Flagship

Russia reaffirms China ties

Russia is seeking to reaffirm ties with China after Beijing patched up relations with the US last week. Days after Donald Trump’s landmark summit with Xi Jinping, a Russian delegation led by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived for talks in Hangzhou on Monday. Moscow is “likely uncomfortable” with the seemingly constructive Trump-Xi meeting, CNBC noted, especially as Trump grows more frustrated over the Kremlin’s refusal to end the war in Ukraine. But Washington “isn’t offering anything fundamental to get China to abandon cooperation with Russia,” a Carnegie Endowment expert told Meduza. Notably, Trump said he didn’t raise the issue of Beijing’s purchases of Russian oil during his meeting with Xi.

Microsoft to ship Nvidia chips to UAE

The US government gave Microsoft the green light to ship Nvidia AI chips to the United Arab Emirates, the first such approval after the countries struck a deal over the advanced technology in May. The exports mark a win for the Gulf’s lofty AI ambitions, as some in Washington worry the partnership could backfire given the UAE’s close links to China. The debate reflects how Nvidia — on a deal-making spree in recent months — is caught in the middle of the US-China rivalry. The American chip giant wants Washington to allow sales of a new generation of AI chips to China, but President Donald Trump reportedly rejected that request, siding with China hawks who argue the exports threaten national security.

Building a post-Trump world economy

Economists frequently lament the enduring consequences of US President Donald Trump’s reshaping of global trade, but a prominent Harvard economist is optimistic that it will create space to build new economic paradigms. In his new book, Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World, Dani Rodrik, a longtime critic of “hyperglobalization,” argues that Trump’s protectionist posture won’t revive American manufacturing, but he also advocates against the return of a pre-Trump global rules-based system. Instead, he told The New Yorker, governments should prioritize domestic policies that restore the middle class, reduce poverty, and tackle climate change. Rodrik points to China’s vast green energy industrialization: “What we require is not a revolution; it is a reconfiguration of our priorities and policies.”

Tylenol deal tests merger trend

US consumer goods giant Kimberly-Clark on Monday struck a deal to buy the maker of Tylenol, marking the latest test of corporate America’s renewed taste for takeovers. Investors are skeptical the $49 billion merger with Kenvue will get past US President Donald Trump, who has championed the idea — which many scientists reject — that Tylenol is dangerous for pregnant women. The state of Texas recently sued Kenvue, though the company feels litigation risks are overblown. European and Chinese regulators will also have to sign off on the deal, raising concerns that it could become another geopolitical bargaining chip, Semafor’s Rohan Goswami noted. Merger activity is up in 2025, particularly among large companies; September megadeal volume increased 80% year-over-year, according to EY.

Western left eyes NYC mayor’s race

Left-leaning Western politicians are watching New York City’s mayoral election on Tuesday as they look to claw back right-wing populist gains. Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, is on track to win following an optimistic, affordability-focused campaign, despite criticisms about his inexperience and controversy over his pro-Palestine stance. Leftist factions from France and Germany sent delegates to New York to study how Mamdani used social media to campaign on “radical change,” Politico reported. In the US, The Ringer wrote, Democrats struggling to chart a path forward one year after Donald Trump’s comeback could take a cue from Mamdani’s campaign, which is “less invested in the culture war and personality flaws of Trump and more responsive to the priorities of working-class voters.”

MAGA rift over antisemitism

A feud over whether antisemites have a home in Donald Trump’s movement is rippling through the Republican Party. The head of a leading MAGA think tank on Friday defended conservative pundit Tucker Carlson for his warm interview with the white nationalist leader Nick Fuentes. The right’s “firewall” against Fuentes is “crumbling,” The Atlantic wrote, creating a schism: Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro attacked Fuentes and Carlson, saying, “These people aren’t to my right. They’re not attached in any way to the fundamental principles of conservatism.” The clash “will reveal much about the future of the Republican Party,” the center-right Free Press wrote, suggesting that some leaders like JD Vance have “signaled a willingness to accept white Christian nationalists in their coalition.”

On November 12 at Cipriani South Street in New York, the Dubai Business Forum will convene CEOs, senior executives, and policymakers for a day of high-level conversations on global growth, AI disruption, and cross-border collaboration — examining the strategic opportunity Dubai provides for adaptive, forward-thinking companies. Featured speakers include H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori (Chairman, Dubai Chambers), Jose Minaya (Global Head, BNY Investments and Wealth), Jared Cohen (President of Global Affairs and Co-Head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute, Goldman Sachs) and Ola Doudin (CEO, BitOasis).

The Dubai Business Forum USA, powered by Dubai Chambers, is produced in partnership with Semafor’s events and marketing teams, with select editorial sessions independently developed and led by Semafor’s newsroom.

Sicily could be Europe’s next desert

Sicily is experiencing the dramatic consequences of climate change. The Italian island of 5 million people is suffering ever more heat waves and droughts, but also dangerous storms and floods, owing to increased humidity and low-pressure cyclones in the Mediterranean. In 2021, Sicily saw Europe’s highest temperature, 48.8°C (120°F), and in February the northeast received three months’ rain in four hours. Sea levels have risen appreciably, and wheat production is falling. Sicily “is on the front lines of what many countries in the northern hemisphere are going to endure,” one climatologist told Le Monde. The island’s interior saw rainfall only once from January to June last year: “Welcome to the next desert in Europe,” one agronomist said.

Orcas hunt great white sharks

Orcas off Mexico have begun hunting great white sharks by tipping them upside down. Killer whales are among the world’s most sophisticated hunters: Different groups have different strategies with some hunting dolphins and whales, others salmon, some seals (sometimes by launching them in the air with their tails). Orcas have previously been observed hunting great whites off South Africa — where it has apparently led to a major change in shark behavior, with the great whites essentially abandoning their main habitat — but never before in the western Atlantic, and the sighting demonstrates their versatility, The Washington Post reported. When flipped upside down, sharks enter a state of paralysis called tonic immobility, which allows the orcas to attack their nutritious livers.

Internet Archive stores 1 trillionth webpage

The Internet Archive stored its 1 trillionth webpage, but is bruised after years of legal fights. The digital repository has spent three decades preserving the web for posterity, and is a valuable resource for those who need to see what websites used to look like — historians, legal professionals, and investigative journalists among them. But the archive expanded its mission a few years ago to create an e-book lending library. It digitized millions of books, triggering a series of lawsuits from publishers; cases have now been settled, but the library has been removed. Publishers said the e-library would hurt profits, but the archive told Ars Technica it was intended to help researchers, and would not have affected book sales.