ITK Daily | December 8

Happy Thursday.

Here’s today’s ITK Daily.

To be ITK, know this:

Time magazine names Ukraine's Zelensky 'Person of the Year' - full article here.

Ukraine may get a lifeline from a NATO fund that had been earmarked for Afghanistan: Politico reports the conversations about the new funds to come at a time when Kyiv is asking for more support from western countries to fend off Russian advances in the coming months.

It is the West’s duty to help Ukraine win this war: We can afford it, and backing Kyiv will be less expensive in the long run than allowing Putin to prevail. Martin Wolf

Germany arrests dozens suspected of planning to overthrow government: Many of those detained had military training and were believed to belong to a recently formed group that operated on the conviction that the country was ruled by a “deep state.” NYT

+ The plan was to storm the Reichstag, seize power, and install a minor aristocrat called ‘Prince Heinrich XIII’ as leader of a ruling council.

+ Arrests across 11 German states.

+ They refuse to recognize the modern German state.

+ The Reichsbürger were, for years, a source of national derision, dismissed as crackpots.

+ Prince Heinrich XIII of Reuss, a descendant of an ancient aristocratic family in Germany, was a relatively obscure figure — until Wednesday, when he was named as one of the leaders of a group accused of plotting to overthrow the German government.

The global zeitenwende: How to avoid a new cold war in a multipolar era. Olaf Scholz

Germany confronts a broken business model: Can the country’s industrial economy reinvent itself for an era without cheap gas from Russia? FT

FT: Norwegian oil fund to vote against companies without net zero targets

+ Nicolai Tangen says $1.3tn sovereign wealth investor will also look at groups that overpay executives

Guardian: Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak agree to increase gas exports from US to UK

+ Leaders announce partnership to reduce global dependence on Russian energy

Bloomberg: Biden to tap special envoy for Northern Ireland to boost US sway

+ US wants UK-EU resolution before peace anniversary in April

+ Dispute over trade rules has raised tensions in N. Ireland

US, Europe need a grand bargain on semiconductors and electric vehicles to counter China: Allies complain US EV subsidies mistreat them, yet rebuff requests to join restrictions on chip exports to China. Greg Ip

Europe first: Brussels gets ready to dump its free trade ideals: More open trade used to be a no-brainer for the EU. Now European industries are fighting to survive. Politico

Xi arrives in Saudi Arabia.

China scraps most COVID testing, quarantine requirements in policy pivot: WSJ reports the latest measures to target intrusive aspects of the unpopular pandemic regime.

+ One million Chinese people could die from COVID this winter, according to a macroeconomic advisory firm’s model seen by the FT.?

Japan's place in Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy: Tokyo should be pleased with Ottawa's new approach, particularly regarding an ever-aggressive Beijing. Stephen Nagy

The Times: US to station more nuclear bombers in Australia as China deterrent

+ More long-range nuclear bombers will be deployed in Australia, and the US will increase the number of rotations of jet fighters, troops, and visits by navy ships.

+ Canberra will propose more trilateral exercises at 2-plus-2 meeting with Japan

Penny Wong's Washington DC speech to focus on US engagement with Asia and avoiding conflict with China: ABC News reports Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will use a major speech in Washington DC to urge President Joe Biden's administration to ramp up economic engagement with Asia while warning that "nationalistic domestic posturing" in both China and the US could fuel a catastrophic conflict.

US must ‘have skin in the game’ to compete with China in Asia-Pacific: Wong: The US needs to invest money in trade and foreign aid in the region, as well as defense, the foreign minister will say in a major speech. SMH

+ In a blunt warning to the Biden administration, Wong will say investing more in regional free trade agreements and foreign aid needs to become a “core alliance priority” for the US and Australia.

+ The annual Australia-US Ministerial consultations resulted in an agreement to integrate Japan into joint US-Australia military activities in Australia, a significant deepening of the relationship as the three nations work together to push back on China.

Ambitious plans to build Indonesia a brand new capital city are falling apart: A growing international profile has failed to attract funding for the president’s key domestic project. Bloomberg

Peru’s Castillo dissolves congress hours before impeachment vote: Bloomberg reports Peru President Pedro Castillo announced the “temporary” dissolution of congress hours before an impeachment debate, he said in a televised speech on Wednesday.?

