Caracal Daily | June 3
Asia-Pacific NATO, TikTok, Nvidia, Jennifer Lopez, London Super Bowl, plus 1,000 more actionable insights.
Caracal Daily is geopolitical business news + intelligence for comms pros.
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Happy Monday.
Here’s today’s Caracal Daily:
*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***
Japan and South Korea are getting friendlier. At last: As the world economy fragments, two export powerhouses see the virtue of chumminess. Economist
Zelensky says China is helping Russia undermine a peace summit on Ukraine: WSJ reports Chinese assistance to Russia will only prolong the war, Ukraine’s leader says on visit to Singapore.
Zelenskyy accuses China of helping Russia sabotage peace summit: Politico reports Ukrainian president unleashes on Beijing, saying it’s helping Moscow threaten countries with higher food and fuel prices to convince them not to attend June 15-16 meeting.
US and China lay out competing security visions for Asia-Pacific: WP reports speeches by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese counterpart Dong Jun at the Shangri-La Dialogue heavily referenced Taiwan and underscored growing US-China tensions.
China’s defense chief turns down temperature on tensions with US: WSJ reports the speech by Adm. Dong Jun echoes remarks by US’s Austin playing down prospect of war, but hot spots remain.
China accuses US of seeking ‘Asia-Pacific NATO’: FT reports a PLA general blames Washington for tension as Pentagon chief says allies seek ‘convergence’ on defence and security.
Chinese probe successfully lands on far side of Moon, in growing space rivalry with US: Le Monde reports the official Xinhua News Agency said the landing module touched down Sunday, June 2, 2024, early in the morning, Beijing time. The mission is the sixth in the Chang’e moon exploration program, which is named after a Chinese moon goddess.
The CEO trying to smooth US-China tensions in farm country: Jeff Rowe is working to fend off criticism over pesticide giant Syngenta’s ownership. WSJ
Tiananmen anniversary: Tuesday marks the 35th anniversary of the deadly June 4, 1989, crackdown on protesters near Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Russia-China gas pipeline deal stalls over Beijing’s price demands: FT reports the power of Siberia 2 project would offer lifeline to exporter Gazprom as Moscow’s dependence on its neighbour grows.
In Crimea, Ukraine is beating Russia: The peninsula is becoming a death trap for the Kremlin’s forces. Economist
We need to put sand in the gears of the Russian war machine: The private sector must play its part in hobbling Putin’s military-industrial complex. Wally Adeyemo
Biden’s cease-fire plan tightens political squeeze for Netanyahu in Israel: WP reports hostage families are calling for an immediate cease-fire deal, while far-right Israeli politicians are threatening to collapse Netanyahu’s government if it’s accepted.
News site editor’s ties to Iran, Russia show misinformation’s complexity: Experts say an overlap in funding underscores concern that the spread of falsehoods and propaganda online is entering a more complicated stage as the November election draws closer. WP
Euromore, Russia's new information warfare weapon: Organizations close to the Kremlin have funded the creation of a news website intended to take over from Russian state-run media outlets RT and Sputnik, which have been banned in Europe since the invasion of Ukraine. Le Monde
Morgan McSweeney, the workaholic Irishman who built Starmer’s Labour: After spending the Corbyn years quietly contemplating how to ‘eradicate’ the left from the party, Keir Starmer’s chief aide is having his moment. How would he use the No 10 machine? The Times
Tony Blair’s reinvented Labour Party pursues a risky ideological ‘purge’: On the center-left of British politics, current leader Keir Starmer wants to show voters Labour is ready for office again. Not everyone’s on board with his methods. Politico
Inside the Tory scramble: Rishi Sunak’s snap election sparks chaos for his own party: Rage mounts against PM as blindsided Conservative MPs and activists fear Sunak has scored an own goal. Politico
What is the point of the Lib Dems? They’re nice, like raincoats, and don’t like sewage—or power. Economist
How British politics lost touch with reality: The leaders of the country’s main political parties appear to see no jeopardy in making promises they can’t keep. FT
Wednesday: The King Charles III banknotes enter circulation.
Businesswoman Tomasdottir becomes Iceland's next president: AFP reports businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir was on Sunday declared the winner of Iceland's presidential election, final results showed, beating former prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir whom critics said was too political for the post.
Modi's ruling coalition to secure third term in India, exit polls show: Nikkei reports voting ends in world's largest democracy, with official results to be released Tuesday.
How Saudi Aramco plans to win the oil endgame: The world’s biggest energy firm is the linchpin of the kingdom’s ambitions. Economist
No outright majority in South Africa as official results proclaimed: Le Monde reports the governing African National Congress lost its 30-year-old majority, with only 159 seats out of 400.
