fortune--2020-12-24--The U.K. has finally reached a Christmas Eve trade deal with the EU

After four and a half years of uncertainty, fraught negotiations, and missed deadlines, the U.K. has officially reached a trading agreement with the European Union, after voting to leave the bloc in June 2016.
The Christmas Eve deal was announced mid-afternoon in London, after the two sides reached agreement on final major sticking points on fishing rights for European vessels in U.K. waters; other long-running sticking points were competition for British businesses in the EU, and trading regulations for electric cars.
The British government, announcing the deal, struck a victorious note, saying the deal meant the U.K. had “taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters.” The deal will also mean the end of free movement, which allowed EU citizens to live and work in the U.K. without restrictions, and vice versa.
“It means that we will have full political and economic independence on 1st January 2021,” the government said.
The deal is done. pic.twitter.com/zzhvxOSeWz — Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 24, 2020
Speaking at a press conference immediately after the announcement, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the negotiations had been a “long and winding road, but we have a lot to show for it”. Rather than happiness, she said she felt quiet satisfaction—and “relief.”
“To all Europeans I say, it is time to leave Brexit behind. Our future is made in Europe,” she said.
While the final concessions ultimately appeared to have come from the U.K.’s side, the deal crucially preserves tariff-free trade between the bloc and Britain. The deal must still be ratified by the U.K.’s Parliament, likely next week, and then by the European Parliament, in the new year.
The deal successful avoids the risk of a so-called “no deal” Brexit on January 1st, where a lack of trade agreements would have meant the U.K. fell back on WTO trading standards. The prospect of such a fall-out—which had been a looming prospect for years—raised the possibility of a sudden stop or delays to daily trading across the border into France, that could even imperil supplies of fresh food and medicines.
The chaos such a stoppage might cause was made painfully evident over the last week, after France closed the border to the U.K. over a mutation in the COVID-19 virus in southeast England, resulting in days of trucking delays and causing worries over a shortage of Christmas food imported from continental Europe. As of Thursday, delays were still ongoing as truck drivers waited for COVID-19 tests.
There is still plenty of uncertainty, however, on the U.K.’s future, and the deal is not expected to lay out in detail how financial services will be managed: a major concern, given the British economy’s dependence on the banking sector in London.
This round of trade negotiations had lasted nine months, occurring alongside the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has often distracted the British public and European governments from the grind of mapping out how a post-Brexit relationship will look.
But few, least of all British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had been a major advocate for the country’s break from the EU, expected the divorce to be quite as complex, messy and long-running as it has turned out to be. While the announcement of a deal has caused sighs of relief, the process has already taken a toll: by late 2019, before the pandemic and already more than three and a half years after the vote, businesses described to Fortune the impact of the uncertainty: lost business, fluctuating messaging, and changes in how and where they invest.
European businesses, too, have had years of grappling with preparations for a post-Brexit relationships, that has been extremely thin on details.
A very British split
When the news arrived that Britain had voted to leave the EU arrived on the morning of June 24, 2016—a surprise result that shocked pollsters, pundits and even, seemingly, the government that had hosted the referendum—it was the sign that the political winds were shifting globally. Arriving just months before the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, the referendum result was a shocking rebuke to the country’s ruling political elites and their ability to read the mood of the country.
The outcome was deeply symbolic domestically, too. The lead up to the vote itself had played out with a heavy emphasis on themes of Britishness, immigration, sovereignty and identity, that stands in deep contrast to the technocratic wrangling that would follow in the years afterwards. And the vote itself sharply split along lines of age, region, wealth, and political leaning, as well as across the U.K.’s four nations: England versus Scotland; the younger generation versus older Britons; the wealthy South versus the post-industrial North.
The results of the vote also furthered splintered the country’s political landscape, fracturing the ruling Conservative party into those who wished to stay in the EU, and those who wished to remain. Theresa May, the prime minister until summer 2019, was herself in favor of remaining in the EU before the task fell to her to engineer a divorce; Johnson, who ultimately rose to the top post on his pledge to finally “Get Brexit Done”, found the negotiations no easier despite his support for separation. His pledge—now finally completed—helped him win a general election last December, turning the traditionally Labour north of England Conservative, a historic shift.
But while the Brexit saga has produced plenty of drama—fears of last-minute splits; political oustings; lying to the Queen; and worries that the divorce could once again inflame tensions of Northern Ireland—the last four years have also often pitched between absurdity (an ill-advised coin, designed to mark the “official” day of the split on January 31, for example), and the drudgery of hammering out an agreement in which Britain had little real leverage to dictate terms or demand concessions.
Throughout the talks, Johnson and other Brexit hardliners insisted that “no deal” was better than “a bad deal.” In the end, Britain got “a fair deal,” one that reflects the highly unequal power dynamics between an island nation of 67 million people and a large Continent with 448 million. As for whether that is truly what Britons envisioned when they voted to leave the EU more than four years ago—only time will tell.


fortune--2020-12-24--Biden’s first 100 days: Student loan debt won’t go anywhere

Trump ’ s pardons : How they ’ re granted and how they compare to other Presidents ’ so far

