Flagship

Harris launches campaign

US Vice President Kamala Harris launched her campaign for the White House, leaning on her career as a prosecutor as she pledged to “take our case to the American people” to defeat Donald Trump. Her remarks came as she said she secured the Democratic nomination to run, a swift coalescence of the party following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal. Speculation quickly turned to her potential running mate, with The New York Times suggesting she would likely choose a male from a battleground state. Her path is burdened by what has been: A prior presidential run ended in disaster, Semafor’s Benjy Sarlin noted, though Harris’ politics — particularly her crime-fighting stances, previously criticized by progressives — are better suited for the current moment.

Netanyahu’s DC visit overshadowed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Washington, DC, today for a joint address to Congress and talks with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The trip could be crucial for a ceasefire deal, but has been overshadowed by both American and Israeli politics following Biden’s decision to pull out of the election. Netanyahu’s speech to a joint congressional session must thread a needle of not alienating either Democrats or Republicans, or audiences at home. Harris, too, is playing a careful game: Despite her role as president of the Senate she will skip Netanyahu’s appearance, distancing herself from Israel’s war, which is deeply unpopular with many Democratic voters.

Trade challenges under Trump

US trade policy under a potential second Donald Trump presidency would be so unorthodox that it cannot be effectively modeled, Goldman Sachs said in a recent note to clients. The bank’s economists said they had forecast volatility and its ensuing economic impact would be comparable to Trump’s first term, but said “sizing the potential uncertainty increase… is empirically impossible” because of the scope of Trump’s trade proposals — notably including a 10% tariff on all US imports. They are not alone in forecasting huge economic fallout: UBS projects a 2.5-percentage-point hit to Chinese growth from Trump’s proposals, while Wells Fargo says US GDP could decline as a result.

Harris fails to reassure Europe’s leaders

European officials fear the return of Donald Trump to the White House, but are not huge fans of Kamala Harris, multiple reports noted. Continental leaders are assuaged by Harris’ alignment with US President Joe Biden’s vision for Washington remaining heavily engaged in international affairs and the war in Ukraine — a sharp contrast to Trump’s proposed isolationism — as well as her national security adviser, a Europe expert. Yet officials cited by Politico variously described the Democratic candidate as “invisible,” “banal,” and highly scripted. Regardless of who wins in November, Poland’s foreign minister argued Europe should prepare for a change in transatlantic ties as the US increasingly shifts focus to its rivalry with China, and should collectively up its defense spending.

Tourists face Europe backlash

Europe is increasingly rebelling against tourism. The continent received 709 million visitors last year, and in some countries, notably Spain, “the patience of locals has snapped,” the Financial Times reported. Tens of thousands protested on the Spanish south coast, in big cities, and on tourism-heavy islands. Southern Europe is heavily dependent on tourism — it accounts for 12% of Spanish GDP — but locals complain it prices them out of homes, causes disorder, and “Disneyfies” medieval cities. Some municipalities are taking concrete steps, implementing limits on tour group sizes and bans on public drinking. Venice introduced a €5 ($5.50) daily fee for visiting during peak times, but it raised more money than anticipated, leading critics to say the policy hadn’t reduced numbers.

Lula ‘frightened’ by Maduro

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he was “frightened” by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s comments warning of a potential post-election “bloodbath” and urged him to respect the outcome of Sunday’s election. Even as polls show Venezuela’s opposition candidate leading Maduro by a seemingly insurmountable two-to-one advantage, many in the country believe the incumbent will manipulate the results. In response to potential mass protests against a rigged vote, Maduro has shored up his alliance with the military. Despite the threats, the leader of the opposition said the stakes were too high for voters to stay home. “The future of Venezuela is very bleak if he stays in power,” María Corina Machado wrote in the Financial Times. “Venezuelans know this well.”

Uganda cracks down on opposition

Uganda’s main opposition leader Bobi Wine said security forces stormed the headquarters of his party shortly before a planned anti-government demonstration. President Yoweri Museveni had previously said protesters — whose anti-corruption campaign was inspired by recent demonstrations in Kenya — were “playing with fire” by planning to march on Parliament. Museveni, who has held power since 1986, has cracked down on dissent: Kampala is expected to roll out a new monitoring system this year that will allow authorities to observe every vehicle in the country, amounting to a method of “unchecked mass surveillance,” a Human Rights Watch researcher in Uganda said.

