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| Happy Friday, Insiders! Today's newsletter covers: - 📷 Former President Donald Trump's mug shot - and his campaign's move to sell merchandise featuring the photo
- 👨🔧 United Auto Workers members voted overwhelmingly to approve strike action ahead of negotiations with automakers
- 🐸 The creation of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, which seeks to preserve threatened species and ecosystems
And much more! If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Your faithful IDB writer, Daniel
p/Dan-Smith | |
| 1 | | Donald Trump surrendered at an Atlanta jail on Thursday night, becoming the first former president to have his mug shot taken. Trump's campaign immediately began selling memorabilia adorned with the mug shot, ranging from mugs to t-shirts. More: - Trump described the case as a "travesty of justice" and said he had the right to "challenge an election we think is dishonest."
- He also changed attorneys shortly before he surrendered, hiring veteran criminal defense attorney Steven Sadow as his lead counsel in the case.
- Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked the presiding judge to set a trial date of October 23, several months earlier than her original request.
- Trump also posted a picture of his mug shot on Twitter in what was his first Tweet since January 2021.
Zoom Out: - The former president and 18 others were charged by Willis' office last week with attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
- Trump, who is leading in GOP presidential polls, faces several criminal investigations and will likely participate in multiple trials before the 2024 presidential election.
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| 2 | | Gaming company Hasbro stock gained over 5% during trading hours on Friday, following the success of the new role-playing game Baldur's Gate 3. 
Gamers Unite: Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast owns the license for the popular fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons. Hasbro partnered with game developer Larian Studios to develop Baldur's Gate 3, a Dungeons & Dragons-based game that has won praise from gamers and critics alike since its release earlier this month. Over 875,000 people were playing Baldur's Gate 3 concurrently on August 13, and the game is on track to sell more than 1 million units in its first month. Pass Go and Collect $200M: Hasbro's Monopoly Go mobile game has also performed well this year, generating $200M in revenue. Q: Do you think Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and other fantasy franchises are going to have a renaissance as Gen-Z discovers these games? Join the conversation here. | | | |
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| 3 | | Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union voted overwhelmingly to authorize strikes ahead of negotiations with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. The "strike authorization vote" doesn't mean that the union will take a hostile stance during negotiations with the automakers, but it does signal willingness among union rank and file to go on strike if needed. More: - The UAW said that an average of 97% of workers at the automakers voted to authorize strike action, but the final vote has not yet been tallied.
- The union is asking for a 46% wage increase, the return of traditional pension plans, the reduction of the workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours, and improved retirement benefits.
- The UAW has more than $825M in its strike fund, with pay for striking workers reaching $500 per week this year, up from $275 last year.
- Given that roughly 150,000 workers would be covered by the contracts with the three automakers, a strike would cost the UAW up to $75M per week.
Zoom Out: - UAW President Shawn Fain, who was elected by union membership earlier this year, has vowed to take a more aggressive stance in the union's negotiations with the "Big Three" automakers.
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| 4 | | GOOD NEWS: Representatives from 185 nations ratified the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) as part of an effort to preserve threatened species and ecosystems. Canada and the U.K. said they will together provide $160M in seed money to establish the GBFF. More; - The UN-backed GBFF is looking to raise an additional $40M so that it can be operational by 2024.
- The Fund will allocate 20% of the money raised to indigenous-led conservation efforts.
- It will also focus on supporting island nations, which are often the least economically developed and the most vulnerable to climate change.
Zoom Out: | | | |
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| 5 | | A new U.S. study found that China experienced nearly 2 million excess deaths after the end of its zero-Covid public health measures in December 2022. The study estimates that 1.87 million deaths occurred among people over 30, far more than the Chinese estimate of 60,000 hospital deaths from COVID-19. More: - The study, which was conducted by the federally-funded Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, analyzed mortality data published by some Chinese universities.
- The study's authors also looked at information from published obituaries and other data available on the Chinese search engine Baidu.
- The researchers wrote that their paper "sets an empirically derived benchmark estimate" for "understanding how the sudden propagation of COVID-19 across a population may impact population mortality."
- China stopped publishing daily COVID-19 death tolls in late 2022.
- One Chinese province published information in July, showing that cremations rose by 70% in the first quarter of 2023 before the data were pulled from the internet.
Zoom Out: - Public health experts have urged China to release more COVID-19 data as the spread of a new Covid variant leads to rising hospitalizations and deaths around the world.
- The Global Times reported that the new EG.5 variant became the dominant strain across most Chinese provinces this month.
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| 6 | | Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that monetary policymakers will "proceed carefully" as they consider the possibility of further interest rate hikes. Powell made the comments at the annual Jackson Hole policy symposium hosted by the Kansas City Federal Reserve. More: - Powell said central bankers could raise interest rates further or "hold the policy rate constant and await further data."
- The federal funds rate hit 5.25%-5.5% last month, the highest level in 22 years.
- The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) grew by 3.2% annually in July, down from a peak of 9.1% seen in June 2022.
- Powell said that high economic growth and a strong labor market would likely keep inflation above the 2% target for some time and that further rate hikes could be warranted without a slowdown in growth.
Zoom Out: - The next Fed meeting is set for September 19-20.
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- A new study found that mental health visits and spending surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, with telehealth visits increasing tenfold.
- The German economy emerged from a recession in the second quarter, but the country posted zero growth from the previous three months.
- A New York man was killed while allegedly fleeing police on a motorbike after a New York Police Department sergeant threw a plastic cooler at his head, causing him to crash. The sergeant was suspended without pay.
- Maui authorities released a list of the 388 people who are still missing after devastating fires in early August, asking any people on the list who are still alive to come forward.
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Term of the Day Marketing automation: Marketing automation refers to software that exists with the goal of automating marketing actions in contexts such as emails or social media. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation |
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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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