ITK Daily | March 23

Happy Thursday.

Here’s today’s ITK Daily.

To be ITK, know this:?

China is starting to act like a global power: Beijing grows bolder in challenging the US-led global order.?WSJ

+ Long reluctant to inject itself into conflicts far from its shores, Beijing is showing a new assertiveness as Xi Jinping begins his third term as the country’s head of state, positioning China to draw like-minded countries to its side and to have a greater say on global matters.

+ “In advancing modernization, China will neither tread the old path of colonization and plunder, nor the crooked path taken by some countries to seek hegemony once they grow strong, “Mr. Xi said in a speech this month as he unveiled his Global Civilization Initiative, cautioning unnamed countries to “refrain from imposing their own values or models on others.”

+ Scoring diplomatic victories on the global stage helps serve as testimony that Washington’s efforts to isolate or challenge China won’t work.

Xi wins Putin's backing on Taiwan, plays peacemaker on Ukraine: Moscow 'firmly supports' Beijing in safeguarding its territorial integrity.?Nikkei

+ Xi spent about 10 total hours with Putin during the trip, including informal talks, a Monday state dinner and the official summit on Tuesday.

+ Russia "recognizes Taiwan as an inalienable part of China's territory," the joint statement reads.

+ The China-Russia joint statement voices "serious concern" about the AUKUS security pact between the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, which will have Australia fielding nuclear-powered submarines. The statement says China and Russia sides will hold joint naval and air exercises.

What Putin and Xi’s summit says about the new Cold War: The big three powers all have big bets riding on Ukraine.?The Times

+ Xi’s visit to Moscow has left the world ideologically and strategically more polarised between east and west than at any time since the Cold War.

+ The Chinese gamble has been more cautious. An influential theorist in China, Hu Wei, argued at the time of the Russian invasion that Beijing should consider siding with the West against Moscow, to put itself on the “right side of history” in a future competition for influence with America. He was ignored.?

Russia-Ukraine war threatens to trigger new nuclear arms race: The international arms-control architecture is falling apart, and proliferation concerns are growing.?WSJ

+ Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, says the U.S. has time to react to China’s buildup and that it is paramount “to avoid a severe backsliding, which I would define as the U.S. and Russia exceeding the limits of New START.”

Bloomberg: US fears a war-weary world may embrace China’s Ukraine peace bid

+ US left on sidelines as China-Russia ‘bro-fest’ cements ties.

+ Some uncomfortable realities of Xi’s visit to Putin in Moscow.

Blinken dismisses China's 'marriage of convenience' with Russia: AFP reports US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday brushed off China's diplomacy with Russia as a "marriage of convenience," and said Beijing had not yet provided military aid to "junior partner" Moscow to fight in Ukraine.

WP: Xi’s delay of Siberia pipeline signals limits to his embrace of Putin

US businesses shy about attendance at China’s Davos: Beijing’s flagship development conference kicks off in shadow of tensions with Washington.?FT

+ “How likely is my business impacted by American sanctions, or if not sanctions, insistent questions by bodies like Congress? It’s [about] imagining what will come next.”

+ The geopolitical climate may counter-intuitively encourage some companies to invest more heavily in Chinese supply chains so that their operations there can stand on their own in a decoupling scenario.?

+ A 2023 report by Deloitte suggested there were multiple scenarios for companies, such as the establishment of joint ventures with either majority or minority shares for multinationals depending on how severe the decoupling was.

Geothermal power, cheap and clean, could help run Japan. So why doesn’t it??For decades, new plants have been blocked by powerful local interests, the owners of hot spring resorts, that say the sites threaten a centuries-old tradition.?NYT

India drops barriers to foreign firms: Decision to lift ban has been welcomed by practices in the City.?The Times

Saudi Arabia: Mohammed bin Salman's new opportunistic diplomacy: Led by the crown prince, the kingdom is turning more and more to Asia, to the detriment of its American ally.?Le Monde

Bloomberg: Ukraine Farmers Plant Even Less Grain for Second Wartime Harvest

+ Export hurdles sap farmers’ finances for the coming season.

+ Global grain stockpiles seen falling near lowest in a decade.

Ukraine, pumped up by Western weapons, is held back by slow deliveries: WP reports President Biden has pledged to stand with Kyiv “for as long as it takes,” Ukrainian officials, Western diplomats, and analysts warn that the help is simply taking too long to arrive.

Finland has Turkey’s approval and can at last join NATO: Economist reports returning to the days of a hostile Russian border.

Spain's PM Sanchez survives no-confidence vote: DW reports the motion to oust Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was put forth by far-right party Vox with the help of an 89-year-old former communist, while traditional conservatives abstained from the vote.

Emmanuel Macron holds firm on pensions reform amid protests: FT reports the president says unpopular changes are a ‘necessity’ and are likely to take effect by the end of the year.