As college students across the country pivot between online and in-person classrooms, reimagining and navigating what the higher education landscape looks like under the weight of a pandemic that has killed over 320,000 Americans and infected 18 million more, one tradition remains: hefty tuition rates and ever-increasing student loan debt.
This year, the United States broke records, surpassing $1.7 trillion in student debt for the first time, a 4% increase year over year. In the past decade, student loan debt has increased by about 102%, according to data from the Federal Reserve.
The previous COVID-19 stimulus bill temporarily instated an interest-free payment pause for federal student loan borrowers, but the extension package passed Monday night offers no such relief, meaning that starting next month more than 43 million American borrowers will have to begin paying their loans, this time with 10 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic began in earnest this March. Before the financial constraints brought on by COVID-19, just three in 10 young college graduates with student loans (32%) say they are living comfortably. That’s compared with 51% of college graduates of a similar age without outstanding loans.
But Democratic lawmakers and advocacy organizations see a way out through President-elect Joe Biden. More than 200 organizations including the American Federation of Teachers and the NAACP signed an open letter to Biden last month asking him to take action on his first day in office to use his executive authority to cancel all student debt. Progressive lawmakers have asked him to relieve $50,000 in debt per borrower on his first day.
Biden himself has floated a more conservative plan; during his campaign he said he’d like to see $10,000 in federal student debt per borrower canceled through action by the legislative branch. Student borrowers are in “real trouble,” Biden said to press in November. “They’re having to make choices between paying their student loans and paying their rent, those kinds of decisions.” But if Republicans continue to hold the Senate, it’s unlikely that Democrats would be able to pass any legislation at all, leaving students where they were.
The Education Department has been the nation’s largest lender and consumer bank for the past 10 years; it currently owns nearly $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. Democratic lawmakers argue that if some of that debt were forgiven, it would stimulate homebuying and spending and could also help put cash back into the pockets of those dealing with the repercussions of the COVID-19 economy.
There’s also uncertainty over whether Biden could actually pass any debt relief through an executive order (EO). If he did he would certainly face legal challenges. Some argue that he has the authority to do so under the 1965 Higher Education Act, which created the current federal student loan program. The law allows Biden’s education secretary to “compromise, waive, or release” any loans. Some legal scholars say this means the President can issue an EO, while others argue that it doesn’t.
During a recent Instagram Live chat, progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that canceling student debt was “not a pipe dream at all” and that “most importantly…it can be done by executive order, which means that Biden would not need Mitch McConnell or the Republican Senate to forgive people’s student loans. The key is that we need to push him.”
Still, it appears that Biden is not likely to wade into legally challenging legislation during his first day in office, and will probably leave it up to Congress to battle out any student loan debt forgiveness during his first 100 days.


fortune--2020-12-25--U.S. will now require COVID negative test for travelers departing from U.K.

Why Australia just canceled an order for 51 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine

The U.S. will require passengers flying from the U.K. to show proof of a negative test for coronavirus, amid rising concerns over a more-contagious COVID-19 strain that is spreading after first emerging in England.
Travelers arriving from the U.K. need to get a negative polymerase chain reaction or antigen test no more than 72 hours before leaving, according to a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said the order will be signed by President Donald Trump on Friday and come into effect Dec. 28.
Regions from Hong Kong to Canada have temporarily suspended travel from the U.K. as the new coronavirus variant alarmed scientists and governments around the world. Early analysis suggests it may be as much as 70% more transmissible than other circulating strains.
Passengers from the U.K. must provide written documentation of their test to their airline, according to the CDC statement. Carriers must confirm the negative result for all passengers boarding, and deny entry to those who don’t take a test. The CDC said earlier this week that the new variant described in the U.K. could already be circulating in the U.S. undetected.
Governments around the world are also taking action as a fast-spreading variant sweeps through South Africa, with the U.K. banning flights from that country. Hong Kong banned all recent travelers from South Africa and extended a mandatory quarantine for most other visitors in an attempt to prevent a spread of COVID-19 cases in the city.
South Africa, meanwhile, has pushed back against the U.K., rejecting allegations that a new COVID variant was contributing to a second wave of U.K. infections.
A new virus variant that was detected in the U.K. has a mutation occurring at a site common with the South African strain, known as 501.V2, but they are “two completely independent lineages,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement late Thursday.


fortune--2020-12-25--The key terms of the Brexit trade deal: Everything you need to know

