Flagship

Biden’s foreign policy bucket list

The outgoing Biden administration pushed several foreign-policy priorities in its waning days in office. The White House will this week unveil additional military aid to Ukraine as the country mounts an offensive against Russia, according to The Associated Press, and expand restrictions on China’s access to cutting-edge semiconductors of the type used to develop artificial intelligence, Bloomberg reported. Alongside Egypt and Qatar, the US is also pushing for Israel and Hamas to agree a ceasefire to pause their 15-month war. Still, two analysts argued recently, “much of the administration’s stance on ongoing international conflicts has appeared reactive and sometimes weak, highlighting the unacknowledged limits of US power.”

Trump mulls Davos

It’s still unclear whether US President-elect Donald Trump will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, but he will “definitely” send cabinet members, a source close to Trump told Semafor. The debate over whether to attend the elite gathering is partly prosaic: Davos opens on Jan. 20, the same day as the president-elect’s inauguration in Washington, DC. It is being closely watched by world leaders and business executives. Trump’s return to office, and his pledges to erect trade barriers alongside his threats — possibly in jest — to take control of parts, or all, of Canada, Greenland, and Panama, have already dominated global discourse before he has even taken office.

Mexico and US trade barbs

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said parts of the US should be called Mexican America, a retort to President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Although the increasingly fraught relationship between the two could hurt trade between their countries, some experts believe that 30 years of economic integration under a free trade agreement make substantial changes unlikely: Mexico recently overtook China to become the US’ biggest trading partner. The Latin American country holds “a treasure trove of solutions to some of the most difficult challenges facing the US,” including regional competition with China, Howard French wrote in Foreign Policy last year.

China inflation figures spark worry

Prices rose just 0.1% in China year-on-year in December, intensifying worries that the world’s second biggest economy will fall into deflation. Sky-high debt, worrying levels of unemployment, and a flailing real-estate market have weighed on overall economic growth. In recent months, deflation has risen among the list of worries, a potentially crippling issue in which consumers hold off on purchases because they believe prices will fall, further exacerbating economic woes. In part, the issue may be down to the country’s political system, a renowned economist of modern China argued in The Wire: “Social engineering through government diktat stands in sharp contrast to the incentive-based, free-wheeling, individualistic spirit that shapes human behavior and consumption patterns in the West.”

Climate change expands fire season

California Governor Gavin Newsom said “there’s no fire season — it’s fire year” as wildfires burned around Los Angeles. Thousands of homes have been damaged and at least five people have died in the blazes, well outside usual peak months. A warming climate is increasing the number of “fire weather” days in vulnerable areas around the world, the BBC reported, as rainfall patterns change. California is particularly vulnerable, and consumer groups are concerned that growing wildfires could boost home insurance prices in the state: A climate writer noted that one insurer has dropped 70% of its customers in the Palisades, and California’s insurer of last resort has seen its exposure jump 61% in the year to September.

Shipping nations back emissions tax

Some of the world’s most important shipping nations backed a flat tax on the industry’s carbon emissions. Liberia and Panama are home to the world’s biggest shipping registries, and along with 43 other jurisdictions — accounting between them for 66% of the world’s total tonnage — agreed to the proposed levy on shipowners. Brazil, China, and the US have opposed the deal, but the wide support boosts the chances that a global deal could be reached. The shipping industry accounts for around 3% of total emissions, equivalent to the airline industry, and proponents hope a flat tax could push shipowners to use low-emission fuels or other clean alternatives.

‘Microreactor’ race to power datacenters

Energy companies are racing to create shipping-container-sized nuclear “microreactors” which could replace on-site generators or electric batteries. Several companies, notably Britain’s Rolls-Royce, are building small modular reactors, but they are comparatively large, with a footprint of some acres. Microreactors would be less powerful, and would “operate like large batteries, with no… workers on site,” the Financial Times reported — they would simply be delivered, plugged in, and left to run. The resurgent interest in nuclear power is driven by demand from data centers, and is reshaping the energy industry: The US giant Constellation is in talks to buy its gas-power rival Calpine, in a $30 billion deal which would be one of the largest in US power generation history.

