAC are down 35% since March 4, and down 64% from their all-time high, including a 2% dip on Friday.
What's happening: When Truth Social appeared in Apple's App Store, it said to expect a Feb. 21 launch. But when President's Day hit, prospective users were given waitlist numbers that, for many, haven't changed. - Truth Social CEO and former Congressman Devin Nunes subsequently said the goal was for the app to be "fully operational" by the end of March.
It didn't happen. - There've been signs of progress, including Trump's adult sons beginning to use the service this week. But Trump himself hasn't posted a message since before the original launch date.
The intrigue: As far as we can tell, no Trump loyalists seem to be involved in Truth Social, and instead are focusing on building their own tech platforms. |     | | | | | | 2. 🗳️ Russians rally to Putin, who hits 83% approval | | Photo: Konstantin Zavrazhin/Getty Images Above, a theater in Moscow displays a giant "Z" in the black and orange of the Saint George's ribbon — symbolizing support for the war in Ukraine. "Shaken at First, Many Russians Now Rally Behind Putin's Invasion," the N.Y. Times reports (subscription): - "Polls and interviews show many Russians now accept the Kremlin's assertion that their country is under siege from the West."
- Polls released this week by Russia's most respected independent pollster, Levada, put Putin's approval rating at 83%, up from 69% in January. 81% said they supported the war, "describing the need to protect Russian speakers as its primary justification."
"Opponents are leaving the country or keeping quiet," The Times adds. - "On television, entertainment shows have been replaced by extra helpings of propaganda."
Two reality checks: 🪖 Moscow signals it's ready for a prolonged war: "Many Ukrainian officials and military analysts think the conflict is likely to drag on for months, or longer," The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription). 🥊 "Putin's Ukraine quagmire": The WashPost's Griff Witte points to echoes of Soviet failure in Afghanistan, 1979-89: "Moscow appears to have underestimated its adversary this time, just as it did then." - Milton Bearden, a CIA station chief in Pakistan during the Soviet war, writes for Foreign Affairs in "Putin's Afghanistan" (behind a wall): "In setting out to reverse history, [Putin] may instead be repeating it."
| | | | | | | | 3. Ramadan begins | | Muslims pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo. Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The Muslim holy month of Ramadan — when the faithful fast from dawn to dusk — began at sunrise today in much of the Middle East, where family celebrations and large gatherings over meals are a tradition. - The Ukraine invasion, which sent energy and food prices soaring, cast a pall over celebrations, AP reports from Cairo.
Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Above: In Brooklyn yesterday, food is distributed by the Council of Peoples Organization (COPO), a Muslim nonprofit, for those in need for Ramadan. | | | | | | | | A message from Walmart | | Walmart is transforming stores with last mile delivery | | |  | | | | Over the last two years, Walmart has been making delivery faster for customers —leveraging stores as fulfillment centers and utilizing new tech to create a more efficient supply chain. The goal: Sustainably serve communities in new ways — working to move delivery from days to minutes. | | | | | | 4. 🇻🇦 The new popemobile | | Photo: Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images via Getty Images Pope Francis used an elevator to board a plane from Rome to Malta today, with Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni saying the lift was to "avoid unnecessary strain," Reuters reports. - It was the first time in the pope's 36 trips abroad that he didn't walk up the plane steps.
The 85-year-old pope has sciatica, a nerve condition that causes pain in his legs. | | | | | | | | 5. 🚢 Day 21: Ever Forward (!) stuck in Chesapeake | | People sit on a bank in Pasadena, Md., to watch tugboats try to refloat the Ever Forward. Photo: Julio Cortez/AP A sister container ship to the Ever Given, which blocked the Suez Canal last year, has been stuck in the Chesapeake Bay for three weeks, writes Karri Peifer of Axios Richmond (launching soon). - Now, companies with cargo on it are being billed to free it.
- The boat has become a tourist attraction (photo above). Downs Park ($6 entry fee) in Pasadena, Md., is the best place to see it.
Why it matters: The Ever Forward (yes, bask in the irony) is the largest ship to get stuck in the Chesapeake Bay. It's carrying 5,000 containers of … stuff. What's happening: The ship's owner — Evergreen Marine Corp. — invoked a maritime law dubbed "General Average," which requires people whose belongings are on a ship to share in the cost of freeing it. - Evergreen also invoked the law when its ship lodged in the Suez Canal in March 2021. It took until September for all the cargo to be released to owners, after they posted bonds.
The maritime law's roots can be traced to at least 1750 B.C. (It was a big deal during the fall of the Roman Empire, too.) Crews dredge around the Ever Forward. Photo: Julio Cortez/AP Zoom in: It's unclear what's in the thousands of containers aboard the Ever Forward. One cargo holder — a Bloomberg journalist who moved from Hong Kong to New York — has been sharing her experience. - "The entire contents of our apartment — all of our furniture, lots of books, things of sentimental value — are all in a container stuck in the Chesapeake Bay," Tracy Alloway told NBC Washington.
Zoom out: The Ever Forward has been idling near Baltimore, en route to Norfolk, since a wrong turn leaving Baltimore on March 13 ran the boat aground in shallow water. - A new attempt to free it is planned for next week, "using two anchored pulling barges from the stern and five tugs.
Go deeper with istheshipstillstuck.com, which went viral during the Suez fiasco. | | | | | | | | 6. ⚾ Baseball's new lingo | | A Dalmatian lounges on a Budweiser Clydesdale wagon in Peoria, Ariz., before a spring training game, San Diego Padres v. Milwaukee Brewers. Photo: Charlie Riedel/AP When baseball celebrates Opening Day on Thursday, you won't be hearing umpires say only "Play ball!" and "Yer out!" - They'll also be saying "Overturned!" and "Upheld!" as they announce replay decisions for the first time, AP's Ronald Blum writes.
- Major League Baseball said yesterday that umpires will give in-park announcements during replay reviews.
How it works: A crew chief will have a wireless microphone, and first announce the call being challenged and which team initiated the challenge. After the review, the crew chief will announce the result. - Audio will go over ballpark P.A. systems, and be made available to broadcasters.
🏈 Context: NFL referees were given wireless microphones in 1975. | | | | | | | | A message from Walmart | | Walmart is changing the future of delivery with last mile | | |  | | | | With 4,700 stores across the country located within 10 miles of 90% of the population, Walmart is using their size and scale to revolutionize last mile delivery. The company is finding innovative and sustainable ways to improve their customers' shopping experience — online and in-store. | | | | 📬 Invite your friends to sign up here to get their daily essentials — Axios AM, PM and Finish Line. |  | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | |
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