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A Wild Weekend For Global Elections

A Wild Weekend For Global Elections

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
October 28, 2024

Good Monday morning. A town in Canada has a bit of a problem: The mayor is retiring and no one wants to replace him. Have a great start to your week!

In Today’s Brief

Florida: Suitcase murder
Israel: Iran airstrikes
Trump: MSG rally
Delta: CrowdStrike lawsuit
Hollywood: Tax credits

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Ballot box upheaval

The world was voting with some significant outcomes.

In Georgia: The Eastern European nation's pro-West president is calling for protests after the pro-Russia ruling party was declared the winner of a disputed parliamentary election. Georgian Dream was reported to have won 54% of the vote, but President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognize the results, calling them "a total fraud" and implying Kremlin interference. Opposition parties and vote monitors also cried foul as Georgia's democratic backslide continued, further endangering any European Union aspirations.
In Bulgaria: The seventh election in three years appeared to do little more than set the stage for an eighth vote. The center-right GERB Party won the most legislative seats, but fell short of a majority yet again. It will now try to form a governing coalition, but several have already failed. Turnout was extremely low, reflecting the country's political instability and lack of faith in the system.
In Japan: The ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost a 15-year-long majority in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the National Diet. It was a big blow to new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who called for snap elections after taking office following a slush fund scandal that led to ex-PM Fumio Kishida's exit. Ishiba will now need to form a governing coalition.

2) Foreign interference bid

Chinese hackers reportedly targeted former President Donald Trump and other political figures.

The news: Cell phones used by the former president and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance were allegedly part of the scheme and may have been compromised, according to reports. Investigations are underway. The hackers are also believed to have targeted people tied to Trump's campaign as well as individuals associated with Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign. The Washington Post reported Chinese hackers have successfully collected phone audio of American political figures.
Keep in mind: The Department of Justice charged three Iranian operatives with hacking Trump's campaign late last month. The hackers targeted the email accounts of people in Trump's orbit and stole and leaked legitimate documents and memos. Officials have repeatedly warned of efforts by China, Iran and Russia to interfere in the election.
Big picture: China denied accusations of interference in the U.S. election. The Trump campaign blamed President Joe Biden's administration for "emboldening" adversaries like China and Iran.

3) Pressing the issue

Commonwealth of Nations Leaders agreed to discuss potential reparations for slavery despite resistance from the United Kingdom.

Key context: The Commonwealth is an international association of over 50 member states, the vast majority of which are or were British territories. The group had its Heads of Government Meeting last week in Samoa.
What happened: The leaders agreed to include a paragraph on reparatory justice in the summit's communique, defying the British government. But the UK was able to avoid a separate declaration calling for reparations. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government had said reparations were not on the agenda before the meeting and the UK has repeatedly said it will not pay reparations, despite hopes by some Starmer's Labour Party would be open to it.
Big picture: Starmer has suggested he is open to assisting former British colonies impacted by the slave trade with future-forward issues, such as climate change. But the issue is unlikely to go away. New Commonwealth Secretary GeneralShirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Ghana's foreign minister, is a reparations advocate. A 2023 report co-authored by a United Nations judge concluded the UK owes over $23T to 14 former colonies.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

A Florida woman was convicted of second-degree murder for suffocating her boyfriend in a zipped suitcase. Sarah Boone, 47, claimed the couple was playing hide-and-seek while drinking and she thought he could get himself out when she went to bed; she faces life in prison (More)
UnitedHealth confirmed over 100M people were impacted in a ransomware attack earlier this year. The cyberattack stole healthcare data and personal information from Change Healthcare, which handled 15B medical transactions in 2023 (More)
The McDonald's E. coli outbreak has grown. The Centers for Disease Control and Protection said at least 75 people in 13 states in the Midwest and West have gotten ill; there have been at least 22 hospitalizations and one death (More)

World News

Israel carried out retaliatory airstrikes against Iran, reportedly delivering a major blow to the Iranian ballistic missile production system. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei downplayed the attack; Israel reportedly gave Iran notice through third parties and warned it against a response (More | More)
Over 120 people died in the deadliest incident of Sudan's 18-month civil conflict. The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group attacked a rural village and opened fire on civilians; over 200 people were injured and roughly 150 were detained (More)
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales claimed he survived an assassination attempt. A power struggle between the former leader and current President Luis Arce has thrown the South American country into upheaval; Arce condemned the alleged attack (More)

Campaign News

Former President Trump held a rally at New York's Madison Square Garden. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Ohio Sen. J.D Vance were among the other speakers; several guests were criticized for making offensive comments and statements (More)
A federal appeals court invalidated a Mississippi state law allowing mail-in ballots to arrive after Election Day, but did not rule on whether it can stand for the upcoming election. Virginia was ordered to reinstate names purged from voting rolls; a federal judge said the action occurred too close to Election Day (More | More)
Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will visit all seven battleground states this week. They will have a joint rally tonight in Michigan; Harris will deliver what her campaign calls a "closing argument" speech tomorrow in Washington D.C. (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed mixed on Friday. The Nasdaq hit a new all-time high to close out the week (Dow -0.61%, Nasdaq +0.56%, S&P 500 -0.03%).
Delta Airlines is suing CrowdStrike over the July technology meltdown that wreaked havoc on air travel. The lawsuit was filed in the state of Georgia; Delta is seeking over $500M in damages, costs and losses from the software vendor, alleging breach of contract and negligence (More)
Alibaba will pay $434M to settle a federal class-action antitrust lawsuit filed by investors. The Chinese e-commerce giant denied wrongdoing in the agreement and said it settled to avoid further litigation; the deal still needs a judge's approval (More)

Entertainment & Sports

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed doubling the state tax credits available for the entertainment industry. The roughly $750M bid to jump-start Hollywood will need legislative approval; the current program only allocates about $330M in annual tax benefits for film and television production houses (More)
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is expected to play in Game 3 of the World Series (8:08 p.m. ET, Fox). He injured his shoulder in Game 2; the Dodgers have a 2-0 lead on the New York Yankees in the best-of-seven series (More)
Grateful Dead co-founder Phil Lesh died at 84. The cause of death was not revealed, but he had struggled with several health issues in recent years; Lesh was the bassist for one of the most influential American bands in history (More)

Quick Hitters

Feel Good: A Connecticut middle school student worked with scientists to design cheap but effective classroom air filters. Legislators just signed off on a $11.5M project to install them across the state.
Be Safe: Costco is recalling smoked salmon products over potential listeria contamination. Here is a rundown of the items the retail club is pulling off the shelves.
Go Deep: A New Zealand airport recently made news by establishing rules for how long passengers can hug loved ones before departing into the terminal. Here is a look at the science behind people physically embracing each other.
Take Note: Polls are everywhere right now. Here is an explanation of why each survey's margin for error is critical to effectively digesting and reading the data.
Life Hack: It has happened to all of us. There is a striking full moon, you pull out your phone to take a picture and all you get is a big blurry ball of white. Here are some tips to better capture the beautiful sight.

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