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The World Trade Organization makes a decision on EU tariffs. A confidential ruling to be published today is expected to allow Europe to slap tariffs on US goods worth $4 billion a year, in a continuing transatlantic trade spat over subsidies for Airbus and Boeing. Separately, the EU is set to approve guidelines to coordinate the bloc’s travel rules.
Johnson & Johnson halted its vaccine study. It was prompted by an unexplained illness in a patient in the 60,000-person, Phase 3 trial. The company also noted that that this was a study pause, not a clinical hold, which usually last much longer.
The UK’s professional services industry risks losing EU business. A parliamentary committee report said that lawyers, accountants, and recruiters had been ignored in negotiations with Brussels over post-Brexit trade terms, putting jobs and contracts in the £225 billion ($295 billion) sector at risk.
Australia is trying to find out if China’s banning its coal. The government is seeking information from Beijing on reports that state-owned energy providers have been told to stop using Australian coal, and ports ordered not to offload the goods. A ban would escalate tensions between the two countries just as China’s economy picks up steam.
Apple launches its first 5G phones. In what’s touted to be the tech giant’s most significant iPhone unveil in years, analysts expect to see a slate of new devices featuring major exterior redesigns, including some new phones that support the next generation of cellular networks.
Indian American voters, by the digits
1.5%: Share of US population that identifies as Indian American
5: Number of Indian Americans, including Kamala Harris, in Congress
65%: Share of Indian American respondents to a Pew survey that said they were Democrats or leaned Democratic in 2012
84%: Share of Indian American voters who chose Barack Obama in 2012
54%: Share of Indian American respondents to a 2020 survey who support Democratic candidate Joe Biden
1.8 million: Number of Indian American voters in crucial swing states
One of the wealthiest and most educated immigrant groups in the US, Indian Americans can have an outsized impact on American politics for a relatively small group. Sumit Ganguly explains why.
Charting global climate inequality
Even though damage from storms have been most costly in dollar terms for wealthier nations, it’s poorer countries that take the biggest hit to their GDP. That’s one conclusion from a new United Nations report on the economic and human toll of disasters over the last two decades.
The report also concludes that frequency, cost, and fatality of storms are all on the rise, which means these disparities are only likely to increase. Tim McDonnell explains the latest data on global climate inequality.
Don’t underestimate the importance of body language
Advising a company on its corporate strategy over video chat is harder than it looks—as Alex Jung can attest. The Ernst & Young consultant was presenting research to a client, and it wasn’t going well. “It was a path the CEO did not want to go down,” she said.
Ordinarily Jung would have realized quickly that the CEO wasn’t happy, and adjusted her approach. But because the session was online rather than in person, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she couldn’t easily read his body language.
The result: wasted time and effort for Jung. “Body language is important—subtle movements of the eye, a glance across the room,” Jung said. When she does a client presentation, “I’m looking for affirmation, and that’s hard to get on Microsoft Teams.”
Difficulty advising clients when they aren’t in the same room isn’t the only challenge looming these days for EY and other major consulting firms like McKinsey, Accenture, and Deloitte. Read more in our guide to consulting’s new challenges.
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Obsession interlude: Rethinking cities
Anne Hidalgo may be the modern model of a visionary mayor. Energized by climate and health crises resulting from Paris’s famously high pollution levels, Hidalgo has focused on returning the city’s streets to its people, and on reducing emissions. She banned cars in parts of the city center, redesigned historical intersections, and shut major thoroughfares. Just last month, Hidalgo was listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2020.
Many of the mayor’s initiatives have been controversial, but Hidalgo was reelected this summer on a platform that included a proposal for a “15-minute city”—one in which essentials are within a short walk or cycle for all Parisians. Because of her progressive policies, Paris is more prepared than most for a post-pandemic reality in which social distancing is the norm and streets are increasingly reoriented towards cyclists, pedestrians, and restaurants.
Ride along on the ideas reshaping the urban landscape with our Rethinking Cities obsession.
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Surprising discoveries
Smells like democracy. Early voters in New Zealand’s upcoming election have been raving about the lemon-scented, Kiwi-made hand sanitizer.
Polish divers are defusing a giant World War II bomb. Dropped by the British during a 1945 air raid, it now lies at the bottom of a Baltic Sea shipping canal.
China has a beef with the world’s most popular boyband. The K-pop group BTS is under fire, including from Beijing’s foreign ministry, for making a comment about the Korean War.
You can power your video games with potatoes. It just takes 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of spuds to run Doom on a graphing calculator.
A new take on celebrity impersonators. Being the face under the face in deepfake videos is a new industry.
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