Friday, 13 July 2018
BUSINESS
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Another Analyst Is Defending Twitter's Purge
BUSINESS
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Sandra Oh, Emmy Nomination, Wimbledon: Broadsheet July 13
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Sandra Oh makes Emmy history, Mexico’s Congress is nearly 50% female, and paid family leave is once again on the agenda on Capitol Hill. I’m heading to Aspen next week for Fortune Brainstorm Tech, so come say hello if you’re there. Meanwhile, have a refreshing weekend.
EVERYONE'S TALKING
[bs_bullet_primary] The lowdown on leave. Given the gaping political divide in the U.S. (a look at how that split breaks down along gender lines below), is it really possible to find a bipartisan issue right now?
If such a thing exists, it might be paid family leave--an issue that Pew reports is supported by 90% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans. But for all that on-paper enthusiasm, the U.S. remains the only industrialized nation without such a policy.
This Refinery29 story breaks down a new PFL bill expected to be introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), as well as the Democrats' FAMILY Act. Here's my quick-and-dirty version: The GOP plan would provide new parents, both biological and adoptive, with 12 weeks partially paid leave, which would be paid for by tapping into their Social Security benefits. The Dems' plan would also provide 12 partially paid weeks--but would be available to caregivers and people struggling with their own health issues as well as parents--and would be funded, at least in part, by taxpayers.
(Side note: Refinery did get a comment from Ivanka Trump, who has been talking about paid family leave since the 2016 campaign. She says she would like to like to "go beyond parental leave," but ultimately stands behind the Republicans' plan.)
Can the two sides find some middle ground? The fact that politicians on both sides of the aisle are focused on the issue is encouraging, but history suggests this is a thornier question than it might appear. Case in point: the Dems' FAMILY Act, which Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) testified in favor of just this week, was first introduced back in 2013. [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2NOt8Iz" source="Refinery29"]
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
[bs_bullet_primary] Oh, yaas! A highlight from yesterday's Emmy noms: Sandra Oh, star of BBC America's Killing Eve, became the first actress of Asian descent to earn an Emmy nomination for lead actress in a drama series. She earned five consecutive supporting actress nominations from 2005-2009 for her role on Grey's Anatomy, but never won. More good news: Oh was one of a slew of actors of color to the get the nod. [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2NcFsRT" source="Fortune"]
[bs_bullet_primary] Calling out the chasm. With the political schism between men women growing (with men shifting right and women moving left), this op-ed asks, "What happens if the gender gap becomes a gender chasm?" and, more pointedly, "Will the votes of women who are hostile to Trump eventually take him down, along with the Republican majority in Congress? Or will we see a repeat of elections in the 1980s, when Democratic hopes of capitalizing on the votes of women fizzled?" [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2NN1s6O" source="New York Times"]
[bs_bullet_primary] Beary big mess. Build-A-Bear Workshop, led by CEO Sharon Price John, shut down its "pay your age" deal only hours after it began--after chaos erupted across its U.S. stores. Some Build-A-Bear customers took to social media to express their frustrations over waiting in line for hours only to be turned away at the door when the promotion prematurely ended. [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2JhKNVJ" source="Fortune"]
[bs_bullet_primary] Crypto convert. My colleague Lucinda Shen talks to Arianna Simpson, whose VC fund, Autonomous Partners, is focused on acquiring cryptocurrencies and equity in blockchain-related companies. Simpson just got an infusion of capital from hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, who seems ready to join the Bitcoin party. [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2zyyBQT" source="Fortune"]
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: President Trump has named Shahira Knight as his top liaison to Capitol Hill as the White House pushes to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
[bs_bullet_primary] From greens to gold. The U.S. Olympic Committee is hiring Sarah Hirshland, chief commercial officer for the U.S. Golf Association, to guide it out of what the WSJ calls, "one of the most tumultuous periods in its history." That's a reference not only to the massive Larry Nassar sex abuse tragedy in gymnastic (her predecessor, Scott Blackmun, resigned amid questions over his handling of the scandal) but also to abuse issues that have surfaced in other sports.The USOC's acting CEO, Susanne Lyons, was reportedly offered the permanent CEO position but declined it. [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2NPj6ab" source="WSJ"]
[bs_bullet_primary] Adios, machismo. Female candidates made major gains in Mexico's election recent election--a sign of change in a culture that some have called a hotbed of machismo. Women landed 49% of the seats in Mexico's 128-member Senate and 48% of the lower house of Congress, both the nation's highest-ever levels of female representation. (For context: The U.S. Senate is 23% female, the House, 19.3%.) In Mexico City, voters elected Claudia Sheinbaum,their first female mayor. [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2JkU6UR" source="WSJ"]
