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The World
Americans' medical debt may have reached $140 billion last year, significantly higher than past estimates and outweighing all other types of personal debt in the U.S. Debt was significantly more concentrated in states that had yet to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The analysis reflects care provided prior to COVID-19, but early data shows the pandemic has likely only exacerbated the perennial issue of medical debt in the U.S. (Healthcare Dive, JAMA)
EU rejects British plan to rip up Brexit deal: Brussels insisted it will not renegotiate the EU’s Brexit deal with the UK after London inflamed tensions by launching a bold push to overhaul trading rules for Northern Ireland. The renewed conflict came as it emerged British prime minister Boris Johnson wanted to renegotiate the so-called Northern Ireland protocol agreed with Brussels in 2019, even though it has only been in force since the beginning of the year. (Financial Times)
North Korea's food shortages have reached crisis levels, and inequalities have sharply widened ever since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the country to close its borders in January last year. The reclusive nation will be short by about 860,000 tons of food this year, or about two months of normal demand, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated. The government has been trying to get the population to supply their own food but with little success. News agencies with sources inside the country are reporting starvation deaths as well as an increase in the number of children and elderly who have resorted to begging. (Nikkei Asian Review)
At least 25 people died in China’s flood-stricken central province of Henan, a dozen of them in a subway line in its capital Zhengzhou, and more rains are forecast for the region. About 100,000 people have been evacuated in Zhengzhou, an industrial and transport hub, where rail and road links were disrupted. Dams and reservoirs have swelled to warning levels and thousands of troops are taking part in the rescue effort in the province. (Reuters)
It’s so hot in Dubai the government is paying scientists to make it rain. United Arab Emirates meteorological officials released a video this week of cars driving through a downpour in Ras al Khaimah in the northern part of the country. The storm was the result of one of the UAE’s newest efforts to increase rainfall in a desert nation that gets about four inches a year on average. Scientists created rainstorms by launching drones, which then zapped clouds with electricity. (Washington Post)
The American Hospital Association, the nation’s largest hospital association, called for all health workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus as case numbers surge again. (Washington Post)
The U.S. extended the closure of land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel such as tourism through Aug. 21. The latest 30-day extension came after Canada said it would start allowing in fully vaccinated U.S. visitors on Aug. 9. (Reuters)
Texas has seen nearly 9,000 COVID-19 deaths since February. All but 43 were unvaccinated people. Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott said he will not impose another statewide mask mandate, despite cases being on the rise again. (Texas Tribune, Texas Tribune-2)
L.A. County sees big spike in coronavirus cases: Officials expressed alarm as 2,551 new infections were recorded, the highest total in months. (Los Angeles Times)
Anger is brewing in Australia as half the population are put in a series of lockdowns to combat a rising number of Covid-19 cases. (Evening Standard)
Two-thirds of Indians have Covid antibodies, government study shows. (Financial Times)
The head of Russia’s state arms exporter said that Moscow was cooperating closely with Myanmar’s ruling junta to supply it with military hardware including aircraft. (Reuters)
There have been about two dozen reports of symptoms of mysterious health incidents similar to the "Havana syndrome" among US diplomats, intelligence officials and other government personnel in Vienna since the beginning of the year. These new reports demonstrate that these mysterious incidents are ongoing, despite commitments from President Joe Biden's top national security team to double down on investigating the matter. (CNN)
The University of North Carolina has become the first college athletics program to organize group licensing deals for its current student athletes. UNC athletes — including its powerhouse men's basketball team — will be able to earn money for marketing their name, image, and likeness in groups of three or more, alongside UNC trademarks and logos like the Tar Heels logo and argyle uniforms. (NPR)
Economy
Protocol, in partnership with Morning Consult, surveyed 750 tech workers to get insight into how they're thinking about returning to work: (Protocol/Morning Consult)
75% of surveyed workers say it is important for their companies to allow them to work remotely indefinitely. Men dramatically prefer working in a traditional office environment to women (71% compared to 54%, respectively), and more than 40% of all workers worry that managers will prefer employees who work in the office over those who stay remote.
