Flagship

Israel’s expanding war

The US pressed Israel to move towards ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, to little avail. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “capitalize” on the killing of Hamas’ leader last week, but Netanyahu made no mention of a truce and his defense minister insisted Israeli aerial bombardment of Lebanon would persist even after its ground operations in the country concluded. Instead, Israel’s attention appeared to be shifting towards a reportedly imminent attack against Iran: “Netanyahu is identifying an opportunity,” Haaretz’s military analyst wrote. “Why can’t he take one more step and finally deal with Iran, especially the threat posed by its nuclear program?”

The dollar’s coming strength

A number of global economic and political trends suggest the dollar may strengthen in the coming months. The International Monetary Fund upgraded its outlook for US economic growth and downgraded its projections for the eurozone, cementing expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates more slowly than the European Central Bank, widening a trans-Atlantic rate gap that should undermine the euro. The results of next month’s election may exacerbate the US currency’s strength, with analysts at Goldman Sachs arguing it could rise by as much as 10% were Republicans to win the House and Senate as well as the presidency, with traders viewing Donald Trump’s desire to increase tariffs and cut taxes as likely to fuel inflation.

UK’s Labour accused of US meddling

Former US President Donald Trump’s team accused Britain’s governing Labour Party of “blatant foreign interference” in next month’s election after Labour staff apparently volunteered in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, allegations Labour denied. The world is divided on Harris v Trump, Gideon Rachman wrote in the Financial Times: While most of Europe is pro-Harris, Israel, Russia, India, and others favor Trump. Labour’s effort isn’t the first time British progressives have tried to influence a US election. The Guardian in 2004 encouraged readers to message voters in a swing state in favor of Democrats. One American wrote back: “REMEMBER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? REMEMBER THE WAR OF 1812? WE DIDN’T WANT YOU, OR YOUR POLITICS HERE.”

Democracy weakens in Africa

Half of Africa’s population lives in countries where governance has worsened over the past decade as deteriorating security has undermined democratic progress. The Ibrahim Index of African Governance said the democratic decline could in turn fuel greater conflict, feeding a cycle of worsening living conditions. Among the biggest backsliders was Burkina Faso, one of several countries in the Sahel — a region that straddles the Sahara desert — that has suffered repeated coups in recent years. Democratic erosion could send shockwaves beyond the Sahel: “Further violence could exponentially increase the rate of displacement and migration from the region,” notably to Europe, an expert wrote for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Huawei illustrates decoupling

Multiple reports on the Chinese tech giant Huawei illustrated the uneven pace of decoupling between Washington and Beijing. The Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC recently notified US authorities that one of its semiconductors was found in a Huawei product, Reuters reported, while the US Commerce Department is investigating whether Huawei used intermediaries to place orders from TSMC in violation of US sanctions, according to The Information. The reports underscore how Huawei may still be reliant on foreign semiconductor firms for technology despite progress within China’s homegrown chipmaking sector. Yet the Chinese firm is making headway in other respects: The latest version of its HarmonyOS mobile operating system is the first iteration that is fully independent of code from Google’s Android.

Anthropic AI can use computers

The artificial intelligence company Anthropic’s latest model can control a computer like a human, looking at the screen, moving the cursor, and typing. It means the Claude AI no longer needs custom-made tools to carry out prespecified tasks, but should be able to do anything you ask of it on your computer: For instance, to fill out forms by taking information from one browser tab to another. The firm says the feature is still slow, cumbersome, and prone to sometimes amusing errors — at one stage, Claude decided to stop writing code and “began to peruse photos of Yellowstone.” But it should improve rapidly, and will “unlock a huge range of applications that simply aren’t possible” with earlier models.

Gisèle Pelicot to take stand in France

Gisèle Pelicot, the woman at the center of a rape case that has horrified France, takes the stand today. Her husband, Dominique, is accused of drugging her and arranging for her to be raped, while unconscious, by dozens of men over nine years: 50 others also face charges. Dominique was detained for other sexual crimes in 2020, and investigations revealed videos of the rapes. The trial is expected to end in December, and has appalled the country, not just because Pelicot arranged the rapes but because he “had no difficulty finding dozens of [men] to take part,” The Associated Press said. Gisèle, meanwhile, has become a “feminist hero” for her bravery in speaking up, The New York Times reported.

