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The World
President Biden signed into law a bill creating a federal holiday to commemorate Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in Texas. Because June 19 falls on a Saturday this year, most federal employees will get today off. “Great nations don’t ignore the most painful moments. They don’t ignore those moments in the past. They embrace them,” Biden said. (Washington Post)
The Affordable Care Act survived a third major challenge as the Supreme Court, on a 7-to-2 vote, turned aside the latest effort by Republicans to kill the health care law. The legislation subject of relentless Republican hostility. But attempts in Congress to repeal it failed, as did two earlier Supreme Court challenges, in 2012 and 2015. Yesterday, in what Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. called, in dissent, “the third installment in our epic Affordable Care Act trilogy,” the Supreme Court again sustained the law. Its future now seems secure and its potency as a political issue for Republicans reduced. (New York Times)
Obamacare enjoys higher-than-ever public support, with most Americans now favoring the law. Enrollment in the health law’s programs is at a record high. Democrats have moved from defending the 2010 law to expanding its benefits. While Obamacare remains a dirty word in some Republican circles, its repeal is no longer a focus of the party or a galvanizing issue among its voters. The waning repeal effort has given Democrats their first chance in a decade to press forward on a new campaign: moving the country toward a system of universal health coverage. (New York Times)
The key fault line in the Supreme Court that Donald Trump built is not the ideological clash between right and left — it’s the increasingly acrimonious conflict within the court’s now-dominant conservative wing. Those rifts burst wide open with two of the highest-profile decisions of the court’s current term. In both the big cases — involving Obamacare and a Catholic group refusing to vet same-sex couples as foster parents in Philadelphia — conservative justices unleashed sharp attacks that seemed aimed at their fellow GOP appointees for failing to grapple with the core issues the cases presented. (Politico)
Supreme Court says chocolate companies cannot be sued over child slavery on African cocoa farms. (Washington Post)
The Israeli military launched airstrikes on Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Thursday night in response to ongoing arson attacks from the enclave, the Israel Defense Forces said. A month after an 11-day conflict raged between Israel and Hamas, with the fragile ceasefire under heavy strain, the army chief ordered the IDF to prepare for a resumption of fighting. (Times of Israel)
U.S. touts Taiwan ‘porcupine’ strategy to thwart Chinese threat: The U.S. will use its global clout and alliances to strengthen Taiwan’s defense, international presence and economy, including its vital semiconductor industry, against China, US administration officials told Congress. Washington will also make clear that Taipei must avoid any provocative action that would compel Beijing to respond, even as it pressures Taiwan to increase its military spending, invest in more mobile coastal cruise missile systems and strengthen its military reserves. (South China Morning Post)
After Putin summit, White House considers meeting with China's Xi Jinping. Though there are no particular plans at the moment, both leaders are likely to attend the G20 in October. (Axios)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the North should prepare for both dialogue and confrontation with the U.S., particularly confrontation, after a "detailed analysis" of the new U.S. administration. (Reuters)
Italy risks provoking a “disastrous” economic boycott if it pulls out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to an expert who helped arrange the deal. The prospect of Italy’s withdrawal was raised by Mario Draghi, the prime minister, who has signalled a sea change in dealings with China. He called it “an autocracy that does not adhere to multilateral rules and does not share the same vision of the world that democracies have.” (The Times)
A survey conducted this spring in 17 advanced economies shows that negative views of Putin are at or near historic highs in most places. Today, a median of 22% say they have confidence in Putin to do the right thing in world affairs, compared with a median of 74% who say they have no such confidence. (Pew Research Center)
Big companies are hiring for remote positions that can be performed in any state across the U.S. except one: Colorado. At issue is a new Colorado law that requires companies with even a few employees in the state to disclose the expected salary or pay range for each open role they advertise, including remote positions. The rule’s aim is to narrow gender wage gaps and provide greater pay transparency for employees. To avoid having to disclose that information, though, some employers seeking remote workers nationwide are saying that those living in Colorado need not apply. (Wall Street Journal)
Gender bias toward men in patent awards results in less biomedical innovation for women: The study found that female inventors are more likely to come up with biomedical ideas and products that focus on the needs of women whereas male inventors are more inclined to focus on products for men. That, the authors concluded, suggests society may be missing out on medications, devices, and technology that could benefit women’s health. (STAT News, Science)
The Earth is trapping nearly twice as much heat as it did in 2005, described as an “unprecedented” increase amid the climate crisis. Scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported in a new study that Earth’s “energy imbalance approximately doubled” from 2005 to 2019. The increase was described as “alarming.” (The Guardian)
