Flagship

Japan lines up new PM

A foreign policy hawk who has called for the creation of an Asian NATO will be Japan’s next prime minister. Shigeru Ishiba replaces Fumio Kishida, who unexpectedly announced in August that he would not run again, sparking a race within Japan’s ruling party to replace him. Ishiba, a former defense minister, has a full in-tray: The governing Liberal Democratic Party is beset by a corruption scandal, and Japan’s economy is slowly growing again after years of stagnation and deflation, while it faces rising security threats from Russia and especially China. Unlike Japan’s current leader, however, Ishiba has hinted at frustration over ties with the US: “I don’t think Japan is a truly independent nation yet,” he wrote recently.

Trump to meet Zelenskyy

Former US President Donald Trump is expected to have a potentially fraught meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today. Trump recently called Zelenskyy a “salesman” and criticized him for not making a deal to end the war, while Zelenskyy’s visit to a Pennsylvania armaments factory accompanied by Democratic politicians angered Republicans, who considered it a “partisan campaign event” in a crucial swing state. The Ukrainian leader has also previously said Trump’s running mate JD Vance is “too radical.” Ties to Democrats are less fractious: Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s opponent, promised “unwavering” support for Kyiv after meeting Zelenskyy, and President Joe Biden had already announced another $8 billion in military aid against Russia’s invasion.

Latvia’s hard and soft lines

Latvia’s president called for a harder line on Russia and a softer line on artificial intelligence in an interview with Semafor. Edgars Rinkēvičs’ remarks on the latter highlight growing fears within the European Union that it lags behind global competitors in the race to develop AI: A former European Central Bank chief warned this month of the EU’s “existential challenge,” and the bloc’s incoming antitrust chief said its regulations must “evolve” to help foster regional tech giants. Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Rinkēvičs also urged NATO allies to loosen rules on Kyiv’s use of donated weapons: “You can’t expect the Ukrainians to fight with their hands tied.”

Europe’s ‘basket cases’ on the up

Southern European economies are on an upward curve, while Germany is stagnating, as the continent’s traditional laggards and powerhouses trade places. The Spanish government raised its growth forecasts for the next two years and said it expects unemployment rates to fall. It’s the latest piece of good news for Madrid, while Portugal and Greece — traditionally “basket cases” — have also seen years of overperformance: The three economies have grown at more than double the eurozone average since the start of 2023, which Bloomberg credited to austerity measures that cut their crippling debt-to-GDP ratios. Analysts downgraded Germany’s projected growth, blaming deep structural problems including a demographic change and international competition.

China stocks rebound

China’s stock market was on track for its best week since 2008 after Beijing announced wide-ranging stimulus packages to boost the country’s flagging economy. The rally spread across the world, with shares of luxury giant LVMH — which is increasingly reliant on Chinese consumers — rising more than 15% yesterday. And IKEA announced its biggest-ever investment in the country shortly after the stimulus was unveiled. However some experts believe the fiscal boost is insufficient to revive the economy, which is on pace for its worst growth rate in decades besides a pandemic-era contraction. “China’s slump will require more money… and an end to the rhetoric that has hurt investor and consumer confidence alike,” the Financial Times’ board argued.

Half of Argentina pushed into poverty

Argentina’s poverty rate soared to over 50%, the worst figure in two decades. President Javier Milei has scrapped state subsidies on which much of the economy had become reliant, while a devaluation of the peso and the removal of price controls have also contributed to pushing millions of Argentines below the poverty line. However international finance institutions have largely welcomed the “economic shock therapy” put forward by Milei, who had promised that conditions had to worsen before they could improve. Experts question whether voters will have the patience to see the reforms through as Milei’s approval ratings plummet. “The Milei government is killing me,” a resident of Buenos Aires told The Associated Press.

Israel rejects Lebanon ceasefire calls

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said attacks on Hezbollah “will not stop” even as an international effort to broker a ceasefire opened. The move comes with Netanyahu due to address the UN General Assembly, where other world leaders have denounced his government’s actions in Lebanon. The conflict — which has killed more than 600 people and displaced tens of thousands since Monday — could define US President Joe Biden’s legacy and threaten Kamala Harris’ election prospects, Edward Luce argued in the Financial Times. “If war breaks out in the Middle East and Trump wins, Biden’s storied half a century in US public life will end with both a bang and a whimper,” Luce wrote.

Can centrism go viral? On this episode of Mixed Signals, Ben and Nayeema discuss a reporter’s digital dalliance with RFK. Jr, and what it says — and doesn’t — about journalism. Then they bring on Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast, and a star of the anti-MAGA movement. They ask: Is the hot new space in the media, and on YouTube, in the political center? Finally, Max joins in for Blindspots to get quick takes on Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to appear on the All the Smoke podcast.

Catch up with the latest episode of Mixed Signals.

Sudan army fights for capital

Sudan’s army launched a major offensive to recapture the country’s capital from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The escalation comes despite US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire. Sudan — one of Africa’s poorest countries even before the conflict — is mired in a civil war that has sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. As many as 150,000 people have been killed, while more than 10 million have been displaced, with many moving to similarly destitute South Sudan and Chad. A group of humanitarian aid organizations warned this month that failing to achieve a ceasefire could lead to “a starvation crisis of historic proportions,” Al Jazeera reported.

Britons turn to booze-free booze

The market for low-alcoholic beer has grown faster in the UK than in any other country. A post-Brexit overhaul of alcohol duties means that beer with less than 3.5% alcohol by volume is taxed at a lower rate, pushing brewers to make new ranges of low- and no-alcohol beers. Those products are popular among the country’s newly abstemious youth, with 39% of 18- to 24-year-olds saying they do not drink at all. Britain’s largest dedicated alcohol-free beer brand, Lucky Saint, told the Financial Times that its beverages are no longer just for drivers or midweek drinkers, and that they are seeing the rise of “zebra striping”: Alternating alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks during a single visit to the pub.

Seals thriving in the Thames

The Thames Estuary, downriver from the British capital London, is home to a growing number of seals. Zoologists recently estimated 600 harbor seals and 3,000 gray seals in the mouth of the river, an “incredible recovery from the early 2000s,” one scientist told the BBC, when the marine mammals’ populations were devastated by a virus. It’s part of a wider story of recovery for Britain’s biggest river, declared “biologically dead” in 1957 but now home to “a wide variety of British wildlife including seals, seahorses and critically endangered eels,” according to a zoological report. The Seine in Paris and the Potomac in Washington, DC, have seen similar turnarounds thanks to conservation efforts.

• US Vice President Kamala Harris visits the country’s border with Mexico for the first time since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
• Pope Francis meets with Belgium’s king and prime minister on a trip to the country.
• Designers unveil their spring/summer 2025 collections at Paris Fashion Week.

Starlink’s subscriber numbers, as of this week. SpaceX’s internet satellite constellation has gained a million new customers since May, with service available in nearly 100 countries. It’s the “undisputed giant of satellite internet,” TechCrunch reported, and airlines, including United and Hawaiian, have recently started using it for in-air broadband. The company may be less proud of claims that a Russian Shahed drone shot down over Ukraine also appeared to be equipped with Starlink hardware.

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. The Irish writer’s fourth novel, about grieving siblings and their messy romantic lives, is “perfect — truly wonderful — a tender, funny page-turner,” says Anthony Cummins in The Guardian. “Is there a better novelist at work right now?” Buy Intermezzo from your local bookstore.

• Mike Pence quietly lays the groundwork for a post-Trump future.
• OpenAI is raising billions, inviting more regulatory heat for Microsoft.
• In the Gulf as in the US, crises can remove barriers to long-term investment.