Flagship

Pager attacks highlight supply chain risk

Israeli warplanes bombarded southern Lebanon Thursday, shortly after Hezbollah’s leader warned that “retribution will come” following two days of deadly attacks involving booby-trapped pagers and walkie talkies. The attacks involve a mysterious supply chain of devices spanning several countries: A Japanese company is probing the use of its discontinued walkie talkies, and Taiwan is investigating pagers that bore a local Taiwanese brand, which indicated the involvement of a Hungarian firm that is reportedly part of an Israeli front. The attacks highlight the near-impossibility of securing modern electronics supply chains, The Washington Post argued, likely pushing the West to localize production of critical technologies. It’s also the first “frightening glimpse” of a world where no electronics “can ever be fully trusted,” an expert said.

Ukraine’s ‘sternest’ winter test

This winter will be the “sternest of tests” for Ukraine’s power supply, the International Energy Agency warned, hours before new Russian attacks on Kyiv’s energy sector. Ukraine’s electricity grid cannot keep up with demand, and heat is in short supply in many cities. The IEA’s report underscores the ongoing debate over whether to let Kyiv use Western weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. But the major threat to Ukraine’s energy security comes from its own bureaucratic infighting and slow pace of domestic policy reform, the recently sacked CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned grid told Semafor. He said that Western governments, private investors, and development banks worry that funds and equipment sent to Ukraine could be lost in a “black pit” of inefficiency.

Fed cut helps China’s economy

The US Federal Reserve’s super-sized rate cut will likely ease pressure on the yuan, giving China’s central bank more room to stimulate its own economy. The yuan is up 2.5% against the dollar since July, and the Fed’s half-point cut means Beijing can now focus on reducing its own borrowing costs as early as Friday when the central bank will set loan prime rates: “President Xi Jinping owes Jerome Powell a big thank you,” Reuters wrote. The Fed’s decision also comes at an opportune time: Senior Chinese and US officials are meeting in Beijing this week to discuss economic concerns, including China’s overcapacity.

Uncommitted group refuses to back Harris

A US pro-Palestinian group that campaigned against President Joe Biden in the Democratic primaries refused to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday. The Uncommitted National Movement said Harris did not respond to its request for her to meet Palestinian Americans who lost family members in Gaza. The announcement is bad timing for Harris, who on Thursday will campaign with Oprah Winfrey in the battleground state of Michigan — home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the country. A late August poll found that Muslim voters in Michigan support Donald Trump and Green Party candidate Jill Stein over Harris. Nationally, Harris and Trump are still deadlocked, according to a post-debate New York Times poll.

Ties between Modi and Adani in spotlight

A series of controversial ventures by India’s Adani Group closely tracked diplomatic efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a report said, as the leader’s ties with billionaire founder Gautam Adani come under scrutiny. A deal to run Nairobi’s airport that sparked protests in Kenya, as well as proposed tie-ups in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, all came “within months of Modi visiting the country or meeting its head of state,” Scroll.in reported. The group’s overseas expansion aligns with Modi’s plans to counter China’s influence in Africa and Asia, a researcher at a London think tank wrote last year. But the Indian opposition has accused Modi and Adani of “collusion,” which “contributed to the erosion of India’s strength and led to unprecedented setbacks on the global stage.”

Netflix’s Southeast Asia bet

Netflix is pivoting away from Hollywood in Southeast Asia toward more “locally authentic” content in a bid to attract viewers, a top executive said. The Asia-Pacific region is the smallest contributor to the streaming giant’s global revenue but has some of the fastest growth, according to Rest of World. While South Korean and Japanese content dominate viewership, there is growing appetite for Southeast Asian shows: Netflix currently has six original Indonesian titles, 10 Thai ones, and a a zombie movie from the Philippines. While the region is usually associated with the horror genre, Netflix is experimenting with dramas, comedies, and thrillers, one producer said, adding that its global audience is “open to any genre, as long as the story is authentic.”

India to sell e-scooters in Europe

An Indian electric vehicle company will start selling e-scooters in Europe next year. The growth of electric cars has made headlines in the West, but in Asia motorbikes dominate: Sales of electric two-wheelers in India rose 33% to more than 900,000 in 2023-24, compared with a year before, The Economic Times reported, boosted by government incentives to buy local. Hero, India’s biggest manufacturer, already exports to 45 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, but aims to sell in the UK from mid-2025, followed by Spain and France. The Financial Times noted, though, that while smaller scooter-type motorcycles are key in developing markets, in Europe Hero will need to focus on more premium products, with which it has had limited success.

New blood group system discovered

The identification of a new blood group could save thousands of lives a year worldwide. Different blood types contain different antigens, proteins which the body’s immune system recognizes. Blood from the wrong type can be rejected causing sickness or even death. Since 1972, it’s been known that a tiny subset of people lack an otherwise ubiquitous antigen. For 20 years, researchers in the UK have been searching for the genetic underpinnings of the difference, which would allow for easy testing. Their eventual success marks “the discovery of the 47th blood group system,” Wired reported, and could be lifesaving for those rare individuals should they ever need a blood transfusion.

