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Good afternoon. Here's what you should know today, July 23: | |
- The Fed and ECB decide whether to raise rates this week
- Israel's Netanyahu is determined to pass a judicial overhaul despite mass protests
- An international team is scrambling to prevent an environmental disaster
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 | | A Ukrainian serviceman at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region. OLEG PETRASYUK/ZUMA PRESS | | |
1. Ukraine's campaign against Russia risks descending into a stalemate. | |
| When Ukraine launched its big counteroffensive this spring, Western military officials knew Kyiv didn't have all the training or weapons—from shells to warplanes—that it needed to dislodge Russian forces. But they hoped Ukrainian courage and resourcefulness would carry the day. They haven't. As the likelihood of any large-scale breakthrough by the Ukrainians this year dims, it raises the unsettling prospect for Washington and its allies of a longer war—one that would require a huge new infusion of sophisticated armaments and more training to give Kyiv a chance at victory. | |
| Russia's Threats to Shipping Bring Risk of War to Black Sea (Read) Russia Defies Sanctions by Selling Oil Above Price Cap (Read) | |
2. Wall Street likes what it sees at General Electric. | |
| GE's shares have more than doubled in the past year, outperforming Meta, Apple, Tesla, and all but a handful of S&P 500 index high-fliers. The run-up in GE's share price comes as the manufacturer works to simplify its operations by completing its split into three publicly traded companies. Its future is centered on its aerospace business, which makes jet engines and has benefited from a recovery in demand for air travel. GE reports earnings on Tuesday along with Microsoft and Alphabet. Others scheduled to issue updates include energy heavyweights Exxon Mobil and Chevron, and restaurant operators Chipotle and McDonald's. | |
3. Whether Europe tips into recession depends inordinately on one small country. | |
| Swings in Ireland's pharmaceutical industry, often rooted in tax moves by U.S.-based firms rather than production or employment, are having an outsize impact on European output. They might end up determining whether the eurozone enters a recession, something the European Central Bank is closely watching as it tries to figure out just how weak the region's economy really is and how to calibrate its monetary policy accordingly. The ECB is due to make its next interest-rate call on Thursday, while the Federal Reserve will announce its closely watched rate decision the day before. | |
4. Israel's Netanyahu is pushing ahead with a vote on his divisive overhaul of the judiciary. | |
| Israel's parliament today began final discussions to vote on the first part of the legislation, as mass protests intensify and thousands of military reservists say they will refuse to report for duty. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, which controls 64 of 120 seats in Israel's parliament, says it is determined to pass the bill as early as Monday, despite widespread calls to find a compromise from those at home and abroad, including President Biden, and warnings by Israel's military that the domestic unrest could have significant national security implications. | |
| 🎥 Israelis March to Jerusalem Ahead of Judicial Reform Vote (Watch) | |
5. Spaniards are casting their ballots in an election that could signal a shift to the right. | |
| After five years in office, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called snap national elections following crushing local and regional electoral defeats for his left-wing coalition. His party's traditional rival, the center-right Popular Party, is widely expected to come first in the ballot but fall short of an absolute majority. To form a government, the PP will likely need the support of the far-right Vox party—something Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the PP's leader, has said he is eager to avoid. While today's vote may not produce a clear winner, the Spanish far-right has never been closer to entering government. | |
6. The race is on to avert an oil spill that could cost $20 billion to fix. | |
| A rusting tanker, left stranded off the Yemeni shore since 2015, is threatening to break apart and spill more than a million barrels of oil into the Red Sea's fragile ecosystem. Early this week, a United Nations-led team of international experts is set to begin an audacious operation to siphon out the entirety of the FSO Safer's volatile cargo. | |
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