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal is unique in that it will leave businesses facing more barriers to trade than they did while Britain was a member of the European Union.
But that’s the price of reclaiming sovereignty. While he can claim to have taken back control of Britain’s domestic fishing waters and ended the role of the European Court of Justice, businesses and consumers will face a slew of additional barriers to trade after Dec. 31.
The following encapsulates the main points of the deal, based on a copy of the deal obtained by Bloomberg, as well as summaries provided by the two sides.
Trade in Goods
Summary: The agreement ensures that most goods traded between the EU and U.K. won’t face new tariffs or quotas. However, British exporters will face an array of new regulatory hurdles that will make it more costly and burdensome to do business in Europe.
Market access: U.K. and EU goods will continue to receive tariff-free and quota-free treatment.
Rules of origin: New rules require the U.K. to self-certify the origin of its exports to the EU. Certain products that contain a high threshold of inputs from outside the EU and U.K. may face new tariffs.
Health and safety: The EU will require U.K. agri-food exporters to provide health certificates and undergo sanitary and phyto-sanitary controls at border inspection posts.
Testing and certification: The absence of a mutual recognition agreement means U.K. regulatory bodies won’t be able to certify products for sale in the EU, a potentially big barrier to trade.
Trade remedies: The EU and U.K. may pursue tariffs and other sanctions according to rules established at the World Trade Organization.
Financial services
Summary: The deal offers little clarity for financial firms. There is no decision on so-called equivalence, which would allow firms to sell their services into the single market from the City of London. The agreement only features standard provisions on financial services, meaning it doesn’t include commitments on market access.
The U.K. and EU will discuss how to move forward on specific equivalence decisions. The European Commission, which is in charge of allowing access to the EU’s market, said it needs more information from the U.K. and it doesn’t plan to adopt any more equivalence decisions at this point.
Regulatory cooperation: The two sides made a joint declaration to support enhanced cooperation on financial oversight. They aim to agree on a Memorandum of Understanding by March.
Level playing field
Summary: Both sides committed to upholding their environmental, social, labor and tax transparency standards to make sure they don’t undercut each other.
The deal doesn’t include a ratchet mechanism that would force the U.K. to stiffen its rule in lockstep with the EU.
Instead, it has a re-balancing mechanism: Either side will be able to impose with tariffs if they diverge too much. “Such measures shall be restricted with respect to their scope and duration to what is strictly necessary and proportionate in order to remedy the situation,” according to the agreement. They will also be subject to arbitration by an independent panel — not the European Court of Justice.
Both sides will be prevented from giving an unlimited state guarantee to cover a company’s debts or liabilities. In line with EU law, the U.K. won’t be able to rescue a failing firm without a restructuring plan, and any aid to failing banks will have to be the minimum necessary to help it wind down.
The U.K. and the EU will have to disclose the subsidies they award.
Dispute settlement
Summary: Disputes on the deal must be negotiated between the EU and the U.K. with no role for the EU courts.
An arbitration panel may rule on some areas and can order one side to resolve the problem or offer compensation.
Failure to do so allows the other side to “suspend obligations” which could mean blocking some access or cooperation.
If there’s a “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulty,” either side can react with time-limited measures.
Fishing rules
Summary: This was one of the most contentious areas after disputes over the control of British fishing grounds came to symbolize the country’s desire to leave the EU.
U.K. fleets will take 25% of the current EU catch in British waters, worth 146 million pounds ($198 million), phased in over five years. Britain’s opening negotiating position called for an 80% increase, so this represents a significant compromise.
There is a transition period of five-and-a-half years during which reciprocal access rights to each other’s waters remain unchanged.
Customs
Summary: Both sides pledge to limit customs red tape, including through programs for trusted traders known as Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs have benefits including fewer controls).
“Bespoke” measures including cooperation at “roll-on roll-off” ports such as Dover and Holyhead in Britain are also foreseen, according to the U.K., while the EU refers to specific “facilitation arrangements” for wine, organics, automotive, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
The U.K. exit from the European single market on Jan. 1 was going to lead to more customs bureaucracy for both sides regardless of whether they reached a free-trade deal or not. The accord largely commits the EU and Britain to follow international practices aimed at minimizing customs costs for businesses.
Aviation and trucking
Summary: The EU has stopped short of granting automatic recognition to British aerospace designs and products, according to the U.K. government.
Such recognition will be confined to minor changes until the EU “gains confidence in the U.K.’s capability for overseeing design certification,” the document says.
On trucking: Both sides commit to “good and efficient management of visa and border arrangements for road hauliers, in particular across the U.K.-Union border” and to “appropriately facilitate the entry and stay of” truckers.
Data flows
Summary: The deal includes a temporary solution to keep data flowing between the EU and U.K. until the bloc has adopted a data adequacy decision.
This bridge period starts on the date the new deal takes effect and will last a maximum six months, or end as soon as the EU’s data adequacy decision has been finalized, which is expected to happen in early 2021.
Personal data shipped to the U.K. during this interim period “shall not be considered as transfer to a third country” under EU law, the document says, adding that the U.K. has to suspend its own transfer mechanism.
If the U.K. applies a new transfer tool to ship data to a third country during the interim period, it should “as far as is reasonably possible” inform the EU.
Both sides committed to upholding high levels of data protection standards and to ensure “cross-border data flows to facilitate trade in the digital economy” without imposing limits on where data can be stored or processed.
Energy
Summary: The U.K. won’t have access to the EU’s internal energy market. This was expected but there will be new arrangements in place by April 2022 to make sure that trading is smooth and efficient on interconnectors — huge power cables that run between the U.K. and Europe.
The U.K. is a net importer of electricity and gets 8% of its power from the continent. As an island nation, making sure trading across these interconnectors is efficient is important to Britain.
Making trading smooth will “benefit U.K. consumers and help integrate renewables and other clean technologies onto the grid in line with our domestic commitment to net zero emissions” the U.K. document says.
The deal includes guarantees on security of energy supply.
The U.K. is no longer part of the EU’s emissions trading system but both sides agreed to cooperate on carbon pricing in future and “consider linking their respective systems.”
The U.K.-EU agreement would be suspended if either side breaches their commitments to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate, according to the summaries.
Professional services
Summary: The deal means that there will no longer be automatic mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
“Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, vets, engineers or architects must have their qualifications recognized in each member state they wish to practice in,” according to the deal.
This is a loss for the U.K., which had wanted “comprehensive coverage” to ensure there were no “unnecessary” barriers to regulated services.
However, the deal does create a framework for the recognition of qualifications in future.
Business travel
Summary: The U.K. and EU agreed that short-term business visitors won’t need to hold work permits or undergo economic needs tests.
“Managers and specialists” will be allowed to stay for up to three years and trainees for up to a year. People visiting to set up businesses will be permitted to remain for as long as 90 days in any six-month period, according to the deal.
Taxation
Summary: “There are no provisions constraining our domestic tax regime or tax rates,” according to the U.K. government. Both sides pledged to “uphold global standards on tax transparency and fighting tax avoidance.”
Agriculture
Summary: Trade of farm goods will benefit from the zero-tariff, zero-quota terms between the two sides. However, there will be new requirements at the border, adding costs and hurdles for shippers.
No tariffs: The lack of levies is “especially important“ for the agriculture and fishing sector, as some meat and dairy products would have faced taxes topping 40% under WTO terms, the EU’s summary said.
Extra checks: “U.K. agri-food consignments will have to have health certificates and undergo sanitary and phyto-sanitary controls at Member States’ border inspection posts.
Both sides will be able to maintain their own sanitary standards going forward.
Law enforcement
Summary: The deal will allow cooperation between the U.K. and EU, particularly as part of investigations into terrorism and serious crime, including with the exchange of DNA, fingerprint and airline passenger information.


fortune--2020-12-25--Pelosi sets up showdown vote on $2,000 stimulus checks after GOP blocks Trump’s demand

