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The World
Democrats have almost reached an agreement on a social spending bill that is a pared-down version of U.S. President Joe Biden's priorities and plan to vote on that and an infrastructure bill in the coming week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. President Biden met with fellow Democrats Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin, who has objected to parts of the bill. No top-line number for the spending bill was likely to emerge from Sunday's breakfast meeting at Biden's home in Delaware, given some of the complicated issues that need to be resolved. (Reuters)
The EU intends to reopen its diplomatic representation in Afghanistan within a month as the bloc seeks to deepen its limited engagement with the Taliban regime. The move means that EU diplomats will return to Kabul about 12 weeks after they fled the city, as Brussels seeks to co-ordinate aid efforts and the continued evacuation of Afghan citizens. (Financial Times)
Inspired by Trump, a French far-right TV host is surging in the polls: Nationalist pundit Éric Zemmour is exploring a presidential run in France, assembling a new electoral coalition that is siphoning off support from longtime standard-bearer Marine Le Pen and shaking up French politics. (Wall Street Journal)
China passed a law to strengthen border security that permits the use of blockades and “police apparatus and weapons” against those who cross its borders illegally. China has been in a protracted border stand-off with India, with both sides building up their military presence following a deadly clash last year. China shares a land border with 14 countries – North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam and India – and is also worried about the risk of terrorists crossing into Xinjiang from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and of Covid-19 spilling over from its neighbors. (South China Morning Post)
Despite pledges to tackle the climate crisis, many countries are still planning to dramatically ramp up their production of oil, gas, and coal in the coming decades, according to a UN-backed report. 15 major countries, including the US, India, and China, will produce twice as much oil, gas, and coal in the run-up to 2030 as would be needed to keep warming below 1.5°C, a widely accepted limit if the world is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change (the world has already warmed by 1.1°C since the Industrial Revolution.) The first “production gap report” was in 2019 and little has changed since then, the authors warn. The report also found that G20 countries have directed more new funding to fossil fuels than clean energy since the start of the pandemic. (MIT Technology Review)
The broken $100-billion promise of climate finance — and how to fix it: 12 years ago, rich nations pledged to give US$100 billion each year by 2020 to help less-wealthy nations adapt to climate change and mitigate further rises in temperature. That promise was broken. Compared with the total investment needed to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, the $100-billion pledge is minuscule. “But the $100 billion is iconic in terms of the good faith of the countries that promised it,” says Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Dhaka. With climate finance a key area of negotiation at the United Nations COP26 climate conference next month, Nature lays out how the $100-billion pledge failed, which countries are most to blame — and how climate finance might be transformed in the future. (Nature)
China expects its new Covid outbreak to worsen in the coming days, while Singapore will limit workplace access for unvaccinated people. (Bloomberg)
Five of the largest tech companies that have implemented vaccine mandates haven't changed policy in Texas or elsewhere in response to a new state executive order banning any "entity in Texas" from requiring the shot. Mandates remain in place nationwide at Google, Facebook, Twitter and Lyft, all of which have a presence in Texas. (Protocol)
California bore the brunt of what meteorologists referred to as a “bomb cyclone” and an “atmospheric river,” a convergence of storms that brought more than half a foot of rain to parts of the Bay Area, along with high winds, concerns about flash floods and the potential for heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada. The National Weather Service warned that the rainfall could cause mudslides, especially in areas scorched by wildfires. (New York Times)
Economy
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. was not losing control of inflation, and that she expected inflation levels to return to normal by 2H22. (Reuters)
Some of the world’s biggest companies are betting consumers will keep paying more for products from coffee to toilet paper. Corporate giants including Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, and Verizon say they plan to continue raising prices or pushing customers to buy more expensive products into 2022 to offset fast-growing costs amid a global supply-chain crisis. Gillette razors, Nestlé coffee and Chipotle burritos are among the products that could get more expensive in coming months. Price increases so far have paid off for makers of household staples as shoppers have remained loyal to big-name brands. (Wall Street Journal)
Inflation pressure is now ‘brutal’ because of supply squeeze, U.S. companies say. Whirlpool blamed “inefficiencies across the supply chain” for “pretty brutal” increases in prices for steel, resin and other materials, saying these would add almost $1bn to the appliance manufacturer’s costs this year. “On any given day, something is out of stock in the store,” said Vivek Sankaran, Albertsons CEO, likening the grocery chain’s efforts to respond to successive challenges to a game of Whac-A-Mole. Asked which ingredients and supplies Chipotle had found difficulty securing, CFO Jack Hartung replied: “All of them.” (Financial Times)
The EU has been warned not to delay the next phase of global banking rules, as draft plans show that Brussels is suggesting giving European banks a two-year extension to an internationally agreed deadline. The European Commission is set to reveal its plan to implement the final part of the Basel reform package on Wednesday. The reforms are due to come into force by 2023 under a global accord, but the commission is proposing a delay until 2025, according to a draft of the plans seen by the FT. (Financial Times)
An Amazon employee group formed by warehouse workers in Staten Island announced its goal to vote on unionization, becoming the latest labor-organizing effort from workers at one of the nation’s largest employers. The organizing involves more than 2,000 workers across four Amazon facilities in Staten Island who have signed on to the effort. (Wall Street Journal)
Technology
Facebook’s internal chat boards show politics often are at the center of decision making: Employees allege content rules aren’t enforced for Breitbart and other right-wing publishers for fear of public blowback, and management expresses wariness of appearing biased, according to internal documents. (Wall Street Journal)
Estimated ship times for preorders of new MacBook Pro models are now pushed into late November, early December. If you add customizations, it pushes the ship date back even later. (The Verge)
A growing number of renowned U.S. tech investors are moving to Europe to capitalize on the continent’s start-ups. U.S. venture firms are flying staff out to Europe and hiring people already on the ground in the region as they look to find the next Spotify or the next ASML, a Dutch semiconductor firm whose market value has grown to $331 billion amid the global chip crunch. (CNBC)
Tesla quietly raised prices of four of its electric vehicles this weekend, a few days after the automaker announced a record $1.6 billion profit in its third quarter. The base Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles are each priced $2,000 higher, at $43,990 and $56,990 respectively. In addition, the base Model S and Model X vehicles will each cost $5,000 more, at $94,990 and $104,990. (The Verge)
Smart Links
What new job will be introduced (or kept around) because of the pandemic in your industry? 8 executives answer. (Protocol)
Dropbox CEO: Pandemic caused “the death of the office as we’ve known it.” (Boston Globe)
Millions of workers stay home to watch young children as daycares stay dark. (Wall Street Journal)
The 30% app store tax is collapsing. (Source Code)
Gambling ads become the new normal for American sports. (Wall Street Journal)
With the work-at-home lifestyle likely here to stay, people are taking things outdoors, creating spaces meant for privacy and comfort. (New York Times)