It wasn’t just Credit Suisse. Switzerland itself needed rescuing.?Crisis threatened an economic model and national identity built on safeguarding the world’s wealth.?WSJ

In Northern Ireland, businesses want to move on from Brexit: The UK government has comfortably won a parliament vote on its new Northern Ireland-EU deal. The Windsor Framework now looks set to be implemented. Most business leaders in Northern Ireland are happy about that.?DW

Prince William in surprise visit to British troops near Ukrainian border: The Times reports the Prince of Wales praises soldiers during ‘personal mission’ to Polish airbase.

Boris Johnson fights for his future at privileges committee hearing: The Times reports the former PM says he won’t accept partygate findings.

WP: Boris Johnson lays out his ‘Partygate’ defense ahead of Parliament grilling

WP: Boris Johnson says ‘hand on heart’ he didn’t lie to Parliament about Partygate

Bloomberg: Power struggle and Missing Billions Roil Venezuelan Ruling Elite

+ Energy Minister’s ouster comes after months of close oversight.

+ Government seeks to recover trail of unpaid oil sales.

Canada's population grew by record 1 million in 2022, spurred by international migration: Total population closing in on 40 million as Canada remains fastest-growing G7 country: StatsCan.?CBC

Bloomberg: Biden plans to spur biological production of fuels, chemicals, plastics

+ Administration to release targets for biomanufacturing effort.

+ US aims to displace 90% of plastics with biological processes.

US readies targeted screening for investment in Chinese tech: Narrower 'reverse CFIUS' to focus on areas like chips and quantum computing.?Nikkei

TikTok is DC's new boogeyman. Can Silicon Valley’s tactics save it??The app, owned by Beijing-headquartered ByteDance, is adopting the lobbying tactics of many of its American tech company peers.?WP

TikTok caught in US-China battle over its powerful algorithm: Chinese parent company ByteDance stuck between legal manoeuvres aimed at controlling video app’s future.?FT

National security is teaching the US to love tech controls: America once shied away from ‘the r-word’ but tech now faces a regulation revolution.?Marietje Schaake

DW: US Federal Reserve increases interest rates by 0.25%

Fed walks tightrope between inflation, financial stability: WSJ reports the central bank nods to bank woes but presses ahead with rate rise.

How the last-ditch effort to save Silicon Valley Bank failed: SVB couldn’t get loans, and withdrawals accelerated before seizure.?WSJ

Silicon Valley Bank ran out of money?Matt Levine

Bank crisis could cast pall over commercial real estate market: NYT reports the market hadn’t fully rebounded from the pandemic. Some worry that another slowdown could add to fears of a recession.

Finance is going back to the age of mercantilism: Regulators will take their cues from governments that prize the promotion of national champions above the protection of a liberal global system.?Bobby Ghosh

Seven ideas to prevent the next bank crisis?Peter Coy

Volvo to export all-new compact EV from China: CEO: Nikkei reports sharing platform with parent Geely to help bring down costs.

As Ford carves out its EV unit, reporting by region gets ditched: The auto maker’s reorganization aims to provide greater insights into the fast-growing electric-vehicle division and its ambitious goals.?WSJ

Electric cars are creating a new economy — and leaving some towns behind: Workers and small businesses in Belvidere, IL, are dealing with the aftermath of mass layoffs, after Stellantis idled its Jeep factory.?WP

Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson’s satellite-launching start-up, is said to be near a deal for a $200 million investment led by the venture capitalist Matthew Brown.

Relativity Space to make third bid to launch 3D-printed rocket: AFP reports the world's first 3D printed rocket is scheduled to make its third attempt to lift off on Wednesday for the maiden flight of an innovative spacecraft billed as being less costly to produce and fly.

The tragic blown promise of Amazon Go: Eight of Amazon’s ‘just walk out’ stores are closing, including all the ones in San Francisco. The one I shopped at never lived up to its potential, but I’ll miss it anyhow.?FC

Starbucks braced for price war in China as rivals pile into coffee market: FT reports chains backed by private equity bet consumers will turn social pastime into daily routine.

Publishers prepare for showdown with Microsoft, Google over AI tools: Media executives want compensation for use of their content in ChatGPT, Bing, and Bard.?WSJ

Is working from home really working??Steven Rattner

+ The changing work habits have spawned a push for a codification of what may already be a reality: a four-day workweek. Legislation to that effect has been introduced in California, Maryland and other states. Proponents argue that with an extra day of rest, diligent workers can accomplish as much as they did in five days. Perhaps. But put me down as skeptical about that and much of the notion that when it comes to work, less can be more.

Succession still has a few surprises left?Kathryn VanArendonk

The Big Apple's rebrand is an iconic failure: Any new New York logo was bound to ruffle feathers, but riffing on Milton Glaser's creation? Fuhgeddaboudit.?Ben Schott

+ In contrast, “We ?? NYC” feels committee-written: simultaneously cautious (safety in numbers), presumptuous (who is “we?”) and expedient (obligatory inclusivity). According to Governor Hochul, “It’s not just a slogan, it’s not a logo. It’s a spirit.” Except they didn’t appropriate any old slogan or logo, but classics of the genre.

