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The World
In the next few days, the U.S. will surpass 600,000 deaths from Covid-19, the highest known death toll in the world. The milestone approaches even though virus cases and deaths in this country have sharply fallen, vaccinations have been distributed widely, and many people have shed their masks and resumed prepandemic lives, including in New York and California, which both fully reopened today. Yet the coronavirus remains agonizingly present for those who knew the hundreds across the country still dying of it each day. (New York Times)
The Delta variant of Covid-19, first identified in India, has been detected in 74 countries and continues to spread rapidly amid fears that it is poised to become the dominant strain worldwide. Meanwhile, the risk of being hospitalized with the Delta variant is roughly double that associated with the original Alpha strain. (The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, The Lancet)
NIH study suggests coronavirus may have been in U.S. as early as December 2019. (Washington Post)
Uneven vaccination rates are creating a new economic divide: Delays in buying, making and deploying shots have left many parts of the world vulnerable to new virus outbreaks and economic setbacks. (The Economist)
Moscow and Beijing, both facing confrontation from the West, are likely to strengthen their alliance regardless of the outcome of a US-Russia summit, observers say. Biden is expected to raise contentious issues with Vladimir Putin when they meet today to discuss the deteriorating relationship between the Kremlin and the West. China and Russia, meanwhile, have “no choice” but to move closer, especially after the G7 and Nato leaders took a tough line on the two countries this week. (South China Morning Post)
China flew 28 military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense buffer zone in its largest such incursion so far, a move that came as Beijing continues to express anger over warnings from western countries and their allies about its military pressure on the island. Meanwhile, Chinese dredgers are stealing Taiwan, bit by bit: In the darkness, Chinese ships edge closer to Taiwan's Matsu Islands, at times entering Taiwan-controlled waters. They are not military vessels, but huge sand dredgers that spend hours pumping up tons of sand from the ocean floor. (Financial Times, Nikkei Asian Review)
The Tokyo Olympics will need a public bailout of about $800m if the games are held behind closed doors, as organizers delay a decision on domestic spectators to the last possible moment. Recent budgets show the Tokyo 2020 organisers are still assuming full stadiums. Having already spent the billions of yen raised from ticket sales, a new subsidy from taxpayers would be the only way to finance refunds. (Financial Times)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country’s economy improved this year but called for measures to tackle the “tense” food situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and last year’s typhoons. Kim chaired a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's central committee: "The people's food situation is now getting tense as the agricultural sector failed to fulfil its grain production plan due to the damage by typhoon last year," Kim said. (Reuters)
The IDF carried out a series of airstrikes throughout the Gaza Strip in response to over two dozen fires in southern Israel caused by incendiary devices launched from the coastal enclave. The air raids came at the closing of a day of heightened tensions, during which Israeli authorities allowed thousands of right-wing nationalists to rally through the Old City in the annual flag parade, despite threats from Hamas that the controversial demonstration would lead to an escalation. (Times of Israel)
Trillions of dollars of economic activity along China’s east coast, including $974bn in Shanghai alone, are exposed to oceans rising as a result of climate change this century, according to Financial Times analysis of unpublished data. When fine-grained gross domestic product and population data is mapped against projections of rising oceans for the year 2100, it shows that some of China’s most important commercial hubs could suffer from higher tides and annual flooding, unless drastic cuts are made to greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis combines sea-level estimates by Climate Central, a US-based non-profit, with unpublished data from researchers in Finland that breaks down 2019 purchasing power parity GDP per capita and uses population density to work out grid-by-grid estimates of growth. (Financial Times)
Hungary’s parliament approved legislation banning broadcasters, advertisers, and media organizations from promoting homosexuality or transgender rights in any content available to children. The bill, first drafted as a series of new measures against pedophilia, passed 157-1, mainly with support from the Fidesz, the conservative-nationalist party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. (Wall Street Journal)
Mackenzie Scott announced a new round of grants: $2,739,000,000 in gifts to 286 high-impact organizations in categories and communities that have been historically underfunded and overlooked. (Mackenzie Scott)
The Senate unanimously passed a measure that would establish a federal holiday for Juneteenth, the day that marks the end of slavery in the U.S. The bill now heads to the Democratic-led House, where it is likely to be approved, although the timing remains uncertain. (Washington Post)
Just over a third of Americans report having a lot (12%) or some knowledge (25%) about the "Juneteenth" celebration. Another 34% reporting knowing a little about it, while 28% report knowing nothing at all. More than two in three Black Americans (69%) say they have a lot or some knowledge about Juneteenth, compared with 40% of Hispanic Americans and 31% of White Americans. (Gallup)
