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Trump defense pick vows ‘warrior culture’

The confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee surfaced fraught US culture war issues. Army combat veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth vowed to bring a “warrior culture” to the Pentagon, saying he would prioritize “meritocracy” over diversity and inclusion policies. Separately, lawmakers grilled him over past sexual assault allegations, which he dismissed as a “smear campaign,” and questioned him about the limits of US military power; Hegseth didn’t directly say whether he would use the military to take control of Greenland or the Panama Canal, if ordered. Trump allies hope to turn Hegseth, whose nomination appears to be on track, into a “cause célèbre for Trump’s governing approach,” the Associated Press wrote.

US firms overtly court Trump

CEOs are becoming less subtle in their efforts to curry favor with incoming US President Donald Trump. While corporate America has long cozied up to Washington, “an open-air bazaar has replaced a black market of influence-peddling,” Semafor’s Liz Hoffman wrote. A top executive trying to enlist Trump’s support to buy US Steel proclaimed “America First” at a Monday press conference near the site of July’s assassination attempt on the president-elect. And tech billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg will reportedly sit together on Trump’s inauguration platform. The jockeying underscores “a wider shift back to more conservative social and political stances and an embrace of unfettered capitalism,” the Financial Times wrote.

Chinese app embraces ‘TikTok refugees’

The increased likelihood of a TikTok ban in the US is pushing users to another Chinese-owned app. Xiaohongshu, considered the Chinese equivalent of Instagram, became the No. 1 app in the US this week. Its overwhelmingly Chinese userbase has largely embraced the influx of American users calling themselves “TikTok refugees,” providing a rare moment of direct cultural exchange between the US and China. As TikTok’s future remains precarious — it will be banned Sunday unless it’s sold or saved by the Supreme Court — Xiaohongshu’s swift embrace could set up a “whack-a-mole” situation for US officials looking to restrict foreign tech usage over national security concerns, experts said, while also testing the limits of China’s censorship efforts.

Trump optimism in India, China

Citizens in many of the world’s largest countries are optimistic about Donald Trump’s return — but the US’ closest allies are uneasy, a report found. People in India, China, Russia, and Brazil were more likely to think Trump’s election is a good thing for their countries and for global peace, a European Council on Foreign Relations poll found, while nations that are dependent on the US for security — the UK, South Korea, and European Union members — are doubtful Trump will bring positive change. Europe is especially ill-prepared to withstand his efforts to wield political influence there, The New York Times wrote, with one Trump ally saying: “The key thing is America First. Everything else is a distraction.”

Hasina’s niece resigns UK post

The UK’s anti-corruption minister resigned Tuesday following scrutiny over her financial ties to her aunt, ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The UK investigated Tulip Siddiq’s use of properties given to her by allies of Hasina’s former regime in Dhaka, but didn’t find evidence that she broke any laws. However, Siddiq, Hasina, and other family members are facing graft allegations in Bangladesh. The probe in London underlined the global reverberations of Hasina’s overthrow last August: Dhaka’s ties with neighboring India — where the former premier is in self-exile — have since frayed, but relations with Pakistan, once a “taboo subject” in Bangladesh, have grown warmer, Himal Southasian magazine wrote.

Purge, pay cuts in China financial sector

China is purging financiers and cutting executives’ pay at state-owned banks in an effort to assert more control over its finance industry, The Wall Street Journal reported. Leader Xi Jinping is seeking to replace international heavyweights with Communist Party loyalists to rein in a sector he sees as too focused on capitalist excess, instead of the country’s interests. Since 2022, authorities have opened investigations into more than 500 people in the financial sector, the Journal reported. The campaign comes amid broader efforts to revive China’s flagging economy: Officials are trying to boost consumption through stimulus measures, but investors are increasingly pessimistic and 10-year bond yields recently slumped to an all-time low.

