Quick notes: IMEC | Gigacasting...

• India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor to counter China? The new trade corridor linking India and the Mideast to Europe is being hailed as a modern version of the Spice Route. "The project is a geopolitical game changer and will also benefit Southeast Asian countries."
  
  “Chinese officials know that when it comes to infrastructure building, they are the No. 1 in the world. They are the ones who have the deep pockets, and they know BRI is 10 years ahead.” Yet the BRI finds itself on shaky ground as well.
  
  "Great geopolitical idea, but it doesn’t make much economic sense"



• Italy wakes up: Italy tells China it plans to exit Belt and Road project 



• Leaving China, but not to India: HP to relocate PC Assembly to Thailand, Mexico, and Vietnam. . . Enough of highways, we need Thousand Talents
  



• Khalistanis increase vulnerability of Indian diplomats: (article from 13 July 2023): The campaign suggests that the Indian intelligence agencies are playing the Israeli playbook in hunting down wanted terrorists.
  
  The Khalistani 'movement' has seen deaths or killing of four of its top leaders in the last six months. They include Khalistan Tiger Force chief Harmeet Singh Nijjar shot dead in Canada on June 19, Khalistan Commando Force chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar killed in Lahore on May 6, Sikhs for Justice leader Avtar Singh Khanda who ostensibly died of cancer in a UK hospital last month and a narco-terrorism accused Khalistan exponent, Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD, who was shot in Lahore in 2020.
  
  Other than Khalistani terrorists, in the last six months several Kashmiri extremists have been mysteriously killed by gunmen in Pakistan where they were sheltered.



• U.S. vs. China: The U.S. is pouring resources into Hypersonic missiles but has struggled to develop them. China and Russia are far ahead




• Gigacasting 2.0: Tesla reinvents carmaking with quiet breakthrough



• Huawei rolls out ‘de-Amricanized’ phones: Apple made 19 percent of its total fiscal year 2022 revenue in China, totaling $74 billion
  
  EU arm-twists Apple: USB-C changes everything.
  



• 'Third-party chats': Meta caves to EU pressures with an apparent cross-platform messaging feature for WhatsApp



• Google v US Dept of Justice: DoJ alleges Google uses ‘Feedback Loop’ of payoffs to maintain search dominance.



• How AI Could Save (Not Destroy) Education: Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, thinks AI could spark the greatest positive transformation education has ever seen. Demos some exciting new features for their educational chatbot, Khanmigo.