Caracal Daily | July 24

Caracal Daily | July 24

Caracal Daily is geopolitical business news + intelligence for comms pros.

Geopolitics is disrupting every business and industry. Caracal is here to help.

Always Be Communicating.

Happy Wednesday.

Here’s today’s Caracal Daily:

*** Ross Rant ***

Harris is no Palin

Working on the McCain presidential campaign, I recall the unprecedented excitement and energy when Palin was named to the ticket.

Volunteers up.

Campaign contributions up.

Polling numbers across the board up.

Palin's nomination caused a surge to her inclusion in the campaign.

With Harris now leading the Democratic nomination, the excitement and energy are not the same—they are more intense! 

And it's clear that Harris is more than capable of handling the demands of a national campaign and has the smarts to lead the nation.

Democracy is wild.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***

EU, US near deal on $50B loan to Ukraine: Politico reports the loan would be paid back using profits from invested frozen Russian assets.

The flashpoints that threaten a détente between China and the Philippines: Manila fears control of Sabina Shoal could help Beijing enforce territorial claims over disputed region. FT

China brokers Palestinian unity declaration in bid to be global mediator: WP reports though unlikely to paper over the deep differences between Hamas and Fatah, it represents China’s push into a traditionally US area of influence.

China initiative set out to catch spies. It didn’t find many: A three-year-old Department of Justice program has produced few convictions—and lots of complaints about racism and FBI misconduct. Bloomberg

China’s Xi Jinping bets on high tech for ‘great rejuvenation’: Communist party’s third plenum reinforces focus on self-sufficiency but fails to assuage fears about weak consumption or oversupply. FT

Reuters: Kremlin says Russian Arctic cooperation with China is not aimed against anyone after Pentagon expresses concern

Russia’s new punching bag: Kamala Harris: Politico reports while the Kremlin is playing it cool, its army of propagandists is rolling out its full racist and sexist arsenal.

Russian arrested over 'destabilisation' plot for Paris Olympics: prosecutors: AFP reports French police on Tuesday arrested a Russian man suspected of plotting acts of "destabilisation" during the Paris Olympics, prosecutors said.

UK has three years to prepare for war, army chief says: General Sir Roly Walker unveils reform plan to deal with ‘geopolitical threats’ of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. FT

Europe should stop hand-wringing about Trump — and be more constructive: A little more reflection and a little less contempt might go a long way toward creating the kind of enduring transatlantic consensus we need. Nadia Schadlow

Trump destabilized Canada in 2016. Trudeau doesn’t want it to happen again. Team Canada is driven by a single mission: To protect a $2.7B trading relationship. Politico

***  US Politics + Elections ***

WP: Secret Service director resigns

+ Kimberly Cheatle faced scrutiny after attempted assassination of Trump at rally

+ “As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse”

Secret Service encourages Trump campaign to stop outdoor rallies: WP reports Trump campaign is scouting indoor venues, such as basketball arenas and other large spaces where thousands of people can fit, people familiar with the request said.

Today: President Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office at 8:00 PM ET on what lies ahead and how he will finish the job.

WP: Harris hits the trail, powered by endorsements, money and delegates

Historic flood of cash pours into Harris campaign and allied groups: WP reports Democrats reported raising more than $250 million since Biden announced he was leaving the presidential race and endorsed the vice president.

Democratic foreign policy heavyweights endorse Harris in open letter: John Kerry, Susan Rice and others in the Democratic foreign policy establishment are lining up behind Kamala Harris for president, noting her international leadership. WP

Shapiro, Kelly, and Cooper frontrunners to be Harris’s running mate, say donors: FT reports three swing-state Democrats top list of candidates being vetted by former Obama official Eric Holder.

