Flagship

Netanyahu to address US Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will today address a joint session of the US Congress, a speech that comes with both countries’ political futures in flux, no end in sight for the war in Gaza, and the prospect of a widening conflict in the Middle East. In Washington, attention is focused on a reshaped election, potentially leaving outgoing President Joe Biden more able to act on the world stage, the Financial Times noted. Netanyahu, meanwhile, has been criticized in the US and Israel for not energetically pursuing a ceasefire deal, leaving Gaza in ruins. At the same time, a defense analyst noted in Foreign Affairs, “Israel now appears closer than ever to a second, even larger war with Hezbollah.”

China’s growing global ambition

China’s recent high-profile diplomatic efforts over the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts showcased Beijing’s geopolitical ambitions. The country’s foreign minister today hosted his Ukrainian counterpart in the first such visit since Russia’s 2022 invasion, a move that demonstrates China’s prominent role in the war given its sway over Moscow. The talks came a day after Beijing trumpeted its mediation of a reconciliation deal between Palestinian factions, the second example in as many years of China presiding over Middle Eastern rivals after it played a role in brokering a deal reinstating full diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia. “In the future,” one Chinese scholar of the Middle East said, Beijing’s “voice and approach could be heard at all major regional and global events.”

Harris’ campaign challenges

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has energized progressives, but faces key challenges, analysts noted. Among them is locking in working-class voters, one Financial Times columnist wrote: A leading union president’s speech to last week’s Republican National Convention was described by The New York Times as “one of the most memorable addresses” of the event. Democrats also hope Harris can revive support among Black and Asian populations, which “saw their enthusiasm wane” when Joe Biden was the candidate, Axios noted. Hillary Clinton, the only other woman to lead a top-tier US presidential campaign, warned that Harris “will face unique additional challenges as the first Black and South Asian woman to be at the top of a major party’s ticket.”

Secret Service boss quits

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. A review is ongoing into how a gunman was able to reach a roof overlooking Trump’s podium. The Secret Service was founded by Abraham Lincoln and has protected every president since 1901 but has been racked with several scandals: In 2012, 10 agents lost their jobs after soliciting prostitutes while protecting Barack Obama, and the Service deleted text messages from Jan 5 and 6, 2021, after being asked to hand them over for a review of its handling of the Capitol riots.

Cuba’s fleeing population

More than 10% of Cuba’s population left the island nation between 2022 and 2023 amid a severe economic downturn and a hardening government crackdown. Despite allowing the creation of private businesses for the first time in decades, the state-run economy has collapsed as growth in Venezuela and Russia, on which Cuba relies, has slowed in recent years. Cuban migrants are faced with host nations that are increasingly hostile to migration: Countries across Europe and North America have tightened their restrictions on foreign labor, even as they rely on workers, a move that could prove “immensely damaging to [their] economies,” The Economist argued.

Spreading Kenya-style protests

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said nationwide cost-of-living protests planned for next week were led by “sinister” people who wanted to capitalize on the country’s economic woes. Tinubu’s comments came shortly after the country’s police chief warned that the protests could “unleash terror.” According to Abuja, the youth-led demonstrations are inspired by the recent anti-corruption protests in Kenya that forced President William Ruto to fire his cabinet after backing down from a planned tax hike. Protesters in Uganda were also arrested this week shortly before their own Kenya-inspired demonstration. “The masses in many of these countries appear unwilling to tolerate further hardships,” an expert wrote for the London School of Economics.

India’s budget focuses on jobs

India’s government unveiled a spending program focused on generating jobs, a budget which economists welcomed but said may not go far enough. Experts blamed a weak employment picture and a beleaguered agricultural sector for Prime Minister Narendra Modi losing his parliamentary majority, and India faces a challenge in creating work for the millions of young people entering the labor force each year. Despite the $24 billion to boost job creation, economists at Moody’s and Goldman Sachs were upbeat about India reining in its budget deficit. Yet one lamented in The Indian Express that the authorities did little to “push fundamental structural changes,” describing the government as having “an economy in search of a plan.”

We are excited to share that Semafor will launch in the Middle East this September. Launching on Sept 16, 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. 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.

Google backs robotaxis

Google’s parent company Alphabet will back its self-driving car unit with a further $5 billion. The robotaxi company recently expanded its waitlist-free service to San Francisco and raised another $2.25 billion in funding as investors upped their bets. Other US autonomous vehicle companies had less good news: Tesla delayed the unveiling of its robotaxi prototype from August to October, despite CEO Elon Musk’s focus on artificial intelligence and autonomy, and GM subsidiary Cruise said it would indefinitely delay production of its own autonomous vehicle. In China, though, AVs are racing ahead: Driverless cars are commonplace in several major cities and three firms have received the green light to go public on the US stock market.

Air taxis fly a little closer

Chinese and US firms stepped up plans for pilotless flying taxis. China’s air travel regulator accepted EHang’s application for a license, the first such certificate granted in the world. Steps still remain before the technology becomes available but Beijing is backing the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) sector. Meanwhile Boeing’s subsidiary Wisk announced that it planned to have its own eVTOL taxis accepting fares by the end of the decade. Its latest prototype is capable of carrying four passengers and luggage, although there are still challenges, both in terms of improving the technology — battery life needs to expand to make several trips on one charge, Interesting Engineering reported — and convincing the public and regulators that it is safe.

Rise of baseball’s ‘splinker’

A rookie professional baseball pitcher’s mastery of a new pitch has propelled him into the sport’s elite, and showcased the potential for technology to reshape the game. Paul Skenes became the first rookie since 1995 to start the All-Star Game largely thanks to his mastery of the splinker, a 94-mph ball that nosedives before hitting the catcher’s mitt. Splinkers account for almost a third of his pitches, bamboozling unprepared hitters. Experts think technological advancements in flight modeling could open the door to advances in the discovery of new pitches. “We’re quite sure that there are opportunities for novel ideas about how a ball can move,” the head of a baseball data company told The Wall Street Journal.

• The European Commission publishes its annual report on the rule of law and the degree to which EU members uphold democratic values.
• Typhoon Gaemi is expected to make landfall on the northeast coast of Taiwan.
• Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam, a new docuseries, is released on Netflix.

The increase in viewership of HBO’s Veep since US President Joe Biden announced he would not run for reelection, making Vice President Kamala Harris the presumptive Democratic nominee. HBO Max subscribers watched 2.2 million minutes of the Armando Iannucci-scripted comedy on Sunday, up from 486,000 the Sunday before. Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ titular character in Veep is appointed after a disappointing nomination campaign and becomes president when her boss resigns — although since she then loses the election, Harris will hope it’s not as prophetic as some fans think.

The Quiet Damage, by Jesselyn Cook. In this newly released work, investigative reporter Cook follows five families as the pervasive QAnon conspiracy theory shatters their relationships, and shows how the world we live in has left us vulnerable to lies and “believing the unbelievable.” Cook’s work highlights an important factor in the rise of the cult-like group, The New York Times wrote: “Many of us go through life with a gaping hole caused by trauma, isolation or shame, and we find healthy and unhealthy ways to fill it,” and for some of the characters in the book, “QAnon’s message, however insane it sounds (and is), makes them feel valued and valuable.”

• Harris navigates talk of race and sex as campaign begins.
• Big Pharma pushes early detection in Africa cancer battle.
• Kamala Harris can’t afford to return to her attacks on Big Oil.