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The World
In a history-making vote, Israel’s 36th government was sworn in at the Knesset on Sunday, installing Yamina chair Naftali Bennett as prime minister and ousting Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 years of consecutive rule as premier. MKs voted by a wafer-thin 60-59 in favor of the new government, made up of right-wing, left-wing, centrist, and Islamist parties that came together to oust Netanyahu and end two years of political deadlock. (Times of Israel, Bennett’s full acceptance speech)
As Israel’s longest-serving leader, Netanyahu transformed his country — and left it more divided than ever. (Washington Post)
In its strongest criticism of Beijing in more than three decades, the G7 ended talks in Cornwall with direct and indirect references to China, highlighting the need to support democratic societies and to strengthen supply chains and support development in crucial technologies. The G7 backed a new investigation into the origins of Covid-19, which was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. “We also call for a timely, transparent, expert-led and science-based WHO-convened phase 2 Covid-19 origins study including, as recommended by the experts’ report, in China,” the statement read. (South China Morning Post)
China’s growing military and economic presence in the Atlantic region is expected to trigger a rare warning from NATO leaders about the potential security threat when they meet today. From joint Chinese drills with Russia to western worries that China wants to set up military bases in Africa, the Nato focus reflects China’s primacy among western foreign policy concerns, in particular those of US president Joe Biden. “This is not about ‘NATO going to China’,” said Claudia Major, a defense analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “It’s about ‘China is coming to Europe and we have to do something about it’.” (Financial Times)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce that the end of COVID-19 restrictions will be delayed beyond June 21 following concern about the rapid rise of infections of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. (Reuters)
Aung San Suu Kyi is running low on money, does not know where she is being detained and is mostly unaware of the violent unrest unfolding in her country, according to her lawyer. The ousted 75-year-old Myanmar leader’s trial will open today in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, where she faces a widening array of charges heaped on her since the military toppled her government in a coup. (Financial Times)
Daniel Ortega tightens his grip as Nicaragua prepares for election: Two decades ago, Violeta Chamorro beat Daniel Ortega in Nicaraguan elections. This month, Ortega arrested Chamorro’s daughter as part of an unprecedented crackdown on opposition figures that aims to pave the way for his fourth consecutive presidential term. The veteran strongman has picked off his targets one-by-one ahead of November’s vote. Since June 2, Ortega has arrested four presidential hopefuls, a senior businessman and two opposition leaders. “It’s crystal clear he’s clearing the field to run without any meaningful opposition,” said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division at advocacy group Human Rights Watch. (Financial Times)
Apple told Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel to former President Trump, last month that the Justice Department had subpoenaed information about an account that belonged to him in February 2018, and that the government barred the company from telling him at the time, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Mr. McGahn’s wife received a similar notice from Apple, said one of the people. (New York Times)
A federal judge in Texas ruled that a Houston hospital system can require staff to get the Covid-19 vaccine. The judge said the plaintiff’s comparison between requiring Covid-19 shots to Nazi experiments was “reprehensible” and that the lawsuit’s legal assertions lacked merit. (Wall Street Journal)
After deep drops, international applications rebound, survey finds: A more-optimistic picture of post-pandemic international enrollment has emerged. 43% of colleges said international applications were above 2020 levels. Of that group, about 15% reported a “substantial” increase in overseas applicants. (Chronicle of Higher Ed)
Pedro Castillo, a Marxist-leaning, former schoolteacher who gets around on horseback and is never seen without an oversized pencil, has edged out Keiko Fujimori, the authoritarian-mind daughter of the country’s former dictator, to become Peru’s next president. Unknown to most Pervuians a few months ago, Castillo’s victory was a backlash against the political class. Last November, people took to the streets after the country went through three presidents in a single week following the impeachment of the incumbent president after a vote-buying scandal. Castillo’s ambitious policy proposals include rewriting the constitution, spending 10% of GDP on education and health, and redistributing mining profits to fund social programs. To his opponents, Castillo will turn Peru into Venezuela by overturning three decades of pro-business reforms, and the markets seem to agree—the Peruvian sol sank on Monday to its lowest value against the US dollar in seven years. (GZERO Media)
Economy
Forget going back to the office — people are just quitting instead. As the pandemic clouds lift, the percentage of Americans leaving employers for new opportunities is at its highest level in more than two decades. (Wall Street Journal)
Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark discusses the Chamber’s relationships with Congress. (Axios)
Global advertising spending is forecast to boom this year, surging a record 14% to an all-time high. Closely watched estimates from Magna, a research group that is part of IPG Mediabrands, predicts global spending by marketers will increase $78bn to $657bn, largely driven by the flourishing digital ad market. WPP, Omnicom and IPG are expected to enjoy boost from flourishing digital ad market. (Financial Times)