AP: Peru swears in new president amid constitutional crisis

+ @AP: BREAKING: Peru’s Congress removed President Pedro Castillo from office, voting to replace him with the vice president shortly after Castillo decreed the dissolution of the legislature ahead of a scheduled vote to oust him.

Peru: Vice president Dina Bolutarte sworn in as new leader after president Pedro Castillo is impeached for trying to dissolve Congress?Le Monde

+ Her swearing-in capped hours of uncertainty as both the president and Congress appeared to exercise their constitutional powers to do away with each other.

Africa faces hurdles to energy transition: Africa boasts massive energy production potential, yet millions of people are without electricity. At a recent Africa roundtable, experts said that technology transfer was crucial to achieving energy transition. DW

Scottish National Party picks firebrand Stephen Flynn as new Westminster boss: Politico reports the Aberdeen MP defeated Alison Thewliss in Tuesday’s fiercely contested leadership election.

The Times: Support for Scottish independence rises after Supreme Court’s ruling

+ Backing for the SNP is strong enough for them to win a “de facto referendum” at the next general election, according to a new poll.

+ Research by Ipsos for STV found that backing for Scotland leaving the UK had increased to 56 percent when undecided voters were excluded

Analysis: How Raphael Warnock defeated Herschel Walker AJC

Election 2022: Every Democratic Senate incumbent won re-election this cycle, the first time in almost 90 years that either party can say that.

Warnock wins, and once again Trump loses Ross Douthat

+ @mattyglesias: Better ticket: Warnock/Whitmer or Whitmer/Warnock?

America’s shipwrecked working class: ‘Union Joe’ Biden is not quite the deliverer he vowed to be. Edward Luce

Bidens toasted a 2024 campaign with Macron at the state dinner: The Democratic Party is anxiously awaiting a formal announcement from President Biden about whether he is running for re-election. NYT

CNBC: Former FTX engineer quietly became multimillion-dollar Democratic donor after new role at cryptocurrency exchange

+ A year after Nishad Singh became FTX’s director of engineering, he quietly emerged as a reliable political donor for the Democrats.

+ Singh donated $8 million to federal campaigns in the 2022 election cycle, and all of it went to Democrats, according to the nonpartisan campaign watchdog OpenSecrets.

FTX held talks with Taylor Swift over $100mn sponsorship deal: FT reports negotiations between singer-songwriter and Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto group collapsed this spring.

Bloomberg: FTX discussed $100 million Liverpool, Manchester United deals

FTX crash shows cryptocurrency market needs bank-like regulation?Rob Nichols + Dennis Kelleher ?

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the FTX crypto meltdown on December 14, Chair Sherrod Brown said in an interview Tuesday.

+ Citi's Jane Fraser was the latest to warn that a US downturn is coming. Her prediction: it'll happen in the second half of 2023.

Will House Republicans deliver a more hawkish China policy??Republican leaders want to launch a select committee for China. But it could face stiff competition from other Beijing-focused bodies on Capitol Hill. National Journal

+ Flu infections in the US are at an all-time high.

CNBC: Google, Oracle, Amazon, and Microsoft awarded $9 billion Pentagon cloud deals

Sorry, USA, $40 billion won’t buy chip independence: President Biden and Apple’s Cook applauded a plan that offers a minuscule share of global chip capacity. Tim Culpan

Stop letting OKRs masquerade as strategy: Desire is not a Strategy Roger Martin

Fanatics has raised $700 million in new financing led by Clearlake Capital, valuing the e-commerce company at $31 billion.

Fanatics wants to be a $100 billion company – here’s how it plans to get there CNBC

‘The metaverse will be our slow death!’: Is Facebook losing its $100bn gamble on virtual reality? Steve Rose

+ @dougboneparth: Boomers: We must get everyone back in the office to maximize productivity.

Also Boomers: Hey, how do you turn this thing into a PDF?

