Know someone who would like this newsletter? Forward it to them.
The World
President Biden is preparing an overhaul of arms export policy to increase the emphasis on human rights, a departure from former President Trump's prioritization of economic benefits to U.S. defense contractors. Defense companies and activists scrutinize such policies for insight into the administration's posture as it balances the commercial interests of exporters like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies against the country's stated commitment to human rights. Two State Department deputy assistant secretaries will brief congressional staff on Biden's draft Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy on Friday, with a formal unveiling expected as soon as September. (Reuters)
The contours of debate within the U.S. central bank over when to dial back support for the economy burst into the open as a key architect of the Federal Reserve's new policy strategy said he feels the conditions for raising interest rates could be met by the end of 2022. "Commencing policy normalization in 2023 would, under these conditions, be entirely consistent with our new flexible average inflation targeting framework," Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said. (Reuters)
Businesses are sitting on record amounts of unused credit from U.S. banks, another quirk in the economic recovery that bankers say could help unleash pent-up spending in the coming months. Bank executives said their business clients have in recent months ramped up requests for credit lines that can be drawn quickly for spending on inventory, labor or expansions. (Wall Street Journal)
More unvaccinated U.S. adults view the coronavirus vaccine as a greater risk to their health than the disease caused by the virus itself. 53% of unvaccinated adults said they believed getting vaccinated posed a bigger risk to their health than getting infected with the coronavirus. “In contrast, an overwhelming majority (88%) of vaccinated adults said that getting infected with COVID-19 is a bigger risk to their health than the vaccine,” the report found. (Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation)
The Federal Appeals Court backed Indiana University’s vaccine requirement, rejecting a request for an injunction against the requirement for students. (Inside Higher Ed)
Biden administration plans to require foreign travelers to be vaccinated. IL Gov. Pritzker issues mask mandate for schools effective immediately and vaccine requirement for some state workers. U.S. Bancorp delays its return-to-the-office plan. (New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Sydney suffers worst pandemic day as lockdown nears six weeks, while Thailand reports record 20,920 coronavirus cases in a day. (Reuters)
Thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes as firefighters battled to contain a large blaze on the outskirts of Athens. In all, some 80 wildfires sent plumes of smoke billowing over the capital and destroyed or seriously damaged dozens of homes overnight. Meanwhile, as Turkey battles its worst forest fires in decades, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under ferocious attack for his handling of the disaster, as well as his broader management of a country that was already battered by an economic crisis and the pandemic. Fires blazed uncontrollably for the eighth day on Wednesday, aggravated by a record-breaking heat wave that follows a prolonged drought. (The Times, New York Times)
Since last year’s twin blasts at a Beirut port decimated Lebanon's capital, Lebanon's already-dire economic and financial crises have only intensified. The Lebanese pound, the national currency, has plummeted, losing 90% of its value since 2019, when the country's economic crisis erupted. And more than 50% of the population is now living below the poverty line. Some locals say Lebanon has become "unlivable" in recent months. (GZERO Media)
The number of children traveling alone who were picked up at the Mexican border by U.S. immigration authorities probably hit an all-time high in July. (Los Angeles Times)
Intense drought has Arizona drier than ever, and the situation is particularly dire. Large swaths of the region are now in extreme distress and it’s farmers in the center of the state who are most worried as water shortages loom. Typically green farms have turned brown, skinny cattle are left with little grass to graze and saguaros lie dead. “For sale” signs advertise desperate owners looking to sell their land at a discount for solar power panels and housing developments. (Los Angeles Times)
Tokyo faces stifling heat and then a tropical storm as Olympics near end. Heat index values are forecast to top 105 through Friday before tropical storm nears Tokyo over the weekend. (Washington Post)
Economy
JPMorgan Chase’s new healthcare unit has made its first investment: The bank has agreed to invest $50 million in Vera Whole Health, a Seattle-based start-up that is pioneering a new, subscription-type model for employee healthcare. Further, through the bank’s Morgan Health unit — a new business unveiled in May after a joint venture with Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway folded — JPMorgan will begin offering Vera’s services to its employees during benefits enrollment season this fall, the companies said. Vera, founded in 2008, aims to improve outcomes for workers and reduce costs for companies by making primary care teams accountable for the health of employees. Companies pay a flat monthly fee per patient, and primary care doctors are tasked with coordinating all their users’ care. The so-called advanced care model requires Vera to either operate or partner with clinics that work in a fundamentally different way than the prevailing system, according to Vera CEO Ryan Schmid. (CNBC)
