Friendship Treaty
What You Need To Know
Today’s posts that caught my eye:
Unfathomable news from my hometown: At least 77 people shot in weekend violence in Chicago, including 17 in two mass shootings, the Chicago Tribune reports. That’s outrageous.
The labor-employer leverage dynamic is fascinating to me. The new news: “Employers across the country, from Fortune 500 companies such as PepsiCo and Verizon to boutique advertising firms and nonprofit organizations, are continuing pandemic benefits such as increased paid time off and child- or elder-care benefits as well as embracing flexible work schedules and remote work in recognition that a returning workforce is at high risk of burnout,” the Washington Post reports.
The headline looks like a massive Facebook win: A federal judge dismissed antitrust lawsuits against Facebook filed by the federal government and most states, the WSJ reports. But this line also seems important: “The judge, however, said the commission can try again and gave it 30 days to attempt to file an amended lawsuit.”
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The World
Beijing and Moscow have moved to consolidate ties by renewing a 20-year-old friendship treaty, weeks after the Russian and US leaders met in what was seen as part of efforts by Washington to drive a wedge between them. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met by video link on Monday for a second time in a month, agreeing to extend the Treaty of Good Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. Xi praised the China-Russia relationship as a “model example of a new type of international relations” that added “positive energy” to the world, according to state news agency Xinhua. He said extending the treaty was a “vivid practice of building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.” (South China Morning Post)
Three scientific studies offered fresh evidence that widely used vaccines will continue to protect people against the coronavirus for long periods, possibly for years, and can be adapted to fortify the immune system still further if needed. Most people immunized with the mRNA vaccines may not need boosters, one study found, so long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much beyond their current forms — which is not guaranteed. Mix-and-match vaccination shows promise, a second study found, and booster shots of one widely used vaccine, if they are required, greatly enhance immunity, according to a third report. (New York Times)
Hopes are rapidly fading that the US and UK will agree to open an air corridor before the end of the summer, in the latest sign that a rise in coronavirus cases in Britain is hobbling millions of people’s travel plans. Officials involved in talks about a US-UK travel corridor said they thought it was increasingly unlikely they would reach a conclusion by the end of next month, as some had originally expected. (Financial Times)
More hospitals are likely to require employees receive a COVID-19 vaccine to further protect the sick and vulnerable patients who rely on them for care. Joining the growing tide of vaccine mandates are a variety of systems and hospitals, including Mass General Brigham in Boston, BJC Healthcare in St. Louis and Inova Health System in Virginia. (Healthcare Dive)
Three Australian cities lock down in fight against Delta COVID-19 variant. (Reuters)
The black market for fake vaccination cards has boomed in Moscow since its mayor announced that coronavirus vaccinations were mandatory for most of the city’s service sector employees. Fake documents are being sold on messaging apps such as Telegram and Dark Web forums. The average price is $66. (Washington Post)
Schoolchildren in some western countries are taught that Jesus Christ was bisexual, Russia’s foreign minister has claimed. Sergei Lavrov made the assertion in an article condemning what he said were efforts by the West to impose liberal values on Russia and the rest of the world. “In a number of western countries, children are being persuaded as part of the school curriculum that Jesus Christ was bisexual,” Lavrov wrote in the Kommersant newspaper. He did not provide examples to support his claim. (The Times)
Google took down two Google Maps documents that had listed the names and addresses of hundreds of Thai activists who were accused by royalists of opposing the monarchy. (Reuters)
The extraordinary heat wave that's stifling the Pacific Northwest reached its peak in many areas on Monday. Seattle smashed its all-time high-temperature record, set just the day before, by 4°F. Portland, Oregon, set an all-time high temperature of 112°F on Sunday, and eclipsed that on Monday, with a high of 115°F. In Seattle, the temperature reached 104°F on Sunday, which broke the existing all-time record. It exceeded this on Monday, reaching 108°F. Before this weekend, Seattle had never had back-to-back 100-degree days, and only saw three such days on record. But now, the century mark was exceeded three days in a row. (Axios)
Dangerous heat wave sets records across Western Canada: In Lytton, a village about a three-hour drive northeast of Vancouver, the temperature hit 47.5 C on Monday – the hottest on record in Canada. (Globe & Mail)
At least 77 people shot in weekend violence in Chicago, including 17 in two mass shootings. The latest mass shootings rock Chicago at a time when the city continues to struggle with violence. (Chicago Tribune)
California banned state-funded travel to five more states because of laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ community, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday, bringing the total number of banned states to 17. The move comes as Republicans in at least 25 states have introduced legislation targeting trans people this year. California employees are now unable to pursue state-funded travel to Florida, North Dakota, Montana, West Virginia and Arkansas. (Axios, Los Angeles Times)
Arizona’s Maricopa County announced that it will replace voting equipment that was turned over to a private contractor for a Republican-commissioned review of the 2020 presidential election, concerned that the process compromised the security of the machines. Officials provided no estimates of the costs involved but have previously said that the machines cost millions to acquire. (Washington Post)
