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The World
President Biden met U.S. business leaders including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon as he sought support from titans of corporate America for his $1.9tn stimulus plan. The gathering was Biden’s first with top business executives since his inauguration. Biden said he agreed with a Democratic proposal that would limit or phase out stimulus payments to higher-income individuals as part of his $1.9 trillion relief bill. (Financial Times, Reuters)
The Senate voted along mostly partisan lines to pursue Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, after hours of arguments and the airing of a gripping documentary of the deadly Capitol riot that followed Trump’s inflammatory rally on Jan. 6. (Washington Post)
A WHO team said coronavirus ‘most likely’ spread from animal, not a lab leak, as the leader of a four-week mission in Wuhan says initial findings suggest virus was introduced to humans via an intermediary host species. The theory that it may have escaped from a laboratory is dismissed as “extremely unlikely.” (South China Morning Post)
The UK announced stringent border controls including hotel quarantine and jail terms of up to 10 years for people who try to conceal their arrival from high-risk countries beginning Monday. Those who try to avoid quarantine could be fined £10,000. (The Times)
The fast-spreading coronavirus variant is turning up in US sewers. (MIT Technology Review)
One in three Covid patients put on a ventilator experience extensive symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, adding to mounting evidence of the virus’s impact on mental health. (The Guardian, Cambridge University)
Russia issued updated statistics on coronavirus-linked deaths which showed that 162,429 people with COVID-19 died last year, a number far higher than previously reported by government officials. (Associated Press)
Police in Myanmar have responded with increasing violence to protests against last week’s military coup, using water cannons, rubber bullets and live ammunition in a crackdown that left a woman in a critical condition. Tens of thousands of people marched across the country in defiance of a ban on gatherings in some areas. Meanwhile, New Zealand is suspending all high-level contact with Myanmar and imposing a travel ban on its military leaders. (The Guardian, Reuters)
The number of newborns in China plummeted 15% in 2020 from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Public Security, with the coronavirus disrupting the economy and weighing on decisions to have a family. China saw 10.035 million births last year, the ministry said on Monday, compared with 11.79 million in 2019. Of those born last year, 52.7% were boys and 47.3% girls. (Nikkei Asian Review)
UK study: Children of well-educated parents are more likely to binge drink and shoplift than those of parents who went straight into work from school, a study of about 19,000 17-year-olds has found. (The Times)
Israeli and Greek officials agreed to clear the way for vaccinated tourists to travel between their Mediterranean nations in a bid to boost their economies. The deal is designed to allow tourists with vaccination certificates to move between the countries “without any limitations, no self-isolation, nothing.” (Associated Press)
Air pollution from fossil fuel emissions responsible for 1 in 5 premature deaths: More than 8 million people died in 2018 from fossil fuel pollution, significantly higher than previous research suggested. Researchers estimated that exposure to particulate matter from fossil fuel emissions accounted for 18 percent of total global deaths in 2018 — a little less than 1 out of 5. (CNBC, Harvard University)
China’s car sales rose 25% in January; strongest growth since September 2016. (Wall Street Journal)
The Electric Car Consumers Want: Lower Cost, Higher Mileage. 47% of consumers said their budget would be the same for an EV as for a conventional vehicle, while 18% said they would be willing to spend more. When asked for the maximum amount they would be willing to pay for an electric vehicle, respondents’ median price was $25,000. The national average for new vehicles is $40,000. To consider purchasing an EV, 23% of adults said they would require a range of 500 miles or more; 7% said a range of less than 200 miles and 16% said between 200 and 299 miles, options representing the bulk of the current market. (Morning Consult)
The top 50 US charity donors for 2020: Jeff Bezos topped the list by donating $10 billion to launch the Bezos Earth Fund, as well as $100 million to Feeding America, the organization that supplies more than 200 food banks. No. 2 on the list was MacKenzie Scott, who gave $5.7 billion by asking community leaders to help identify 512 organizations for seven- and eight-figure gifts. Another donor who gave big to pandemic causes and racial-justice efforts was Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, who ranked No. 5. He put $1.1 billion into a fund that by year’s end had distributed at least $330 million to more than 100 nonprofits. (Associated Press, Chronicle of Philanthropy)
