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Here’s what you need to know
The “Happiest Place on Earth” reopens. Disney World welcomes back some visitors from today, as confirmed coronavirus cases in the US hit record highs. While Disney’s locations in Shanghai and Hong Kong have already reopened, the flagship park in Florida has been closed for more than 100 days, costing the company billions of dollars. The global pandemic—a rollercoaster no one asked to be on—has now surpassed 12 million cases, with Tokyo setting a new daily high.
Australia suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong. With rights being curtailed in the territory after Beijing imposed a national security law, Canberra will also extend visa rights for Hong Kongers. Prime minister Scott Morrison is holding a virtual summit with Japan’s Shinzo Abe today to discuss security ties amid increasing tensions with China. Meanwhile, Melbourne began a new six-week coronavirus lockdown.
Trump and the education system square off. Harvard MIT are suing the Trump administration over new visa rules that force international students taking online classes to leave the country. Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from school districts that don’t reopen in the fall.
Airlines continue to look shaky. United Airlines could furlough up to 36,000 workers in October, it warned employees yesterday, with capacity for this month expected to be down 75% compared to the same month last year. And shares in Asia’s largest budget airline, AirAsia, plunged more than 17% on Wednesday following an Ernst & Young statement drawing attention to the airline’s significant debts.
America’s biggest residential solar power bought its rival. San Francisco-based Sunrun acquired one of its main competitors, Vivint Solar, in the largest consolidation in the industry’s history. The move comes as the cost of solar has plummeted, with most customers now buying their own panels rather than leasing them. The merge could pose a threat to Tesla, the number-two competitor for rooftop panels.
Independent auditors issued a scathing report on Facebook’s civil rights policies. They called out the platform’s “vexing and heartbreaking decisions” that prioritize free speech above all else. Facebook said it will follow some, but not all, of the report’s recommendations. Separately, the site’s Oversight Board said it won’t be ready to begin its work until late fall.
Three things from Quartz Africa we especially liked
How a “roots tourism” visit to Ghana was an awakening for social justice in the United States. Ghana’s “Year of Return” tourism campaign to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first slave ship landing in America was a success on many fronts. As one study finds, a yet under-reported success could also come in the form of the impact it has on racial reconciliation and understanding among travelers who made the trip.
Hundreds of elephants have been found dead in Botswana, and as yet, there is no clear cause of death. But Vicky Boult, postdoctoral researcher in conservation biology at the University of Reading, says experts “can at least rule out a few possible answers.”
The unlikely story of a former US Marine who became the darling of Nigerian radio for two decades. Back in 2000 when there were only three private radio stations in Lagos, a 41-year-old American took a chance on an ad for a radio presenter in Africa’s largest city—and never left. In the wake of his passing due to Covid-19, Yomi Kazeem reflects on how Dan Foster redefined broadcasting for a generation of Nigerians.
The Quartz Africa Weekly Brief delivers news and culture straight to your inbox, to help you keep up with a continent whose role in the new global economy is rapidly expanding. Best of all, it’s free to all Quartz readers.
Charting four-day work weeks
Pre-pandemic, companies offered condensed schedules largely to attract and retain talent that prized flexibility. In the current climate, a shorter work week is one way for companies to cut costs (✦ Quartz member exclusive) without resorting to layoffs.
Data from jobs marketplace ZipRecruiter shows that so far in 2020, 69 out of every 10,000 job postings offer four-day work weeks. It’s a tiny number to be sure, but it’s up from 40 in 2019. Between 2015 and 2018, the share was fewer than 18 in 10,000 postings each year.
For members: A pandemic’s hidden crisis
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, experts worldwide are calling attention to what they anticipate could be a huge influx of patients in need of mental health care, with needs far greater than the countries’ existing systems can handle.
20%: Estimated share of Americans who suffer from a mental health condition.
43%: Number of US-based adults with mental illness who received treatment for their condition in 2018.
4%: Portion of the US population with severe mental health conditions that weren’t under control before the coronavirus pandemic.
45%: Number of people who reported that concerns about the virus had negatively affected their mental health in a recent survey.
Read more about Covid-19’s hidden crisis in our field guide on mental health’s turning point.
✦ It can be a distressing world out there, but our mission is to cut through the clutter and give members a closer look at what really matters. Check this field guide out with a seven-day free trial, and you’ll be well on your way towards supporting quality journalism, saving yourself time, and getting to the heart of the new global economy. ✦
We’re obsessed with bicycles
Back in high gear. Adults first discovered the joy of hopping on a bike in the late 1800s, and then rediscovered it in the 1970s, as new steel frame models rode a wave of popularity. A new lockdown-inspired cycling fad may not fizzle anytime soon. There may be a global shortage of affordable new wheels, but city officials are laying the groundwork for those who’ve got them, with miles and miles of new bike lanes for people to get around safely and socially distanced. The Quartz Weekly Obsession invites you to hop on its handlebars and go for a spin.
Let’s look at the numbers
When it comes to Covid-19, which metrics matter most? Register for a free Quartz at Work workshop on “How and When We’ll Recover, by the Numbers” to help make sense of the deluge of economic and health data. The conversation begins today at 11am EDT (3pm GMT).
Surprising discoveries
No one knows why US postal delivery trucks keep catching on fire. At least 407 have gone up in smoke in the past six years.
The UK government will get (some of) the check. The restaurant stimulus plan will subsidize up to £10 ($13) of a meal.
Sometimes “a snail’s pace” is really fast. A new Boring Company competition seeks machines that can drill faster than a snail can crawl.
You know what else is fast? Electric scooters. The eSkootr Championship for e-scooter racing is launching in 2021.
Investors bought €1 billion in bonds backed by the mafia. Pension funds, hedge funds, and one of Europe’s largest private banks were among those duped out of about $1.1 billion by Italy’s ’Ndrangheta group.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, restaurant discounts, and electric scooter league invitations to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app on iOS or Android and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Tripti Lahiri, Mary Hui, Michelle Cheng, Yinka Adegoke, Liz Webber, Amanda Shendruk, Jackie Bischof, and Susan Howson.