Flagship

Global fallout of US election

Next week’s US presidential election will likely result in a more inward-looking, nationalist country at best, and an amplification of global instability at worst, multiple international opinion pieces argued. In The Indian Express, a foreign-policy expert wrote that ex-President Donald Trump’s enduring appeal points to “a new era of international relations,” whether or not he wins. Trump’s return to the White House, the Financial Times’ chief economics commentator warned, would encourage “rightwing populists seeking power, particularly in Europe,” while a contested result would have global ramifications, a London-based journalist noted in Foreign Policy, given Washington’s role in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East: “The rest of the world isn’t ready for months of chaos in Washington.”

US criticism of Israel broadens

The US criticized Israel for a “horrifying” airstrike in northern Gaza and over the country’s ban of the UN’s aid agency for the Palestinian Territories, illustrating the increasingly public gulf between the two allies. More than 90 people — including at least 20 children — were reported killed in an Israeli attack on a residential building in the Gazan town of Beit Lahiya. Washington’s concern over the Israeli Parliament’s vote to ban the UN agency, meanwhile, comes amid mounting international opprobrium over the war in Gaza: South Africa this week filed documents with the International Court of Justice offering “facts and evidence” it said substantiated its argument that Israel is committing genocide in the territory.

Modi ally accused of Canada murder plot

The murder of a Canadian Sikh was carried out on the orders of India’s interior minister, Ottawa alleged. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot in British Columbia in 2023, part of what Canada said is a wider Indian government-backed campaign of violence in the country. Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison told lawmakers that the killing and other missions were personally authorized by Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah, described as India’s “second most powerful man” and a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inner circle. Canadian police also said Indian diplomats gave information to armed criminals to carry out attacks inside Canada. New Delhi denies the charges, and the two countries expelled each others’ top diplomats this month.

Cash-strapped UK’s budget day

The UK’s new Labour government will face up to the parlous state of the country’s finances in today’s annual budget. The finance minister has talked up a fiscal “black hole” left over by the previous administration, and reportedly plans $52 billion in cuts and new taxes. Politico described the budget as a “defining moment” for Labour, which has a broad but shallow majority in Parliament. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised economic growth, and there may be big infrastructure announcements, but he will be wary of the experience of former PM Liz Truss, whose economic plans spooked the markets so badly she was ousted in six weeks.

VW offers parable for Germany

Volkswagen’s profit plunged 42% in the third quarter, reflecting not just the crisis facing the automaker but a broader malaise in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy. The carmaking giant is grappling with slumping sales in China, competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, and a brewing labor battle over its planned closure of factories in Germany. The company’s struggles mirror those of the industry — a new report forecasts up to 140,000 auto job losses in the coming decade, Die Zeit reported — and its home country: “Of all the ‘sick men’ of Europe… it’s Germany’s symptoms that look the most visible,” a Bloomberg columnist noted, while a lawmaker warned the government could collapse this year.

China’s coming stimulus

China is reportedly planning between $850 billion to $1.4 trillion of debt-fuelled stimulus to jumpstart its flagging economy. The funds, separately noted by the Chinese business magazine Caixin and Reuters, would be used to alleviate local-government debt. Though China faces an array of economic challenges — persistent youth unemployment, a flailing real-estate sector, and overcapacity in key sectors — officials have apparently been most concerned by local governments’ financing struggles: The Wall Street Journal’s chief China correspondent said recently that reports of municipalities struggling to pay civil servants and contractors had raised alarm bells in Beijing, which does not want to see economic troubles morph into social instability.

AI garners huge sums

Elon Musk’s xAI is in talks with investors for a funding round that would value the company at around $40 billion, almost doubling from a few months ago, underscoring investors’ appetite for artificial intelligence. Big Tech’s years-long investments in AI are starting to pay off: Google’s parent company Alphabet generated almost $90 billion in the last quarter as demand for cloud computing — essential for AI platforms — helped drive revenue growth. Meanwhile Microsoft is locked in high-stakes negotiations with OpenAI over how a $14 billion investment should be translated into equity after the AI firm turns for-profit. Once seen as a speculative bubble, AI companies “are likely to continue driving returns for investors,” an analyst at Goldman Sachs wrote.

You might not know it reading the news or following X, but Kamala Harris has firmed up her closing message. So has Donald Trump. And they are hammering swing state voters with simple, direct arguments even as the media cycle spins out of control, Semafor’s David Weigel wrote. But the topics they’re focused on most might not be what you think they are.

Botswana votes

Voters in Botswana head to the polls today, with the ruling party looking to extend its almost six decades in power. Leaders of the governing Botswana Democratic Party have themselves called for change, an acknowledgment that things have gone awry in one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most prosperous nations. Analysts say the results of the election are too difficult to predict. The country’s economy is forecast to grow just 1% this year as diamond sales — which account for around 80% of exports — slow. Inequality remains pervasive, with a widely cited index ranking Botswana as the fifth most unequal nation in the world.

Accidental Mayan discovery

A Mayan city was discovered by accident in the Mexican jungle. An environmental organization used satellite laser surveys to map the jungle in the country’s southeast in 2013. An anthropologist realized those surveys could be used to check for artifacts of Mayan civilization, which largely collapsed around AD 900, ultimately finding the remains of temple pyramids, a reservoir, and a ballcourt, among other constructions. The city is the second-densest known Mayan settlement, and supports claims that the civilization was complex and lived on a cultivated landscape, rather than isolated villages. The use of laser surveys has allowed archaeologists to map 10 times as much of Mesoamerica in a decade than had been managed in a century of on-the-ground work.

Largest fish slaughter ever seen

The largest ocean predation event ever observed saw 10 million fish eaten within a few hours off the coast of Norway. The shoal of capelin, small anchovy-like fish, was tracked with sonar as they came into contact with a group of Atlantic cod, their primary predator. The capelin migrate between the Arctic ice sheet and the Norwegian coast each year, where they often meet the cod on their own journey. The slaughter — observed some years ago, but only spotted in a recent reanalysis — represents just 0.1% of the region’s capelin population: There are billions, which sustain many predator species. But overfishing and shrinking ice sheets are leaving them vulnerable.

• The European Commission publishes its annual enlargement report, listing the progress of EU membership hopefuls including Ukraine, Georgia, and Turkey.
• The Italian luxury group Prada is due to publish its third quarter revenues.
• Dune: Prophecy hosts a theatrical premiere in New York.

The value in pounds — equivalent to $389,000 — of clothbound cheddar stolen from a high-end British cheesemaker. Neal’s Yard Dairy said it had been the “victim of a sophisticated fraud” in which a buyer posed as a distributor and made away with 950 wheels of cheese, weighing 24 tons. The cheeses “have won numerous awards and are amongst the most sought-after artisan cheeses in the UK,” apparently. Police have been informed of the grate heist and are no doubt proceeding caerphilly.

Abundance by Alan Chan. The novel set in the near future explores a potential conspiracy over a space-mining disaster, and was described by Kirkus in its starred review as “a smart, snappy epic of intrigue, technology, and skullduggery.” Buy it from your local bookstore.