Despite wanting to be at home, many employees miss their free food, snacks and drinks on tap. What they don't really miss: gyms, shuttle buses, game rooms and other nonedible perks.
Men and Democrats feel more comfortable talking about their politics at work than women and Republicans. But by far the people who are least comfortable are independent voters, especially independent female voters.
Half of all workers are interested in joining a union.
Following Apple’s move to delay its office reopening from September to October, Facebook, which said last month that it expected to fully reopen its offices in October, told Protocol that it was "monitoring the situation closely." Google hasn't indicated any change to its plan to fully reopen in September, but told Protocol that it was watching the changing situation. (Protocol)
As a new era of remote and in-office work begins, Slack, Dropbox and other businesses are trying to bring definition to daily schedules—by making some hours off-limits for meetings. The tactic, called “core hours,” sets times—say, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. or 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.—when bosses require employees to be online and available for Zoom meetings, project collaboration and other exchanges. Any other time is a meeting-free zone. (Wall Street Journal)
Startups are betting on flexible apartment leases. Investors are pumping money into companies that are pioneering flexible ways to rent apartments on the belief that remote working trends and new forms of housing demand will remain long after the pandemic is over. (Wall Street Journal)
While economic attitudes are improving in many nations, majorities say the next generation will be worse off financially. Across the 17 publics, a median of 64% say that when children grow up, they will be worse off financially, while 32% say that children will be better off than their parents’ generation. Only in Singapore and Sweden do half or more hold this optimistic view. In the U.S., fully 68% think children will be worse off than their parents. The most pessimistic publics surveyed are France and Japan, where 77% say children will be worse off. (Pew Research Center)
Popular cryptocurrencies edged higher after Elon Musk disclosed for the first time that his private rocket company SpaceX holds bitcoin and Tesla would “most likely” resume accepting it as payment for its electric cars. (Financial Times)
SEC Chair Gary Gensler hinted that some Stablecoins are securities, and that stock tokens and stablecoins backed by securities might be treated as securities under U.S. law. (Coindesk)
Core Scientific, which says it is the biggest bitcoin mining company in the US, says it will go public via SPAC at a valuation of around $4.3B. (CNBC)
UK pay awards plateau at 2% after early 2021 rise. (Reuters)
Technology
The FTC formally pledged to take on unlawful “right to repair” restrictions in a new policy statement that could spell trouble for smartphone manufacturers like Apple that strictly inhibit users’ abilities to repair their own devices. The new statement commits the FTC to encouraging competition in product repair markets with “vigor,” according to Chair Lina Khan. (The Verge)
Google is expanding the number of cities where Maps offers information about public transport crowding. The number of cities covered is increasing from around 200 today, to “over 10,000 transit agencies in 100 countries,” the company says. As well as crowdedness, Google says Maps is also being updated to offer more information about past travel. (The Verge)
Chipotle, Target, WWE and Shopify are among the companies teaming up with TikTok Resumes, a pilot program that lets job candidates submit video resumes on the social platform. The recruitment offering is yet another way for companies to connect with potential employees as the war for talent rages on. (CNBC)
BDG Media Inc.—owner of women-focused websites including Bustle and tech publications like Input—is buying Some Spider Studios Inc., the digital-media company behind parenting websites Scary Mommy, Fatherly and the Dad. BDG Media aims to go public by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company later this year. The all-stock deal for Some Spider values the publisher at about $150 million. (Wall Street Journal)
Smart Links
Fiercest billionaire space race is Bezos vs Musk. (Financial Times)
These 11 tech execs’ pandemic security cost over $46 million (Zuckerberg leads with $23+ million in cost). (Protocol)
Apple to go all in on 5G for its 2022 iPhone lineup. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Australia warns Unesco over placing barrier reef on ‘in danger’ list. (Financial Times)
Chunk of an ancient supercontinent — dating as old as 1.3 billion years — discovered under New Zealand. (National Geographic)
CO2 emissions set to hit record levels in 2023 and there’s ‘no clear peak in sight,’ IEA says. (CNBC)
In the U.S., Google searches for ‘dating’ reach 5-year high. (NPR)
Live Event
Today, 9 am: The Future of China's National Carbon Market. (Register: Harvard Kennedy School)