[bs_bullet_primary] Living legend. Martina Navratilova reflects on winning her first Wimbledon 40 years ago, the now-closed gender pay gap between her and fellow BBC commentator John McEnroe, the Trump Administration's policy of separating migrant families at the boarder. (Navratilova fled Communist Czechoslovakia at 18 to seek political asylum in the U.S. during the 1975 U.S. Open and went nearly four years without seeing a member of her own family.) [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2lR6oLn" source="New York Times"]
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ON MY RADAR
Walmart was once again forced to pull a sexist shirt from its website [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2utSMcG" source="Fortune"]
Podcast: Meet the woman amplifying black voices in tech [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2NBNDrO" source="Vice"]
Meghan Markle's Aritzia wardrobe helps company's earnings [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2NM0EPP" source="Bloomberg"]
Why Stormy Daniels was arrested in Ohio [bs_link link="https://ift.tt/2Jhgqi9" source="Fortune"]
QUOTE
[bs-quote link="https://ift.tt/2NKsjjY" author ="beauty entrepreneur Linda Rodin"]I need to be in the driver's seat... I don't wanna just give an idea and let someone else bake the cake. You know, it's not gonna taste right.[/bs-quote]
BUSINESS
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PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - July 13
These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Friday. --Bulgaria plans to increase the excise duty on heated tobacco to 40 percent of the duties levied on cigarettes from current 26 percent as of October, officials said, adding that Philip Morris International's device iQOS that heats but does not burn tobacco has increased its market share in Bulgaria by 50 percent in a year. -- China's Cenntro Automotive Group, together with partners from Bulgaria and Luxembourg will and start assembling electric trucks near the city of Plovdiv, officials said.
BUSINESS
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Under President Trump, the U.S.’s ‘Soft Power’ Is Waning
Global American influence is dropping--significantly.
And it's not just due to President Donald Trump upending the international order with threats to withdraw from NATO, the WTO, the UN Human Rights Council, and starting trade wars with China and the EU.
According to an annual global ranking of nations’ soft power by London-based Portland Communications and USC's Center on Public Diplomacy, the U.S. has dropped three places since Trump became president. In 2016, the U.S. ranked No. 1. It dropped to third last year, and fourth this year.
Here are the Top 10:
1. United Kingdom
2. France
3. Germany
4. United States
5. Japan
6. Canada
7. Switzerland
8. Sweden
9. Netherlands
10. Australia
The study draws on the concept of soft power first outlined by political scientist Joseph Nye, which has three pillars: political values, culture, and foreign policy. Essentially, soft power is the ability to attract and influence via means other than hard power, which is typically defined as military might and economic incentives or sanctions.
In order to measure the soft power of individual countries, the index relies on objective data across six categories:
- government: commitment to freedom, human rights, and democracy, and the quality of political institutions
- culture: the global reach and appeal of a nation's cultural outputs, both pop-culture and high-culture
- education: the level of human capital in a country, contribution to scholarship, and attractiveness to international students
- engagement: the strength of a country's diplomatic network and its contribution to global engagement and development
- enterprise: the attractiveness of a country's economic model, business friendliness, and capacity for innovation
- digital: a country's digital infrastructure and its capabilities in digital diplomacy
It also draws subjective data from international polling, which surveyed 11,000 people in 25 countries covering each region of the globe.
Particularly noteworthy are the areas in which the U.S. did not perform well. While improving from the two previous years, the U.S. came in 5th in the enterprise ranking, trailing Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark.
The U.S. ranked 15th in polling, showing a sustained international distaste for Trump’s "America First" agenda. The U.S. came in 16th in polling last year, a nearly 10% drop from the year prior. Looking specifically at polling data that determined favorability toward a country, the U.S. now ranks 21st, putting it in the bottom third of the list.
Most significantly, however, is the government ranking. The U.S. came in 16th this year, dropping four places from 12th place last year, demonstrating how objective metrics are beginning to register a decline in American soft power. A shift away from multilateralism toward zero-sum unilateralism under the banner of “America First” has significantly undermined American diplomatic capabilities and shaped the U.S.'s poor government ranking this year, according to the report.
As Trump meets with Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday, it is worth noting that the U.K., despite struggling under the pressure of Brexit negotiations, topped this year's ranking at No. 1. The U.K. earned this top spot largely due to strengths in cultural and educational engagement, as evidenced by the popularity of British music, the international trust of the BBC World Service, and the appeal of the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, which drew nearly two billion viewers around the world.