Bill Nelson, Administrator, NASA; Lauren Riley, Chief Sustainability Officer, United Airlines; Jay Carney, Global Head of Policy and Communications, Airbnb; Ana Maria Prieto, Head of Payment Systems, Colombian Central Bank; Abdulmajid Nsekela, CEO, CRDB Bank; and April Miller Boise, EVP and Chief Legal Officer, Intel, will join the Fall Edition of Semafor’s World Economy Summit.

Hosted in the Gallup Great Hall and spanning four sessions over two days — Oct. 24 and 25 — Semafor will feature on-the-record interviews on the state of global finance, the future of technology, digital payment infrastructure, and sustainability.

Mexico targets obesity

Mexican authorities gave schools six months to implement a ban on junk food, in response to the country’s soaring child obesity figures. Countries across Latin America have recently rolled out initiatives aimed at curbing spiking obesity rates, including taxes on sugary drinks and warning labels for highly caloric items. Progress could improve the region’s economies: Obesity costs Mexico more than 2% of its GDP every year in direct health care costs and lost productivity, a figure that could rise to almost 5% by 2060 should the current trend prevail, El Financiero reported.

Calling for greater recognition of fungi

Researchers called for fungi to gain greater recognition in conservation campaigns. Policies to protect wildlife often mention “flora and fauna” — plants and animals, of which fungi, an entirely separate kingdom of life, are neither, although they are somewhat more closely related to animals. At the COP16 biodiversity summit, the UK and Chile called for a third “F” to be added, so that legislation refers to “flora, fauna and funga,” a recently coined faux-Latin word describing a region’s distinctive fungi species, including molds, mushrooms, toadstools, and yeasts. A mycologist (that is, fungus scientist) told the Financial Times’ science columnist that fungi are “unsung heroes, underpinning all life on Earth,” and ought to be better protected.

LeBron takes court with son

The basketball great LeBron James took the court alongside his son in the NBA’s season opener, marking the first time in league history that a father and son played in the same game. The Los Angeles Lakers teammates played alongside each other for 2 minutes and 31 seconds, a mark of the elder James’ longevity — his son, Bronny, was born following Lebron’s rookie season — as well as his continued greatness: Entering this season, his record-tying 22nd, ESPN ranked James as still the seventh-best player in the league. It further cements James’ claim, with his four NBA championships, four Most Valuable Player awards, and three Olympic Gold medals, to be the greatest basketball player of all time.

• Irish lawmakers will vote on a proposal to legalize assisted dying in certain circumstances.
• World financial leaders gather for the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.
• Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee turns 70.

The name for the craze around Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who died yesterday, aged 63. The Mexican — still the only player ever to win the Rookie of the Year award and be named the league’s best pitcher in the same season — became an icon for the US Latino population shortly after debuting in 1980. To many, Valenzuela came to symbolize the Hispanic community’s struggle to succeed at a time when undocumented migration across the US-Mexico border spiked. “I wasn’t a fan of baseball but I am a fan of his,” a Mexican-born migrant in California told The Associated Press. “He’s like me, an immigrant that came here to do great things.”

Theatre of Dreams at London’s Sadler’s Wells. The Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter’s dance troupe’s latest work is “a fascinating demonstration of how dance can affect you as deeply as any other visual, dramatic or performance piece,” a review in Everything Theatre says: The energy is “electric and relentless.” Buy tickets here.

The Republican Party has successfully courted a group of billionaires — and self-proclaimed billionaires — to pour vast resources into Donald Trump’s reelection bid, Semafor’s David Weigel wrote. However as Michael Bloomberg’s unsuccessful 2020 run for the presidency shows, “self-funders don’t guarantee an election victory,” Weigel wrote.

For more on the state of the US election, subscribe to David’s bi-weekly newsletter Americana.