+ It’s no trivial task to brand a city, let alone a city as hardcore as the Big Apple. One only has to glance around the globe to see the highs and lows of other metropolitan identities, few of which are as reflective of local character, widely loved or likely to last as “I ?? NY.”

Why is NYC’s new tourism logo shouting at me??Steven Heller

+ The logo designer’s rule of thumb for such a project is to make only changes that are modest, nuanced, and incrementally revealed to the public to avoid causing confusion and shock.

+ But the “We ?? NYC” logo was introduced as a full-page advertisement in Monday’s New York Times and then at a press conference in Times Square, a full-blown assault on our senses.?

+ As an art director, I see two main elements in this logo. One is impossible to consider without the other.

+ First, the type. This year’s iteration is not meant to replace Glaser’s original — “We ??NYC” is attached to a marketing campaign for the city, while Glaser’s was for the state of New York decades ago.

+ This text is then inharmoniously stuck to the logo’s second element, its bulbous emoji heart, which clearly references the more delicate symbol of Glaser’s original, which uses the heart as a shorthand for love. The new version is a heavy-handed, sensationalized variation that cartoonishly beats like the actual organ on digital ads as you wait for the bus.

+ Paul Rand, one of America’s most esteemed mark makers (the designer behind IBM, Westinghouse, ABC, and UPS), asserted that a logo is more or less 20 percent idea and 80 percent refinement. This new iteration turns the equation upside down.

New Yorkers bond over new city logo: They hate it: ‘We??NYC’ is bringing New Yorkers together, but not the way organizers planned.?WP

+ “It’s not just a slogan,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) at the campaign’s Times Square news conference, introducing “We ? NYC” to the public and wearing a big We ? NYC sticker on her lapel. “It’s a spirit.”

+ According to the slogan’s website, “‘We ??NYC’ is a 21st Century version of the 70’s campaign” and will include advertisements (naturally), a city cleanup drive, volunteer opportunities, an Earth Day celebration, an Instagram account, a competition for musicians to play in subway stations “and much more.”

+ But what people seem to be bonding over the most is their disdain for the aesthetic. “Corny” and “inexcusably bad in so many ways,” one Twitter user wrote. Another called it an “affront to this great city.” New York Magazine proclaimed: “NYC’s New Promotional Logo Kinda Sucks.”

Choose what to dream tonight: Some strategies to try: Write down what you want to dream. Say a mantra as you drift off.?WSJ

+ People get excited about the idea of lucid dreaming because they believe it will allow them to do what they want while they’re asleep, such as visit with loved ones, work on a creative project or have sex, says Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley. “They view their dreams as a kind of virtual reality that’s under their control,” he says.

Four 80-year-old men finished a 100-mile race. Here’s how they did it.?Meet the octogenarians who competed in the USA Track and Field 100-mile road championship.?WP

+ There are several reasons ultramarathons have become a sport for many later-in-life runners.?

+ The sport favors experience and consistent training. Steady pacing is more important than speed. Even the younger athletes who finish ultramarathons tend to be on the older side.?

+ In 2020, researchers analyzed more than 370,000 finishers of 100-kilometer (62.14 miles) ultramarathons run between 1959 and 2016 and found the age of peak performance was 40 to 44 in women and 45 to 49 in men.

+ “Most of the masters athletes you come across these days — they’re not really lifelong athletes. That’s encouraging news, because that tells you that it’s never too late to start exercising and you can actually achieve elite status even though you are a couch potato or you are not really competitive when you’re younger.”

+ Blaylock walks 12 miles a day, six days a week. Sunday is a rest day.

+ To complete 100 miles in 30 hours, a competitor must average an 18-minute-mile.?

New hope for football in the Middle East: The re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March surprised many around the world. If relations improve, the hope is that football in both countries and the wider region will benefit.?DW

+ The surprise announcement made in Beijing on March 10 that Iran and Saudi Arabia had decided to restore diplomatic relations after a period of seven years is still being digested by governments around the world. It offers hope for football too, not just in Tehran and Riyadh but around the Middle East as Rahman said. "Iran football needs all the help it can get."

+ Saudi Arabia currently possesses the biggest spending league in Asia — in December, Riyadh club Al-Nassr shocked the world by signing Cristiano Ronaldo — and is regarded as one of the best. Players from Iran, a leading Asian nation, are, however, absent.?

+ Football in Lebanon is in an even worse state than Iran, with long-standing economic issues, partly driven by the tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the leading Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the region.?

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe plans to offer more than ￡5bn for Manchester United: FT reports the entrepreneur is competing against Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani for Premier League football club.

Qatar's Sheik Jassim makes second bid for control of Manchester United: Le Monde reports INEOS chemical company founder Jim Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, is also expected to make a second offer for the 20-time English champions.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc?

Marc A. Ross | Chief Communications Strategist @ Caracal

Caracal produces ITK Daily.

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