Flagship

Gaza refugee camp blast kills dozens

An Israeli airstrike at a Gaza refugee camp killed dozens, according to witnesses and medics. Israel confirmed a “wide-scale strike on terrorists,” which it said had killed a Hamas leader, but did not specifically address civilian casualties. Unverified reports say more than 8,000 Palestinian civilians have died in Israel’s retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,400 in Israel. Semafor’s Jay Solomon reported that, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, some Hamas militants involved in the initial attack were fueled by amphetamines. The Israeli offensive, meanwhile, ramped up, with communications in Gaza cut again. But the war has not ended regional diplomacy: Saudi Arabia is still open to normalizing relations with Israel, according to Washington.

US divisions go abroad

U.S. political divisions are impacting the country’s efforts abroad. The hardline new House of Representatives speaker opposes White House efforts to link Israel and Ukraine funding, while Senate Republicans want to tie military aid to increased border security, Semafor’s Principals newsletter reports. Key military and diplomatic posts have been left vacant, with the nominee for envoy to Israel only getting confirmed yesterday. Tensions are driven not simply by disputes between Republicans and Democrats, but divisions within those parties: “Democrats broadly support Ukraine, even now,” the foreign-policy expert Emma Ashford said, “but are much more split on the Israel-Palestine question.” A similar issue exists, albeit in reverse, for Republicans.

— To read more about the battles in Washington, subscribe to Principals, out shortly. Sign up here.

Saudi to host 2034 World Cup

Saudi Arabia looks set to host the 2034 men’s soccer World Cup after it offered the only bid. FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, declared unexpectedly that bidding for 2034 would happen at the same time as 2030, giving prospective hosts only a few weeks’ notice. Within minutes, Saudi Arabia announced its bid. The Qatar 2022 tournament was widely criticized for human rights concerns and for apparent bribery. A Saudi World Cup will be “more of the same, and even worse,” Jawad Iqbal wrote in The Spectator: “A month-long global festival of football will be held in a country where criticism of the regime is punishable by death.” The process “must raise fresh questions about FIFA’s decision-making, transparency and ultimate accountability.”

Fed meeting plays second fiddle

Traders are likely to look past a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting today to focus on a typically anodyne government announcement about its future funding needs. Central bankers are expected to leave interest rates — currently at the highest levels since before the financial crisis — unchanged. Historically high bond yields are doing the Fed’s job for it by increasing debt costs and suppressing economic growth. A U.S. Treasury announcement today on its borrowing plans may be more important: Investors are particularly interested in how much of the government’s future debt will be long-term issuance, as it seeks to close a widening budget deficit.

China pledges to clean up debt

Chinese authorities pledged to resolve long-term risks tied to the country’s huge pile of local-government debt following a major Communist Party conference. Though officials were “heavy on high-level goals and aspiration but light on details,” as the veteran China-watcher Bill Bishop put it, Beijing’s focus on the issue points to coming policy efforts. “The top leadership’s assessment suggested that the financial situation is severe,” a Shanghai-based analyst told the South China Morning Post. Analysts worry about the risk to China’s economy from its mounting debt, particularly that held by state-owned enterprises and local governments, as well as the possibility of contagion from the potential collapse of overleveraged giant property developers.

WeWork may file for bankruptcy

WeWork is expected to file for bankruptcy in the coming days. The office-sharing firm was once valued at $47 billion, but a 2019 attempt to sell shares collapsed on concerns over its debt and business model. It has since lost 98% of its value. It has 777 offices in 39 countries, but has never shown a profit, and in August announced that it had “substantial doubt” over its ability to continue to operate. It owes investors, including Japan’s SoftBank, tens of millions of dollars. This week it told U.S. financial regulators that it had agreed to postpone repayment of some of that debt, but The Wall Street Journal reported that it intends to file for bankruptcy as early as next week.

