Coffee & Sugar
What You Need To Know
Today’s posts that caught my eye:
I’ll have more in this weekend’s “Listen” section, but to understand today’s Haiti news, it helps to understand Haiti since even before the slave revolt & Napoleon defeat. One recommendation: Listen to Mike Duncan’s Haitian revolution podcast.
A disastrous and deadly Covid outbreak is underway in Springfield, MO. The Kansas City Star headline reads: “Most recent COVID deaths in Springfield area weren’t vaccinated. Is it a warning sign?” I don’t know… what you do you think?
12% of U.S. workers said they never want to physically return to their workplace, Morning Consult reports. I’m sure at least that many would have said the same thing pre-Covid… with remote work, however, they now might have the option.
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The World
Four people suspected of being involved in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti were killed by the police in a gun battle and two others were arrested, Haiti’s police chief said late Wednesday. The chief, Léon Charles, also said that three police officers who had been held hostage were freed. (New York Times)
‘No one’s in charge’: The assassination of Haiti’s president marks the explosive climax of a spiraling political and security crisis – and threatens to open a violent new chapter in the Caribbean nation’s volatile history, leaving the impoverished Caribbean nation on the brink of chaos. Jovenel Moïse was gunned down at his home in the capital, Port-au-Prince, with witnesses and government officials suggesting the attack was perpetrated by black-clad “mercenaries” posing as DEA agents. (The Guardian)
Ravaged by successive despots, Haiti is truly without hope: As fresh turmoil engulfs Haiti following President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination yesterday, it is hard to believe that the tiny Caribbean nation enjoyed a glorious birth 217 years ago when its slaves rose up against their French colonial masters, defeated what was then one of the world’s most powerful armies, and founded the world’s first black republic. In that victory lay the seeds of its present misery. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson refused to recognize the new republic lest its uprising inspired slaves in southern states to follow suit. France demanded crippling reparations for the loss of an immensely fertile colony that supplied half Europe’s coffee and sugar, and continued to receive those reparations until 1947. (The Times)
UAE-Saudi brinkmanship threatens OPEC unity as oil prices soar: So sour are Saudi-Emirati relations that neither side could agree on how Monday’s private discussions concluded between OPEC members and allies. People close to the United Arab Emirates said a formal meeting of oil ministers had been postponed. Their Saudi Arabian counterparts argued it had been cancelled and blamed the UAE for torpedoing a deal to raise output at a time when resurgent demand has already pushed up crude prices by 50% this year. The clash has opened a rift at the heart of OPEC that threatens the ability of the cartel — and its partners in the OPEC+ alliance — to deliver oil market stability and could yet see the UAE, a member since 1967, leave the group. (Financial Times)
U.S. 2021 crude output to decline less than previously forecast, EIA says. (Reuters)
Federal Reserve officials suggested that they might need to pull back their support for the economy sooner than they had anticipated because of stronger-than-expected growth this year. Fed officials discussing the matter at their June 15-16 policy meeting weren’t ready to reduce their $120 billion in monthly purchases of Treasury and mortgage securities. But an unspecified number thought that time could be approaching. The minutes offer a strong sign officials will ramp up more formal deliberations at their next meeting, July 27-28, over when and how to reduce the bond buying. (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. government bonds rallied, the dollar firmed and equities wavered as investors positioned themselves for a slowdown in the booming pace of economic growth. Jitters have been replaced by expectations that US gross domestic product growth, which is expected to have reached an annualized rate of at least 9 per cent in the second quarter, was about to peak. (Financial Times)
Hungary rejected a demand from the European Commission and many EU lawmakers to repeal new legislation banning schools from using materials deemed to promote homosexuality. The Commission can open a new legal case against Hungary at the European Court of Justice or use a new mechanism designed to protect the rule of law in the 27-nation bloc by freezing funding for countries that undermine democratic standards. (Reuters)
The European Parliament is to adopt a resolution calling for sanctions on Hong Kong officials and a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in response to the closure of the newspaper Apple Daily and the “dismantling of the free society in Hong Kong.” A debate and vote will be held in the Parliament today. It is expected to pass by a large majority, but will not be binding. (South China Morning Post)
Unfavorable opinions about China have reached historic highs. (Statista)
The Delta variant is already the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the U.S. According to CDC estimates the Delta variant became dominant in the country over the two weeks ended July 3, with 51.7% cases linked to the variant that was first identified in India. The proportion of cases linked to the Alpha variant which was first identified in Britain and had been dominant in the U.S. so far, fell to 28.7%. (Reuters)
A federal ‘surge response team’ has arrived in Springfield, MO amid a southwest Missouri variant spike. Springfield hospitals were treating 181 coronavirus patients as of Tuesday morning, according to the health department, while most recent COVID deaths in the area weren’t vaccinated. (Kansas City Star)
The Japanese government has decided to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo as COVID-19 infections continue to rise, increasing the chances that the Olympics will be held without spectators. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Scottish hospitals have recorded their biggest daily rise in coronavirus patients since January 22 as infection remains stubbornly high. (The Times)
Organizers pushed ahead with a Mexican beauty pageant in spite of a Covid-19 outbreak that infected almost half the contestants. At least 15 of the 32 contestants in the Miss Mexico 2021 pageant tested positive for coronavirus. Some women had coughs or a fever but were reportedly told ‘not to complain.’ (The Guardian)
