Flagship

US House advances Ukraine aid bill

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a bill providing billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. The House is eyeing a Saturday vote on the proposal — which President Joe Biden supports, but some Republicans don’t — following months of gridlock despite urgent pleas for assistance from Kyiv: At least 17 people were killed in a Russian missile strike on the city of Chernihiv on Wednesday, an attack Ukraine said could have been thwarted if it had received enough air defense assistance. Germany, meanwhile, urged dozens of countries including some Gulf Arab states to send spare air defense systems from their arsenals to Kyiv.

EU ‘worried’ about Trump impact

The European Union’s top trade official acknowledged Wednesday that the bloc is “worried” about how Donald Trump may approach trade and the war in Ukraine if he returns to the White House. Speaking at the Semafor World Economy Summit, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis pointed to Trump’s “past statements and track record,” including his history of launching “several trade conflicts.” During his time as president, Trump sparked a trade war with the EU, curbing imports of European steel and aluminum, prompting the bloc to impose tariffs on American whisky and motorcycles. Another Trump term may include more of the same: The ex-president is reportedly preparing broad minimum tariffs against the EU and China of up to 10%.

Other major stories from our World Economy Summit include:

• Germany and the US differ on the consequences of the Inflation Reduction Act.
• Nigeria’s government is targeting a 60% jump in revenues to relieve the country’s debt.
• Europe wants to use revenue generated from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
• The US Department of Transportation’s watchdog is looking into the FAA’s oversight of Boeing.

Biden accuses China of ‘cheating’ on steel

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday proposed tripling tariffs on imports of Chinese steel and aluminum, accusing Beijing of “cheating” to lower its steel prices. The restrictions are part of a series of protectionist measures aimed at China during an election year in which economic and foreign policy are centrals issue. Despite the trade tensions, the U.S. shouldn’t fully “de-link” economically from China, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday at the Semafor World Economy Summit. “If stuff is readily available around the world, I don’t want to prevent U.S. companies from selling that to China,” she said, noting for example that — despite American curbs — U.S. firms sell billions of dollars worth of semiconductors to China.

Falling confidence in US military, courts

Americans’ collective belief in their country’s institutions is waning. Confidence in the U.S. military, judiciary, and national government have all fallen in the last year, according to new Gallup data. For the first time since polling began nearly 20 years ago, the U.S. now trails behind the other leading industrialized nations in the G-7 in residents’ trust in their institutions — in 2006, the U.S. topped the list. The decline is worrying: “Strong and credible institutions count among the best guarantors of a country’s long-term stability,” a recent Economist piece noted. “Blind trust in authority is dangerous, and a degree of scepticism can be healthy. But America’s slide towards becoming an ever more distrusting place has perils of its own.”

India’s huge foreign policy shifts

Domestic political critiques of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy illustrate how much the country’s international relations have shifted during his decade in power, a prominent analyst argued. Opposition parties’ views of Modi’s foreign policy challenge “a widespread view that consensus and continuity mark the conduct of India’s international relations,” C. Raja Mohan wrote in The Indian Express. In particular, as the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank noted in a recent report, a stronger relationship with the U.S. “remains essential to Modi’s vision.” That represents a marked contrast from historic Indian policy, variously described as “non-alignment” or more recently “strategic autonomy,” which de facto viewed Washington with suspicion.

Millionaires flee Africa

Thousands of rich Africans have either left the continent or seen their wealth drop over the past decade as their nations’ currencies depreciated and stock markets underperformed. According to a report, the 135,200 millionaires in Africa represent an 8% drop from 2013. Governments should encourage policies that drive “local investment and mitigates talent and capital flight,” consultancy Henley & Partners wrote in the report. There are still pockets of immense wealth: South Africa and Egypt are home to the most money, while the island nation of Mauritius emerged as the world’s third-fastest growing hub for millionaires. Despite the economic woes, Africa is projected to increase its millionaire population in the next decade, fueled partly by fintech and green tech.

Join us via livestream for the final day of the 2024 World Economy Summit to hear from some of the world’s most influential economic and business decision makers regarding Global Finance, the Rising Global Middle Class, and Global AI & Policy. Sessions kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET.

NBA bans athlete over gambling

The National Basketball Association banned a player for life for violating gambling rules, further calling into question U.S. professional sports’ ties to online gambling. Jontay Porter, a relative unknown for his on-court performance, placed bets on games, limited his participation in competitions, and conveyed confidential information to gamblers, the NBA said. The announcement comes just days after baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani’s translator handed himself in to authorities for allegedly stealing $16 million from the athlete to fuel a gambling addiction. U.S. professional basketball and baseball both have lucrative sponsorship deals with online gambling websites, thereby suggesting “to fans that gambling and betting on games is a fun pastime,” one analyst wrote. “The impact … is already being felt.”

Global wind power capacity up 50%

The global wind industry added 117 gigawatts of new capacity in 2023, up 50% from the previous year and enough to power about 80 million homes at full output. The Global Wind Energy Council’s annual report said that wind’s total global capacity is over 1,000 gigawatts, more than 30 times New York City’s peak demand. The GWEC’s CEO pointed out, though, that growth is short of that needed to triple capacity by 2030, as agreed at last year’s COP28 climate conference. China led the way once again, with 65% of new installations, but dozens of countries expanded their wind capacity. The report highlighted Kenya, which already gets 17% of its electricity from wind and is planning a new 1-gigawatt wind farm to come online in 2028.

Oxford shuts path-breaking center

Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute closed down. The institute, founded by Nick Bostrom in 2005, researched possible risks to human survival — Bostrom was among the first to outline the dangers of an artificial intelligence apocalypse, in his 2014 book Superintelligence. FHI ideas were also influential in the effective altruism movement, notably the idea of longtermism, and how to account for the moral importance of the trillions of humans who could live in the future. But it faced “administrative headwinds” from the Oxford philosophy department, according to a farewell statement, and its fundraising and hiring were frozen in 2020. Its legacy is significant: The once-niche topics it championed are now mainstream, pursued by AI companies and in government.

Electric robot meant for ‘real-world’ use

Boston Dynamics, the company known for its widely shared videos of humanoid and shockingly agile robots, is going electric. The firm retired its hydraulic bot on Tuesday, a day before unveiling an electric version that can spin its head around 180 degrees and features a round screen as a face. Boston Dynamics has “warded off reactionary complaints of robopocalypse for decades,” opting for a “kinder, gentler design” that can walk, easily turn, and get up if it gets knocked down, TechCrunch said. The company said the bot is “designed for real-world applications.” Its four-legged robot, Spot, is already being used at construction sites and by police agencies, but critics worry about a lack of transparency over how many are deployed and what they do.

April 18:

• China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi begins a tour of Indonesia, Cambodia, and Papua New Guinea, in an effort to promote ongoing projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.
• Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari delivers his first parliamentary address at a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.
• Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC reports first quarter results.

Oldboy, the highly acclaimed 2003 South Korean film based on a Japanese manga, is being turned into an English-language series. The original Park Chan-wook movie tells the story of a man trapped in a room for 15 years without knowing the identity of his captor, before seeking revenge on the person who trapped him. It’s already been remade over the years: A 2013 English-language version directed by Spike Lee received negative reviews, and a 2006 Bollywood movie generated controversy for bearing a strong resemblance to Oldboy, but not being an officially sanctioned remake. It also bombed at the box office. The upcoming English series, though, will be produced by Park, the original director.

• AI startup Tome makes cuts in pursuit of new focus.
• Europe, US divided over support for Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil.
• Is there enough text to feed the AI beast?