We are excited to share that Semafor will launch in the Middle East this September, marking a major milestone in our global expansion strategy. Launching on September 16th, Semafor Gulf will feature original reporting and a thrice-weekly newsletter that will examine how the region’s transformation, and how its financial, business, and geopolitical decisions shape the world — from culture and investment to infrastructure, climate and technology. The platform will serve as a fresh, new destination for regional audiences, delivering Semafor’s signature independent, intelligent, and transparent journalism to leaders in the Gulf and around the world.

The new platform will be led by veteran journalist and editor Mohammed Sergie. Sergie, who began his career in the UAE, previously established the Saudi Arabia bureau for Dow Jones in 2008, covering the major economic, social, and political stories in the kingdom. He also served as an editor at Bloomberg News where he shaped coverage of energy and commodities in the region, and was the company’s sole reporter in Qatar.

Semafor Gulf will launch with a team of staff reporters as well as columnists covering Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, and will continue to expand through 2025.

China researchers tout new chips

A group of researchers at Chinese universities claimed they had produced an ultra-thin semiconductor that could lead to the creation of faster and more energy-efficient microchips. The findings, first published in the journal Science, could mark a significant milestone in global semiconductor development and China’s own efforts to bypass US restrictions on the country’s industry, the South China Morning Post reported. Meanwhile, Nvidia announced that it was working on a version of its flagship AI chips for the Chinese market that would be compatible with the US restrictions, which Washington may yet tighten further.

The return of nuclear spaceships

Nuclear-powered spacecraft are back on the agenda. Plans for space-based reactors were first proposed in the 1950s, but their bulk, the risk of a disaster, and NASA mostly lowering its sights from deep space exploration to low-Earth orbit, which could easily be achieved with chemical rockets, killed them. Since 2020, moves have begun again: Launches are safer, reactors are smaller, and NASA is once again looking at Mars. Nuclear rockets, with near-unlimited fuel, could power themselves all the way to other planets rather than having to fall with gravity most of the way. “Regulatory and technical challenges” remain, one industry leader told Ars Technica, but NASA hopes to run an in-space demonstration as soon as 2027.

Aging rockers slow down

As musicians age, the tempo of their music slows, new research suggests. Scientists studied 15,000 songs on Spotify, looking at artists whose careers spanned at least 20 years and three albums — the eclectic dataset included Pearl Jam, Dolly Parton, Judas Priest, and Kylie Minogue, among others. It found that between an artist’s teens and early 30s, their music went from around 120 beats per minute to around 123, then fell by about 2bpm per decade. Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and Whitney Houston showed the clearest declines, the research found. One author told New Scientist that “It might partially explain why younger fans don’t connect so well with older artists.”

• The Ukrainian foreign minister is in Beijing for talks on ending Russia’s invasion.
• Spotify will publish its second-quarter 2024 financial results.
• Toy maker Mattel releases the first blind Barbie, part of a push to make the brand more inclusive.

The number of Olympic golds that Andy Murray has won. The British tennis great — the only man to challenge the dominance of the Big Three during their heyday — announced that he would retire after the Paris Games. He took singles golds in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016, alongside his two Wimbledon and one US Open titles. Now 37 and injury-plagued, he said “I want to keep playing, but I can’t. Physically it’s too tough now. I want to play forever. I love the sport.”

How Tyrants Fall, by Marcel Dirsus. Dirsus, a political scientist and author of The Hundred newsletter, has made studying tyrants his focus since he spent time in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a failed coup in 2013. The book rests on the premise that “while tyrants can often look like strong men, they live with the constant fear that, one day, their rule will end, and they will be consigned, like mortals, to the dustbin of history,” The Telegraph noted. Dirsus, through interviews with coup leaders, dissidents, and soldiers, breaks down how tyrants work, and the malfunctions that lead to their ultimate failure.

• Joe Manchin might challenge Harris.
• Wall Street donors are getting excited again.
• Global leaders cheer Biden’s choice to drop out.