A surprise scuffle over pandemic relief is set to run up against a crucial federal funding deadline next week as Democrats side with President Donald Trump in his demand for $2,000 payments to most Americans and Republicans take up his criticism of government spending.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning a full floor vote Monday on pandemic aid that includes the $2,000 payments that Trump says he wants, replacing the $600 in the original legislation. Republicans blocked Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s attempt to make that switch on Thursday.
“House and Senate Democrats have repeatedly fought for bigger checks for the American people, which House and Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected—first, during our negotiations when they said that they would not go above $600 and now, with this act of callousness on the Floor,” Pelosi said in a statement Thursday.
The standoff over stimulus payments comes after months of intense negotiations finally yielded a compromise to inject $900 billion into the U.S. economy—including forgivable loans for small businesses, supplemental unemployment benefits, support for renters facing eviction, and funds for vaccine distribution. Those measures were combined with $1.4 trillion in annual government spending, and now the entire package is in limbo.
Trump hasn’t explicitly said he would veto the legislation, which Congress finished processing Thursday after it passed both chambers on Monday. The White House didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. The bill has been flown to Florida, where Trump is spending Christmas at his private Mar-a-Lago club, according to a person familiar with the matter.
If the president doesn’t sign the bill by Monday night, the government—now operating under temporary funding—would begin a partial shutdown starting on Tuesday. The House may attempt to pass another stopgap funding measure on Monday if Trump hasn’t acted.
The president tweeted a video Tuesday criticizing the $2.3 trillion bill. His call for $2,000 payments, which most Republicans rejected as too costly, surprised GOP lawmakers.
“Republicans in Congress and the White House can’t agree on what they want,” Hoyer told reporters Thursday at the Capitol. “Surely, the president of the United States, whether he is in Mar-a-Lago or someplace else, ought to empathize with the suffering and apprehension and deep angst people are feeling this Christmas Eve.”
Senator Roy Blunt, a member of the GOP leadership, said there were not enough Republican votes in the Senate to pass the $2,000 payments.
“I hope the president looks at this again and reaches that conclusion that the best thing to do is to sign the bill,” Blunt told reporters.
The House will reconvene Monday to vote on the Cash Act, a bill introduced by Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal to increase stimulus checks to $2,000. Democrats will have a video conference call before the vote to discuss Congress’s pandemic response, according to a person briefed on the plan.
Republicans on Thursday tried to seek unanimous consent on a measure to examine taxpayer money spent on foreign aid, but Democrats blocked that move. In his complaint Tuesday about Congress’s combined virus aid and government spending bill, Trump criticized federal resources spent on international programs, even though such spending was included in his budget and was allocated as part of the bipartisan appropriations process.
Trump’s conflict with Congress further escalated this week with his veto Wednesday of the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed both chambers by large bipartisan margins earlier this month. The House plans to vote to override Trump’s veto Monday, with the Senate following suit on Tuesday. It would be the first time Congress overrules Trump.


fortune--2020-12-25--The 12 best beauty and wellness products under $70 I added to my routine this year

I’ve been lucky this year. I’ve made it through 10 months of a pandemic with my job and my health intact. But, like those of many others, my routines for most of this year have changed. I’m working from home. I’m working out from home. I’m wearing far less makeup and focusing more on skin care. And I had plenty of time to research new products to add to my arsenal.
In 2016, a friend told me I needed to get a new brush. In 2020, I finally did. And this one is definitely an upgrade, cutting through tangles more efficiently and with less pull.
Now that I’m skipping makeup most days, the redness in my skin is what makes me most self-conscious. Earlier this year, I tried an apple cider vinegar–based toner, but I found that this works much better.
I am very picky about the feel of my lotion, and I strongly prefer gel over thick creams. I originally bought this to cool the heat of sunburns, but it makes my skin feel so good that I put it on almost every day.
Completely contradicting myself from the above point, this is a rich cream that I don’t mind. I’ve tried several night moisturizers this year, and I always come back to this one from Tatcha, even though the price tag makes it a bit unsustainable.
Earlier this year, I tried an over-the-counter retinol, but I wasn’t seeing results. I wanted to try something prescription strength, but I wasn’t eager to leave my apartment during a pandemic just for skin care. Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I tried Rory, and it couldn’t have been easier to get started—all from the comfort of my bed.
I’ve tried a lot of bath bombs, and while it feels nice to treat yourself, I never really noticed a difference with muscle tension or relaxation until I tried these. Each bath bomb contains 50 mg of CBD, and a set of four is available in two scents: lavender lemongrass and cardamom rose.
I am a big fan of Kristin Ess products as you’ll see from the remainder of this list. I added this clarifying shampoo to my routine when I started to experience the phenomenon known as “quarantine scalp.” If your hair has been more greasy than usual this year, it’s worth looking into.
This razor gives the closest, smoothest shave I’ve ever experienced, and I love that the automatic shipments give me one less thing to worry about, especially during a year when my brain is maxed out. I recommend adding the travel case to your order for just $5.
I have such thick hair that I avoid blow-drying at all costs. But with this mist, I can easily cut drying time in half.
The Instagram ads have done it again. I was deeply skeptical that I could correctly pick a foundation shade via an online quiz, but after receiving approximately 13,562 social media ads for the company, I gave in and tried it. And through some act of magic, it truly is a perfect match. Il Makiage offers a 14-day trial period for just $5; you’re not charged the full price until after the trial if you decide to keep it.
This setting powder works great with many types of foundation. I have the translucent version, which is recommended for fair to medium skin tones, and it works great to set my foundation without adding any additional color that throws off the match.
This is the best travel kit I’ve ever used. It was originally created so the beauty line didn’t have to make travel-size versions of every product. The containers are high-quality, and I love that the labels are reusable so you can switch up products and labels for every trip.