Drought reveals WWII shipwreck

Drought in eastern Europe has led to water levels in the Danube River falling enough to reveal the wrecks of German World War II ships. Hundreds of Kriegsmarine vessels were scuttled in 1944 as they retreated in the face of the Soviet advance: The wrecks, some of which still have gun turrets and even explosives on board, are a shipping hazard when the river is low. The river is less than four feet deep in Budapest after months of hot weather and low rainfall, compared to 20 feet in flood seasons, and wrecks along the river are standing clear of the water. One guard at a national park noted the “unfortunate fact” that “the wreck is diminishing as people are interested in it and parts of it are going missing.”

Temu’s real croissant lamp

A viral TikTok video of a lamp sold by Temu that turned out to be made from a croissant reveals how the sheer scale of e-commerce has alienated consumers from the supply chain, the You May Also Like newsletter argued. Louise Matsakis — a former Semafor editor — wrote that the croissant lamp appears to be a counterfeit of a Japanese brand that makes lamps from baked goods. While counterfeited goods have mostly plagued European luxury brands, the lamp controversy reveals a “sinister problem” of even small independent brands’ designs being ripped off online, Matsakis wrote, especially as sites like Temu, Alibaba, and Amazon scale up their catalogs. Online shoppers today are barely aware of the “basic facts” of the products they buy.

September 20:

• Taiwan’s constitutional court rules on the legality of the death penalty.
• German Economy Minister Robert Habeck visits a Volkswagen production plant in the northern city of Emden.
• Gucci and Versace present their 2025 spring/summer collections at Milan Fashion Week.

Stoking tensions

The fatal stabbing of a 10-year-old at a Japanese school in China’s Shenzhen is the latest in a series of apparent xenophobic attacks to rattle the country this year. On Chinese social media, ultra-nationalist accounts appeared to condone the attack, which occurred on the anniversary of the Manchurian Incident — considered the start of Japan’s invasion of China in 1931.

The Windows of Humanity culture blog criticized the reaction, writing that hatred toward Japan did not justify violence. The incident could have repercussions for China’s already-vulnerable economy, the blog pointed out, given that Shenzhen is a major hub for Japanese foreign investment: “Many ordinary workers’ jobs will be destroyed behind the scenes.”

Brewing brawl

The Chongqing Jiwei beer company is embroiled in a legal dispute with parent company Chongqing Beer. Jiwei claimed that after the Carlsberg Group bought majority shares of Chongqing Beer in 2013, the two brewing giants began a “comprehensive ban and systematic crackdown” on Jiwei’s Shancheng beer, once the “dazzling pearl” of beers in China, as they prioritize other products, according to the China Business Strategy blog.

Jiwei’s claims are legitimate, the blog argued. Nationwide sales of Shancheng beer declined more than 84% between 2014 and 2019, a period during which Carlsberg pulled back on Shancheng’s advertising and increased its own brand presence in China. The situation is reminiscent of Tianfu Cola, which was bought by Pepsi in 1994 and eventually fizzled out. “This is not just a game of interests between companies, but also a protracted battle for self-reliance and rejuvenation,” the blog wrote.

Nostalgic flavors

While the sale of mooncakes — the traditional pastry eaten during China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, which took place on Tuesday — declined this year, some local brands remained resilient. In the southern city of Guiyang, the most popular brand is not sold by a supermarket but made and sold by a local hospital, which even wraps the pastries in special anti-counterfeit packaging, according to the VisionZine sociocultural blog. For years, people have lined up at the hospital to get their hands on a box during the festival.

Across China, people favor mooncakes given as gifts by large employers like factories and coal mines. Mooncakes are viewed as employee benefits, VisionZine wrote, and employers treat their workers to freshly-made pastries instead of supermarket brands. The leftovers are then sold to the public. For many families, their employers’ mooncakes “carry the life memories of several generations.”

Students will be able to take exams in Sikh sacred music for the first time, after a UK board added the devotional singing tradition to its examination system. The eight-grade syllabus has long focused on Western classical or contemporary music, and the introduction of Kirtan is an attempt to diversify away from a “colonial style of teaching,” the director of the Music Teachers’ Board told The Guardian. Five Indian string instruments — dilruba, taus, esraj, sarangi, and saranda — will initially be added. “We’ve got violin exams, piano exams, and Kirtan deserves to be the same,” said a Sikh teacher who led calls to diversify the syllabus.

• AI startup aimed at demystifying the world of public policy secures new funding.
• The late GOP push to deny Kamala Harris a Nebraska electoral vote.
• CERN to expel hundreds of Russian scientists.