Our daily tour around the world

🇷🇺 The Russian trial of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich began yesterday. The 32-year-old American journalist has been imprisoned since March of last year, when he was arrested on charges of stealing state secrets for the US government – allegations which he, US officials, and the WSJ have repeatedly denied. A senior Russian official told reporters yesterday that Moscow is open to the possibility of a prisoner-swap deal that includes Gershkovich, who is the first US journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War.

🇩🇰 Danish lawmakers approved a cow tax. The first-of-its-kind tax, which takes effect in 2030, will require livestock farmers to pay an annual tax for the planet-heating emissions their animals generate. The tax will start at ~$17 per ton of carbon emissions – the equivalent of ~$96 per individual cow – and more than double by 2035. Analysts expect the bill to receive parliamentary approval in the near future.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s Supreme Court decriminalized marijuana for personal use. The law, which passed in an 8-3 vote on Tuesday, will reduce the penalties for marijuana possession in an effort to reduce the population of overcrowded prisons – but doesn’t legalize cannabis for personal use. The ruling makes Brazil one of the last Latin American countries to decriminalize marijuana possession for personal use.

+Update: Kenya’s president yesterday withdrew a proposed tax hike that had sparked weeks of public protests, including the storming of parliament on Tuesday.