 The U.S. trade deficit grew 27% in 2021 to an all-time high of $859.1B, exceeding the previous record of $763.53B set in 2006. The rapid growth in the trade deficit was driven largely by a surge in demand from U.S. consumers that has powered the country's economic recovery. More: - The trade deficit with China grew 14.5% to $355.3M — below the $418.2B record-high set in 2018.
- China has bought only 57% of the U.S. goods and services it committed to purchasing in 2020 and 2021 under a bilateral trade agreement signed by the Trump Administration in 2020.
- Imports from China in 2020 and 2021 were down ~5% from the totals in 2018 and 2019, but imports from several smaller countries were up significantly.
- Switzerland and Vietnam increased their exports to the U.S. by over 50% during that time period, while Taiwan, Thailand, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Singapore all saw double-digit growth in exports to the U.S. over the past two years.
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The EU wants to negotiate a global deal to prevent future pandemics. The potential agreement will, among other things, seek the gradual shutdown of "wet markets" where zoonotic transmission of viruses can occur. More: - Wet markets are places where a variety of live fish and animals are kept to be slaughtered on-demand for customers.
- The COVID-19 virus is thought to have emerged from a zoonotic transmission between a bat and a pangolin at a wet market in Wuhan, China.
- The deal would include incentives to encourage countries to report new viruses and avoid cover-ups.
- Talks start today with representatives from Japan, the Netherlands, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, and Thailand, among others.
- The Netherlands, which represents the EU, favors a legally-binding treaty, while countries such as Brazil prefer a non-binding treaty.
- They will discuss reforming International Health Regulations, a set of rules that govern international conduct regarding the spread of infectious diseases.
- The U.S. wants to strengthen these rules to improve transparency and grant the World Health Organization immediate access to outbreak sites.
- If an agreement is reached, the treaty is expected to be signed by May 2024.
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 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) criticized the Republican National Committee (RNC) for censuring Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and describing the Jan 6 insurrection as "legitimate political discourse". McConnell said he still has confidence in RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, but questioned whether the RNC should be "singling out members of [the] party who may have different views than the majority." More: - The RNC statement claimed that the select committee investigating the riots is engaging in "persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."
- The RNC had initially sought to expel Cheney and Kinzinger from the party for joining the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 but later decided to censure them instead.
- McConnell, however, described the riots as "a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election."
- The RNC's statement was criticized by several Republican Senators, with moderate Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) describing it as "absurd."
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the RNC's statement "chilling and plainly dangerous."
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 GOOD NEWS: A physics laboratory in the U.K. achieved a major breakthrough in the decades-long quest to develop nuclear fusion. The JET laboratory was able to produce a record 11 megawatts of power over 5 seconds after squeezing together two types of hydrogen — more than double the amount of energy achieved in similar tests conducted in 1997. More: - Dr. Joe Milnes, head of operators at the JET reactor lab, said:
- "The JET experiments put us a step closer to fusion power ... We've demonstrated that we can create a mini star inside of our machine and hold it there for five seconds and get high performance, which really takes us into a new realm."
- The achievements at the JET lab are seen as validating efforts to build a bigger fusion reactor at the ITER facility in southern France.
- The ITER fusion lab is supported by a consortium of countries, including EU member states, China, Russia, and the U.S.
- Fusion energy could potentially produce huge amounts of power while emitting no greenhouse gases and creating only a small amount of radioactive waste.
- Physicist Arthur Turrell said that JET's achievement is significant because "they managed to demonstrate the greatest amount of energy output from the fusion reactions of any device in history."
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 A new report from UNESCO found that ~10M creative industry jobs have been lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to an "unprecedented crisis in the cultural sector." The report describes how artists and cultural institutions have suffered during the pandemic and offers some potential methods by which governments can help protect the cultural industry. More: - According to the "Reshaping Policies for Creativity: Addressing culture as a global public good" report, "culture and creativity" account for 3.1% of global GDP and 6.2% of all employment.
- Despite relief programs by national governments during the pandemic, the global gross value of the creative industry shrunk by $750B in 2020.
- 90% of museums, galleries, and other venues were forced to shut their doors for months.
- Ernesto Ottone, UNESCO's assistant director-general for culture, said:
- "We need to rethink how we build a sustainable and inclusive working environment for cultural and artistic professionals who play a vital role for society, the world over."
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 Italian photographer Cristiano Vendramin's photo of a frozen lake won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award for 2021. Vendramin's shot received votes from more than 31,800 wildlife enthusiasts in the competition, which is hosted every year by London's Natural History Museum. More: - Vendramin said: "I believe having a daily relationship with nature is increasingly more necessary to have a serene and healthy life. Nature photography is therefore important to remind us of this bond."
- Vendramin took the photograph in 2019 while visiting Santa Croce Lake in northern Italy.
- Douglas Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, said: "I hope those who look at this landscape frozen in time are reminded of the importance of connecting to the natural world and the steps we must all take to protect it."
- The image and four other "highly commended" finalists will be displayed at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the museum.
- These are the five winning images.
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- The White House has approved a plan to help Americans leave Ukraine if Russia attacks.
- More than 610,000 people have signed a petition by a Spanish retiree to keep in-person customer services at banks as financial institutions increasingly shift to online platforms.
- One Syrian soldier was killed and five more were wounded by an Israeli missile strike near Damascus. The Israeli military said it launched the attack in retaliation for an anti-aircraft missile fired from Syria last night.
- A report produced by the British Parliament's Public Accounts Committee said that Brexit is having a negative impact on U.K. trade volumes, writing that, "the only detectable impact [of Brexit] so far is increased costs, paperwork and border delays."
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 Montagne Sainte-Victoire and the Black Chateau by Paul Cezanne. 1905
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UPCOMING EVENTS - February 09 - Interview with David King Lassman (GigXR) (Register Here)
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 |  | Daniel Smith is an Inside Analyst who currently resides in Miami, Florida. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Daniel spent the last four years as a PhD candidate in Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He is fascinated by tech, business, politics, venture capital, and everything in between. When he’s not writing for Inside he can be found kicking a ball on the nearest rugby pitch. Follow him on Twitter @DanSmithInside. |  | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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