Semafor Flagship-America's Morning Edition

"The UN says both Israel and Hamas are guilty of war crimes."

Views expressed in this geopolitical news and analysis are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 12 June 2024, 1317 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).

AUCKLAND  KEMMERER  AL FASHIR JUNE 12, 2024 READ ON THE WEB Flagship Americas Morning Edition Sign up for our free newsletters→

The World Today New China sanctions Israel, Hamas war crimes Key Sudan city to fall US-EU Ukraine funds row Brazil-Saudi summit Hunter election fallout Ozempic and addiction Gates’ nuclear ambitions Giant spiders invade US Braille for opera Texting with a Gallup data scientist on the state of the global workforce, and Flagship recommends a ‘work of unparalleled depravity’ from 1984.

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1 US and EU target China The European Union unveiled tariffs of up to 38% on Chinese-made electric vehicles. Brussels argues that Beijing offers its carmakers illegal subsidies that have paved the way for the country’s carmakers to eventually dominate the European car market. The announcement came as the US was weighing whether to target Beijing’s access to cutting-edge chip technology that is not even yet commercialized but could be used to power artificial intelligence, Bloomberg reported. The US is also readying new curbs on sales of other semiconductors to China, according to Reuters, though this effort is mainly aimed at combating their eventual sale to Russia.

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2 UN accuses Israel, Hamas of war crimes Amir Cohen/Reuters Both Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes, the United Nations said. The analysis came as part of an investigation into the two sides’ conduct following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the ongoing war that has left more than 37,000 dead, sparked fears of mass hunger in Gaza, raised tensions across the Middle East, and divided international opinion. Though a UN Security Council resolution this week called for a ceasefire, “the Israeli public has generally shown little compassion for Gazans,” The Washington Post’s Ishaan Tharoor wrote, while Hamas’ military leader has calculated that civilian casualties are to his advantage, likening them to “necessary sacrifices,” according to messages he sent that were obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

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3 Sudanese army’s last holdout Rawpixel The only city in western Darfur still under the Sudanese army’s control could fall to rebel forces imminently. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’ advance throughout the Darfur region has led to hundreds of deaths and forced thousands to flee, often to neighboring countries that lack the capacity to house and feed them. In response, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has opened an investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Meanwhile Tom Perriello, the US envoy to Sudan, said parts of the country are already in a state of famine: “The question is how much famine, how much of the country, and for how long,” he told Reuters.

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4 Kyiv funds at risk Annegret Hilse/Pool/Reuters A spat between US and European Union officials could derail a proposed $50 billion loan for Ukraine. EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, disagree with the loan structure proposed by Washington, under which Europe would act as guarantor. “We might be stupid but we’re not that stupid,” a senior European diplomat told Politico. Separately, in a bid to bolster its economy and finance its war effort, Kyiv will privatize as many as 20 state-owned companies this summer. “We need to find other ways to get money to keep the macroeconomic situation stable, to help the army and to win this war against Russia,” Ukraine’s deputy economy minister told The New York Times.

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5 Saudi’s Latam ambitions Saudi officials will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this week at a summit aimed at building closer ties between the two countries. The summit comes as the US, Russia, and China have ramped up their efforts to bolster relations across South America, one of the most resource-rich regions in the world. Foreign investors are particularly keen to gain a foothold in mining: The continent holds some of the world’s largest deposits of lithium and copper, essential for the green transition. Brazil may be the beachhead for Riyadh’s ambitions in the region: “They don’t just want Brazil, they want all of Latin America close to them,” an expert told Americas Quarterly.

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6 Hunter fallout favors Biden Reuters/Anna Rose Layden Analysts largely agreed that the guilty verdict against US President Joe Biden’s son would have minimal impact on November’s general election — and could even help the incumbent. Hunter Biden yesterday became the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a felony, but “people aren’t going to vote for or against Joe Biden based on his son’s actions,” one Republican strategist told Fox News, echoing sentiments of other experts cited by the outlet. Indeed, the verdict could undercut ex-President Donald Trump’s narrative that the justice system was rigged against conservatives, The New York Times noted, and came as polling-focused site 538 assessed that Biden, who has largely trailed Trump, was essentially tied with his rival. For more on the implications of the Hunter Biden verdict, subscribe to our daily US politics newsletter. →

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7 Ozempic linked to less alcoholism People using the weight-loss drug semaglutide appear less likely to become addicted to alcohol. The drug, sold as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for diabetes, reduces appetite and boosts insulin production. Some patients also reported reduced desire to drink or take drugs. A new study compared patients on semaglutide to those on other weight-loss or diabetes drugs, and found that they were roughly half as likely to be diagnosed with alcohol use disorder over a 12-month period. Semaglutide seems to work by regulating the brain’s reward system, which goes wrong in addiction, so the finding is not unexpected, but researchers told New Scientist that we won’t know if it can truly combat addiction until randomized controlled trials are completed.