BUSINESS
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How a Vaping Co-Pilot Allegedly Caused an Oxygen Emergency on His Plane
On Tuesday, an Air China Boeing 737 flying from Hong Kong to Dalian suddenly began an emergency descent of 25,000 feet in 10 minutes, with oxygen masks deployed to passengers. Then it climbed back up and carried on to its destination, where it landed safely.
Now we know why this terrifying incident may have occurred. According to a preliminary investigation by China’s aviation authority, a co-pilot on the flight caused it by trying to cover up the fact that he was smoking an electronic cigarette.
As reported in the Chinese business outlet Caixin, the Civil Aviation Administration said the co-pilot had tried to turn off a circulation fan so that the fumes from his vaping would not go into the cabin. Instead, he turned off the supply of air from outside the plane, leading to an oxygen shortage that set off the emergency reaction.
“At present, we are investigating the cause in greater detail, and if the investigation proves it is true, we will handle it according to the law and regulations and deal with it seriously,” said Qiao Yibin, from the aviation authority’s safety office, as quoted by the South China Morning Post.
The smoking of e-cigarettes, like proper cigarettes, is banned on Air China flights. The national carrier said that, if the allegations about its crew smoking were true, it would deal with them with “zero tolerance.”
According to the South China Morning Post, some aviation experts reckon the airline should not have continued with the flight after its emergency oxygen supply had been used up.
BUSINESS
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Not Even John Oliver Could Save Two of the Last Remaining Blockbusters in the U.S.
Try as he might, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver will not be known as the man who single-handedly saved Blockbuster.
Back in April, Oliver bought a number of items from Russell Crowe's divorce auction, including a leather jockstrap from the film Cinderella Man. Pledging to donate the items to a worthy cause, Oliver zeroed in on two of the last remaining Blockbusters, located in Alaska, promising that if one of them contacted the show, they could display the memorabilia in their store.
Unfortunately, the attempted publicity stunt didn't do the trick and the two Alaska Blockbusters are due to close next week, leaving just one Blockbuster in the entire U.S. The stores, located in Fairbanks and Anchorage, will officially close on Monday, July 16. The last remaining Blockbuster store is located in Bend, Oregon.
While Blockbusters began disappearing across the U.S. in 2013, Alaska remained a lucrative market for the rental video company. Much of Alaska has unreliable internet, with HighSpeedInternet.com ranking it third-to-last in terms of internet connectivity in the U.S. The streaming video market has therefore been less successful, allowing stores like Blockbuster to continue to thrive.
The owner of the Alaska stores had told Deadline that the stores remained profitable, but decided that renewing the lease on the stores didn't make financial sense. The stores will reopen at noon on July 17, staying open through August for inventory sales.
The fate of Russell Crowe's jockstrap, however, is thus far uncertain.
Report: This country’s carriers charge most for 1GB of mobile data
Shutterstock
- Canadian cellular networks make the most revenue per gigabyte of data, according to a recent report.
- Consumers in Canada also lag behind when it comes to volume of mobile data used.
- Canada’s networks make more than 35 times more revenue per gigabyte of data than Indian carriers.
Canadian carriers such as Rogers and Bell lead the way when it comes to making revenue per gigabyte of mobile data, according to a new report. As a result, the country’s citizens consume far less mobile data than other surveyed nations.
The report by telecoms website Tefficient (h/t: Huffington Post) covered 36 countries around the world for 2017. It shows that Canadians only use an average of 1.3GB of mobile data per month. Only the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, and Portugal lagged behind with lower data usage.
The report adds that Canada has the highest total revenue per gigabyte of all surveyed countries (well over the 20 euro average revenue per user line seen below). In other words, Canadians are being charged an obscene amount of cash for a pittance of data, forcing them to closely monitor their data usage if they don’t want bill shock.
A sharp contrast to India
TefficientTo put it in perspective, Canadian carriers are making over 35 times more than Indian carriers for the same amount of data used.
Speaking of, India has the lowest total revenue per gigabyte of mobile data consumed, according to the report. India also leads the way for mobile data usage growth, recording more than 300 percent growth in 2017 compared to 2016. By comparison, Canada recorded a measly six percent increase in mobile data usage.
Tefficient attributed India’s strong growth to the Jio network and its unlimited offerings. However, it also pointed to existing operators driving growth in the market.
Editor's Pick
It’s not the first time that Canada has been called out for high data fees: Tefficient’s 2016 report ( target="_blank">PDF) called it one of the most expensive countries for mobile data too.
What are you paying for 1GB of mobile data in your country? Let us know in the comments section below!
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