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The World
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said President Biden should push forward with his $4 trillion spending plans even if they trigger inflation that persists into next year and higher interest rates: “If we ended up with a slightly higher interest rate environment it would actually be a plus for society’s point of view and the Fed’s point of view,” Yellen said. (Bloomberg)
Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip to Guatemala and Mexico this week is likely to emphasize cooperation with non-government organizations, amid some criticism from local officials over the timing and thrust of her mission to curb migration to the U.S. from the region. (Reuters)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will remain the largest party in Saxony-Anhalt's parliament, fending off a challenge from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), according to projected results released Sunday. The state election was seen as a major political test for the CDU, as the AfD was originally projected to land an upset victory. (Deutsche Welle)
Russian intelligence is as active in Germany as it was "during the Cold War era," the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV) said. BfV leader Thomas Haldenwang said the Kremlin has a "very complex intelligence interest in Germany in almost all policy areas." (Deutsche Welle)
Russia has warned that it is prepared to continue with its export curbs on key food products after recent price rises prompted the Kremlin to cap the domestic cost of staple goods such as sugar and flour, the country’s economy minister said. Food prices are a key political issue for the Kremlin given that 20m people, or one in seven Russians, live below the poverty line, and rationing and hyperinflation are within living memory. (Financial Times)
In Israel, the change bloc’s Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett urged the Knesset speaker to convene the plenum on Wednesday to vote on the new government, while appealing for calmer discourse and beseeching Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “let go” and not leave “scorched earth” behind him. Taking a shot at Netanyahu, Bennett said, “Look, Israel’s regime is not monarchic. No one has a monopoly over power. Meanwhile, Netanyahu decried a “dangerous left-wing government,” claiming that if approved, the coalition would be the result of “the greatest election fraud” in Israel’s history. (Times of Israel, Times of Israel-2)
In pursuit of equality, French cities adopt gendered budgets. Lyon became the largest city in France to implement a gender-sensitive budget. Going forward, Lyon will scrutinize its 615-million-euro annual budget for signs that public investments are distributed fairly between men and women. Such gendered budgets have already been adopted by some smaller French municipalities, including Grenoble, Rennes, Bordeaux and Brest; the capital, Paris, is now considering joining them. (City Lab)
UnitedHealthcare is taking a closer look at whether ER visits by some of its members are necessary. Starting July 1, UnitedHealthcare will evaluate ER claims using a number of factors to determine if the visit was truly an emergency for its fully insured commercial members across many states. If UnitedHealthcare finds the visit was a non-emergency, the visit will be "subject to no coverage or limited coverage," the provider alert states. A statement provided to Healthcare Dive said the insurer will reimburse for non-emergency care according to the member's benefit plan. In other words, the amount paid by UnitedHealthcare may be less if deemed a non-emergency. (Healthcare Dive)
Economy
The relationship between American businesses and their employees is undergoing a profound shift: For the first time in a generation, workers are gaining the upper hand. The change is broader than the pandemic-related signing bonuses at fast-food places. Up and down the wage scale, companies are becoming more willing to pay a little more, to train workers, to take chances on people without traditional qualifications, and to show greater flexibility in where and how people work. The erosion of employer power began during the low-unemployment years leading up to the pandemic and, given demographic trends, could persist for years. (New York Times)
‘Do We Need to Be in Hong Kong?’: Apprehensive about Hong Kong’s future as the best place to do business in China and beyond, multinational firms are pulling up stakes, adding to uncertainty about the outlook for one of the world’s premier commercial cities. Buffeted by political upheaval, an authoritarian crackdown by mainland China and the pandemic, global companies and professionals are heading to rival business cities such as Singapore, and to Shanghai, the Chinese commercial hub some see as a better place to profit from the nation’s vast economy. (Wall Street Journal)
El Salvador is looking to introduce legislation that will make it the world’s first sovereign nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, alongside the U.S. dollar. President Nayib Bukele announced El Salvador’s partnership with digital wallet company, Strike, to build the country’s modern financial infrastructure using bitcoin technology. (CNBC)
The push for businesses to be run more sustainably is driving a surge in demand for professionals with environmental, social and governance expertise, according to consultants and recruiters. More than one in five of the world’s largest companies have made some form of commitment to reaching net zero emissions and investors are sharpening their focus on the social impact of companies they back, creating a boom in the market for specialists in corporate sustainability. (Financial Times)
Technology
Apple WWDC 2021: iOS 15, new MacBook Pros, and what else to expect: Apple will debut major software updates for the iPhone and iPad at its developers’ conference today to an audience that has grown increasingly critical of the company’s App Store policies. The virtual event will also include software updates for the Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV as well as tools developers can use to build apps. The company plans to discuss new privacy protections for limiting data collection as well as health-tracking, notifications and messaging features. Executives also will promote significant improvements to iPad software, making the device more capable and appealing to more advanced users. Also, iOS15 may bring improvements to notifications and iMessage (The Verge, Bloomberg)
Watch the event here at 1 pm ET/10 am PT.
Of the highest 1,000 grossing apps on the App Store, nearly two percent are scams, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. And those apps have bilked consumers out of an estimated $48 million during the time they’ve been on the App Store, according to market research firm Appfigures. The scale of the problem has never before been reported. What’s more, Apple profits from these apps because it takes a cut of up to a 30 percent of all revenue generated through the App Store. Even more common, according to The Post’s analysis, are “fleeceware” apps that use inauthentic customer reviews to move up in the App Store rankings and give apps a sense of legitimacy to convince customers to pay higher prices for a service usually offered elsewhere with higher legitimate customer reviews. (Washington Post)
Twitter may be close to launching Super Follows, as new research shows what it could look like. The company teased the Patreon-like subscription service earlier this year. (The Verge)
Smart Links
Canadian government grants travel exemption for Stanley Cup playoffs. (Reuters)
Do you need to do an internship before you graduate from college? (Wall Street Journal)
Parents spend an average of $8,355 per child to secure year-round child care. (CNBC)
The Englishman trying to save American bookstores from Amazon. (Financial Times)
The 2021 iMac is a great family computer, thanks to Jony Ive (again). (Wired UK)
Behind the painstaking process of creating Chinese computer fonts. (MIT Technology Review)
Collective data rights can stop big tech from obliterating privacy. (MIT Technology Review)
Live Event
Today, 2 pm ET: National Conversation on Caregiving: Women and the Return to Work. The pandemic drove millions of Americans, mostly women, from the workforce due to increased family caregiving responsibilities and caused many more millions to struggle with the twin responsibilities of work and caregiving. Rob Jekielek, Managing Director of the Harris Poll, will be presenting a new Longevity Project/Harris Poll survey on caregiving and work. Panel: Veeral Desai, Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Agilon Health; Diane Flynn, Cofounder and CEO, Reboot Accel; Elisabeth Jacobs, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute. (Register: Stanford Center on Longevity)