fortune--2020-12-25--After 2020, we all need a gap year

After 2020, we all need a gap year

As millions of students and their parents continue to contemplate and question the value of a COVID-era collegiate experience, there has been a lot of talk about the beloved “gap year.” Not surprisingly, thousands of U.S. college students opted to take one in the current academic year.
But soul-searching young people aren’t the only ones who could benefit from a year of think space at this ominous time.
In 2019—at the age of 50—I embarked on a midlife gap year of my own. My journey took me to one of the most unlikely places in the world—a remote Indian Ocean island, 1,500 miles off the southeast coast of Africa.
After having climbed the corporate ladder for three decades, and holding executive posts at United Airlines, Starbucks, and US Airways, I realized it was time to stop fueling my ambition and start refueling my soul. So my family and I sold our home, packed our bags and moved to Mauritius, where I served as an executive in residence and chief communications officer at African Leadership University (ALU).
I was enticed by ALU’s moonshot mission to develop a new generation of entrepreneurial and ethical African leaders. The school, with campuses in Mauritius and Rwanda, is doing this by challenging students representing more than 40 African nations to declare a mission rather than a major—and in doing so discover their purpose and embrace a grand social challenge. Students work with faculty to handcraft a learning path to catalyze their personal calling. This may help explain why New York Times columnist David Brooks described ALU as one of the four spots on earth “where history is being made.”
There are three big lessons I awakened to as I spent time in this innovative environment during my midlife gap year:
Do hard things
In 1961, John F. Kennedy declared, “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” At ALU we were fond of saying that solving Africa’s biggest problems summon us to do hard things. In my case, I was summoned to do crazy-hard things—like selling our home and moving 10,000 miles from Chicago’s leafy North Shore suburbs to the turquoise north shore of a distant African island. Now—possibly more than any other moment in our lives—is the time to stop contemplating what if and start declaring why not.
Find space for think space
The magnitude and volume of news, information, and noise we are exposed to provide little if any refuge in which our brains may do what they are intended to do: think. So take long walks, choose the quiet car on the train, skip the movie on the plane, or rent a secluded cabin for a week (or perhaps move to a far-flung island for a year). As my daughter reminded me during our third month of quarantine, a silly old bear wisely once professed: “Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something.”
If we worry about everything, we will never do anything
In the three months that led up to our departure for Mauritius, there were a hundred reasons not to get on that plane. Securing adequate international health insurance, for example, became a bureaucratic quagmire. (To our surprise, the pre-existing conditions waiver in the Affordable Care Act does not apply to international coverage for U.S. citizens.) And nothing broke my heart more than trying to reassure my teenage daughter that everything would be okay. Tears would roll down her cheeks as she fell asleep each night, devastated about leaving her BFFs behind and feeling trepidation about making new friends in a distant land.
Each new headwind would have been a valid reason on its own to abort our plans. But we never abandoned the one reason we were doing this to begin with—to do our small part to help change the trajectory of a continent with so much potential for itself and the world. And along the way, change the trajectory of our own lives.
Nelson Mandela proclaimed, “There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is smaller than the one you are capable of living.” Which is why I’ve come to believe that our lives will not be measured by the titles we attain, the awards we collect, or the wealth we accumulate, but rather by the moments of impact we achieve—the mark we leave on the people and world around us and, more important, the measure of our willingness to let them make a mark on us.
After spending 12 months surrounded by the limitless potential of a new era of African leaders, I realized it was time to stop trying to prove myself to the world and instead dedicate myself to improving the world. In August I returned to the U.S. as a public relations professor at Syracuse University. In my new role I am on a mission to help my students declare and achieve their missions. And along the way, I’ll do my small part to help shape the next generation of entrepreneurial, ethical, and consequential leaders our world needs now more than ever.
The lecture halls of academia are a far cry from the plush executive suites that I roamed in recent years, but there is something magically transformational about living on an African island for a year. I arrived the person that I thought the world expected me to be and departed the person I know the world needs me to be.
Isn’t that what gap years are for, at any age?
Jim Olson is a public relations professor of practice at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications and a former corporate communications executive at United Airlines, Starbucks, and US Airways.


fortune--2020-12-26--Look out for these new smartphone features in 2021

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Despite the pandemic, phonemakers continued cranking out new models in 2020. The most popular new feature added this year was compatibility with superfast 5G networks. Some reviewers found the new iPhone 12 reaching download speeds of almost 3GB per second under the right conditions. So what’s in store for the best phones in 2021?
Folding phones evolve and get cheaper
In 2020, folding phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 and Motorola’s revived Razr finally proved that manufacturers could make displays that folded without cracking or peeling after just a few months of use. But those phones also cost $1,500 to $2,000. TM Roh, head of Samsung’s mobile communications business, hinted at lower prices coming next year, writing in a recent blog post that its foldable lineup in 2021 will be “more accessible to everyone.” Some reviewers have said the Z Fold2 was the best phone of the year despite being too expensive for most people.
And while some consumers find the folding phones too thick, rumors suggest LG will unveil a phone with a thin scrolling screen in the first half of 2021. LG already has a TV with a rollable screen, Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, notes. He’s says he’s excited for phones “a bit like papyrus scrolls used millennia ago.”
Cameras zoom in
It’s hard to pack a high-powered zoom lens into a smartphone because increasing the magnification comes from increasing the physical distance separating elements of the lens. A few models over the past year, like Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra, debuted a trick to fit a longer lens into a thinner phone by placing it sideways and using a mirror to capture the image, periscope style. Rumors out of Asia suggest Apple is looking at the periscope technology for future iPhones, possibly as soon as next year.
5G gets better
This year was supposed to be the year of 5G, but while phonemakers like Apple and Samsung did their part in developing compatible devices, the wireless carriers lagged behind. Phone-speed testing firms generally found the most widely available types of 5G weren’t much faster than 4G. That’s because the pandemic slowed some network improvements, and some carriers are still in need of additional airwave licenses to create enough capacity to offer faster 5G. Construction should pick up next year, and the Federal Communications Commission is currently auctioning off some additional airwaves perfect for 5G.
Ultimately, though not next year, 5G could reach ludicrous speeds of 10 gigabits per second, says Adam Koeppe, Verizon’s senior vice president for technology. That’s fast enough to download all 11 seasons of the Great British Baking Show from Netflix onto a phone in a few seconds. But that’s still a few years off, as phone designs, wireless modems, and network gear all need to improve. “Those three groups have to work hand in hand to evolve together,” he says.
Ultra-wideband opens more than just car doors
For the past two years, Apple has added an ultra-wideband chip to its phones as a way for iPhones to recognize each other more quickly for swapping files. The technology is so precise it can calculate locations with an accuracy of centimeters. BMW’s 2021 5 Series sedans are among the first cars to use ultra-wideband so owners can use their phones as a key.
But many more phones and devices will get ultra-wideband chips in 2021, says Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah, “to drive an ecosystem of interactions between different gadgets.” Expect automatic garage door openers, augmented reality games that work for multiple players at the same time, and tags on your wallet or keys, so they can never get lost between sofa cushions.


