Notes today:

 

• Minnesota utilities have warned that monthly heating bills could spike by $400, after the TEXAS DISASTER that left dozens dead, jacked up natural gas prices across the US. 
• Apparently Texas is "delivering and  sharing"  its policies - Musk is moving in.

• Hundreds of covid cases reported at Tesla plant following Musk’s defiant reopening, county data shows.

• Annual emissions tied to the electricity needed for cryptomining “rigs” (high-powered computers that produce digital tokens by solving math problems) are equal to that spewed by all of Argentina, according to researchers at Cambridge University. 

• Italy announced that it will return to near-national lockdown from Monday, with most schools, restaurants and shops closing. 

• US consumer sentiment reached a one-year high. The index rose to 83.0 in March after dropping to 76.8 in February; economists had expected a smaller increase to 78.5. 

• Germany's domestic intelligence agency hopes to place the entire Alternative for Germany party under surveillance. It views the party as being hostile to democracy. 

• Spiegel: With RT DE, Moscow wants to provide a platform for corona skeptics, right-wing populists and leftist fans of the Kremlin to destabilize democracy in Germany. Internal emails provide insights into the media organization.

• China now has a passport structure by which its people can register their vaccination and testing status. It is however “NOT YET” mandatory.

• Ex Brazilian President Lula da Silva, cleared of corruption charges, may run again in 2022.

• FT: Russia is now a country where retweeting a protest joke gets you 15 days in jail, and where a deaf-mute can be fined $70 for allegedly shouting anti-regime slogans.