Investors with $41 trillion call on G7 to “accelerate action” on climate crisis: Fidelity International, State Street, Amundi and Schroders are among a group of more than 400 influential investors that have called on the world’s most powerful nations to “raise ambition and accelerate action” to tackle the climate crisis. The group of 457 investors, which oversees more than $41tn in assets, has issued a statement to the G7 demanding urgent action to reduce greenhouse emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C, as set out by the Paris Agreement in December 2015. (Private Equity News)
Oil demand is expected to exceed pre-coronavirus levels by the end of 2022, the International Energy Agency said, with the body calling on world producers to “open the taps.” Consumption declined by a record 8.6m barrels a day last year as coronavirus raged around the world. It is expected to rebound by 5.4m b/d this year as vaccines are rolled out and countries open up again. (Financial Times)
ForUsAll Inc., a 401(k) provider, announced earlier this month a deal with the institutional arm of Coinbase Global Inc., a leading cryptocurrency exchange, that will allow workers in plans it administers to invest up to 5% of their 401(k) contributions in bitcoin, ether, litecoin, and others. Executives at ForUsAll won’t say how many of the firm’s 400 employer clients have signed up for the cryptocurrency platform so far. (Wall Street Journal)
Emerging-Market bonds prove Covid resistant: The disconnect boils down to two factors, analysts and fund managers say. Loose monetary policy and economic reopening in developed countries is fueling global growth. At the same time, some emerging economies can’t afford to shut down. Under those circumstances, investors are willing to hang on to the relatively high-yielding debt, even as cases climb. (Wall Street Journal)
Stanford economists Marshall Burke and Lawrence Goulder explain how the social cost of carbon is “the single most important number for thinking about climate change.” The social cost of carbon is calculated through changes in agricultural productivity, damages caused by sea level rise, and decline in human health and labor productivity, and it helps reveal how much society needs to sacrifice to avoid climate change. The Biden administration estimates $51 per ton, while Trump’s administration estimated $4 per ton and Obama’s $43 per ton. Most analysts tend to support Obama’s estimate over Trump’s. What exactly do these numbers mean? If you were to avoid one ton of carbon emissions, Biden’s administration predicts that you will save $51 in damages. (Stanford News)
A retail crusader’s eclectic portfolio is giving malls new hope: Jamie Salter, the CEO of Authentic Brands, has partnered with Simon Properties to purchase struggling brands such as Brooks Brothers and Forever 21. He’s betting he can turn them around—and IPO. (Bloomberg)
Technology
House Democrats introduced five new bills meant to chip away at the power of big tech companies, targeting a variety of practices that antitrust advocates say are stifling competition. These measures are the House Judiciary Committee’s historic, 16-month long investigation into the business tactics of companies like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google. With this new slate of bills, Congress is getting ready to legislate based on the concerns raised by that investigation — and the move could reshape the tech industry as we know it. (The Verge)
VCs invested $1.5B into mental health startups in 2020, a record high, and 5.5X the funding invested in the space in 2016. (Forbes)
Could all your digital photos be stored as DNA? Biological engineers have demonstrated a way to easily retrieve data files stored as DNA. This could be a step toward using DNA archives to store enormous quantities of photos, images, and other digital content. Meanwhile, University of Copenhagen researchers have developed a new method which makes CRISPR gene editing more precise than conventional methods. The method selects the molecules best suited for helping the CRISPR-Cas9 protein with high-precision editing at the correct location in our DNA. (MIT, University of Copenhagen)
Two more self-driving-truck developers consider public offerings: Embark Trucks and Locomation, both of which develop self-driving semitrailers to haul freight over long distances, have recently discussed going public, including by merging with a shell company known as a special purpose acquisition vehicle, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The talks follow the successful public offering of prominent rival TuSimple and plans by Plus and Aurora Innovation for their own public debuts. (The Information)
Is Sand Hill Road over? No. But Zoom deals are here to stay. When Andreessen Horowitz finishes construction on its new office in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, its partners shouldn’t expect to find an assigned desk waiting for them. Instead, they’ll need to reserve space to work or meet with prospective portfolio companies under the firm’s new office hoteling model, which has no assigned seating. The policy is partly meant to reflect the new reality that deal-makers such as Chris Lyons, who recently moved to Florida, can live wherever they want, so long as they can reach San Francisco or Menlo Park, Calif., within a day. (The Information)
Smart Links
Fake reviews and inflated ratings are still problem for Amazon. (Wall Street Journal)
A new tool tracks health disparities in the U.S. — and highlights major data gaps. (STAT News)
New discovery shows human cells can write RNA sequences into DNA. (Thomas Jefferson University)
Tesla drivers test autopilot’s limits. (Wall Street Journal)
AI predicts lung cancer risk. (Radiological Society of North America)
Neurologic complications seen in 82% of hospitalized Covid patients. (Medscape)
The new rules of the “creator economy.” (The Economist)