fortune--2020-12-26--21 books to look forward to in 2021

21 books to look forward to in 2021

As editors feverishly put to bed any remaining “Best of 2020” lists, work is well underway to review all the new books arriving in 2021. (Yes, 2020 is, mercifully, almost over.)
Here is a sampling of nonfiction and fiction titles to consider reading as they will be published in the first half of 2021.
“World Travel”; “Black Buck”; “Crying in H Mart”; “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster”; “Are You Enjoying?”; “Speak, Okinawa” Courtesy of Ecco; Houghton Mifflin; Knopf
White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck
Available Jan. 5
Journalist Koa Beck—a veteran of Jezebel, Vogue, and Marie Claire—examines, with clear-eyed scrutiny and in meticulous detail, the history of feminism, from the true mission of the suffragettes to the rise of corporate feminism. Throughout these pages, she documents how elitism and racial prejudice have driven the narrative of feminist discourse. She blends pop culture, primary historical research, and firsthand storytelling to show how women of color have been sidelined from the wider movement and what white women must do to course-correct for a new generation.
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
Available Jan. 5
In this propulsive, satirical novel, Mateo Askaripour recounts the rise and fall of a young Black salesman at an all-white NYC tech startup. It’s the story of how one man battles racism and microaggression to get to the top of a cult-like company. And when it becomes clear he’s the token Black guy, he hatches a plan to help people of color infiltrate America’s sales teams, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game. This razor-sharp tale skewers America’s workforce, explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.
Driven: The Race to Create the Autonomous Car by Alex Davies
Available Jan. 5
Perhaps Hollywood is to blame for raising our expectations, but a few years ago, it seemed as if self-driving cars were going to be here sooner rather than later. In Driven (Simon & Schuster), Business Insider senior editor Alex Davies tells the dramatic, colorful story of the quest to develop driverless cars—and the fierce competition among Google, Uber, and other tech and auto giants in the race to revolutionize our lives.
The Power of Ethics: How to Make Good Choices in a Complicated World by Susan Liautaud
Available Jan. 5
Drawing upon two decades as an ethics adviser guiding corporations and leaders, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and students in her Stanford University ethics courses, Susan Liautaud provides clarity to blurry ethical questions, walking you through a straightforward, four-step process for ethical decision-making you can use every day. As founder and managing director of Susan Liautaud & Associates, which advises clients such as global corporations and NGOs on matters of ethical complexity, Liautaud outlines six forces driving virtually every ethical choice we face, positioning the book as an essential guide to ethical decision-making in the 21st century.
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Available Jan. 5
With the world upside down indefinitely, it can be hard to stick to what used to be normal routines or even to stay focused these days. Although researched and written well before the current global dilemma, Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s latest work strives to serve as a manual toward maintaining and improving cognitive health, from debunking common myths about aging to prescribing which social interactions and games are actually beneficial.
Kamala’s Way: An American Life by Dan Morain
Available Jan. 12
Though the Vice President–elect was well known among Californians, the country learned much more about Kamala Harris when President-elect Joe Biden named her to the Democratic ticket in August 2020. In Kamala’s Way (Simon & Schuster), journalist Dan Morain—who has covered California policy, politics, and justice-related issues for more than four decades at the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee—offers a revelatory biography of the first Black woman Vice President, charting how the daughter of two immigrants in segregated California became one of this country’s most effective power players.
How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos by David Pogue
Available Jan. 26
This vital guide from New York Times contributor David Pogue covers such topics as where to move to avoid the worst natural disasters (based on cool temperatures, good hospitals, and resilient infrastructure); how to fortify your home against extreme weather; and what insurance to buy in a chaotic era. You’ll also learn what to grow in your garden; how to invest as the world decarbonizes; as well as how to talk to your kids about climate change and manage your own health in its wake.
Available Feb. 2
Scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised and shaped some of America’s most pivotal heroes: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. These deeply researched portraits of the lives of Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin offer a new understanding of a century of American history.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates
Available Feb. 16
In this urgent book, Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, the tech industry titan describes the areas in which technology is already helping reduce emissions; where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively; where breakthrough technologies are needed; and who is working on these essential innovations.
Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir by Elizabeth Miki Brina
Available Feb. 23
Elizabeth Miki Brina’s mother was working as a nightclub hostess on U.S.-occupied Okinawa when she met the American soldier who would become her husband. The language barrier and power imbalance that defined their early relationship followed them to the predominantly white, upstate New York suburb where they moved to raise their only daughter. Decades later, the author comes to recognize the shame and self-loathing that haunt both her and her mother, and she attempts a form of reconciliation, not only to come to terms with the embattled dynamics of her family but also to reckon with the injustices that reverberate throughout the history of Okinawa and its people.
Unbound: A Woman’s Guide to Power by Kasia Urbaniak
Available March 9