How Kamala Harris locked up the nomination in 48 hours: Vice President Kamala Harris moved quickly after President Biden’s exit to sew up delegates’ support, as potential challengers backed her instead. WSJ

There’s a lot more to the Kamala Harris memes than you think: ‘They’re actually very fortunate as a campaign that this grassroots silliness has emerged’ TC

NYT: Trump campaign files complaint over transfer of Biden funds to Harris

Bloomberg: Trump floated Jamie Dimon for Treasury Secretary, then denies it

+ ‘He is somebody that I would consider,’ Trump said in June

+ On Truth Social, he also denies considering BlackRock’s Fink

CNBC: Trump says he is willing to debate Harris multiple times

Washington’s most powerful interests don’t know whether to cheer Harris — or dread her: Would she bring continuity with Joe Biden’s policies? A more centrist vibe? A sharper progressive bite? Industries including tech, energy and pharma want to know. Politico

What Fortune 500 CEOs could expect from a Kamala Harris administration Fortune

Fortune: Kamala Harris could mean an end to Democrats’ hard line on crypto—but it’s too soon to say for sure

Here's where Kamala Harris stands on tech issues including AI, Big Tech, and crypto BI

Fortune: Elon Musk backs down from $45 million a month pledge to Trump, says he doesn’t ‘subscribe to cult of personality’

Bob Menendez to resign Senate seat after federal bribery conviction: WP reports a storied career in New Jersey politics comes to an end as Menendez bows to calls to leave the Senate after his conviction on federal bribery and corruption charges.

Senators demand OpenAI detail efforts to make its AI safe: Following a Washington Post report, five lawmakers ask the artificial intelligence start-up to describe how it will ensure its tools don’t cause harm. WP

*** Disruption + Innovation ***

People want more protein. Even at dessert. People are flocking to ice cream, cakes and cookies with extra protein mixed in. They don’t always need the boost. WSJ

GM delays EV projects in latest industry pullback: The automaker said it would delay plans for a new Buick electric vehicle and push back the opening of an EV truck factory in Michigan. WSJ

A culture war on wheels: Elon Musk’s Cybertruck is inspiring a lot of strong feelings. NYT

Sunday was the hottest day ever recorded on Earth, scientists say: WP reports the historic day comes on the heels of 13 straight months of unprecedented temperatures and the hottest year scientists have ever seen.

AI firms will soon exhaust most of the internet’s data: Can they create more? Economist

Meta releases open-source AI model it says rivals OpenAI, Google tech: WP reports CEO Mark Zuckerberg says its Llama AI models, which are available to anyone, will surpass competitors next year. But the open approach has its critics too.

+ @AIatMeta: Starting today, open source is leading the way. Introducing Llama 3.1: Our most capable models yet. Today we’re releasing a collection of new Llama 3.1 models including our long awaited 405B. These models deliver improved reasoning capabilities, a larger 128K token context window and improved support for 8 languages among other improvements. Llama 3.1 405B rivals leading closed source models on state-of-the-art capabilities across a range of tasks in general knowledge, steerability, math, tool use and multilingual translation.

Zuckerberg aims to rival OpenAI, Google with new Llama AI model: The Meta CEO defends both his open source strategy and a massive investment in artificial intelligence. Bloomberg

Cloud and AI lift Google-parent quarterly profit: AFP reports Google-parent Alphabet on Tuesday reported profit and revenue that beat expectations as its AI-amped cloud and search ads businesses thrived.

Alphabet revenue jump shows no sign of AI denting search business: FT reports cloud computing growth shows continued demand as companies race to build large language models.

The rise of the AI gadget could free us from our smartphones. We just need to find the right device Fortune

Insurers’ losses from global IT outage could reach billions: FT reports disruption to companies’ systems estimated to be most significant loss event since NotPetya malware attacks of 2017.

Wiz turns down Google: Fortune reports cybersecurity startup Wiz, valued at $12 billion, is turning down Google’s offer to buy the company. Instead, Wiz will seek to go public via an IPO, according to an internal memo.

*** Culture ***

Venice Film Festival lineup: Variety reports ‘Joker 2’ With Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie’s ‘Maria’ and Luca Guadagnino’s Daniel Craig-Led ‘Queer’ to Debut in Competition

''Have you ever seen a shrink?' I always ask on the first date': When mental health enters the dating scene: Seducing by highlighting your 'personality type,' talking about your shrink, expecting your suitors to be aware of their 'traumas': The vocabulary of psychology has crept into our romantic lives. And dating apps are capitalizing on the trend. Le Monde

*** Sport ***

NFL and Players Association discuss a potential 18-game season: WP reports the NFLPA’s Lloyd Howell left open the possibility that an 18-game season could go into effect before the expiration of the current labor deal.

AFP: Former Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto to head Audi F1 project


Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc 

Marc A. Ross | Chief Communications Strategist @ Caracal