The United Arab Emirates' Hope probe successfully made it into orbit around Mars, vaulting the Arab nation into an elite class of space-faring nations. China's Tianwen-1 mission is expected to make its attempt to orbit Mars tomorrow, and NASA's Perseverance rover is scheduled to land on the Red Planet next week. (Axios)
Economy
Salesforce declares the 9-to-5 workday is dead and will let employees work remotely from now on: ‘It no longer makes sense to expect employees to work an eight-hour shift.’ The company will offer three categories of work: flex, fully remote, and office-based. Flex would mean coming into the office one to three days per week and typically only for “team collaboration, customer meetings, and presentations,” and Salesforce expects most of its employees to fall into this category. Fully remote is never coming into the office except perhaps in very rare situations or for work-related events. Office-based employees will be “the smallest population of our workforce,” and constitute employees whose roles require them be in the office four to five days per week. (The Verge, Salesforce Blog)
Cisco CEO says employees are tired of having to work from home and want to come back to the office: “They’re not enjoying it.” (CNBC)
KPMG UK chairman told staff to ‘stop moaning’ about work conditions. He later apologized to consultants who had raised concern over pay. (Financial Times)
Also, Salesforce wins with best celebrity intro to a global offsite:
China has withdrawn 320 billion yuan ($49.5 billion) from financial markets in about two weeks, as authorities focus on removing excess liquidity to tame the surge in property and asset prices. It is rare for China to curb liquidity ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on Thursday this year. The move could hinder the country's economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced slump, with effects spilling into overseas markets as well. (Nikkei Asian Review)
South Korea unemployment rate soars to 21-year high. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Explainer: What Is Dogecoin and why it’s no longer a joke. The cryptocurrency was created for laughs, serves no purpose, and is now worth more than Western Union or Under Armour. (Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced that Suzanne Clark will become the next CEO of the country’s largest business lobbying organization, the first woman to hold the position in the business lobby’s 109-year history. Clark replaces Thomas J. Donohue, 83, who led the organization for 24 years and built up the Chamber financially and politically during his tenure. Clark, who currently serves as the president of the U.S. Chamber, will take over effective March 11. (Washington Post)
Technology
Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch defended the Fox News channel, telling investors the network would go from “strength to strength” despite a pullback in ratings after the US presidential election cycle. “We fully expect that news audiences will normalize and Fox News will continue to dominate,” he said while announcing that the cable channel’s chief, Suzanne Scott, would stay on in a “multiyear” contract extension. (Financial Times)
Apple’s iPhone 12 mini U.S. sales were just 5% of overall sales of its new phones during the first half of January, adding to signs of muted demand for the new smaller version of its flagship device. Meanwhile, Apple Maps is getting Google and Waze-like accident reporting, as user reports are now table-stakes for map apps. (Reuters, The Verge)
Amazon is developing a new Echo device with a large touchscreen that attaches to the wall and serves as a smart home control panel, video chat device and media player, according to people familiar with the plans. The company’s Lab126 hardware division is designing the device to be a digital command center, showing users upcoming calendar events, controlling accessories like lights and locks, and playing music and video. It would include Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and microphones and a camera for video conferencing. (Bloomberg)
Super Bowl ratings fell from last year: Super Bowl LV was watched by 96.4 million viewers, down from 102 million in 2020, according to Nielsen. However, the broadcast broke records as the most live-streamed NFL game ever, averaging 5.7 million viewers per minute — up 65% from last year's big game. (Axios)
The word "podcast" was said 47 times on Spotify's earnings call last week. The word "music" was said 10 times. Meanwhile, podcast advertising is expected to rise 10-15% in 2021. (Axios, Media Radar)
Smart Links
Private equity to keep focus on healthcare and life sciences. (Consultancy.uk)
Dallas Mavericks have stopped playing national anthem before home games at owner Mark Cuban's direction. (ESPN)
41% of younger women say their credit score hurts more than helps. (CNBC)
Twitter warns of slowing user growth as pandemic surge fades. (Financial Times)
New California law would give wronged workers a way out of NDAs. (Protocol)
65% of colleges raised less in 2020 than 2019, survey finds. (Philanthropy)
MLB, Players’ Union agree to 7-inning doubleheaders, extra innings runner for 2021. (Wall Street Journal)
PepsiCo renames 'Aunt Jemima' pancakes, syrup as 'Pearl Milling Company.' (Reuters)