With hydrogen up in the air, Toyota goes big on battery-electric cars: Post-dieselgate emissions targets have pushed the world’s largest carmaker to take a faster route to its zero-carbon future. The Times

Tesla is launching sales in Thailand with Shanghai-made EVs.

Ford CEO Jim Farley said about 65% of Ford’s US dealers have signed up to sell EVs under new agreements.

+ The total number of Ford dealerships in 2021 was 9,955

EVs are capturing about 6% of the US market.

+ 42% of Americans say none of the current incentives - tax subsidies or workplace charging - would convince them to consider an EV or plug-in hybrid.

+ A study by Signal Climate Analytics reports legacy automakers such as VW are far behind Tesla and China’s BYD in the race to develop competitive EVs.

Volkswagen will invest 460 million euros ($482 million) by early 2025 in its Wolfsburg plant in preparation for producing the electric ID.3 model.

Reuters: Vietnam's EV maker Vinfast files for U.S. IPO to fuel global expansion

BorgWarner plans to spin off its internal combustion engine (ICE) fuel systems and replacement parts businesses.

Uber + Motional, the Hyundai-Aptiv JV focused on commercializing self-driving technology, have launched a robotaxi service in Las Vegas.

Park rangers are using silent ebikes to catch poachers: Cake, a Swedish electric bike, is helping Mozambique’s park rangers protect game and reducing the need for fossil fuel infrastructure in Africa’s remotest areas. Wired

+ Get to know Cake.

Jabal: The new wheat scientists say can withstand extreme heat and drought: The variety is a cross between commercial and wild wheats – bred in a bid to develop crops that are more resilient to the climate crisis. Guardian

Plastic pollution: France's addiction to its 15 billion polystyrene yogurt pots: Recycling difficulties and intense lobbying by the plastics industry has kept this highly toxic material widely used in France. Le Monde

Beverly Hills Cop 4 is being filmed in Detroit.

Wordle: The most-searched term on Google worldwide in 2022.

AFP: Scientists find 2-million year-old DNA in Greenland

Going viral at Miami Art Basel 2022 Marlowe Granados

Veronica Ryan wins 2022 Turner prize for work including Windrush tribute: Guardian reports the artist wins for work comprising UK’s first permanent public artwork honoring the Windrush generation.

Sexuality and fame in focus as Sundance film festival returns to Utah: AFP reports Documentaries exploring sexuality and fame via the life stories of supermodel Brooke Shields, singer Little Richard, and author Judy Blume are among the lineup for next month's Sundance film festival unveiled Wednesday.

The Pittsburgh Pirates secured the No. 1 pick in next year's draft after winning MLB's first-ever draft lottery on Tuesday night.

Aaron Judge has re-signed with the New York Yankees for $360 million over nine years.

MLB will host its first-ever HBCU All-Star game during next year’s Midsummer Classic festivities in Seattle.

Every team left in Qatar is a contender: France and England, Argentina and Brazil, Messi and Ronaldo: The quarterfinals offer everything except an easy path to the trophy. NYT

The joy of Kylian Mbappé: Still just 23, France’s phenomenon is having another World Cup of a lifetime. Jason Gay

The clubs with the most players heading into the World Cup quarterfinals:

11 - Manchester City + Manchester United

8 - Paris Saint-Germain

7 - Ajax + Real Madrid + Bayern Munich

City Football Group, owner of Manchester City, is set to acquire Brazilian club Esporte Club Bahia in a deal reportedly valued at $133.7 million.

FIFA on collision course with domestic leagues over World Cup expansion: Plan to have 16 groups of three teams set to be ditched due to fears over collusion. The Times

IOC delays decision on 2030 Winter Games host, citing climate concerns WP

+ International Olympic Committee decided to delay choosing a host for the 2030 Winter Games for at least 13 months as it tries to figure out how to hold a February Olympics on a warming planet.

+ The IOC has been in conversations with representatives from Salt Lake City, Vancouver, and Sapporo, Japan.

+ The 2026 Games will be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

+ IOC executives said they are comfortable making a late decision on a 2030 host because the three bidding cities have hosted Winter Olympics in the past and will not need as much time as other cities to prepare for the Games.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc?

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