ITK Daily | May 20

Global Street Smarts.

Happy Saturday.

Here’s today’s ITK Daily.

To be ITK, know this:?

G7 leaders call for ‘guardrails’ on development of artificial intelligence: FT reports Von der Leyen and Sunak among group urging greater oversight of powerful technology.

TST: G7 to step up Russia sanctions, seek to reduce China trade dependency

US, Japan impose sweeping sanctions on Russia as G7 stands with Ukraine: Nikkei reports hundreds of people and organizations targeted as group seeks to stop evasion.

To counter China, G7 countries borrow its economic playbook: Wealthy democracies rev up an effort to spend trillions on a new climate-friendly energy economy, while stealing away some of China’s manufacturing power.?NYT

+ As Biden and fellow leaders of the Group of 7 nations meet this weekend in Hiroshima, Japan, a centerpiece of their discussions will be how to rapidly accelerate what has become an internationally coordinated round of vast public investment. For these wealthy democracies, the goal is both to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturing and to help their own companies compete in a new energy economy.

+ The spending — the United States’ most significant intervention in industrial policy in decades — has galvanized many of America’s top allies in Europe and Asia, including key leaders of the Group of 7. European nations, South Korea, Japan, Canada and others are pushing for increased access to America’s clean-energy subsidies, while launching companion efforts of their own.

+ Biden and his Group of 7 counterparts have embarked on a project with two ambitious goals: to accelerate demand, even by decades, for the technologies needed to reduce emissions and fight climate change, and to give workers in the United States and in allied countries an advantage over Chinese workers in meeting that demand.

+ The wave of recent Group of 7 actions on supply chains, semiconductors and other measures to counter China is based on “economic security, national security and energy security,” Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, told reporters this week in Tokyo.

+ He (Emanuel) added: “This is an inflection point for a new and more relevant G7.”

+ Although many of the Group of 7 governments agree that China poses an increasing economic and security threat, there is little consensus about what to do about it.

Biden pays silent tribute to victims of Hiroshima bomb: NYT reports the president joined other leaders in laying wreaths at a memorial to the first wartime use of a nuclear weapon, amid growing fears that one could be used again.

Modi says he will 'amplify concerns of Global South' at G7: India PM says presence in Quad, Shanghai Cooperation Organization 'not contradictory.'?Nikkei

+ G7 countries hope to pull India closer to their side, as they look to cement what they often describe as the rules-based international order. But India has long defied easy geopolitical categorization.

+ On the issue of United Nations reform, including India's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council, Modi spoke of the "limitations" of global governance institutions that remain "confined to outdated mindsets."

+ Modi said his government's aim is to transform India into a developed nation within the next 25 years, in time to celebrate 100 years of independence.

This is the hour of the Global South: The war in Ukraine has turbocharged the emergence of a post-unipolar world order.?Alec Russell

+ "The idea of six African heads of state criss-crossing the front lines of a European war is not just a telling counterpoint to all those western interventions in Africa over the years, it also underlines the accelerating assertiveness of the countries of the “global south” — and their sense that their hour really may at last have come."

+ This has been visible in a number of arenas since the old globalised order started to fragment following the financial crisis of 2008. But the war in Ukraine has turbocharged it.?

+ There are clear common interests and goals: a restructuring of the UN Security Council so it represents the world as it is today; a rethink of the Bretton Woods institutions; a tilt at the dollar as the global reserve currency; a push back at the American-led system of economic sanctions; and more.

+ “Then it was a talking shop,” says Michael Power, who for 30 years has studied the rise of the global south, most recently as the Cape Town-based strategist for asset manager Ninety One. “But now they are talking about whether they should start trading with each other with local currencies.”

+ India, Indonesia and others are playing rather well. When the war in Ukraine ends, it will be against the backdrop of a subtler world order than that of February 2022. It will be more complex and probably more dangerous; but for some non-aligned countries it will have more opportunity. And it is here to stay.

G7 to shun use of ‘Global South’ to avoid giving the term legitimacy?Walter Sim

Zelenskyy will make in-person appeal to G7 leaders in Japan:?Politico reports Ukraine’s president set to travel to Hiroshima to make in-person plea for more Western weapons and help in the face of Russian onslaught.

AP: Ukraine’s president takes his diplomatic campaign against Russia to Arab summit, G7

+ "All your nations will understand the main call... a noble call to all of you to help protect our people," Volodymyr Zelensky tells the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia.

BBC: G7 summit: Zelensky accuses some Arab leaders of 'blind eye' to war ahead of Japan trip

Knock it off! G7 issues ultimatum to Russia’s war enablers: Other countries are welcome to join talks on Ukraine’s postwar future — so long as they’re willing to deter Moscow, leaders say.?Politico

‘Big step’: US joins major effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, other jets: Politico reports officials hope to begin instruction in the coming weeks.