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Small Business Caucus, and Trump campaign economic adviser Stephen Moore will join Semafor’s Elana Schor to discuss what’s ahead for US small businesses as President-elect Trump and congressional Republicans eye tax cuts and regulatory reform.

Jan. 14, 2025 | Washington, DC | RSVP

Debating Meta’s fact-checking

Meta’s decision to end fact-checking was met with a chorus of disapproval. A Nobel peace laureate said it meant a “world without facts,” Brazil’s communications minister said it was “bad for democracy,” and the French government expressed concern. But Semafor’s Technology Editor Reed Albergotti argued that Mark Zuckerberg’s decision was the right one, and that content moderation was a “failed experiment”: Millions saw their posts censored, but “false health information, foreign propaganda, [and] bizarre conspiracy theories” flourished anyway. The idea that the internet could be neatly divided into fact and false “was always ludicrous,” Albergotti argued, and free societies “must learn to live with a certain level” of viral misinformation, by inoculating against it rather than eliminating it.

Mozambique risks grow

Mozambique’s opposition leader Venancio Mondlane returned to the country from self-imposed exile following a disputed election last year, vowing to lead protests that threaten to overthrow the government. Mozambique has been wracked by violent demonstrations since October’s vote, with rights groups saying more than 270 people have been killed in the turmoil. The unrest has taken a toll on the country’s economy, with ratings agencies saying it could deepen Mozambique’s already high debt risk. Regardless, President-elect Daniel Chapo — who the country’s top court certified as the victor despite reports of vote rigging — has maintained he will be inaugurated next week, extending his party’s 50-year rule.

Smart toilet firm targets US bottoms

A Japanese bathroom manufacturer said it would expand its US presence threefold as Americans learn to love smart toilets. Toto wants 300 showrooms in 63 cities selling its Washlet toilets which, according to the company’s somewhat euphemistic website, “clean[s] the rear intimate area” with a spray, among other functions. The firm is moving away from China, which it had been targeting, as that country’s real estate crisis deepens and as competition from local firms increases. But Toto has seen double-digit annual growth in the US: It has a factory in Mexico, and the company’s president told Nikkei that he believes President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs will not affect sales.

• The US holds a state funeral for President Jimmy Carter in Washington, DC.
• Indonesia’s president visits Kuala Lumpur for talks with Malaysia’s leader.
• Roman Catholics in the Philippines walk barefoot around a centuries old wooden statue of Jesus Christ to pray for health and financial success in the year ahead.

The share of US respondents who say they would give up their sense of smell before giving up their mobile phone, according to a recent poll. Although underestimated by many, our sense of smell is vital for taste, while also being essential to our capacity to connect deeply with people, and even to our openness to strangers. According to Jonas Olofsson, author of The Forgotten Sense, an intolerance to body odors is linked to a preference for authoritarian, anti-immigration leaders, a link explained by the long-held belief that diseases were spread by smell. However intolerant smellers have hope: According to the writer, sniffing jars of familiar smells can be transformative.

The Life of Herod the Great by Zora Neale Hurston. The Black American writer and anthropologist spent years researching Herod, who ruled Judea for more than 30 years, but her manuscript was nearly lost for good in a fire following her death, with some pages burned entirely and others badly singed. “Everything [Hurston] did… was about having us see one another as different variations of divine expression,” an expert on her life who recovered and restored the manuscript told NPR. Buy The Life of Herod the Great from your local bookstore.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang energized the Consumer Electronics Show with the announcement of a new gaming GPU and his revealing comments about robotics, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti reported. “I think 2025 is going to mark an inflection point for robotics, perhaps not in the form of consumer products, but in breakthroughs that will lead to some mind-blowing advances down the road,” Albergotti wrote.