Economy
Retail sales dropped in May, marking a shift in consumer spending from big-ticket items to goods and services related to going out amid business reopenings and higher vaccination rates. Consumers cut spending by 1.3% last month, trimming expenditures on autos, furniture, electronics, building materials and other items. People spent more on such items throughout the pandemic but are now pulling back. Americans instead are spending more on services: Spending on one service—restaurants and bars—rose 1.8% last month, sending food-service sales beyond pre-pandemic levels. (Wall Street Journal)
Lumber prices are falling back to earth: Futures for July delivery ended Monday at $996.20 per thousand board feet, down 42% from the record of $1,711.20 reached in early May. Futures have declined 14 of the past 15 trading days, the last two by the most allowed by exchange rules. Cash lumber prices are also crashing, with its biggest ever weekly decline. (Wall Street Journal)
General Motors will boost global spending on electric and autonomous vehicles to $35 billion through 2025, a 30% jump over its most recent forecast as it pursues EV leadership. As part of that spending, the No. 1 U.S. automaker will build two additional U.S. battery plants and move ahead some of its EV investments. (Reuters)
PwC will increase its global headcount by more than a third over the next five years as part of a $12bn investment in recruitment, training, technology and deals designed to capture a booming market for environmental, social and governance advice. The expansion will add 100,000 people to a workforce that has grown by more than a quarter, to 284,000 people, in the past five years. (Financial Times)
Carbon prices in the EU’s emissions trading system are expected to rise significantly in the next decade due to tougher climate goals, market participants said in an industry survey. The EU's emissions trading system (ETS) is the largest carbon market in the world, covering around 45% of the bloc's output of greenhouse gases and charging emitters for every tonne of carbon dioxide they emit. (Reuters)
This month’s bankruptcy filing by Katerra, formerly the most valued startup in the construction tech space, is a spectacular demise for a company that had raised some $2 billion from investors. But while the sector’s biggest unicorn has imploded, venture capitalists say they’re still bullish on the construction tech space, though investing more cautiously. (Crunchbase)
Japan exports jump most in 41 years, machine orders rise. (Reuters)
Technology
President Biden named Lina Khan, a critic of Amazon who helped launch a movement to reform antitrust laws, to serve as the chair of the Federal Trade Commission. The move comes on the day the Senate confirmed Khan to serve on the FTC in a bipartisan 69-28 vote that signaled that the cause of reining in Big Tech has resonance on both sides of the aisle. (Protocol)
In 2017, Khan wrote a Yale Law Journal article that, Protocol adds, “many see as helping to revamp interest in antitrust law and to launch a movement for boosted enforcement and legal changes.” (Yale Law Journal)
Microsoft revealed its vision for the future of the Xbox platform, and it can be summed up in eight simple words: "Play It Day One with Xbox Game Pass." That was the message that flashed on the screen repeatedly throughout the company's livestreamed E3 2021 showcase. Perhaps equally important to its pitch for Game Pass was Microsoft's understated confirmation that while its new games would arrive day one on its subscription service, they would not in fact come to PlayStation … ever. "Xbox Exclusive" was the other message shown numerous times throughout Microsoft's E3 showcase, finally settling a debate that's been raging since the company bought major third-party publisher Bethesda Softworks in 2020. (Protocol)
Nine months after Nvidia, the second-most valuable microchip developer in the world, announced its $40 billion takeover of SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm Holdings, the companies are facing delays in submitting the deal for approval by the European Union’s antitrust regulator. The regulator is asking far more questions about the deal than either company anticipated before the filing. The delay is the latest complication in the companies’ effort to close the deal by March of next year. (The Information)
Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 11 operating system has leaked online today. After screenshots were first published at Chinese site Baidu, the entire Windows 11 OS has appeared online, complete with a new user interface, Start menu, and lots more. (The Verge)
Smart Links
Almost half of black office workers have suffered racism at work. (The Times)
Amazon's digital properties, including Amazon, WholeFoods, and Zappos, are blocking Google's new FLoC tracking system from gathering data. (Digiday)
Southwest Airlines cancels 500 flights after second technology issue in two days. (CNBC)
Oil likely to hit $100 a barrel, say top commodity traders. (Financial Times)
China hog futures fall to record low on fears over pork glut. (Financial Times)
U.S. News releases Best Children's Hospitals list (No. 1: Boston Children's Hospital). (U.S. News & World Report)
Science says you should mute work emails on vacation. (Conde Nast Traveler)
Amazon to open full-size, cashierless grocery store. (Specialty Foods)
MLB: Pitchers who violate ‘sticky stuff’ rules will face 10-game suspensions. (Washington Post)
Live Event
Today, 12 pm ET: COVID-19: An Update from India. (Stanford King Center on Global Development)