First test for Japan’s giant fusion reactor

The world’s biggest fusion reactor fired up for the first time, creating superheated plasma in a preliminary test. The JT-60SA reactor, in Naka, eastern Japan, is four storeys high and can contain about 30,000 gallons of plasma at 360 million degrees Fahrenheit, Science reported. Its development is seven years behind schedule, but the makers hope to have the reactor running experiments within two years. It will only be the world’s biggest for a short time: ITER, the giant multinational reactor in France, is scheduled to begin tests in 2025. Researchers hope nuclear fusion, which is how stars produce their heat and light, will provide limitless clean energy once its many technical obstacles are overcome.

US cuts African countries from deal

The U.S. removed preferential trading terms for the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda over rights violations and democratic backsliding. The White House’s decision points to the tension between U.S. President Joe Biden’s worldview of a global clash between democracy and autocracy, and efforts — including Washington’s African Growth and Opportunity Act — to promote development on the continent. “Much has changed since 2015, when [AGOA] was last renewed,” Semafor Africa Editor Yinka Adegoke noted, “both in the development of the continent and how the U.S. sees it.” Still, in a sign of Africa’s importance to global powers, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is this week visiting the continent, focusing on Berlin’s efforts to source minerals and energy.

— For more coverage of the continent, subscribe to Semafor Africa’s newsletter. Sign up here.

Argentina faces fuel shortage

Argentines faced hours-long queues to fill their cars amid dwindling gasoline supplies. Despite being a major oil producer, the country’s shortage of refining capacity means that much of its gasoline demand has to be met from abroad. A lack of dollars in government coffers has shut Buenos Aires off from international markets, though. The scarcity of fuel has sparked a wave of anger at the government which could have a seismic impact in this month’s presidential election. “It’s like looking for water in the desert,” a ride-sharing driver said referring to the shortage. “We are living one day at a time.”

Satellite pics reveal Roman Syrian forts

Recently declassified Cold War spy satellite photos identified almost 400 Roman forts in what is now Syria and Iraq. Images taken between 1959 and 1972 in the first years of the space race were studied by anthropologists: They showed many previously undiscovered settlements in a west-southwest line along the Euphrates valley. The researchers believe that the forts represent strongpoints along a trading route, rather than a defensive border. Cold War satellite photos have been a rich resource for anthropologists, Ars Technica reported: They have previously revealed prehistoric traveling routes and settlements in Mesopotamia, and ancient Islamic pottery factories in Syria.

The Daily Upside is a free newsletter that covers the world of business, finance, economics, and investing. Written by a team of accomplished journalists, each issue delivers the most important headlines in the world while contextualizing the news against the thematic undercurrents shaping the broader business climate. Join 1 million people who subscribe to The Daily Upside — sign up for free here.

• The U.K. hosts an AI Summit attended by tech chiefs, including Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and some world leaders.
• Most of West Maui reopens to tourism after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.
• Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, is marked in countries including Mexico and Guatemala to remember loved ones.

The percentage by which Unilever’s deodorant sales have surged since workers began returning to the office after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. “Many people didn’t use deodorant as much when they were in lockdown and working from home,” the head of finance at Unilever, which makes the deodorants Rexona, Lynx, and Axe, said, “and some recovery in that is coming through.” Office occupancy rate rebounded much faster in Europe than in the U.S., although rates remain below pre-pandemic levels in both. Average European office occupancy rates exceeded 70% this year, while the U.S. office vacancy rate reached a 30-year-high in the second quarter.

A new three-part documentary about John Lennon’s 1980 murder will be aired on Apple TV+. Actor Kiefer Sutherland is set to narrate the series, which includes interviews with eyewitnesses, speaking for the first time, as well as friends of the beloved former Beatle. John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial also features interviews with the defense lawyers, psychiatrists, detectives, and prosecutors of Mark David Chapman, who shot Lennon dead outside his New York home and remains incarcerated after he was convicted for the premeditated crime.

• An up to $1 billion fine may end the scandal that has captivated Wall Street.
• Forbes journalists have told management that some sources are refusing to share sensitive information with them due to their new reported ownership.
• Small businesses in Kenya are rejecting mobile money payments in favor of cash as they look to sidestep an aggressive tax.