Kamala Harris lays out positions on China, Ukraine and Gaza

Good morning. At the moment we might be taking a look at:

• Feedback by the governor of the Financial institution of Japan the place he warned international markets have been “unstable”.

• Why Nestlé chief government Mark Schneider is stepping down after eight years.

• If the UK could make carbon seize a viable a part of its web zero coverage.

However first we’ll check out Kamala Harris’s 40-minute primetime speech accepting the Democratic nomination which provided the clearest assertion so far on what US international coverage would appear to be below her management.

Harris mentioned that as president she would guarantee “America, not China, wins the competitors for the twenty first century” and promised to “stand sturdy with Ukraine and our Nato allies”. She additionally spoke at size in regards to the Center East, saying she would “at all times guarantee Israel has the flexibility to defend itself” whereas describing the size of human struggling in Gaza as “heartbreaking”.

In feedback that garnered roars of approval from the group, she added: “President Biden and I are working to finish this warfare such that Israel is safe, the hostages are launched, the struggling in Gaza ends and the Palestinian folks can realise their proper to dignity, safety, freedom and self-determination.”

Chatting with tens of hundreds of thousands of viewers throughout the US, Harris additionally warned of the results of placing Donald Trump again within the White Home and mentioned the nation had a “treasured, fleeting alternative” to chart a brand new path. Read more about her speech here.

• Gaza protests: As Harris spoke in regards to the warfare, pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outdoors the conference, warning that US backing for Israel would cost her votes.

• RFK marketing campaign nears finish: Robert F Kennedy Jr is anticipate to finish his bid for the presidency quickly and endorse Donald Trump. A transfer the previous president mentioned he could be “honoured” by.

With the tip of the DNC, Harris now faces strain to maintain this surge of Democratic assist alive. Sign up for our US Election Countdown publication for the newest updates on this subsequent part.

Right here’s what else I’m preserving tabs on at the moment:

• Financial knowledge: The European Central Financial institution releases its shopper expectations survey, France publishes its enterprise confidence survey and GfK has its shopper confidence survey for the UK.

• Federal Reserve: Chair Jay Powell’s speech at Jackson Gap might be intently watched by traders after a prime Fed official on the symposium warned towards “self-fulfilling” pessimism on the US economic system.

Thanks for studying FirstFT. Do you may have any questions in regards to the US presidential race? E mail us at firstft@ft.com or hit “reply” and bear in mind to incorporate your identify and the place you’re writing from. We’ll reply as many as potential in a particular weekend version of the publication.

5 extra prime tales

1. The governor of Japan’s central financial institution Kazuo Ueda mentioned international markets “stay unstable” in remarks to the nation’s parliament on Friday. Ueda defended the financial institution’s charge improve in July to 0.25 per cent saying the rise was to “reaffirm that the economic system was typically shifting in keeping with our financial and value outlook, significantly the outlook for inflation”. Read more of his remarks here.

2. The US has mentioned Mexican judicial reforms pose a “main danger” to the nation’s democracy threatening to deepen a rift between the 2 on migration and commerce. The feedback by US ambassador Ken Salazar stand in sharp distinction to lower than every week in the past when he mentioned facets of the reforms have been “a chance to do good issues”. Read more here.

• South American politics: Javier Milei’s bid to stability Argentina’s price range was dealt a blow as lawmakers within the senate voted for a new formula for calculating pensions that might extra absolutely account for Argentina’s triple-digit inflation.

3. AI-driven coding assistants have amassed practically $1bn of funding for the reason that begin of final 12 months, a sign that software program engineering is changing into the primary “killer app” for generative synthetic intelligence. However this rising conviction in Silicon Valley stands in distinction to questions amongst some traders in regards to the financial advantages of generative AI. Here are the companies raising money.

• Open-source AI: Free-to-use “open” fashions assist builders catch as much as giants comparable to OpenAI and Google, writes Richard Waters. There’s only one drawback: most of those fashions are not very open.

4. Nestlé chief government Mark Schneider will step down after eight years and be succeeded by firm veteran Laurent Freixe subsequent month. The world’s largest meals producer had outperformed a lot of its shopper items rivals for a lot of Schneider’s tenure. However there have been setbacks that led to yesterday’s decision.

5. Nigeria’s presidency has defended its buy of a multimillion-dollar jet that has swelled the presidential air fleet to nearly a dozen carriers, even because the nation endures its worst financial downturn in many years. Photos of President Bola Tinubu flying on the personalized Airbus A330 have drawn heavy criticism, with one former minister calling it a symbol of “fiscal recklessness and rascality”.

How properly did you retain up with the information this week? Take our quiz.

The Massive Learn

The UK is trying to retailer a few of its 400mn tonnes of annual emissions in salt caverns and depleted oil and gasfields round its shoreline to assist meet its web zero targets. Heavy polluters within the nation’s industrial sector hope the Labour authorities will determine to fund this effort, however questions persist over its business and technical feasibility at any scale. Can Britain make carbon capture work?

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• German price range: Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s determination to reduce army assist to Ukraine will solely encourage Russia and undermine European security, writes Ben Corridor.

• US economic system: Manufacturing jobs have traditionally been seen as a ticket into the American center class, writes Soumaya Keynes. However do they pay better?

• Lidl’s cloud unit: Schwarz Group, the low cost retailer’s mother or father group, is providing data services to firms cautious of massive suppliers comparable to Amazon and Google.

• Buffon vs Linnaeus: An 18th-century mental rivalry between two naturalists has a lot of classes for at the moment’s know-how sector, writes John Thornhill.

Chart of the day

With the continent’s quickly rising inhabitants and excessive focus of essential minerals, Africa has been wooed by leaders around the globe, however few nations have but to plot an “Africa strategy” to take full benefit of the connection, specialists say.

Take a break from the information

The legal guidelines of eating may appear immutable, however after we are launched to new meals our etiquette must adapt. Simply have a look at how British desk manners have been turned the other way up by the introduction of spaghetti. Our restaurant critic Tim Hayward has advice on eating politely no matter the situation.

Further contributions from Emily Goldberg and Tee Zhuo.