Flagship

Air strikes hit Ukraine energy grid

Hundreds of Russian drones and missiles hit Ukraine’s power grid in a second day of widespread air attacks which have killed at least 11 people. Kyiv said it had downed 201 out of 236 weapons, but acknowledged “a lot of damage in the energy sector” as Moscow attempts to degrade power supplies ahead of winter. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called again for allies to help shoot down incoming drones and to end constraints on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons into Russia. Washington condemned the attacks, and in heartening news for Zelenskyy US citizens remain firmly behind Kyiv, with 62% of people recently polled expressing more sympathy for Ukraine and a plurality saying the US should back Kyiv for “as long as it takes.”

Sullivan visits China

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan arrived in Beijing for talks with senior Chinese officials. The two powers are unlikely to resolve their various disputes, from China’s implicit support for Russia’s war in Ukraine to Beijing’s frustration over American curbs on its access to cutting-edge semiconductor technology. But analysts say Sullivan’s visit could at least pave the way for direct talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at an Asia Pacific summit the week after November’s American election, though the timing of that meeting raises questions over whether Vice President Kamala Harris would attend were she to win the presidency.

Zuckerberg alleges government pressure

Mark Zuckerberg said Meta was “repeatedly pressured” by the Biden administration to censor material during the COVID-19 pandemic. He told a congressional committee that he regretted not being “more outspoken” about the issue, and said the company would in future push back if any administration tried to make it “compromise our content standards... in either direction.” Social media firms are under increasing scrutiny over moderation: Elon Musk’s X is accused of being “the top platform for hosting Hamas videos,” The Times of London reported, and Telegram, whose founder Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris on Saturday, is allegedly home to significant child sexual abuse material. Platformer noted that the company refuses to answer “almost any law enforcement request,” which “has enabled some truly vile behavior.”

Latam works with US to curb migration

Latin American countries are responding to pressure from Washington to help stem the rising number of migrants from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East transiting through the region to arrive at the US border. Last week Brazil imposed visa restrictions on some Asian nationals, while Panama rolled out a US-sponsored program to deport migrants who enter the country illegally. The cross-border coordination has led to a sharp drop in the number of illegal crossings of the US-Mexico border — one of the most salient issues ahead of the US presidential elections. However the fall could hurt economic growth: Foreign workers contributed almost a quarter of the US’ cumulative GDP growth between 2019 and 2023, Semafor reported.

Migrants risking seas to reach Spain

The number of migrants arriving on Spain’s Canary Islands through mid-August has surged by 126% compared to the same period last year, nullifying attempts by the European Union to halt the crossings. Despite the risks involved — boats often vanish in the Atlantic, with some drifting across the ocean for months — an economic slowdown across much of West Africa has forced thousands to attempt the perilous crossing. “Barcelona or die” is now a common motto in Senegal, which has for months been racked by political unrest. “If you are sick and you can’t pay for treatment, aren’t you in danger?” a Senegalese fisherman told The Associated Press. “So, we take our chances, either we get there, or we don’t.”

Sicily’s growing water scandal

Water profiteers are thriving in Sicily amid a severe drought that has left swaths of the Italian island parched. Thousands of Sicilians have turned to private companies running tanker trucks at inflated prices in a “situation more readily associated with a developing country than an advanced European economy,” Reuters reported. Some on the island say the situation is akin to blackmail. Global warming is making parts of southern Europe unliveable. An additional 55,000 people could die annually in Europe by 2100 if nothing further is done to address climate change, a recent report published in The Lancet estimated.

Groundbreaking private space mission

Humans will travel further from the Earth than they have done for more than 50 years if a planned space flight takes off tomorrow. Polaris Dawn, a crewed SpaceX mission, was supposed to launch early this morning from Florida but has been delayed. It is funded and piloted by its billionaire backer, Jared Isaacman, and has a crew of solely private astronauts. But it is “not a space tourism mission,” Ars Technica reported: Its orbit will be highly elliptical, taking it 870 miles above the Earth. Since the last Apollo mission in 1972, no human has gone beyond low Earth orbit: The International Space Station orbits at around 200 miles. The mission will collect information on the impact of space radiation on humans, among other things.

Samuel Levine, Director, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection will join Semafor’s editors to explore how online platforms can play a constructive role in communicating age restrictions for certain goods and services and the responsibilities and strategies of policymakers in effectively regulating social media use among young people.

RSVP for in-person or livestream.

Ireland sheds hard-drinking rep

Irish people are drinking 31% less per capita than they were in 2001. The country has a reputation for enjoying a drink, but that reputation is increasingly ill-deserved: As in many Western countries, younger people in Ireland drink much less than their older peers. One bar manager told the BBC that boys coming in “for two pints before… playing a football match” is a thing of the past. The change is attributed to health consciousness, cost, and options such as actually drinkable non-alcoholic beers: The sale of zero-alcohol beer in Ireland has doubled in four years to 2% of the market, despite lagging behind the European Union average of 7%. Flagship can report that non-alcoholic Guinness is surprisingly pleasant.

Farewell to England’s Sven

Sven-Göran Eriksson, the English national soccer team’s first foreign manager, died of pancreatic cancer aged 76. He was a symbol of the sport’s growing internationalism when he was appointed in 2001, a Swede whose success in Italy and Portugal had made him a star. He revived a faltering team despite falling short of ultimate success, and fans will always remember a 5-1 World Cup qualifying win away to Germany. Pancreatic is the most intractable of cancers, usually diagnosed late, and little progress has been made against it, unlike other forms of the disease, but Eriksson met it with equanimity. He was a bon vivant: One former player recalled him arriving at a hotel pool at 10 am with a bottle of champagne, saying “We are celebrating life.”

Oasis confirm reunion

Noel and Liam Gallagher confirmed that Oasis will reunite for a series of live shows in the UK and Ireland next year. The brothers have not been on speaking terms since they broke up in 2009 following a backstage brawl at a gig in Paris, but have apparently kissed and made up. Oasis was one of the biggest bands of the Britpop movement and a standard-bearer for Britain’s brief 1990s cultural resurgence — more than 2.5 million people tried to get tickets for one 1996 concert — despite being, in essence, a Beatles knock-off even down to the funny little round glasses Liam wears. A band statement announced “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over.”

• The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency inspects Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant after Ukraine’s surprise offensive into the region.
• Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro meets the country’s former presidents to agree on a position on Venezuela’s disputed election.
• Untold: Sign Stealer, a documentary about the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal, airs on Netflix.

The number of crayons Crayola churns out every day in the months leading up to back-to-school season, up more than 8% from the rest of the year. “It’s our Super Bowl,” Peter Ruggiero, the company’s boss, told Bloomberg. Although Crayola’s retailing has changed significantly — most sales are now done via Amazon and other major online sellers — the 139-year-old firm hasn’t much tweaked the recipe for their market-leading crayons. “You do not mess with the crown jewel,” Ruggiero said.

New York City’s Strand bookstore recommends Nicked by M. T. Anderson, a novel about an 11th-century treasure hunter trying to steal the bones of a saint. It is “a swashbuckling saga, a medieval novel noir, a meditation on the miraculous, and a monastic meet-cute,” Strand says. Buy it from Strand or from your local bookstore.

• Nikki Haley endorsed Donald Trump. Will she campaign for him?
• Nigeria’s Chowdeck hopes to prove food delivery doubters wrong.
• Altman-backed startup to test AV mass transit system in Atlanta.