South Africa’s election humbled the ANC. What now? The Times reports President Ramaphosa faces hard choices and a shaky future after the party’s worst election results of the democratic era.
Mexicans poised to elect first woman president: WSJ reports Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling party and opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez vie for nation’s top office.
Mexico after AMLO: A one-party state? For six years, other institutions have limited the socialist president’s damage. Mary Anastasia O’Grady
Keeping Ahead of China requires investment in military R&D: The Pentagon has been focused too much on operational needs, not enough on strategic ones. David C. Gompert
Thursday: The 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Remembering D-Day, as a new war rages in Europe: World leaders and surviving soldiers will attend the 80th anniversary of Normandy. Economist
*** US Politics + Elections ***
Democrats push Biden to make Trump’s felonies a top 2024 issue: NYT reports interviews with dozens of Democrats reveal a party hungry to tell voters that Donald Trump’s conviction makes him unfit for office, and hopeful that President Biden will lead the way.
Le Monde: Trump joins TikTok, app he once tried to ban
Manchin changes party registration to independent, fueling speculation: WP reports the formerly Democratic senator from West Virginia said his “commitment to do everything I can to bring our country together has led me to register as an independent with no party affiliation.”
‘Little Tech’ sets its sights on Washington: Venture capital firms are bringing San Francisco’s startup culture to Washington as they try to tip the regulatory scales away from giants in the sector. They’re finding some strange bedfellows in the process. Politico
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
WTF is AI? TC
The AI revolution is already losing steam: The pace of innovation in AI is slowing, its usefulness is limited, and the cost of running it remains exorbitant. Christopher Mims
AI fake nudes are now a frightening reality for teens: Girls portrayed in AI-generated nude images can still face bullying and judgment, even when everyone knows the pics are fake, teens say. WSJ
You think you know how misinformation spreads? Welcome to the hellhole of programmatic advertising: The internet is a cesspool of misinformation, and the biggest blue-chip brands and their ad agencies are the ones funding it—by stuffing money into a Rube Goldberg machine no one really understands. Wired
Google scales back AI search answers after it told users to eat glue: WP reports the tech giant put AI-generated answers at the top of search results for most people in the United States two weeks ago.
Sam Altman says OpenAI doesn’t fully understand how GPT works despite rapid progress: "We don’t understand what’s happening in your brain at a neuron-by-neuron level, and yet we know you can follow some rules and can ask you to explain why you think something," Altman said at an A.I. conference today. Observer
Sam Altman was down and out at OpenAI. Now he’s taking on Google: The king of AI was sacked by his start-up – only to retake power and strike deals that could end in an all-conquering partnership with Apple. The Times
The new ChatGPT offers a lesson in AI hype: OpenAI released GPT-4o, its latest chatbot technology, in a partly finished state. It has much to prove. NYT
Klarna marketing chief says AI is helping it become ‘brutally efficient’: WSJ reports David Sandstrom explains how artificial intelligence is helping the Sweden-based financial technology company do more in less time.
Nikkei: Jensen Huang hints Nvidia is aiming for new AI chip every year
Nvidia unveils next generation of AI chips in bid to entrench market lead: FT reports the Silicon Valley chipmaker seeks to accelerate pace of development with new ‘Rubin’ processors.
China's Great Wall Motor shuts Europe headquarters, fires all staff: sources: Nikkei reports the carmaker becomes latest Chinese outfit to cut European plans after poor German sales.
*** Culture ***
What one man learned living alone in the wilderness for 40 years: In his memoir, “The Way of the Hermit,” Ken Smith dispels myths about the solitary life off the grid. WP
Jennifer Lopez cancels her troubled summer tour: WP reports Jennifer Lopez’s This Is Me … Live tour was canceled amid reports of poor ticket sales and rumors about her marriage to Ben Affleck.
*** Sport ***
The Champions League winning coach whose plan is to have no plan: Carlo Ancelotti is the only manager in history to lift Europe’s foremost club trophy five times. He achieved those triumphs without any discernible soccer philosophy or signature playing style. WSJ
Night court: Players are getting tired of late matches at French Open: WP reports the rain at Roland Garros has wreaked scheduling havoc, including a third-round match featuring Novak Djokovic not ending until after 3 am in Paris.
The problem with college sports isn’t the athletes. It’s the schools. College sports crumbled because universities forgot their educational mission. Sally Jenkins
London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to host the Super Bowl: Politico reports Khan wants to cap London’s status as the ‘sporting capital of the world.’ But UK fans would be up til 3 am.
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Marc A. Ross | Chief Communications Strategist @ Caracal