Texas students' standardized test scores dropped dramatically during the pandemic, especially in math. The drop was more significant in districts that had most of their instruction online, compared to districts with more in-person classes. (Texas Tribune)
The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees will vote on tenure for Nikole Hannah-Jones this week. A vote will be held as early as Wednesday. Hannah-Jones’s legal team said last week she would not begin at the school without tenure. Her start date was to be July 1. (NC Policy Watch)
A series of videos from the Zhurong Mars rover have been released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), including incredible footage showing 23 seconds of the rover’s perilous descent to the surface. (Nature)
Economy
Morgan Stanley said it would double its dividend and boost the size of its share buyback program to up to $12bn, as a string of US banks outlined plans to return more capital to shareholders after the Federal Reserve last week loosened payout restrictions. Other large banks also announced higher shareholder payouts but were more reserved than Morgan Stanley. Goldman Sachs raised its dividend to $2 from $1.25, JPMorgan Chase increased its dividend to $1 from 90 cents, and Bank of America boosted its dividend to 21 cents from 18 cents. However, Morgan Stanley was the only large bank to announce an increase in the size of its buyback program. (Financial Times)
Japan's retail sales rise for 3rd month, but overall trend still soft. With Tokyo set to host the Olympic Games next month, analysts expect Japan's economy will barely grow in the second quarter after prolonged coronavirus emergency curbs hurt the growth outlook. (Reuters)
America’s workers are exhausted and burned out — and some employers are taking notice: Employers across the country, from Fortune 500 companies such as PepsiCo and Verizon to boutique advertising firms and nonprofit organizations, are continuing pandemic benefits such as increased paid time off and child- or elder-care benefits as well as embracing flexible work schedules and remote work in recognition that a returning workforce is at high risk of burnout. (Washington Post)
While many say that COVID has caused a great migration out of city centers, Foursquare, a location-tracking app, says that this has been somewhat overstated. Foursquare lends a bird’s-eye view of human traffic patterns, which proved to be particularly useful during the early days of the pandemic. CEO Gary Little: "The mass migrations that have been written about aren't necessarily holding as much as people thought. Not as many people moved as suspected, and there are some early signs that there may be movement back to certain places." (Protocol)
Even in places where there is universal paternity leave, most men say they are more reluctant to take time off as they fear it will hurt their careers. They are probably right. A study by two economists in Norway found that men’s salaries grew more slowly if they took paternity leave. They hypothesized that the main reason for this is common workplace competition. The short amount of time away from work gives a small advantage to coworkers over the leave-takers. Instead, this study finds that the only way for universal paternity leave to work is if everyone who has access to it, takes it. (New York Times)
Technology
A federal judge dismissed antitrust lawsuits against Facebook filed by the federal government and most states, a major win for the company before the cases even got off the ground. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington granted the social-media giant’s requests to dismiss lawsuits filed by the F.T.C. and state attorneys general in December. The dismissals, which came in a pair of rulings, came before any pretrial proceedings had progressed. The judge, however, said the commission can try again and gave it 30 days to attempt to file an amended lawsuit. (Wall Street Journal)
Facebook closed above $1 trillion in market capitalization for the first time on Monday. The social media company is the fifth U.S. company to hit the milestone, joining Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google-parent company Alphabet. (CNBC)
Microsoft keeps hinting at an October release date for Windows 11. The software giant teased an October date several times during its Windows event last week, including one instance where a Microsoft Teams message says “excited to turn it up to 11... can’t wait for October!” Microsoft has only officially said “holiday” for Windows 11 availability, but the company’s official marketing material strongly hints at an October 20th date. (The Verge)
Fired by bot at Amazon: ‘It’s you against the machine.’ Contract drivers say algorithms terminate them by email—even when they have done nothing wrong. (Bloomberg)
Live Event
Today, 12 pm ET: The Coronavirus Pandemic: The Mental Health Impacts of Reopening Society. Live Online Q&A with Karestan Koenen, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (Register)
Smart Links
NCAA Council recommends interim name, image and likeness policy. (CBS Sports)
Starbucks CEO says business is rebounding in markets where vaccinations are up. (CNBC)
Bali vaccine vacations to offer global visitors a beach and a jab. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Radio waves from Earth have reached dozens of stars. (MIT Technology Review)
How Google won over some of its biggest critics to build a megacampus in San Jose. (CNBC)
The internet eats up less energy than you might think. (New York Times)
The high-priced sleep trainer zonking out babies all over London (New Yorker)
Nine years after Greek art heist, stolen Picasso found, police say. (Washington Post)
2021’s Best Biking Cities in America. (Lawnstarter, New York Times)
Good News
Gwen Goldman finally got to be a bat girl for the New York Yankees -- 60 years after she was turned down because of her gender. At 70, Goldman worked at Yankee Stadium during New York's 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. (ESPN)
A 16-year-old named Taya Currie was selected in the OHL draft, and she can make ‘little girls dream.’ (Washington Post)
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