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Plug On the Say More podcast, Shirley Leung is holding conversations about stress and burnout, so listeners feel less alone and inspired to get help. She talks to Krista Tippett, Emily Nagoski, and Cal Newport about how stress works on our bodies and minds, so we can work and live better — listen here.

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8 Work begins on Bill Gates’ nuclear dream A Bill Gates-backed company broke ground on a next-generation nuclear power plant. TerraPower is seeking regulatory permission to build a sodium-cooled nuclear plant, which can operate at lower pressure and higher temperatures — and thus produce power more efficiently — than traditional water-cooled plants. The technology has existed for decades but has gone unused. TerraPower’s president said the innovation could avoid the cost hurdles that have crippled nuclear generation: The first US nuclear plants built from scratch in 30 years just came online in Georgia, at a cost of $35 billion. TerraPower hopes to spend around $4 billion. Gates told crowds in Wyoming that they were “standing on what will soon be the bedrock of America’s energy future.”

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9 Giant Joro spiders march up eastern US Wikimedia Commons Millions of bright yellow, hand-sized spiders are spreading up the US East Coast. The Joro spider, originally from East Asia, probably arrived in the US in 2013 via a shipping container. They “aren’t subtle,” Scientific American reported, with their four-inch leg span, black-and-yellow coloration and huge golden webs. But they’re also “shy and docile,” and not going to “hurt you … your kids [or] your pets,” a biologist said. Their march is “probably unstoppable” — as juveniles they float on the wind, like dandelion seeds, using a thread of silk. Scientists say they’re best left alone: If one takes up residence in your backyard, it will likely be there for months, so “give it a name. Show your kids … Show them what spiders do.”

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10 Braille option for blind opera fans Opera in the Heights, Die Fledermaus. jjsala/Creative Commons New Zealand’s national opera will provide braille surtitles for visually impaired opera-goers. Opera is tricky enough to understand at the best of times — husbands mistaking pageboys for their wives at masked balls, and all that sort of carry-on — so opera companies often provide local-language transcriptions of the libretto on screens. But blind and low-vision fans must either do without, or use audio descriptions that can interfere with their enjoyment of the music. NZ Opera developed a technology to send real-time surtitles to users’ personal braille-reading machines at the same time as the text appears for the sighted audience. After a successful trial during Rossini’s Le Comte Ory in Auckland, it will now become a permanent option for all performances.

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Flagging Thailand’s constitutional court begins deliberating in a case that may result in the dissolution of the Move Forward Party, which won last year’s parliamentary election. US President Joe Biden arrives in Italy for the G7 summit. The European Athletics Championships conclude in Rome.

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One Good Text Jim Harter is Gallup’s chief scientist. The research firm today released its State of the Global Workplace report, which showed that the vast majority of employees globally were not engaged in their work or were actively disengaged. Today, Semafor’s editors — guided by Gallup’s new survey data — will provide a pulse check on how workers around the world are feeling: You’ll hear policymakers, business leaders, and Gallup experts discuss topics including rising loneliness, work-life balance, competition in the labor market, the mental health crisis in the office, and why Gen Z is looking at trade schools over traditional degrees. RSVP for today's event to attend in-person or livestream. →

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Flagship Recommends The novel The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. The Scottish writer’s disturbing debut turned 40 this year: John Self, writing in The Critic, calls it “a modern touchstone,” although reviewers on its release were not all such fans: The Irish Times called it “a work of unparalleled depravity.” “I haven’t killed anybody for years, and I don’t intend to ever again,” its 16-year-old narrator says early on. “It was just a stage I was going through.” Self argues that Banks rarely reached such heights again outside his acclaimed science fiction work. Buy it at your local bookstore.

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Hot on Semafor A major UK electricity supplier is considering IPO-ing elsewhere. What an Israeli government without Benny Gantz could look like. How Fox News massaged a Trump interview.

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