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| Today's newsletter covers: - 🏠 A dramatic slowdown in U.S. pre-existing home sales
- 🗳️ The upcoming Spanish election
- 💰 Private equity giant Blackstone's assets under management surpass $1T
And much more! Your faithful IDB writer, Daniel
p/Dan-Smith | |
| 1 | | Spain is set to hold its first general election since 2019 on Sunday, with two left-wing and two right-wing parties vying for power. The incumbent Socialist-led minority government, which called the snap election after significant losses in local and regional elections in May, is threatened by a resurgent right wing. More: - Socialist Party leader Pedro Sánchez has served as Prime Minister since 2018, with his minority government including the radical left-wing Unidas Podemos party and several smaller regional separatist parties from Catalonia and the Basque country.
- The center-right Popular Party (PP), led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is leading in most polls.
- Unidas Podemos leader Yolanda Díaz, who has served as labor minister and second deputy prime minister in the Sánchez government, is campaigning under the banner of the new Sumar party coalition.
- She reformed Podemos into a broad coalition party that united 15 leftist parties under the Sumar banner.
- The Vox party, led by former PP member Santiago Abascal, is placing in third place in most polls behind the PP and the Socialists.
- Vox, which wants to restrict immigration and opposes separatist movements in Catalonia and the Basque country, could become the first far-right party to participate in the government since the 1970s.
Zoom Out: - Spain was governed by the dictatorship of Francisco Franco from the late 1930s until Franco's death in 1975.
- A democratic transition began after Franco's death, with the country holding open elections in 1977 and adopting a new constitution in 1978.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: Just 4.16 million existing U.S. homes were sold in June, 18.9% fewer than a year ago. Pre-owned home sales were down 3.3% from May to June, continuing a trend that began earlier this year. What you need to know: The 18.9% annualized drop was the sharpest decline for the month of June since 2009. There were 1.08 million homes for sale at the end of June, 13.6% less than at the end of June 2022. Low supply has kept prices high, with the median price of an existing home reaching $410,200 in June, the second-highest median sale price on record after June 2022. | | | |
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| 3 | | Blackstone became the first publicly traded private-equity firm to manage more than $1T in assets. The asset manager saw $30.1B in inflows in the second quarter of 2023, with insurance and credit (including real estate credit) helping it to pass the $1T threshold. More: - In 2018, Blackstone set a goal of reaching $1T in assets under management (AUM) by 2026.
- Growing investments in low-risk sectors like insurance, infrastructure, and credit largely powered the faster-than-expected growth.
- Valuations rose in all of Blackstone's strategic investment areas except its high-risk real estate investments, which stayed flat.
- Blackstone, which is one of the largest publicly traded companies not included in the S&P 500, had $88M in AUM when it went public in 2007.
Zoom Out: - Blackstone competitor Apollo Global Management, which also set a goal of reaching $1T in AUM by 2026, is set to report Q2 earnings on August 3.
- Apollo managed ~$600B in assets at the end of Q1 2023.
- Blackstone's market capitalization is over $131B, compared to $113B for traditional asset manager BlackRock - which manages $9.4T in assets.
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| 4 | | GOOD NEWS: A cat who alerts his deaf owner to sounds won the U.K.'s National Cat of the Year award. The cat is owned by Genevieve Moss of Chesterfield, who said she's proud that the world can see how "intuitive and caring cats can be." More: - Moss said that Zebby helps her by tapping her when the phone rings so that she can put in her hearing aid to take the phone call.
- He also alerts her when someone is at the door and carries the mail to her in his mouth - he even brings Moss her slippers when they aren't on her feet.
- Moss said:
- "Living on my own and being deaf means life could be lonely, but not with Zebby around – he's my hero."
- Zebby won a trophy and a prize package that included a £200 ($257) pet store voucher. The awards are organized by the animal welfare charity Cats Protection.
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| 5 | | A former Northwestern football player said that sexual violence and hazing were "rampant" in the university's football program. Two lawsuits were filed against the program and its former head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, this week by former players seeking damages. More: - Northwestern conducted a six-month investigation into the hazing allegations and did not find evidence that Fitzgerald or other coaches knew of the hazing practices.
- Still, the school suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks before ultimately firing him.
- A former quarterback who played for the school between 2015 and 2017 said that some coaches participated in hazing.
- The attorneys who filed the lawsuits said they had heard about hazing from athletes who played for the school's baseball, volleyball, and softball teams.
- Northwestern University president Michael Schill said on Tuesday that the school is launching two external investigations into the allegations.
Zoom Out: - Hazing is illegal in Illinois, and school officials who fail to report hazing can face up to a year in prison.
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| 6 | | A new Canadian program to attract skilled immigrant workers from the U.S. hit its cap of 10,000 applicants in under 48 hours. The program will provide three-year work permits to H-1B visa holders and their immediate family members. More: - Critics say that the H-1B program allows firms to bring in highly-skilled foreign workers who sometimes accept lower wages than their U.S. peers, and that it does not provide immigrants with a clear path to a Green Card.
- H-1B workers who are terminated from their jobs only have 60 days to secure new employment to keep their work visas.
- To become permanent U.S. residents they need to apply for Green Cards, which are in limited supply due to national caps.
Zoom Out: | | | |
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- New York City plans to distribute flyers at the southern U.S. border warning migrants that they aren't guaranteed to receive aid if they arrive in the city, Mayor Eric Adams said. New York has taken in ~90,000 foreign migrants since April 2022.
- A Hong Kong man was sentenced to three months in prison for insulting the Chinese national anthem. 27-year-old photographer Cheng Wing-Chun was accused of editing a YouTube video featuring Hong Kong-based fencer Edgar Cheung to include a pro-democracy protest song instead of the Chinese national anthem.
- Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador over a planned Koran-burning event in Stockholm and protestors set the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on fire.
- NBCUniversal was accused of trimming trees that had provided shade to striking actors and writers outside of its Los Angeles studios amid a major heatwave. The studio claimed that the tree trimming was part of its annual landscaping plans, but authorities said that "no tree trimming permits" were issued for the location.
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 | Writer | | Dr. Daniel Smith is an Inside writer with a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. Follow him on Twitter @DJS12321 or email him at Daniel@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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