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Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on while his supporters cheer on the day he addresses auto workers as he skips the second GOP debate, in Clinton Township, Michigan, U.S., September 27, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Trump’s big lead, Russian nationalists and pig heads, a bet on steel and fusion, Taiwan’s new sub, Barbie’s underground Russian adventure
16: Recent polling averages show that Donald Trump leads the combined rest of the GOP presidential field by 16 percentage points.
3: Three prominent Russian military analysts, including one who recently wrote an article calling for the killing of Ukrainian civilians, have discovered severed pig heads outside their homes in recent weeks.
35 million: In an unprecedented step, Nucor, the largest US steelmaker, is working with a nuclear fusion startup on construction of a 500-megawatt fusion power plant that would be placed at one of Nucor’s steel mills by 2030. The company’s $35 million investment is an early bet that steel will eventually be made without carbon emissions.
10: To help deter a potential future Chinese invasion, Taiwan has unveiled its first domestically made submarine. Over time, the island nation’s government wants to build a fleet of 10 submarines and equip them with missiles.
0: In today’s edition, we really wanted to highlight the excitement generated in Russia by underground screenings of the movie Barbie. Unfortunately, we found zero good numbers we could use from the press coverage, some of which you can see here, here, and here.
The nuclear fusion breakthrough, explained
Everyone is very excited these days about nuclear fusion. But what is it?
In very simple terms: a thermonuclear reaction that actually creates more energy than it requires, , Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.
That's what a bunch of US scientists pulled off a month ago. It lasted ... a few trillionths of a second.
Still, successful nuclear fusion one of the biggest biggest scientific breakthroughs of the century. And the race is on for America to build the first commercial fusion plant before China does.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster
- Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster ›
- Jennifer Granholm: On clean energy, US is "putting our money where our mouth is” ›
- China's innovation means it's winning, says investor ›
- What We're Watching: Morocco plays French politics, 11th-hour EU/Hungary deal, big energy milestone ›
Moroccan fans gather on the Champs Elysees in Paris to celebrate Morocco s qualification for the semifinals of the World Cup.
What We're Watching: Morocco plays French politics, 11th-hour EU/Hungary deal, big energy milestone
Atlas Lions vs. French far-right
When reigning champion France takes on underdog Morocco in the World Cup semifinals on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron will be in the stands. And whatever happens on the pitch it’s almost certain to cause tremors for him at home. The “Rocky Balboa” success of Morocco’s “Atlas Lions” – the first Arab or African team ever to make it this far in a World Cup – has struck a chord with millions of first- and second-generation French citizens of Arab and African origin. The worry is that a small minority of those fans may riot in the streets after the match — regardless of whether Morocco wins or loses — as they did last weekend in Paris after first Morocco beat Portugal and then France defeated England in the quarterfinals. Popular far-righters like TV provocateur and former presidential frontrunner Éric Zemmour will surely seize on any unrest to advance their calls for tighter restrictions on immigration. And that will cause a problem for Macron himself, who’s under pressure from the French right to pass a new law targeting illegal immigrants.
Orbán-EU draw
Another round of confrontation between the European Union and perennial EU gadfly Viktor Orbán has concluded. Once again, the Hungarian prime minister and Europe have each made concessions. This is not a surprise. Hungary’s economy and currency are struggling, and the EU has money that Orbán’s government badly needs. But Orbán knows how to pick fights with Brussels that boost his standing at home and force the EU to compromise in order to get his support for urgent European priorities. Late Monday evening, Hungary dropped its objection to an 18 billion euro ($19.15 billion) EU aid package for Ukraine and a 15% minimum tax for big corporations. In return, Hungary will get 5.8 billion euros in badly-needed COVID recovery money, and the European Commission has agreed to unfreeze 1.2 billion euros of the 7.5 billion euros it had previously withheld over concerns about corruption and rule-of-law violations in Hungary. Both sides will claim victory, but the battle will continue: the EU is still demanding reforms in Hungary that would strengthen judicial independence and anti-graft oversight. This ain’t over.
Fusion breakthrough
Well, it lasted only a few trillionths of a second, but what a few trillionths of a second they were. In a historic breakthrough, US government scientists announced they’d successfully carried out a burst of nuclear fusion, a clean energy process that (mindbogglingly) generates more energy than it requires. The long-term implications for energy, climate, and geopolitics are huge. But first, let’s set your mind at ease — after all, “nuclear fusion” sounds scary. Fusion is different than fission. Fission is what powers today’s nuclear reactors (and atomic bombs). It works by splitting atoms in a way that releases huge amounts of energy, but also generates radioactive waste and the occasional nuclear plant meltdown. Fusion, on the other hand, is the opposite: a controlled process of mixing atoms together in to produce energy. No waste. No meltdowns. But also, for now, no guarantee it can replicated at scale outside of a lab. Still, if it could it would open the way to a world-changing source of clean and sustainable energy. China and the US are already locked in a high-stakes race to develop fusion for military and civilian purposes. That viability is decades away, but all decades start with a few trillionths of a second.
China's innovation means it's winning, says investor
What will the world look like in the Chinese century?
It'll be "much less nice," emerging markets investor Antoine van Agtmael tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. A lot of that has to with tech innovation coming from a society in which thought is controlled.
China, he adds, is making remarkable progress and is close a breakthroughs on things like nuclear fusion or artificial intelligence.
For van Agtmael, China still faces many challenges. But he's optimistic about its chances of overcoming them to become a true global power.