As U.S. cities record significant increases in homicides this year, police departments and some politicians have pointed at criminal justice reforms, low morale in police departments and officer resignations to explain the surge. Pushes to defund police departments coupled with surging gun sales have led to lawlessness, they argue, and cities should bolster police budgets and hire more officers to combat the violence. That analysis fails to fully explain the current dynamics of rising violence. It doesn’t factor in the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable communities and the disruption brought on by lockdowns to violence prevention strategies. Furthermore, research has shown that cities that increased police budgets were just as likely to see a rise in murders as cities that reduced them. (The Guardian)
U.S. Capitol Police announced the agency will open regional field offices in California and Florida to investigate threats against members of Congress after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. (Los Angeles Times)
Rudy Giuliani’s DC law license is suspended. (CNBC)
North America endured hottest June on record. Satellite data shows temperature peaks are lasting longer and rising higher. (The Guardian)
Climate change drove the western heat wave’s extreme records: A rapid analysis of last week’s record-breaking heat found that it would have been virtually impossible without the influence of human-caused climate change. (New York Times)
‘I want to truly say thank you’: Surfside community reflects as rescue mission ends. (Miami Herald)
Economy
What businesses should know about employees’ views on the return to in-person work: 12% of U.S. workers said they never want to physically return to their workplace; 48% have already gone back. 58% of American employees expressed support for vaccine requirements for in-person workers at their companies. 68% said they’d prefer to work at an assigned desk, compared with 17% who would choose so-called “hot desking.” More U.S. workers also said they’d be more comfortable with physical barriers in the office than an open or semi-open floor plan. (Morning Consult)
The layoffs and discharge rate fell to 0.9% in May — a new record low dating back to 2001. Never have so few people been let go by employers, according to closely watched jobs data out Wednesday. It's another sign of the American worker's newfound leverage. (Axios)
About 22m fewer people are in work in advanced economies than before the pandemic, according to research by the OECD which forecasts that labor markets will not recover until the end of next year. Rich countries could face a sustained rise in long-term unemployment. This is because the low-skilled workers who were most likely to lose their jobs at the start of the pandemic are ill-equipped to move into the sectors where hiring is strongest. (Financial Times)
Where record-breaking global VC funding went in H1 2021: Global venture capital funding for the first half of 2021 shattered records as investors put more than $288 billion into deals worldwide. Total investment was nearly double year-ago levels, boosted by giant unicorn rounds and heightened tech dealmaking by major growth equity firms. (Crunchbase)
The U.S. is piling pressure on the EU to shelve its plans for a levy on digital companies, arguing it could clash with Brussels’ pledge to avoid new punitive corporate taxes while negotiations on a landmark global tax deal are being finalized. (Financial Times)
Technology
Dozens of states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google related to practices on its Google Play app store, according to a public court docket and a representative of one state. The antitrust suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California was led by Utah and signed onto by New York, California, and other states, the docket shows. It relates to Google’s practices on its Play store. (Wall Street Journal)
European Commission competition czar Margrethe Vestager and America's new antitrust sensation Lina Khan are a deadly duo for Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. Bundling Vestager's experience and regulatory powers in Europe with the fresh drive of the newly appointed chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission could bring the competition clampdown on Big Tech to a whole new level. With her appointment by U.S. President Joe Biden last month, Khan is the youngest-ever head of the century-old FTC, while Vestager is one of the longest-serving competition chiefs in Brussels. (Politico EU)
Former President Trump sued three tech giants — Facebook, Twitter and Google — and the firms’ chief executives after the platforms took various steps to ban him or block him from posting. (New York Times)
Mozilla's crowdsourced study about YouTube over a 10-month period finds 71%+ videos flagged as objectionable by participants were recommended by YouTube itself. The research suggests YouTube’s AI continues to puff up piles of “bottom-feeding”/low-grade/divisive/disinforming content — stuff that tries to grab eyeballs by triggering people’s sense of outrage, sewing division/polarization or spreading baseless/harmful disinformation — which in turn implies that YouTube’s problem with recommending terrible stuff is indeed systemic; a side effect of the platform’s rapacious appetite to harvest views to serve ads. (TechCrunch)
TikTok is taking the book industry by storm, and retailers are taking notice. "BookTok" has sent old books back to the top of bestseller lists and helped launch the careers of new authors. Videos with the BookTok hashtag have been viewed a collective 12.6 billion times. (NBC News)
Smart Links
Steve Ballmer becomes ninth member of the $100 billion club. (Bloomberg)
Wimbledon struggles to fill seats after lifting restrictions. (The Times)
Sotheby's says it will accept bitcoin and Ether at the sale of a 101.38-carat diamond on Friday. (Bloomberg)
Amazon elevates two more execs to its senior leadership team under new CEO Andy Jassy. (GeekWire)
TikTok tests letting US users to apply for jobs with video resumes. (Engadget)
Y Combinator launches a new way for co-founders to find each other. (Protocol)
If you got the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, should you get a booster dose of Pfizer or Moderna? (Washington Post)
Scientists discover a new class of memory cells for remembering faces. (Rockefeller University)
2021 is set to be another grim year for global tourism. (Statista)
Good News
A teen heading to the military raised $38,000 by cutting off his 19-inch Afro. He gave the money to help kids with cancer. “Everywhere he went, he was the guy with the big hair,” said Kieran’s mom, Kelly Moïse. “There was no way not to notice it.” (Washington Post)
Danielle turned her yard into a magpie playground. (The Dodo)
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