Quad to discuss joint investments in chips, critical minerals: Leaders set to agree on creating public-private investor network during Japan talks.?Nikkei

+ The US, Japan, India, and Australia are close to an agreement on setting up a public-private body to discuss joint investment in strategic goods like cutting-edge semiconductors and critical minerals, Nikkei has learned.

+ "Ultimately, our goal is a strong, resilient, and leading-edge techno-industrial base that the United States and its like-minded partners, established and emerging economies alike, can invest in and rely upon together," US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a speech at the end of April.

DW: Germany's Scholz to make brief, symbolic visit to S. Korea

Bloomberg: China’s ambassador warns Trudeau off ‘provocation’ as diplomatic ties fray

+ Diplomat suggests Canada’s foreign policy is subservient to the US.

+ He says that marks a change from relations under PM’s father

AP: China warns against ‘geopolitical games’ as US announces Blinken trip to Papua New Guinea

Competing with China in the Pacific: Biden’s canceled trip obscures real US diplomatic progress.?WSJ-Editorial

It is "US vs Them" time: Rep. Mike Gallagher,?GOP chair of the Congressional select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, today called on Britain to stay “on the same page” with the US in tackling China.

WP: China sends a subtle message to Central Asia: Rely on us, not Russia

DW: Russia declares Greenpeace an 'undesirable organization'

Fleeing Sudan, US diplomats shredded passports and stranded locals: NYT reports officials destroyed Sudanese passports on security grounds as they evacuated the Khartoum embassy. Now the passport owners are trapped in a war zone.

Rishi Sunak has ‘total confidence’ in his vision for victory: The prime minister thinks tax cuts will keep Tories in power, but easing cost of living concerns may not be so simple.?The Times

+ The Tory strategy for winning the next election is, on the surface, relatively simple. Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, will unveil a package of tax cuts in his autumn statement which will be implemented next April. They are expected to include cuts to the headline rate of income tax along with potential inheritance tax cuts.

+ Delaying the general election until autumn next year will allow time for the economic outlook to improve further and for the impact of the tax cuts to take effect.

+ The biggest challenge facing the Tories is the fact that even if the economy does turn around, people will still be significantly worse off than they were before — largely because of forces outside the government’s direct control.

Death rattle conservatism: The NatCons are poised to capture a party in terminal decline.?Andrew Gamble

BBC: Woo youth vote or die, Matt Hancock tells UK Conservatives

Bold.

Why so many UK Conservatives feel like losers: Despite all of its victories, the populist right can’t stop moping.?Helen Lewis

UK plays catch-up in chips war with ￡1B semiconductor strategy: The long-awaited plans were disrupted by the UK’s political chaos.?Politico

UK defense secretary warns of threat of wider global conflict by end of decade: FT reports Ben Wallace urges firm timetable for increasing military spending to 2.5% of GDP.

The French military's cautious steps toward robotic combat: After falling behind in the field of armed aerial drones, the Army wants to speed up the deployment of remotely operated munitions and ground robots. But the technical and ethical challenges remain numerous.?Le Monde

‘No Labels’ eyes a third-party run in 2024. Democrats are alarmed: NYT reports the centrist group is gaining steam — and raising money — in its effort to get a candidate on the 2024 ballot, with Joe Manchin at the top of their list.

Who is Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Joe Biden's campaign manager??The granddaughter of the great American labor leader Cesar Chavez has been named Joe Biden's campaign manager for the 2024 US presidential election. She will have to rally Hispanic voters in particular.?Le Monde

Flush with campaign cash, Tim Scott is set to join ’24 race: NYT reports the South Carolina senator will announce his campaign on Monday and then head to Iowa and New Hampshire.

Tim Scott files paperwork to run for president: Politico reports in his underdog campaign, Scott is seeking to form a coalition of traditional conservatives, evangelical Christians, and moderate Republicans.

NYP: Chris Christie to announce 2024 presidential run ‘in the coming days’

DeSantis amps up his retail campaign in New Hampshire: NYT reports the Florida governor met with state lawmakers and made the standard diner visit to press the flesh with voters, showcasing his more moderate side.

Unanswered questions about Trump and Russia: I have no reason to doubt the Durham report, but it’s still curious that Trump treated Putin so gently.?Peggy Noonan

+ "This wasn’t a first-class intelligence product. It wasn’t even second-class. It sounded like a former spy out of a job and making things up for money. And of course it turned out the whole thing came from a Hillary Clinton operative as part of an operation funded by the Clinton campaign. It was merely a Watergate-type dirty trick."

+ "But then, in July 2018, came a swerve in the opposite direction. The famous Helsinki news conference between President Trump and Vladimir Putin was shocking in a very different way."

+ "It was chilling: An American president, on foreign soil, was denigrating America’s own intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, undermining his own country, and in front of a dictator he would have known was guilty of interfering with a US election."

