Too hot to work

A newsletter from POLITICO that unpacks essential global news, trends, and decisions.

Jul 27, 2022 View in browser   By Ryan Heath Follow Ryan on Twitter . Debates reveal the full person "Oh my God!" U.K. prime minister candidate Liz Truss reacts and moves to aid debate moderator Kate McCann who collapsed during Truss' most recent debate with Rishi Sunak. Dreams reveal the full octopus: Watch this octopus change colors as it sleeps .   INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY .     Happening Today A Federal Reserve interest rate decision is due today: Rates are expected to rise , possibly by half a percentage point. Read here about Beijing's efforts to build an informant network inside the Fed . Economic growth numbers will be released Thursday: They're expected to show the U.S. economy shrinking as it did last quarter , meeting the definition of recession, and potentially leading the world into one. President Joe Biden finishes his Covid quarantine and is almost completely recovered , per his physician. What a marked contrast to the drama around then-President Donald Trump's Covid diagnosis and treatment in October 2020. Russia sanctions really are crippling … to Russia: Yale economists have published the first academic paper on the effects of Russia sanctions , concluding that "business retreats and sanctions are catastrophically crippling the Russian economy." The group used "private Russian language and unconventional data sources including high frequency consumer data, cross-channel checks, releases from Russia's international trade partners, and data mining of complex shipping data," to reach their findings. WHERE TO JOIN GLOBAL INSIDER THIS WEEK: It's a POLITICO reunion at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs World Review on Friday, July 29, from 11 a.m. ET. Global Insider joins POLITICO's Europe editor-in-chief Jamil Anderlini and Susan Glasser, POLITICO's former U.S. editor-in-chief (now with The New Yorker) for a discussion on the world this week with Ivo Daalder. Register here . STATE DEPARTMENT STILL FALLING SHORT ON DIVERSITY A Go vernment Accountability Office report and Senate hearing Tuesday praised staff commitment to diversity and inclusion but found leadership accountability wanting. The GAO said "the majority of respondents have favorable views of senior leadership commitment" and praised the department's diversity training, but concluded that State had taken fewer than half the required accountability steps compared to GAO's benchmark for leading diversity and inclusion practices. Senate Foreign Relations Chair Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) opened Tuesday's hearing with GAO data, noting State was far more successful in its diversity efforts from 1981 to 2002, than from 2002 to 2021. "In the last 20 years, there has been a 2 percent decrease in the proportion of Black employees at the State Department," he said, adding that "Latino numbers have barely budged" despite substantial growth of the Latino population. Less than 12 percent of ambassadors are from minority groups. Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley — appointed in April 2021 as State's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer — told senators the goal is a "truly merit-based organization." While acknowledging a lack of resources at State to deal with "toxic behaviors," such as harassment, she insisted progress is underway, including that managers will now be held accountable for their diversity and inclusion results (70 percent of State Department staff told GAO that doesn't happen now). Falling at early hurdles: "State did not assess why fewer women take the Foreign Service Officer test before implementing measures designed to improve recruitment of women," per GAO. That's despite the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission already offering an off-the-shelf process for analyzing why diversity barriers exist in a given part of the federal government. The department must improve the depth of its research and planning or "it risks using resources on solutions that do not address the root causes of disparities," the GAO said, noting the State Department agreed with these recommendations. Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) complained about lack of credible data from State and urged Abercrombie-Winstanley to focus on hiring more veterans and to continue to allow prospective diplomats to take oral exams remotely (as has been possible during Covid) and in locations beyond Washington, D.C., to reduce the burden of applying for jobs at State. Abercrombie-Winstanley also noted that community college graduates are welcome at State: "You don't have to go to a four-year college." Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) lamented: "We've lost over a decade of progress," expressing frustration that senior State officials across multiple administrations have given similar answers to Abercrombie-Winstanley, with no discernible increase in staff diversity. