Star Tribune (January 19)
“The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March.”
Tags: Subsides March
BBC (January 18)
“The United Nations has identified three existential environmental threats – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – and concluded that they must be addressed together” through multilateral agreements. Now “more than 100 countries, including the UK” appear to support a dedicated plastics treaty that may be “proposed at the next UN Environment Assembly in February and March.”
Tags: Biodiversity, Climate change, Environmental, Existential, Multilateral agreements, Pollution, Support, Threats, UK, UN
Taipei Times (January 18)
In a development likely to affect mainland China’s growth potential, the birthrate “has fallen to its lowest level in six decades, barely outnumbering deaths last year despite major government efforts to increase population growth and stave off a demographic crisis.”
Tags: Birthrate, China, Deaths, Demographic crisis, Development, Efforts, Fallen, Government, Growth, Lowest, Mainland, Population, Potential
Seeking Alpha (January 17)
America has become “an attractive sponge to absorb capital from everywhere. As a result, the US stock market capitalization currently represents 61% of the global stock market capitalization, despite the fact that US GDP is only 23% of global GDP.” US equities also “now represent about 200% of US GDP, which is an all-time high.”
Tags: Absorb, Attractive, Capital, Capitalization, Equities, GDP, Global, Sponge, Stock market, U.S.
LA Times (January 17)
“The Los Angeles County saw an average of 40 coronavirus deaths a day over the last week, the highest such rate in nearly 10 months, a sign that the prolific Omicron variant may be deadlier than many initially believed.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Deadlier, Deaths, Highest, Los Angeles, Omicron, Prolific, Variant
New York Times (January 16)
China’s zero-tolerance COVID policy has been “highly effective, but the extreme transmissibility of the Omicron variant poses the biggest test yet,” and threatens to disrupt supply chains. “The potential for setbacks comes just as many companies had hoped they were about to see some easing of the bottlenecks that have clogged global supply chains since the pandemic began.”
Tags: Bottlenecks, China, Clogged, Covid, Disrupt, Effective, Omicron, Supply chains, Transmissibility, Variant, Zero tolerance
Wall Street Journal (January 13)
“The U.K. appears to have passed the peak of the latest wave of Covid-19 caused by Omicron, a promising sign that the highly transmissible variant’s impact may be brief, if intense, and fueling optimism that the pandemic may be waning.”
Tags: Brief, COVID-19, Impact, Intense, Omicron, Optimism, Pandemic, Peak, Promising, Transmissible, U.K., Variant, Wave
AP News (January 13)
“Earth simmered to the sixth hottest year on record in 2021.” This “did not represent a cooling off of human-caused climate change” as La Nina lowered temperatures. Indeed, 2021 was the hottest La Nina year ever and “part of a long-term warming trend that shows hints of accelerating.” Data from both NASA and NOAA show “the last eight years have been the eight hottest on record.”
Tags: 2021, Accelerating, Climate change, Cooling, Earth, Hottest, Human, La Nina, NASA, NOAA, Record, Temperatures, Warming trend
Investment Week (January 12)
“In response to the Financial Conduct Authority’s discussion paper Sustainability disclosure requirements and investment labels, the Association of Investment Companies proposed that ‘demanding standards’ should be set for any funds that make environmental, sustainable or governance claims.”
Tags: Demanding standards, Disclosure requirements, Discussion paper, ESG claims, FCA, Funds, Investment labels, Response, Sustainability
Washington Post (January 12)
“Given the number of daily positive tests rising to record levels,” most of us will get COVID. “On Monday, the seven-day average reached more than 760,000, meaning about 1 in every 60 Americans has tested positive in the last week alone.”
Tags: Covid, Positive, Record levels, Rising, Seven-day average, Tests, U.S.
