ITK Daily | December 12

Happy Monday.

Here’s today’s ITK Daily.

To be ITK, know this:

Peru’s new president says she is open to early election talks: Reuters reports Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Friday said she was willing to discuss early elections with the country’s political and civil organizations but ruled out kick-starting constitutional changes for the time being.

One last run: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he will run for the presidency in the June 2023 elections for the last time.

The prince, the plot, and a long-lost Reich: Prince Heinrich XIII was arrested last week as the suspected ringleader of a plan to overthrow the German government. Nostalgic for an imperial past, he embraced far-right conspiracy theories.?NYT

Reuters: Germany's Scholz bets on immigration, more working women to counter labor shortages

+ Currently, 72.1% of women are engaged in the workforce in Germany, compared to 85.3% in Sweden.

Ukraine hits hotel hosting Russian military: WSJ reports Kyiv’s forces demolished a hotel complex hosting dozens of Russian military personnel with U.S.-supplied long-range artillery, while Russian drone strikes continued to destroy Ukraine’s electricity grid.

Fierce claims to Crimea highlight slim chance of Russia-Ukraine peace deal?WP

Migration fatigue: Europe braces for new influx of Ukrainians: The war could force more people to leave Ukraine over the winter just as the EU faces an increase in migrants from other regions.?FT

‘Don’t take the lift’: French alarm rises over risk of winter power cuts: Government messages over contingency plans fuel concerns about who could be hit and how to protect the vulnerable.?FT

As much as 60% of the EVs in the world will depend on the battery ecosystem that is being built in an integrated manner in Indonesia, according to the nation's president Joko Widodo.

Malaysia's 'middle power' ambition faces rivals in own backyard: Nikkei reports Malaysia's pursuit of economic growth as a middle power between China and the US is shaping up to be a test for new Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as other Southeast Asian countries position themselves as cheap alternatives for manufacturing.

+ New PM Anwar Ibrahim seeks opportunity in US-China rivalry, but competition abounds

With eye on Washington, Saudi courts closer China ties: AFP reports Xi Jinping's trip to Saudi Arabia this week made clear just how quickly ties are intensifying during a period of geopolitical realignment, despite warnings from the White House.

5 key takeaways from Xi’s trip to Saudi Arabia?Nadeen Ebrahim

Why Xi Jinping changed his mind on zero-COVID: After weeks of protests, China will ease its stringent pandemic restrictions. The reversal could be a boon for the economy—and lead to a wave of deaths.?Isaac Chotiner

China’s dangerous zero-COVID retreat?Ian Williams

Why an unstable China concerns the rest of the world: Beijing may get tough on the foreign front to distract from zero-COVID debacle.?Nikkei

China's COVID shifts take investors on a wild ride: Caution remains over potentially volatile exit from past pandemic strategy.?Nikkei

Rise of open-source intelligence tests US spies: China outpaces efforts by US intelligence agencies to harness the power of publicly available data.?WSJ

US asks Japan to help curb China's bid to develop high-end chips: JT reports the request, noting that the countries are allies sharing strategies against China, was made by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo during her phone conversation with Japanese industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Friday, according to the sources.

I was asked recently...

Q: "Regarding the Chinese, how cold is the mood on Capitol Hill?"

A: "Glacial."

US builds new firewall to stop spread of militant Islamists: WSJ reports hundreds of American troops to join Western allies in Niger to block al Qaeda and Islamic State from advancing violence and influence in West Africa. “I don’t know that I’d call them winning. I‘d certainly say they’re holding.”

Is the US moving on from free trade? Industrial policy comes full circle: Free trade was the mantra of economists for decades. The past few years have seen a return to Alexander Hamilton’s way of thinking.?Clyde Prestowitz

How the West fell out of love with economic growth: A serious, slow-burning malaise.?Economist

Bloomberg: Jamie Dimon says it’s good both parties’ ‘wing nuts’ weren’t elected

+ JPMorgan CEO warns that energy-price squeeze could get worse

+ Dimon says ‘we’ll be fine’ in either soft or harsh recession

Who is Casey DeSantis? First lady knows ‘what’s best for Ron’?Orlando Sentinel

Trump was fresh and new during his 2016 campaign. Has his fame fizzled??The failed ‘red wave’ during the midterm elections marked the beginning of a downward spiral of losses and lost support.?Guardian

France's conservatives elect Eric Ciotti as leader to revive sagging fortunes: The MP from the southern city of Nice beat rival Bruno Retailleau after a second round of voting by the party's 91,000 members on Sunday. Eric Ciotti is best known for his hardline views on immigration and French identity which are close to the far right's.?Le Monde

France’s Les Républicains select hardline new leader:?FT reports Eric Ciotti, a veteran MP from Alpes-Maritimes, will head the rightwing party as it fights to survive.?

