The GOP’s Obamacare — CEO Daily, Tuesday 19th December

• Speeding Amtrak Train Kills 3

Three people died and dozens were injured when an Amtrak train traveling from Seattle to Portland, Ore., derailed and fell from an overpass onto a busy highway. President Donald Trump tweeted that the accident showed why his infrastructure plan should be approved quickly. It later emerged that the train was traveling at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone, and that positive train control—technology that can slow or stop a speeding train—wasn’t in use on the stretch of track in question. Local authorities had warned about such dangers during the planning phase but were overruled.
Fortune

• The Future of Food

Today, we’re publishing Beth Kowitt’s latest jaw-dropper on the future of the food industry, which explains how biotech is using the fermentation process to synthesize gelatin and other animal products without actually needing input from animals. Yesterday, we also published online her feature from our latest magazine that tracks the development of Beyond Meat, a startup that specializes in plant-based burgers and sausages. In a world where concerns about animal welfare are rising, and methane emissions from livestock are expected by many to offset all of the CO2 saved from electrifying road transport, this is a megatrend in the making. Read, and savor.
Fortune

• Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s Next President (Probably)

The African National Congress, which has ruled South Africa since the end of Apartheid in 1991, elected Cyril Ramaphosa as its new leader, making it likely he will succeed President Jacob Zuma in 2019. The country’s currency and stock market rallied strongly, reflecting hopes that Ramaphosa, who has extensive business experience, will steer Africa’s second-biggest economy out of the corruption-ridden swamp into which it has fallen under Zuma.
FT, metered access

• White House Blames Kim for WannaCry

The Trump administration has publicly blamed North Korea for unleashing the so-called WannaCry cyber attack that crippled hospitals, banks and other companies across the globe earlier this year. Tom Bossert, homeland security adviser to President Trump, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that “North Korea has acted especially badly, largely unchecked, for more than a decade, and its malicious behavior is growing more egregious.”
Fortune