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) insisted State is "staffed by radicals" and that the department's equity approach is "nothing more than brazen discrimination." He didn't explain why diversity went backwards if the approach is so radical. State Department leaders from Secretary of State Antony Blinken down have recognized the department's entrenched diversity problem . In July 2021, State convened a Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council, which includes deputy assistant secretaries from each bureau. GLOBAL RISKS AND TRENDS ECONOMY — GLOBAL GROWTH FORECAST DOWNGRADED: Surprise, surprise. IMF once again downgrades global economic outlook . In January, the IMF predicted growth would be 4.4 percent for 2022. In April, it downgraded that to 3.6 percent and Tuesday bumped the prediction down further to 3.2 percent. Overall, global growth was 6.1 percent in 2021. TOO HOT TO WORK — HEATWAVES SPARK NEW DEBATE In India, tens of millions have been prevented from working in recent months — because it's simply too hot. Poor workers face the brunt of the heat : No wonder, given that by mid-May — before summer even started — Delhi's temperatures reached 49 degrees Celsius (120 degree Fahrenheit). The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration now labels development of a new national heat illness rule a top priority and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has already conducted over 500 heat-related inspections across 43 states. Oregon instituted emergency work rules to deal with a heatwave earlier this year, and the Environmental Protection Agency is using American Rescue Plan funding to create cooling centers in public school facilities. The European Trade Unions Confederation argues the EU should set binding legislation on maximum working temperatures, after two Spanish workers died from heat stroke last week amid a fierce heat wave . "Workers are on the frontline of the climate crisis every day and they need protections to match the ever-increasing danger from extreme temperatures," E TUC's Deputy Secretary-General Claes-Mikael Ståhl said in a statement . There are already protections in place in some EU countries, some starting at surprisingly low temperatures: Belgium prohibits heavy physical work at temperatures over 22 degrees Celsius (72 F) and Hungary at 27 degrees (81 F). The International Labor Organization says that temperatures exceeding 39 degrees Celsius (102 F) can kill, even when work is not involved, and that heat stress reduces productivity. "By 2030 the equivalent of more than 2 percent of total working hours worldwide is projected to be lost ," the organization said in a 2019 report. Air pollution officially linked to dementia: A report by the U.K. Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants has given the first official recognition that air pollution damages the brain . CHINA — HUAWEI'S POTENTIAL TO DISRUPT NUCLEAR COMMS: A years-long FBI investigation that was so secret the White House initially wasn't briefed on it, determined that Chinese-made Huawei equipment could intercept messages sent via highly restricted radio spectrum reserved for U.S. military, and therefore U.S. nuclear arsenal communications. Huawei denies this. More on CNN . CHINA — COORDINATION OF BIG TECH OVERSIGHT: The Chinese government has established an inter-ministerial mechanism among 20 government bodies to align its regulators in their Big Tech supervision , according to a statement published by the State Council, China's Cabinet, report Xinmei Shen and Tracy Qu .  G-20 — INDONESIA'S WIDODO ON PLANNING TOUR: Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Japanese PM Kishida Fumio today to plan November's G-20 leaders summit , following a Tuesday meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Widodo, with Xi "wishing the summit a complete success," per a joint statement issued after the meeting. It seems almost certain Xi will attend the summit in-person, his first foreign appearance in three years. At the bilateral level, China and Indonesia pledged to intensify trade cooperation and " further deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation ." U.N. — SOUTH AFRICA CALLS FOR ISRAEL TO BE DECLARED AN 'APARTHEID STATE': Speaking in Pretoria at a meeting of Palestinian Heads of Mission in Africa, Naledi Pandor, South Africa's minister of international relations and cooperation, said that her government believes Israel should be classified as an apartheid state and that the United Nations General Assembly should establish a committee to verify whether it satisfies the requirements for this designation. Pandor cited the killing of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May by Israeli forces, and the violent disruption of her funeral , as an example showing Israel and South Africa's former apartheid regime are comparable. POLITICO Q&A with family members of Abu Akleh . HUNGARY — ORBÁN LOSES LONG-TIME ADVISER IN RACISM ROW: Zsuzsa Hegedüs, one of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's longest-serving advisers, resigned Tuesday via a public letter . Orban's social inclusion envoy quit over his claim in a weekend speech that "we are not a mixed race and we do not want to be." Hegedüs labeled Orbán's comments "disgraceful" and "against all my fundamental values." Public fight: Within hours, Orbán published his own letter , claiming to have "a zero-tolerance policy" toward anti-Semitism and racism, as POLITICO's Lili Bayer reports . Hegedüs shot back with a second letter , invoking her parent's experiences as Hungarian Holocaust survivors. Reality check: Out of a population of around 10 million, around 200,000 are foreign born. While that is a relatively small proportion of the population, there are significant ethnic minorities among native-born Hungarians, including at least 750,000 Roma : one in every 12 residents. NOW READ THIS — TEEN TERROR NETWORK: Orbán's speech comes at a time when anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism have been resurgent around Europe and in the U.S . A joint investigation POLITICO, Insider and Welt am Sonntag revealed a network of young neo-Nazis is setting up terrorist cells for the purpose of carrying out armed attacks. This work takes you inside the network and features reporting from Berlin, Brussels, Las Vegas, Munich, New York, Potsdam and Washington. RUSSIA — NO SURPRISE AS GAZPROM CUTS GERMAN GAS FLOWS: Russia's state energy giant halved the amount of gas it sends to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, bringing