How can so many women feel good and mad yet still reluctant to speak up in a meeting or difficult conversation? Why do women often feel like they’re too much—and, at the same time, not enough? What causes us, at the most critical moments in our lives, to freeze? In Unbound (TarcherPerigee), Kasia Urbaniak teaches power to women—and her answers to these questions may surprise you. Based on insights from her experiences as a dominatrix, her training to become a Taoist nun, and the countless women she has taught to expand their influence, this book offers precise, practical instruction in how to stand in your power, find your voice, and use it well.
Available March 9
By following the struggle for survival of one small-town hospital, and the patients who walk, or are carried, through its doors, The Hospital (St. Martin’s Press) takes readers into the world of the American medical industry in a way no book has done before. Americans are dying sooner and living in poorer health. Brian Alexander argues that no plan will solve America’s health crisis until the deeper causes of that crisis are addressed. Culminating in COVID-19, this book details how we’ve created the dilemma we’re in.
Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation by Kevin Roose
Available March 9
A.I. and automation have certainly garnered a lot of attention and headlines in the tech press over the past decade, especially as the technology has improved exponentially in recent years. But with the current economic crisis unfolding, business leaders across all industries are going to be rethinking which jobs can be automated. In Futureproof (Random House)—originally scheduled to be released in 2020 but one of the many books pushed to 2021—New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose suggests these machines aren’t actually threatening jobs, and with the right planning and organization, “futureproofing” your company for technological change could set up better protections for jobs down the road.
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
Available April 6
Already touted by critics as one of the most anticipated debuts of 2021, Gabriela Garcia’s novel spans five generations and four countries—from 19th-century Cuba to present-day Miami and Mexico. Of Women and Salt primarily follows the daughter of a Cuban immigrant who is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother while making the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE.
Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
Available April 6
Author of Annihilation Jeff VanderMeer’s latest is a thriller haunted by conspiracy, endangered species, and perhaps the death of the planet. A security consultant receives an envelope with a key to a storage unit containing a taxidermic hummingbird. By removing the hummingbird from the unit, the protagonist sparks a series of events that spiral out of control, endangering herself and her family. (Suffice to say, it probably won’t be long before a Hollywood studio picks up the rights.)
First Person Singular: Stories by Haruki Murakami
Available April 6
The eight masterly stories in this new collection from beloved Japanese author Haruki Murakami are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From nostalgic memories of youth, meditations on music, and an ardent love of baseball to dreamlike scenarios and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world. Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Murakami himself is present. Is it memoir or fiction? Let the reader decide.
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
Available April 20
Raised by a Korean immigrant in the Pacific Northwest, Michelle Zauner never forgot what her mother ate. Despite a tumultuous adolescence arguing over clothes and ambition and career choice, it is no wonder, then, that their best moments were spent over heaping plates of Korean food: perfectly sour kimchi, Tupperware containers full of homemade banchan, piping hot soups. And the very best: the two of them, shoulder to shoulder in front of the fridge in Zauner’s grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, snacking on sweet braised black soybeans, crisp yellow sprouts, and warm lavender kong bap while they battled jet lag. Sharing food was its own kind of love. As one of the few Asian-American kids in her Oregon town, however, this part of Zauner’s identity—her Koreanness—was not something she had always readily embraced.
Are You Enjoying? by Mira Sethi
Available April 20
An abashed look at sexuality and desire, power and social mobility—and the humor and heartache in what it means to transgress in a Muslim society today—this debut short story collection from Pakistani writer and actor Mira Sethi offers a disarmingly comic perspective on everyday life in Pakistan.
World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever
Available April 20
There will never be anyone quite like Anthony Bourdain. But World Travel (Ecco) offers readers the potential to travel the world as he did. A life of experience is transformed into an entertaining, practical, fun, and frank travel guide with introductions, in his own words, to some of his favorite places. Featuring essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay, and, in some cases, what to avoid, World Travel provides context that will help readers further appreciate why Bourdain found a place memorable and enchanting. Supplementing Bourdain’s words are a handful of essays by friends, colleagues, and family that tell even deeper stories about a place, including sardonic accounts of traveling with Bourdain.
Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture by Annelise Heinz
Available May 11
Mahjong takes a deep dive into the history of a game that crossed the Pacific and fostered distinct social cultures—from Chinese-Americans in the 1930s to incarcerated Japanese-Americans during the Second World War to Jewish-American suburban mothers and Air Force officers’ wives in the postwar era. Historian Annelise Heinz’s examination of the game provides unexpected insights into race, gender, class, and leisure in modern America with particular relevance to Chinese-American heritage and Jewish-American women’s culture.
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Available June 1
In what could be the big fiction hit of the summer, Zakiya Dalila Harris takes a hard look at racism and racial disparities in the book publishing industry. Described as a cross between The Devil Wears Prada and Get Out, this debut novel features a protagonist who’s frustrated as her company’s only Black employee—simultaneously overlooked as well as subject to incessant microaggressions. While the plot takes a darker turn into thriller territory, this read is ideal for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or dismissed in the workplace.


