FirstFT: Obama warns of ‘tight race’ in speech backing Harris

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Manage your delivery channels hereRemove from myFTFirstFT: Barack Obama warns of ‘tight race’ in speech backing Kamala HarrisAlso in today’s newsletter, police make arrests over protests in Chicago, and CrowdStrike president hits out at rivalsBarack Obama speaks at the Democratic National ConventionBarack Obama told Democratic National Convention attendees on Tuesday: ‘Make no mistake: it will be a fight’ © AFP/Getty Images

Melody Abike Adebisi

August 21 2024Jump to comments sectionPrint this page

This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here

Good morning. Today we are looking at:

  • Plans by Mexico’s judges to walk out of courtrooms in protest

  • The ‘minimal’ chances of finding the missing yacht passengers

  • Arrests made by police at demonstrations in Chicago

But first, we turn our attention to former president Barack Obama, who has just delivered a rousing speech to cheering crowds at the Democratic National Convention.

Despite now being out of office for eight years, Obama has maintained his position among the most popular and influential figures in the Democratic party. With this political star power, he tried to quash any doubts over Kamala Harris’s candidacy and cautioned voters against complacency, warning it would be a “tight race” for the White House.

Some Democrats tried to draw parallels between his successful 2008 campaign to be elected the first Black US president and Harris’s bid to become the country’s first female president. As he took the stage, he was met with chants of his own campaign slogan, “Yes we can”, later echoed by his own words in support of the vice-president: “Yes she can.”

The former Democratic president also took some time to honour the legacy of Joe Biden, with whom he had a complicated relationship in office, despite being conspicuously silent as their party pressured the 81-year-old to abandon his re-election bid. A few days after Biden’s decision to step down, Obama endorsed Harris, but Tuesday’s address was his most forceful statement of support for her.

  • Kamalanomics: Good policy, or good politics? Steff Chávez discusses Harris’s economic agenda in the latest edition of US Election Countdown. Sign up for the newsletter here.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

  • Federal Reserve: The central bank’s rate-setting committee releases minutes from its last meeting, ahead of a speech by chair Jay Powell at Jackson Hole on Friday.

  • Israel-Hamas war: Hamas denies that it is “backing off” from a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

Thanks for reading FirstFT. Do you have any questions on the US elections, or anything else you’ve always wanted to ask a reporter? Email [email protected] or hit “reply” and remember to include your name and where you’re writing from. We’ll answer as many as possible in a special weekend edition of the newsletter.

Five more top stories

1. Mexico’s federal judges will walk out of courtrooms in protest against López Obrador’s radical overhaul plan that will force them to stand for election, risking replacement. The leftist president seeks to reshape the judiciary during his final weeks in office. The country’s legal community and international experts have said the overhaul is a direct threat to judicial independence, the rights of minorities and rule of law.

2. Police and protesters clash outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago less than two minutes after the Democratic convention. While Democrats had gathered to nominate Kamala Harris for president, police in riot gear confronted demonstrators protesting against the Israel-Hamas war and made arrests.

3. Walmart cuts its stake in Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com to zero as part of plans to expand its own brand in other countries. The retailer disclosed in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it had entirely disposed of its nearly 10 per cent holding in the ecommerce company. Ryan McMorrow has the full story here.

4. There is a ‘minimal chance’ that Mike Lynch and other missing yacht passengers are alive according to Italian authorities. Rescue operations were suspended at about 11.30pm on Tuesday at the port of Santa Flavia in Sicily and were resuming today, police told the Financial Times. A helicopter and a motorboat had earlier carried out a surface search

5. Almost $90bn poured into US money market funds in the first half of August as investors look to lock in attractive yields that could outlast an expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next month. Money market funds, pulled in net inflows of $88.2bn between August 1 and August 15 — the highest figures for the first half of a month since November last year.

The Big ReadMontage image of a locomotive, a man and a map showing the route of the rail project © FT montage/Grammar Productions/Alexandre Bertrand

The US is helping to finance the Lobito Corridor, a revival of a 100-year-old railway line that will connect resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola’s Atlantic coast. The ambitious project will cost at least $10bn and comprises other infrastructure including bridges and roads. But Washington’s support for critical minerals across the wider region is no isolated act. It is part of a strategy to reverse its diminished influence in Africa, where other countries such as China have gained ground. 

We’re also reading . . . 

  • US tipping system: In full-service restaurants, staff are forced to rely on tips to make up the difference to the legal minimum for other jobs. But the tipping system is teetering, writes Brooke Masters.

  • Canadian companies: Canada’s two largest freight railways said they will lock out railway workers and shut down their operation, which could have devastating consequences for the North American economy.

  • CrowdStrike Inc: The president of CrowdStrike has called out “shady” efforts from cyber security rivals to scare its customers since its botched software update sparked a global IT outage.

Chart of the day

The dollar hit its lowest level since the start of the year yesterday as investors braced for the Federal Reserve to start lowering interest rates and the August sell-off that spooked markets faded.

Line chart of Performance against basket of rival currencies (closing price) showing Dollar hits year’s low Take a break from the news

As the seventh child of the 25th son of the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman was not destined for the throne when he entered politics in 2009. A new BBC documentary charting his formidable rise paints a Machiavellian portrait of the crown prince, writes Dan Einav.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman © AFP via Getty Images

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and Tee Zhuo

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Originally posted on: https://www.ft.com/content/c608236b-2406-401a-95ef-e2ea0f5f920b