Economy
Black workers in the U.S. continue to earn less than their white counterparts even as American companies are raising diversity and inclusion as a cornerstone of their brands and business strategies. The Conference Board report attributed the wage gaps to a range of factors, including geographical segregation and labor market segmentation, as well as different access to educational opportunities, social and professional networks. (Reuters, The Conference Board)
Women in finance say ‘mediocre’ male managers block progress: Careers for some women in finance are being held back by “mediocre” male middle managers adept at playing internal politics, according to a report backed by some of the City of London’s largest financial institutions. Research by Women In Banking and Finance and the London School of Economics — which has been supported by groups such as Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Citi, as well as the Financial Conduct Authority — also found a tendency among such managers to fake empathy when managing women, recognising that the trait was now seen as valuable. (Financial Times)
The dollar notched its largest two-day gain of the year after US central bank officials brought forward the anticipated timing of the Federal Reserve’s first post-pandemic interest rate rise. Meanwhile, a booming U.S. economy that is driving inflation higher around the world and pushing up the U.S. dollar is pressing some central banks to increase interest rates, despite still-high levels of Covid-19 infections and incomplete economic recoveries in their own countries. (Financial Times, Wall Street Journal)
El Salvador’s plan to adopt bitcoin as legal tender hit a roadblock when the World Bank said that it would not help with the rollout of the cryptocurrency. The rejection is the latest sign that President Nayib Bukele’s ambitions to bring El Salvador into a new age of prosperity through the use of volcano-powered bitcoin may be less realistic than he would like to admit. (Washington Post)
Victoria’s Secret swaps angels for ‘What Women Want.’ The embattled lingerie giant is attempting the most extreme brand turnaround in recent memory: an effort to redefine not just itself but also the very idea of what “sexy” is. The angels are out. In their place are seven women famous for their achievements and not their proportions. They include Megan Rapinoe, the 35-year-old pink-haired soccer star and gender equity campaigner; Eileen Gu, a 17-year-old Chinese American freestyle skier and soon-to-be Olympian; the 29-year-old biracial model and inclusivity advocate Paloma Elsesser, who was the rare size 14 woman on the cover of Vogue; and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a 38-year-old Indian actor and tech investor. (New York Times)
Weekend read: American Airlines CEO attends Southwest flight attendant’s wedding after their conversation about race in America went viral: "She continues to be a light that guides me as we work to tear down barriers that create systemic racism," CEO Doug Parker wrote. Onboard the flight that JacqueRae Sullivan was then a crewmember on, she noticed a white passenger reading "White Fragility," a book by Robin DiAngelo. When she finished service, Hill sat down next to the passenger and asked him about the book. The two started talking about race relations and the man said, "It's our fault. We have to start these conversations." Hill was overcome with emotion and started crying. The man introduced himself as Doug Parker, the CEO of American Airlines. Before getting off the plane, Parker wrote a note to Hill, thanking her for the conversation and giving her his email address to stay in touch and continue the conversation. Over Memorial Day Weekend, which marked exactly one year since they had met, Parker attended Hill's wedding. (Travel & Leisure)
Technology
The attention economy shifted significantly during the pandemic towards individual creators who make content for niche groups of fans. Now that brands and consumers are catching on, Big Tech firms want in. To fill that void, a slew of new upstarts gained traction over the past few years, like Clubhouse for live audio, Discord for groups chats, TikTok for short video, Substack for newsletters and Patreon for tipping and payments. Now, they're starting to face competition from much bigger companies. (Axios)
CNN to sell NFTs of its historic news coverage: The first batch of news “moments” is TBD, but the company says it could include coverage from presidential elections, CNN exclusives, or moments from world history (want to own CNN’s coverage of the Berlin Wall coming down? Now might be your chance!). (The Hollywood Reporter)
President Biden’s executive order aimed at safeguarding Americans’ sensitive data would force some Chinese apps to take tougher measures to protect private information if they want to remain in the U.S. market. The U.S. Department of Commerce may issue subpoenas to collect information about certain smartphone, tablet and desktop computer software applications. Then the agency may either negotiate conditions for their use in the United States or ban the apps. (Reuters)
Nearly half of all ads on fake news sites come from Google. (Marketing Brew)
Smart Links
Pharma funded more than 2,400 state lawmaker campaigns in 2020. (STAT News)
David Guetta sells music catalogue in $100m deal. (Financial Times)
New York City experiment will give cash payments to homeless young adults. (City Lab)
Louisiana grandmother fighting pollution in ‘Cancer Alley’ wins Green Nobel Prize. (Bloomberg)
Naomi Osaka, Rafael Nadal withdraw from Wimbledon. (ESPN)
Tokyo 2020 president considering cap of 10,000 spectators. (Reuters)
Computers predict people's tastes in art: New study offers insight into how people make aesthetic judgments. (California Institute of Technology)