Flagship

Putin meets US envoys in Moscow

Even before Tuesday’s high-stakes meeting between US negotiators and Russia’s leader concluded in Moscow, the consensus was that Vladimir Putin would not compromise enough to end the Ukraine war. Ahead of his closed-door gathering with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Putin warned that Russia would defeat Europe if it wanted war. His hawkish remarks, The Guardian suggested, were aimed at “driving a wedge” between Washington, which drafted a Russia-friendly peace plan, and European governments that backed Ukraine’s push to revise it. Despite the diplomatic frenzy, analysts are skeptical Putin will accept a watered-down deal. Ukraine’s president appeared optimistic about the speedy negotiations, but said he was afraid the Americans might tire of peace efforts.

Trump escalates Venezuela showdown

US President Donald Trump’s escalating showdown with Venezuela is a make-or-break moment for his foreign policy in Latin America, analysts said. Trump on Tuesday said he would soon start land strikes inside Venezuela, despite facing blowback over lethal attacks on suspected drug boats, a campaign he has cast as a crackdown on cartels. But Trump’s pardon of Honduras’ former president, a convicted drug trafficker, complicates Washington’s tough-on-drugs messaging, Semafor’s DC team noted. The strikes are doing little to staunch the flow of narcotics to the US primarily from Mexico and Colombia, and experts believe Trump ultimately wants to oust Venezuela’s strongman leader. It’s a “regime change adventure… in danger of degenerating into a strategic, political and legal morass,” a CNN analyst argued.

The rise of ‘Y’all Street’

As more US businesses relocate to Texas, some wonder if “Y’all Street” will replace Wall Street. By 2026, the NYSE Texas, the Texas Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq Texas will be operational in Dallas. As the US economy shifts toward the Sun Belt, Texas will be closer than New York to the “places where stuff gets made,” a Washington Post columnist argued, and therefore a superior financial center. One billionaire has especially embraced the state’s lack of red tape: Elon Musk is turning a Texan city into a “full-fledged company town,” featuring staff homes, a science center, and gym, Bloomberg reported. But Wall Street’s dethronement is just a “fun story,” Semafor’s Liz Hoffman recently wrote. “Don’t mistake it for reality.”

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US soldiers ride the bull market

An investment frenzy has birthed multimillionaires in the US military. Prone to risk-taking and flush with disposable income, troops got hooked on investing during the crypto boom of 2021. Seven of the top 15 zip codes reporting digital currency transactions were military bases — natural incubators for investment ideas, where soldiers enjoy ample downtime and tips travel by word of mouth. Some have since ridden tech stocks and bitcoin to a six-figure nest egg (and, in some cases, a new Porsche), The Wall Street Journal reported. Some of the younger beneficiaries, though, have only known market growth and haven’t hedged their bets accordingly. If the bubble bursts, “they’re in for some hurt,” a financial adviser and Air Force veteran warned.

Construction thrives amid data center boom

The data center boom is driving a surge in US construction. One contractor went from managing six employees to 200 as they built a major new center in Columbus. Data centers don’t employ many people once they’re set up, The Wall Street Journal reported, but they require hundreds of skilled workers to erect. The contractors often earn up to 30% more on these jobs than they did before. In the UK, data centers have had another knock-on effect: The heat they generate is being used to warm homes. One elderly veteran told the BBC that his heating bill dropped from $500 a month to around $50 after he installed a mini server farm in place of a boiler.

Chinese food and drink chains eye US

Chinese food and beverage chains are expanding aggressively in the US in an attempt to escape punishing price wars at home. Luckin Coffee, Heytea, and Haidilao are among the Chinese brands boosting their US presence, with outlets opening in California and New York. The sector in China itself is suffering “severe oversupply,” an analyst told The New York Times; there are three times as many food and drink establishments per capita as in the US, and half of new restaurants close within a year, while competition across the Pacific is seen as less fierce. US brands’ expansion into China, meanwhile, is slowing: Starbucks and Burger King have both sold much of their Chinese businesses to local investment firms.

As the AI boom intensifies pressure on America’s energy systems and infrastructure, lawmakers across the aisle are pursuing permitting reform to unlock new opportunities and cut through the political and regulatory barriers standing in the way of viable solutions.

On Tuesday, December 9, join Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., and Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., for on-stage conversations examining what’s at stake and potential bipartisan solutions to the challenges emerging from this greater technological revolution.

China’s comedians test censorship

Some comedians are excelling in China despite tight controls on speech. Stand-up comedy venues are now the country’s second-largest theater draw after plays, thanks in part to viral online shows. But to make it, jokesters must deftly navigate the country’s censors: Domestic politics, vulgarity, and fraught social issues are strictly off-limits. “Maybe our chips aren’t the best, but under the environment of limited computing — or, in the case of stand-up, limited freedom — we have developed better skills,” one comic told Bloomberg. There’s still a well of material to draw from, including tough work environments, social life, and the “lying flat” trend. Comedy also serves as catharsis amid economic pressures — and for the government, a valuable tool to gauge public sentiment.

Neolithic relics under Westminster

Excavations under the Palace of Westminster — currently occupied by the UK’s Houses of Parliament — revealed evidence of settlements going back 6,000 years. London’s clay is full of ancient materials; the Viking King Canute is said to have tried to turn back the tides where the palace now stands, and several Roman ruins have been uncovered. The Westminster digs are part of exploratory works to inform the Palace’s 20-year, $17 billion restoration, Artnet reported. The building, a mere 155 years old, is deteriorating badly. Archeologists have also found stone tools from the Neolithic period, 1,400 years older than the Great Pyramid of Giza; in those days, inhabitants did their backstabbing with flint knives.