Auto makers including General Motors, Ford Motor Co., and Jeep maker Stellantis will aim to make electric vehicles account for 40% to 50% of their U.S. sales by 2030. (Wall Street Journal)
Target will offer new perks to woo workers: a debt-free way to get a college degree and payments toward graduate programs. Starting this fall, the big-box retailer said it will cover the cost of tuition, fees and textbooks for part- and full-time workers who pursue a qualifying undergraduate degree at more than 40 institutions. It will also fund advanced degrees, paying up to $10,000 each year for master’s programs at those schools. With the move, Target joins other retailers and restaurant chains — including Chipotle and Starbucks — that have programs that help employees pay for college. Walmart recently announced it would cover the full cost of college tuition and books for its employees. (CNBC)
Remote work policies are getting more flexible. Asana and LinkedIn are extending their employees' remote work time, while Twitter is getting serious about asynchronous work. Google, meanwhile, approved 85% of employee requests to relocate or work remotely. (Source Code, Bloomberg)
The FTC said it won't be able to finish reviewing all the deals on its plate within its standard 30-day period — and that it will notify companies via form letter if a review remains open longer than 30 days. Companies that, after receiving the form letter, proceed with deals that haven't been fully investigated are "doing so at their own risk," the agency said. (Axios)
Cambodia aims to wean off U.S. dollar dependence with its ‘Bakong’ digital currency, as central banks across the world are rushing to develop their own digital currencies in a bid to provide safe and convenient payment systems as digitalization rapidly expands to many segments of the economy. (Nikkei Asian Review)
A trio of U.S. senators is proposing a legislative exclusion for crypto companies, including miners and software developers, from a tax reporting provision in a long-in-the-making bipartisan infrastructure bill. The Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment comes days after it first emerged that the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill included language aimed at tightening reporting requirements for "brokers" in the digital asset space. (The Block)
Technology
Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand.’ Windows 365 lets you rent a cloud PC — with a variety of CPU, RAM, and storage options — and then stream Windows 10 or Windows 11 via a web browser. The service reached max capacity after only a day of signups. (The Verge)
A group of NYU researchers studying Facebook’s political advertising targeting practices accused the social media company of “silencing” them after it severed their access to the platform. The NYU Ad Observatory, part of the university’s Center for Cybersecurity, has since last year run a project whereby 16,000 volunteers downloaded a browser extension that allows them to collect data on the political advertising shown to those users on Facebook. It aimed to uncover trends around ad funding and misinformation, and whether content was being microtargeted at certain demographics. Facebook said in a blog post that it had “disabled the accounts, apps, Pages and platform access” associated with the project, including the personal accounts of the academics, for violating its terms of service. (Financial Times)
Amazon plans to cut waste following backlash over the destruction of unused products. The Fulfillment by Amazon programs will help to build a circular economy. They come less than two months after British broadcaster ITV reported that Amazon is destroying millions of items of unsold stock at one of its 24 U.K. warehouses every year, including smart TVs, laptops, drones and hairdryers. One of the programs will allow third-party businesses on Amazon to resell returned items as “used” products, Amazon said. The other will allow sellers to use Amazon’s “wholesale resale channel and technology” to recover a portion of their inventory cost from returned items and excess stock. (CNBC)
After criticism from China, Tencent says it will limit playing time on flagship Honor of Kings for under 18s to one hour per day and not between 10PM and 8AM. (South China Morning Post)
American Airlines is giving passengers free in-flight TikTok in 30-minute increments. Any customers traveling aboard Viasat-equipped narrowbody aircraft will be able to log in to their TikTok accounts for free by enabling airplane mode, connecting to the “AA-Inflight” signal, and clicking on the TikTok ad that pops up. Non-TikTok users will be able to access and download the app in-flight free of charge. (Gizmodo)
SoftBank, Insight top list of 10 fastest-growing tech investors. U.S. VC firms have raised $74 billion so far this year, nearly topping last year’s record of $81 billion. At the current pace, the total raised will clear $100 billion for the first time this year That’s nearly the total raised in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 combined. (The Information)
Smart Links
Robinhood surges 50% in second day of wild trading, up 100% this week. (CNBC)
VC investor Marc Andreessen: Silicon Valley is driving a huge societal change. (Bloomberg)
VC-backed cyber companies bought up at record pace. (Crunchbase)
First Broadway play opens in NY since pandemic shutdown. (Reuters)
Rise of online finance pushes banks to cut branches worldwide. (Nikkei Asian Review)
News Corp to buy oil price information service for $1.15 billion cash. (Variety)
Asian telecos select Cloudera to accelerate data-driven innovation. (MarTech Series)