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The World
European stocks are set to record their fourth consecutive month of gains, as confidence in the region’s economic recovery grows and its vaccination program accelerates. MSCI’s broad measure of equities across Europe has risen almost 4% since the end of April, bringing its YTD gains to 12% in US dollar terms. Bourses in Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, Milan and London all climbed this month. (Financial Times)
China will allow each couple in the country to have up to three children in a marked departure from its previous two-child limit but critics say that without incentives and support the change will do little to cope with the nation’s aging population. Many people said the high cost of living and other pressures would deter them from having more children. The decision was announced after a Communist Party Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping, a meeting in which other proposals such as postponing the retirement age and improving child care services and maternity leave were also discussed. (South China Morning Post)
A prominent scientist added his voice to the growing number of experts calling for a full investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, saying the future of public health is at stake. “There’s going to be covid-26 and covid-32 unless we fully understand the origins of covid-19,” Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine and a leading expert on the virus, said. (Washington Post)
Health authorities have imposed travel restrictions in Guangdong and mass testing is under way as they scramble to contain a Covid-19 outbreak in the southern Chinese province, where a fast-spreading strain first found in India has been detected. Twenty new locally transmitted cases were confirmed – 18 in Guangzhou and two in neighbouring Foshan. That brings the total to 47 cases, 21 of them asymptomatic, since the outbreak began on May 21. (South China Morning Post)
In Israel, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Yamina chief Naftali Bennett are optimistic about their prospects for forming a power-sharing government that will replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as premier. The two hope to inform President Reuven Rivlin today that they are able to form a government, with the aim of having it sworn next week on June 9. The parties were earlier reported to have made “significant progress” following overnight coalition talks, after Bennett’s announcement Sunday that he will seek to form a government with Netanyahu’s political opponents. (Times of Israel)
The approval rating of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government fell 7 percentage points from April to 40% in a new Nikkei/TV Tokyo survey as public ire over the pandemic response flared anew under the extended state of emergency. (Nikkei Asian Review)
More than a third of heat-related deaths in many parts of the world can be attributed to the extra warming associated with climate change, according to a new study that makes a case for taking strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to protect public health. The sweeping new research, published on Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, was conducted by 70 researchers using data from major projects in the fields of epidemiology and climate modeling in 43 countries. It found that heat-related deaths in warm seasons were boosted by climate change by an average of 37%, in a range of a 20% increase to 76%. (New York Times)
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is personally on the hook for nearly $700 million in loans his coal companies took out from now-defunct Greensill Capital, according to people familiar with the loans and documents described to The Wall Street Journal. Justice’s personal guarantee of the loans, which hasn’t been reported, puts financial pressure on the popular Republican governor. He is also dealing with unrelated lawsuits alleging parts of his sprawling network of coal companies breached payment contracts or failed to deliver coal. (Wall Street Journal)
Economy
German inflation rose to 2.4% in May, its highest rate in more than two years, in a move likely to intensify debate about whether Europe’s ultra-loose monetary policy could cause the region’s largest economy to overheat. (Financial Times)
India's economy grew 1.6% in 1Q21 but recorded a contraction of 7.3% for the fiscal year that ended in March owing to the hit from the pandemic. (Nikkei Asian Review)
The year 2021 is shaping up to set records for diversity proposals at U.S. company annual meetings. Nine out of 10 investors backed a call last month for IBM to produce an annual diversity report. Five other companies, including renewable energy firm First Solar and chemical giant DuPont de Nemours, saw more than 80% of shareholders backing diversity proposals. Shareholders submitted a record 37 diversity-related proposals, and they got an average 43% of support as of Friday. Two separate proposals at Union Pacific each garnered more than 80% of shareholder support, while one at American Express got 60%. (Bloomberg)
The world’s largest food company, Nestlé, acknowledged that more than 60% of its mainstream food and drinks products do not meet a “recognized definition of health” and that “some of our categories and products will never be ‘healthy’ no matter how much we renovate.” A presentation circulated among top executives this year, seen by the Financial Times, says only 37% of Nestlé’s food and beverages by revenues, excluding products such as pet food and specialized medical nutrition, achieve a rating above 3.5 under Australia’s health star rating system. Within its overall food and drink portfolio, about 70% of Nestlé’s food products failed to meet that threshold, the presentation said, along with 96% of beverages — excluding pure coffee — and 995 of Nestlé’s confectionery and ice cream portfolio. (Financial Times)
Japanese automakers Toyota Motor and Honda Motor will shut down production in Malaysia as the nation goes into a lockdown, raising concerns that surging coronavirus cases in Southeast Asia will cripple global supply chains. Meanwhile, Vietnam is bracing for disruptions its tech manufacturing sector, the country's economic engine and a vital cog in global supply chains, after authorities detected a new variant of COVID-19 with characteristics of both Indian and U.K. strains. (Nikkei Asian Review, Nikkei Asian Review-2)
Property buyers in Texas are heading for the hills—and plateaus, grasslands and prairies. Urban Texans are “stampeding” to rural parts of the state, sparking a huge jumps in both sales volume and prices, according to a report from Texas A&M University. And in a May follow-up bulletin, the university noted that first-quarter 2021 activity had “exploded” after a record-setting 2020 in far-flung parts of the state. (Mansion Global)
Technology
DoorDash and Uber Eats’ are after a whole new category of logistics and are increasingly billing their specialty not as food but as speed and convenience. Companies say that so-called next-hour commerce—which includes delivering everything from drugstore staples and alcohol to pet food on demand—is the prize that could sustain their growth and eventually help them turn a profit. “ Amazon powers next-day delivery. We’re going to power next-hour commerce,” said Raj Beri, Uber’s global head of grocery and new verticals. (Wall Street Journal)
When driving is (partially) automated, people drive more: A study finds that users of advanced driver-assistance systems drive 4,888 more miles per year than similar drivers without the feature. (Wired, Science Direct)
Step aside online shopping; social shopping has just arrived. Big tech companies are integrating ways in which anything you find online “drop-dead” simple to buy. From drop down bars to AR filters in which consumers can “try on” the right shade of lipgloss, buying something you like online is a tap away. One of the key elements in this change is creators promoting products in their videos. Instead of interrupting content to advertise something, the ad is woven into a piece of content the viewer is consuming. Now, everything, everywhere is up for sale. (Protocol)
MIT baseball coach uses sensors and motion capture technology to teach pitching. (MIT News)
Smart Links
Christie’s to sell scientist Isaac Newton’s notes for the ‘Principia,’ his greatest work. (Associated Press)
FDA approves first test of CRISPR to correct genetic defect causing sickle cell disease. (UC Berkeley)
The 150 fastest-growing companies in ed tech. (EdWeek)
Seven of China’s hottest ‘tech’ startups make beverages and skincare products. (The Information)
Virtual campus tours are catching on in higher education. (EdScoop)
Airbnb to offer AI tools to hosts to tackle property shortfall. (Financial Times)