Flagship

US races to avert shutdown

US lawmakers raced to pull together a last-minute spending deal in order to avert a government shutdown. A long-negotiated agreement was cast aside following opposition from President-elect Donald Trump, and a subsequent, hastily assembled proposal backed by Trump also failed, with a closure of most federal government operations looming from this weekend. The impacts would be far-reaching if prior experience is any guide, from delays at airports over the holiday period to broader economic damage, The New York Times said. The political crisis also signals a potential faultline between Trump and his billionaire backer, Elon Musk, with the president-elect’s team pushing back against claims that interventions by the Tesla owner — “President Musk” to some — were more important than his own.

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Semafor announces the launch of The CEO Signal from Semafor Business, an exclusive, invitation-only membership for chief executives of the world’s largest companies.

Helmed by veteran Financial Times editor Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, the initiative builds on the success of Liz Hoffman’s Semafor Business and sets a new standard for how global leaders connect, learn, and navigate future challenges. Focusing on exclusivity over scale, the platform will debut as a weekly briefing in January 2025 offering candid, practical insights and interviews tailored for global CEOs who are short on time and seeking actionable intelligence.

You can request an invitation for the debut edition here. →

Syria’s ‘flame of hope’

Senior US diplomats arrived in Damascus for their first talks with Syria’s new, de facto rulers since Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow. The meeting is one among several that Western powers are undertaking with a group that many countries still list as a terrorist organization. It comes as Washington said it had more than doubled its troop presence in the country. The rebels who ousted Assad have called for sanctions to be lifted and for economic support to flow, downplaying their Islamist roots while promising to uphold minority rights and ensure a fair justice system. The country’s potential progress, the UN secretary-general said, offers a “flame of hope” amidst the Middle East’s “many fires.”

Russia economy in focus

Russia’s central bank unexpectedly held its benchmark interest rate firm, despite what even President Vladimir Putin acknowledged were signs of an overheating economy. A weaker ruble has combined with labor shortages — both a fallout of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine — to drive annual inflation to 8.9%, while the IMF projects a “sharp slowdown” in economic growth. Policymakers faced a difficult choice, though: Raising rates would have drawn the ire of major businesses and some ministers, while holding fire could risk unleashing inflation further. “The intense pressure on the central bank,” The Bell, an outlet focused on the Russian economy, wrote, “shows the stakes are unusually high.”

China defense minister spotted

China’s defense minister met with top Vietnamese officials in Hanoi, an appearance that quelled speculation his job was in jeopardy. Beijing had denied a Financial Times story last month citing US sources to say Dong Jun was being investigated for corruption, but the minister’s low profile following the article had fueled doubts over whether China was obfuscating. The country’s military has been rocked by a series of corruption investigations in recent years: More than a dozen top officials have been fired since 2017, according to Bloomberg, but few details are available into the depth or breadth of investigations, underscoring the persistent opacity surrounding Chinese authorities’ decision-making.

Australia shores up Pacific ties

Australia agreed to spend $118 million to help train and fund police officers in the Solomon Islands, part of a growing competition between Canberra and Beijing in the Pacific. China had signed a deal with the Solomons in 2022 to allow its own security instructors to work in the country, drawing alarm in Australia and Western capitals fearful that the agreement offered Beijing a path to building naval capacity in the region. Since then, Australia has moved to shore up ties with Pacific nations, inking deals with Nauru, Papua New Guinea, and Tuvalu that in effect give Canberra veto power over those countries’ security cooperation with third countries — meaning, China.

Migration drives US population growth

The US population’s recent growth is almost entirely driven by immigration. The Census Bureau said population growth was at its highest since 2001, with an almost 1% increase — 3.3 million people — between 2023 and 2024. It found 84% of that was international arrivals. Like much of the rich world, the US depends on migration for population growth: The UK’s population growth last year was entirely down to immigration, and Australia also saw a rapidly growing population, also driven by migration. But despite its importance, it is unpopular. US border authorities deported 271,484 people last fiscal year, The Washington Post reported, the most in 10 years, and President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to further limit migration.

Will Carlos Watson’s conviction change the digital media business? On Monday, the founder of Ozy Media was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for fraud. Today, in Ben’s first extensive conversation about Ozy since Watson’s arrest, he and Nayeema discuss the company, the scandal, and what it reveals about the broader digital media and advertising business. They are joined by Madison and Wall analyst and former GroupM Global President for Business Intelligence, Brian Wieser, to explore why marketers and investors were duped by Watson, what changed in the aftermath, and what the next digital media scam might be.

Listen to the latest episode of Mixed Signals now. →

Madagascar’s animals repatriated

Almost 1,000 trafficked animals were returned from Thailand to Madagascar in one of the largest-ever repatriation operations of its kind. Animal smuggling is a multibillion-dollar industry, especially in Asia, with networks trafficking exotic creatures for sale as pets. Thailand is a hub for both legal and illegal wildlife trade, Al Jazeera reported: It was Southeast Asia’s largest legitimate importer of Madagascan animals, but also recorded the second-highest number of seizures of illegal wildlife from the country after Madagascar itself. Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity makes it a target for poachers: 90% of its species are unique to the island and its endangered lemurs and tortoises are particularly vulnerable.

Latam’s unexpected biodiversity

Dozens of new species were discovered in Latin America. A research trip to Peru’s Alto Mayo region revealed a semiaquatic mouse, a “bizarre” blob-nosed catfish, and a tree-climbing salamander, among 27 previously unknown animals. Separately, scientists documented 35 new species of lizard on Caribbean islands. Alto Mayo is home to hundreds of thousands of people, so the researchers thought “there wouldn’t be very high biodiversity,” one told The New York Times. “But we found the exact opposite.” It goes to show, another said, how many “species there still are to discover.” It’s not all good news, though: Across Latin America, species are under threat from habitat loss. A third of the newly identified Caribbean lizards are critically endangered.