it down to 20 percent of capacity — citing problems with a Siemens turbine. TECH — CHIPS FUNDING FEEDBACK: The Senate voted 64 to 32 Tuesday to advance a package of subsidies and research funding for advanced computer chips, but the semiconductor industry is pushing back on how media are covering the story. Case in point: Monday's Global Insider reference to the CHIPS-Plus Act being a $280 billion package (the Wall Street Journal and other outlets also use the $280 billion figure). "This higher number includes the amounts called for in the bill's aspirational research section, called an "authorization." Authorizations are not spending. Congressional appropriators will decide in the years to come whether to actually fund the authorizations in the CHIPS-Plus bill. This bill does not fund them," said David Isaacs, Semiconductor Industry Association vice president. The association prefers to frame the proposal as a $79 billion package. Per Congressional Budget Office, it's $79 billion in outlays for 2022-2026. When the outlook is extended to 2031, the Congressional Budget Office lists $115 billion in government outlays . Reality check : Global Insider wasn't questioning the return on investment or broader value of any proposed spending. But you don't ask for $280 billion to be authorized if you don't want the option to spend it later on. And regardless of the final number, what's interesting is the departure from market economics to serve a broader political objective. PHILANTHROPY — ROCKEFELLER ACCELERATES SHIFT FROM OIL MONEY: The Rockefeller Foundation exists because of oil wealth, but is further ramping up its pro-climate investments. Foundation President Rajiv Shah's annual letter : "We have decided The Rockefeller Foundation will take specific actions to transform how humanity farms and eats, powers its communities and homes, prevents and protects against disease, and lives and works." CONGRESS MEETS WORLD ECONOMIC LEADERSHIP HEARING: The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will this morning hold a hearing on "U.S. National Security and Economic Statecraft: Ensuring U.S. Global Leadership for the Twenty-First Century." Livestream from 9:30 a.m. ET . CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES: Republican Study Chair Jim Banks and 56 GOP colleagues have written to request the Department of Defense deliver early enforcement of a provision in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which bans U.S. universities from hosting Confucius Institutes from October 2023 onward (the global network of institutes is Chinese Communist Party-backed). Banks warned that while 118 Confucius Institutes on American university campuses have closed in recent years , "at least 28 universities have replaced the Confucius Institute with a similar program." GLOBETROTTERS APPOINTED: The United States announces Dominic Ng, Chair and CEO of East West Bank, to serve as chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council during the United States' APEC host year in 2023. MOVING: Ireland's Ambassador to the U.N., Geraldine Byrne Nason, has farewelled New York, and is in bound to take up the role of Ambassador to the U.S. in Washington, D.C. WITHDRAWING: Russia will withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024. The expiring agreement is one of the last remaining areas of U.S. -Russia cooperation . Moscow will instead focus on building its own orbital station. PRICED: Accountants Deloitte put a $77 billion price tag on the Colosseum in Rome. CHARGED: The U.S. attorney in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission have filed criminal and civil insider trading charges against former Rep. Stephen Buyer (R-Ind.). Buyer is accused of using insider information gleaned from a T-Mobile executive to purchase securities before the company's planned acquisition of Sprint. Buyer had been working as a consultant to T-Mobile at the time. CHEATING: Lying about the need for wheelchair support at the airport is not a "travel hack" ( as recommended by TikTok users ). It's you messing with people with disabilities, who already have enough to manage. SPLASHDOWN: Why take a helicopter when you can get a retro glamor vibe heading to the Hamptons instead? That's the pitch from Tailwind Air . SAVE THE DATE: The 54th Annual Meridian Ball, which starts with a series of dinners at Washington ambassadorial residences and ends in cocktails and dancing at Meridian House, is set to take place Oct. 21. Last year's event sold out quickly. Tickets and other information .   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today .     BRAIN FOOD SHORT READ: Why are today's powerful men so high maintenance?   PODCAST: Former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes " Another Russia " unpacking the 2015 assassination of Russia's main opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov. Rhodes is co-hosting with Zhanna Nemtsova, Boris' daughter. PODCAST: Another Podcast , with Benedict Evans and Toni Cowan-Brown. What does 'focus' mean for a trillion-dollar company? Amazon is buying doctors and Apple might be a bank — should we change our assumptions for what these kinds of companies would never do? LONG READ: "Are we going to be next?" Russia's military and economic alliances across Central Asia are looking shakier after its invasion of Ukraine. Thanks to editor John Yearwood and producer Hannah Farrow.  SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family: D.C. Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook | Paris Playbook | EU Confidential | D.C. Influence | EU Influence | London Influence | Digital Bridge | China Direct | Berlin Bulletin | Living Cities   Follow us on Twitter Ryan Heath @PoliticoRyan   Follow us

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