Chinese workers’ long hours

Chinese manufacturers have branched out from making cheap products to high-end goods, but tough working conditions remain the norm. Artisans at a violin workshop in Huangqiao often work 16-hour days to perfect their instruments, while factory workers at Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion behemoth, put in 75-hour weeks at low pay, with perhaps one day off a month. Huangqiao, which produces nearly a third of the world’s violins, is an example of China’s industry moving from sweatshops to high-end goods. But Shein’s tough labor conditions, highlighted in a BBC investigation, reveal how China’s economic woes are undermining that progress: “The cost of living is now so high” that workers have little choice, one employee said.

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Helmed by veteran Financial Times editor Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, the initiative builds on the success of Liz Hoffman’s Semafor Business and sets a new standard for how global leaders connect, learn, and navigate future challenges. Focusing on exclusivity over scale, the platform will debut its inaugural issue next week, in the backdrop of Davos, offering candid, practical insights and interviews tailored for global CEOs who are short on time and seeking actionable intelligence.

Request an invitation for the debut edition here.

Scammers linked to Russia ATM attacks

Russia is facing a wave of arson attacks on ATMs, apparently linked to Ukraine-based telephone scammers. There have been hundreds of such incidents since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, often by pensioners who apparently were tricked into handing over large sums of money and then convinced into thinking that burning cash machines would help recover it. Ukraine is “a world-leader in the phone scamming industry,” The Economist reported, with targets mostly in Russia: partly because it serves Ukraine, one source said, but “mainly motivated by cash.” Russia is also an easy target, because most Ukrainians speak Russian and the country’s high levels of corruption make it easy to get hold of citizens’ data.

Self-optimization behind fall in drinking

A focus on self-transformation is leading young people to drink less, The Atlantic argued. From the rise of Dry January to “sober bars” catering to Gen-Z, the pullback in drinking is hurting liquor makers, leading distilleries to slash jobs and shelve expansion plans. While the Prohibition era focused on the virtues of abstinence, today’s sober-curious are “steered by a great moral project of our age, self-optimization,” The Atlantic wrote. The negative health effects of drinking — the US Surgeon General recently called for cancer warnings to be printed on labels — are a driving factor, with individuals cutting back in the quest for better sleep, lower weight, or simply “the promise of finding your best self through phony negronis and nonalcoholic IPAs.”

More physical books sold in 2024

US sales of physical books rose in 2024 after three years of decline. Industry figures showed that 782.7 million print books were sold last year, up 1% on 2023 although still nearly 40 million down from the peak of 2021. Growth was driven by fiction, especially fantasy, while adult nonfiction, the biggest category, fell slightly. Print editions have been challenged by both ebooks and audiobooks: The latter are growing rapidly and hit $2 billion in sales in 2024. But physical media in general are seeing a revival, with sales of CDs, vinyl, and DVDs all increasing in recent years, thanks to nostalgia and consumers’ desires to unambiguously own, rather than lease, content.

Jan. 15:

• Daniel Chapo is set to be inaugurated as Mozambique’s new president amid protests over a disputed October election.
• Norway hosts a summit to discuss how to find a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
• The US celebrates National Bagel Day.

The mystery of a cat screech that sparked internet debate after being used in hundreds of movies has been solved. The 23-second audio clip appears in Toy Story, Babe, and Home Alone 3 among other blockbusters; an entry on TVTropes.org entitled That Poor Cat laments: “Every time a vehicle crashes, trash cans fall over, something blows up, or any chaos occurs off-screen… we hear some poor cat yowl.” The Guardian traced the famous meow to an LA sound designer who in 1988 recorded his new kitten Cheeta — “a remarkable small female with a confident voice and racy physique” — in his living room. “Once you’re familiar with her work, you start to hear her everywhere,” the newspaper wrote.

OpenAI published a list of policy proposals on Monday, outlining how US federal and state governments can catalyze the artificial intelligence industry and keep China from taking the lead, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti reported.

The document argues the US should invest heavily in energy and other infrastructure to spur investment in American AI, calling for a closer relationship between AI companies and the US national security community.