US scientists boost clean power hopes with fusion energy breakthrough: Net energy gain indicates technology could provide an abundant zero-carbon alternative to fossil fuels.?FT

+ Physicists have since the 1950s sought to harness the fusion reaction that powers the sun, but no group had been able to produce more energy from the reaction than it consumes.

+ The fusion reaction at the US government facility produced about 2.5 megajoules of energy, which was about 120 percent of the 2.1 megajoules of energy in the lasers, the people with knowledge of the results said, adding that the data was still being analyzed.

WP: Orion spacecraft splashes down in Pacific, completing first Artemis mission

+ NASA now looks to fly humans to the moon as soon as 2025

Could ChatGPT write my book — and feed my kids??The world is getting excited about the potential of the new AI tool. Stuart Heritage spent a day asking it the big questions, starting with ‘What’s for breakfast?’?The Times

(ChatGPT) means that creating huge amounts of mediocre material is easier than ever before.?

(ChatGPT) means that assigning rudimentary essays in school or average copywriting at work is now a waste of time.

(ChatGPT) reminds us that attention and trust don’t scale.?

-- Seth Godin

Why is Howard Schultz taking this so personally??His opposition to a union isn’t primarily about the bottom line, friends say. It clashes with his image of 星巴克 as a model employer.?NYT

+ "@Lucas_Shaw: Bob Iger is the best CEO in media, binge releases don’t work and Zendaya is the star of the future.

Bloomberg: HBO Max returns to Amazon Prime in bid to lure subscribers

+ HBO Max ended its deal with Amazon Channels 15 months ago

+ Zaslav looking to boost revenue to pay down billions in debt

Bloomberg: The many ad bans of Disney+: No booze, no politics, no Netflix

+ Debut sponsors come from finance, retail, and automotive fields

+ It’s priced at $8 a month, $3 less than the ad-free version

Amgen nears deal to buy Horizon Therapeutics: WSJ reports the US biotech company was the last of three suitors standing in an auction for the drugmaker. A deal would likely be valued at well over $20 billion and mark the largest healthcare merger of the year.

A map of everywhere Anthony Bourdain ate:?Bourdain's World Map

The global market for Japanese anime expanded 13% to an all-time high of $20 billion last year, thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix and fans eager to spend on merchandise for franchises like Pokemon and "Demon Slayer."

Triangle of Sadness, Ruben ?stlund’s biting takedown of the one percent, was the big winner at the 35th European Film Awards, landing four trophies, including the top prize of Best European Film at the gala award ceremony in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Saturday.

AP: Tár, Everything Everywhere tie for LA critics’ top award

A history of HBO ?On the Media

+ This year is Home Box Office's 50th birthday.

Ashley Park: ‘People say Emily in Paris is fluff, but we want it to be fun’: The show is about to return for a third series — but forget Emily, it’s all about the scene-stealing best friend Mindy.?The Times

The college essay is dead: Nobody is prepared for how AI will transform academia.?Stephen Marche

World Cup Semi-finals:

ARG v CRO - Tuesday @ 2:00 pm ET

FRA v MAR - Wednesday @ 2:00 pm ET

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final:?Sunday, December 18 @ 10:00 am ET

+ French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Qatar to attend the World Cup semi-final between France and Morocco on Wednesday

+ France's Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera wore a sweater with rainbow-colored sleeves to France's World Cup quarter-final in Qatar on Saturday

+ Morocco is the first African team and the first Arab team to ever make it to the final four

The World Cup contenders who don’t want the ball: France and Morocco have reached the semifinals by defying soccer orthodoxy: possession is a waste of time.?WSJ

FOS: Will TNT walk away from the National Basketball Association (NBA) ?

+ The industry is still buzzing over David Zaslav’s warning that he doesn't need the NBA

+ Amazon’s waiting in the wings for a crack at the global league

WP: Ken Niumatalolo will not be back as Navy football coach after 15 years

Go Navy. Beat Army.

Watch: A season with Navy football: Go behind the scenes and into the lives of the football players and coaches at the storied United States Naval Academy . This season takes viewers into the rarely seen world of a military service academy, where student-athletes must not only balance the rigorous demands of an elite academic institution with top-tier collegiate football, but must also prepare themselves for naval service. The Midshipmen approach the game with the same goal of gridiron glory as players in other major college football programs but with unique demands off the field.?Showtime

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc?

Caracal produces ITK Daily.

Caracal is a geopolitical business communications firm specializing in global business issues at the intersection of globalization, disruption, and politics.

Caracal believes to be a world-class geopolitical business communicator, you need global street smarts coupled with holistic, high-frequency, and high-low communications.

More @ caracal.global