+ "Sen. John McCain called Helsinki, “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.” It was."

+ "He (Trump) never trashes Putin. What was that? What is it?"

Can Texas Democrats save themselves from extinction??The party has not effectively countered the Republican plan to crush liberal power in the Lone Star State.?TNR

Top DeSantis adviser has charted a lucrative path in GOP: Jeff Roe and his firm, Axiom Strategies, have guided thousands of campaigns and raked in hundreds of millions of dollars.?WP

BBC: US debt ceiling: Republicans hit 'pause' on negotiations for now

White House, GOP abruptly break off debt ceiling talks as deadline nears: WP reports the pause in talks is widely seen on Capitol Hill as a potential negotiating ploy from leaders aimed at assuring their bases that they are fighting aggressively for their sides’ priorities.

California governor wants to cut red tape for green energy projects: Gavin Newsom seeks to limit project delays under state environmental law, part of a national push to speed permitting.?WSJ

The wind-turbine industry should be booming. Why isn’t it??Stiff competition has combined with rising costs and other burdens.?Economist

Ford to scale back China investments amid EV competition from local rivals: FT reports chief executive Jim Farley warns there is no guarantee foreign companies can ‘win’ against local electric-car makers.

Stellantis threatens to close UK factories if Brexit is not renegotiated: Le Monde reports the transition to electric vehicles combined with the enactment of new clauses related to Brexit is weakening the British automotive industry.

Volkswagen exits Russia following sale of local assets: Le Monde reports the sale includes the German group's flagship factory in Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, which employs around 4,000 and delivers 225,000 vehicles annually.

Blue Origin?won a key contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Friday to develop a crewed lunar lander for delivering astronauts to the moon’s surface later this decade.

JetBlue-American partnership struck down by federal judge: NYT reports an alliance begun in 2021 at four airports in the New York area and Boston allowed the airlines to sell tickets on each other’s flights and share revenue.

Alibaba?will begin breaking itself up by spinning off its $12 billion cloud-computing arm and exploring listings for its grocery and logistics divisions.

Economist Daron Acemoglu: ‘When mistakes involve powerful technologies, you’re going to have trouble’: The MIT professor on how AI can benefit the workers, not ‘the takers’ — and seeing the world from Trump supporters’ point of view.?FT

Can AI be regulated??The technology has become a potential menace because of both its awesome power and its uncontrollability.?Richard Waters

Apple restricts employee use of ChatGPT, joining other companies wary of leaks: WSJ reports the iPhone maker is concerned workers could release confidential data as it develops its own similar technology.

Bloomberg: Instagram readies Twitter competitor for summer release

America is getting TikTok all wrong: The push to ban the app has clouded just how similar it is to the Silicon Valley giants.?Tim Hwang + Tianyu Fang

+ Nowadays, it is hard to find advocates in the U.S. or China for the early, utopian vision of the web. This dream of a borderless internet open for free expression and independent of national interference was always fraught: overly simplistic, problematic in its absolutism, and frequently impractical. But the ever more nationalist, ever more restricted internet may be a great deal worse.

Lazard CEO Ken Jacobs prepares to step down, yield reins to lieutenant: WSJ reports advisory-unit chief Peter Orszag is expected to take the top job.

Harrison Ford holds back tears at Cannes premiere of final ‘Indiana Jones’: WP reports Harrison Ford received an honorary Palme d’Or as "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

'Killers of the Flower Moon' by Scorsese to premiere at Cannes Film Festival: Le Monde reports the American filmmaker has not been featured in the film festival's official selection since 'After Hours,' in 1986.

RIP: Jim Brown

The Tao of Spo: Erik Spoelstra’s compassion, competitiveness and confrontations.?Jason Quick

+ “He was like, ‘You can’t just come in here and shoot. You can’t just come in here and do it. You have to compete. You have to push yourself. And you have to do it every day.’ ”

+ “Spo understands that to get to the other side, you have to go through the fire. And the only way you get to the other side and give yourself a chance is to get everything out on the table.”

The thankless job that produced the NBA playoffs’ best coach: Erik Spoelstra joined the Miami Heat almost three decades ago to cut up game film for the coaching staff. Now he’s using what he learned to lead the club on a shocking championship chase.?WSJ

Texas man Mason Cox becomes unlikely Australian rules football star?60 Minutes

Bob Baffert returns to the Triple Crown stage — and a reeling sport?WP

SCMP Australia set for Argentina football friendly in China, in bid to ‘improve relations’ with Beijing

+ World champions could face Australia in an international football friendly at Bird’s Nest stadium next month.

+ Incentive for Argentina financial, with Australia reportedly keen to shore up diplomatic interests with China after years of troubled ties.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc?

Marc A. Ross | Chief Communications Strategist @ Caracal

Caracal produces ITK Daily.

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