Flagship

Trump picks Ukraine-skeptic Vance for VP

Former US President Donald Trump chose J.D. Vance, the rookie senator from Ohio, as his vice presidential pick. Trump made the announcement as the Republican National Convention kicked off in Milwaukee, just two days after he survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The selection of Vance — who gained a national profile for his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy and only joined the Senate in 2023 — will likely alarm Ukraine and its supporters. Vance has been a key figure in blocking Ukraine aid, writing in April that he remains “opposed to virtually any proposal” for continued funding. He previously said the US should “accept Ukraine is going to have to cede some territory.”

Global markets bet on Trump

Global markets reacted to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump with a surge of bets that could pay off if the former US president wins in November. Shares of Trump Media rose 30%; the price of bitcoin reached its highest level in two weeks; and South Korean defense and nuclear energy stocks climbed. It’s based on “anticipation that the Republican’s return to the White House would usher in tax cuts, higher tariffs and looser regulations,” Bloomberg wrote. In China, shares of a company whose Chinese-language name sounds like “Trump wins big” soared Monday. It’s common for individual Chinese investors to trade based on such homophones: “Even though no one believes in the true existence of this association, they enjoy it,” said a Beijing-based investment banker.

Trump documents case dismissed

Donald Trump also notched a legal win on Monday, as a federal judge dismissed his classified documents case. The former president faced 40 counts accusing him of mishandling sensitive documents at his Florida resort, but Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional — a theory promoted by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in his recent opinion granting presidents immunity. The ruling in a case that was widely seen as the strongest against Trump is a setback for Smith, but one MSNBC legal analyst said it might be a “blessing in disguise” as Smith can “immediately” appeal it. Regardless, Cannon’s decision means the case won’t go to trial before the November election.

Ukrainians consider peace talks

Nearly 45% of Ukrainians support starting peace negotiations with Russia, a new poll found, as concerns grow about Ukraine’s ability to win the war. The poll, conducted by a local think tank and newspaper, found that more than 80% believe Russian President Vladimir Putin would only agree to end the war on his terms, and an overwhelming majority described those terms as unacceptable. But Carnegie Endowment experts argued in June that Ukrainians have shown optimism and resilience about the war; military and government officials have indicated that they are open to talks, but only after Kyiv gains a position of strength on the battlefield. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is doubling down on diplomacy: On Monday, he proposed a new peace summit in November, but Moscow does not plan to attend.

Xi seen as ‘reformer’ in state media

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is portrayed as a consequential “reformer” in a massive state media profile from March that was republished in Chinese on Monday at the start of a major economic meeting. The 6,000-word Xinhua article compares Xi to the country’s former leader Deng Xiaoping, who helped bring China out of isolation and ushered in major economic growth, despite some key differences between him and Xi. The decision to publish the English-language profile in Chinese for the first time reflects the government’s efforts to boost domestic confidence ahead of what state media has called an “epoch-making” meeting charting China’s economic path. Beijing faces a property crisis and weak consumer demand — challenges that were underscored by lower-than-expected economic growth data released Monday.

US tech causes Japan digital deficit

Japan’s love for overseas platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Amazon Prime is causing a “digital deficit.” That trade imbalance, in which the country exports far fewer digital services than it imports, could further weaken the yen against the dollar, Nikkei reported. The deficit widened in the 2010s and accelerated through the pandemic; it plays out through digital advertising fees and intellectual property royalties, like movie streaming rights. Experts said Japan should boost its startup ecosystem and juice more revenue from popular homegrown content like anime and manga. “It’s the absolute dominance of these global platforms that came out of the Silicon Valley model, a very small segment of the U.S. economy, that took over everybody,” a Japan tech expert said.

SK produces anti-drone weapon

South Korea began mass manufacturing a laser weapon that can shoot down small drones at $1.50 per shot fired. Cheap drones are being increasingly used in warfare, but shooting them down is disproportionately expensive: Anti-aircraft missiles cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars each. South Korea’s device, the size of a shipping container, achieved a 100% success rate in live-fire tests last year. Its shots are “invisible and noiseless” and it has no ammunition requirements beyond electricity, Seoul’s arms agency said. It will be the first laser weapon deployed in active service, although both the UK and the US have successfully tested similar systems.

Bricklaying robot arrives in US

The first bricklaying robot capable of working on outdoor construction sites arrived in the US. Robots are usually used in controlled environments, like warehouses or factories: It’s much harder to use them in unpredictable external environments. The Hadrian X can lay 500 blocks an hour, and can build the walls of a standard double brick house in a single day. It has already built several houses in Australia, and has now arrived in Fort Myers, Florida, where it will construct the external walls of at least five houses in a demonstration program. The US, among other countries, is facing a construction labor shortage: The industry is short about 500,000 workers, a trade body report said this year, driving housing costs up.

Contact burn cases rise with hot summers

Burns and fatalities from contact with searing hot sidewalks and roads are on the rise in the US. During a scorching summer in Phoenix, Arizona last year, a burns center treated 136 patients for contact burns from outdoor surfaces, with 14 deaths; it saw 85 such cases in 2022. A doctor in Jacksonville, Florida, told The New York Times that he had never seen surface burns eight years ago, but now sees one or two a day. Black asphalt heats up rapidly — in Las Vegas recently it reached 160°F (71°C), hot enough to burn skin in seconds. Homeless people are at particular risk.

Scientists confirm moon caves exist

Scientists have finally confirmed the existence of a lunar cave, throwing open the possibility that more of them could eventually house astronauts on the moon. While researchers had long theorized about the existence of the caves — accessible through hundreds of pits in the moon’s ancient lava plains — they largely remained a mystery for five decades, the Associated Press reported. But the discovery of one, located only 250 miles away from where the first humans landed on the moon, suggests that many more exist and that they could be used as habitats protecting astronauts from cosmic rays and solar radiation. The finding, TechCrunch wrote, will kickstart a wave of research by space startups and governments “aiming to create a lasting lunar colony.”

July 16:

• Muslims in Iraq commemorate Ashura — a holy day of great significance in the Islamic calendar.
• Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swims in the Seine ahead of the Olympics.
• The Czech and Ukrainian governments hold a joint meeting in Prague.

A new historical novel focuses on the often under-explored setting of southern Thailand. English-language fiction about the country largely focuses on Bangkok or northern Thailand, Nikkei wrote. Dark Karma, written by a couple, Paul and Yuangrat Wedel, is set in a part of the country where ethnicity is mixed, including people of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Thai heritage. The novel touches on the history of the Thai Chinese business elite, a semi-illegal gambling business, and the Spanish Flu, which arrived in Thailand after World War I. It follows another piece of historical fiction the duo wrote in 2021. “That was one of the reasons we wrote both books — to show there is no single Thai culture,” said Paul.

• Trump says he was saved ‘by luck or by God.’
• Biden implores nation to ‘lower the temperature.’
• Liberal media outlets are questioning Biden’s fitness. Their audience is furious.