fortune--2020-12-26--How anti-Beijing legislation became one of the few things Democrats and Republicans can agree on

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U.S. President Donald Trump last week signed into law the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, allowing the U.S. to remove foreign firms from U.S. stock exchanges if they don’t comply with auditing requirements.
The legislation is aimed at Chinese companies. Its bipartisan sponsors—Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.)—say the law will protect Americans from being “cheated” and “exploit[ed]” when they invest in Chinese firms that trade on U.S. exchanges.
Before Trump signed the bill into law, it passed both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives with unanimous support—a clear show of how anti-Beijing legislation has united Democratic and Republican lawmakers like little else has.
A government watchdog earlier this month ranked this Congress, the 116th, the “least productive in history.” The COVID-19 relief deal that Congress struck on Sunday—and is now in doubt—is a prime example of the dysfunction; it took lawmakers eight months to find common ground. But legislation taking aim at Beijing’s growing influence has sailed through both chambers this year.
That’s because Washington “increasingly views all Chinese firms as arms of Beijing’s political and geopolitical ambitions,” said Michael Hirson, practice head of China and Northeast Asia at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “The reality is more nuanced, but subtleties are lost in the China debate today,” Hirson said, since Capitol Hill is now dominated by a “prevailing consensus about being tough with China.”
A “generational” shift
It wasn’t always this way.
For decades, the U.S.-China relationship has been one of general cooperation with periods of disagreement, says Dane Chamorro, partner at the Asia Pacific practice of risk consultancy Control Risks. The new normal is the reverse—”a largely contentious [relationship] with only episodic collaboration,” Chamorro said, calling the change a “generational” shift.
One reason for the evolution is China’s economic and technological progress that has made it more competitive with the U.S., says Hirson.
In the past few years, China has made advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, 5G wireless networks, and surveillance technology. Chinese companies like Huawei and Xiaomi dominate the global smartphone market, and China has emerged as a global leader in e-commerce, electric vehicles, and digital payments.
“The tensions that we see now in capital markets, including the delisting issue, is driven in part by the tech rivalry,” Hirson said, as well as the U.S. government’s concerns about investors in the U.S. funding China’s next-generation national tech champions.
On Dec. 3, a day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the delisting bill, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying called the act a “concrete example of [U.S.] political suppression of Chinese companies in a bid to contain China’s development.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s promotion of “civil-military fusion,” a state-led initiative to increase collaboration between the private sector and China’s military, also “has fueled the narrative in Washington that all Chinese companies are arms of Beijing’s geopolitical aims,” Hirson said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. Under Trump, U.S. policy toward China has become more antagonistic. NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images
Then there’s the Trump effect.
On the 2016 campaign trail, Trump’s message was rife with harsh criticism of China. As President, he packed his administration with “China hawks,” officials and advisers who deem China a threat to the U.S. and advocate policies to counter that perceived threat.
The Trump administration has pursued a trade war with China; imposed visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party affiliates, Chinese students, and Chinese journalists; and attempted to ban hugely popular Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat.
The administration’s aggressive campaign against China has shifted the conversation in Washington, said Hirson. “Both parties in Congress are far less inclined than in the past to favor the interests of the business community in China over perceived issues of national security and ideological competition with Beijing.”
Chamorro argues that U.S. lawmakers’ souring attitude toward China predates the recent proliferation of China hawks in U.S. policymaking. He sees Xi as the main impetus. Ever since the Chinese President assumed office in 2012, he’s engaged in “a more aggressive foreign policy” than his predecessors. For instance, China laid territorial claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea, alarming U.S. lawmakers.
The monthslong protest movement in Hong Kong in 2019 that captured global headlines, and Beijing’s subsequent imposition of a controversial national security law in the territory, also deteriorated U.S.-China relations and solidified bipartisan consensus on China matters.
Bipartisanship on China
The cross-aisle determination to counteract Beijing was on full display during the 2020 presidential election, when each campaign tried to prove its “tough on China” credentials and paint the other as subservient to Beijing.
In October, during the vice presidential debate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) accused the Trump administration of losing 300,000 U.S. jobs in the “so-called trade war with China,” and Vice President Mike Pence called Democratic nominee Joe Biden a “cheerleader for Communist China.”
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) during the U.S. vice presidential debate on Oct. 7, 2020. During the fall’s presidential campaign, one salient theme was how “tough on China” each candidate was. Morry Gash/AP Photo/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Campaign ads carried similar messaging: A Trump spot said Biden “stands up for China,” while a Biden ad said Trump “rolls over for the Chinese.” Each ad featured an image of the rival candidate alongside Xi.
The campaign rhetoric is proof that even though U.S.-China relations sunk to their lowest point in decades under Trump, the bipartisan mood toward Beijing is unlikely to change when President-elect Biden assumes office in January, analysts say.
In addition to the delisting bill, other anti-Beijing pieces of legislation have passed Congress with similar levels of bipartisan support this year, especially bills related to Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong Kong and treatment of the Uighur ethnic minority in the Xinjiang region.
Earlier this month, a bill to expand U.S. refugee status to Hong Kong residents passed the House without opposition. In July, the Senate unanimously passed an act that sanctions Chinese officials Washington says have violated Hong Kong’s autonomy and penalizes financial institutions that do business with those officials.
In May, a bill that sanctions individuals and entities responsible for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, where China’s government has been accused of surveilling and detaining Uighur people and other minorities, passed the Senate unanimously and then passed the House with just one dissenting vote. Trump signed the bill into law in June.
Clamping down on risk
At the same time, analysts say, lawmakers’ support for the delisting legislation stems from a real desire to protect U.S. investors from risk.
Under the new law, U.S. exchanges must delist firms that don’t provide the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) with audit reports for three consecutive years. The Chinese companies on U.S. exchanges that could be delisted have a combined market capitalization of $1 trillion, which represents around 3% of the total equity market cap in the U.S., according to a June report by investment bank China Renaissance.
Luckin Coffee executives and employees in Times Square, New York City, after ringing the opening bell during the company’s Nasdaq IPO on May 17, 2019. Nasdaq delisted Luckin in July 2020 after reports of sales fraud. Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The law applies to all foreign firms on U.S. exchanges, but it targets Chinese firms in particular because China’s state secrecy laws don’t let Chinese companies share certain financial information outside of China’s borders. The U.S. law also requires firms to disclose whether any of their board members are Chinese Communist Party officials.
Congress has pressed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and PCAOB, which the SEC oversees, for years to reach an agreement with Chinese regulators that would allow the U.S. to review the audit papers of U.S.-listed Chinese firms, Hirson said. The new delisting law addresses this demand. In a political environment less hostile to Beijing, Congress may have pressured the SEC to take action on the auditing impasse “in a more gradual manner,” rather than through a law of its own, Hirson said.
When the bill passed the House on Dec. 2., bill sponsor Sen. Kennedy said in a statement that “U.S. policy is letting China flout rules that American companies play by, and it’s dangerous.” Fellow sponsor Sen. Van Hollen criticized “seemingly legitimate Chinese companies that are not held to the same standards as other publicly listed companies” in his own statement.
Both senators said the law would protect retirement savers from fraudulent companies, and Van Hollen said Americans who invest their retirement funds in U.S.-listed Chinese companies have been “cheated out of their money.” However, the risk to retirees is relatively small. Chinese equities and bonds accounted for 0.6% of total U.S. retirement assets under management in 2019, according to a May report from China Renaissance.
Bruce Pang, head of macro and strategy research at China Renaissance, argues that the risk of investing in Chinese firms listed on U.S. exchanges has stayed the same for years and the new restrictions are “more politically motivated.”
The law’s supporters argue that the lack of financial information about U.S.-listed Chinese companies puts U.S. investors with shares of these companies at risk. But existing SEC policy already makes investors aware of the limited transparency. It requires firms with operations in China to disclose to potential investors that American regulators can’t inspect audit papers in mainland China; firms must include it as a risk factor in their listing applications if they go public on a U.S. exchange.
Still, big scandals helped the delisting legislation gain traction; the Luckin Coffee saga was chief among them. In July, Nasdaq delisted the Chinese coffee chain after Luckin said an internal investigation had revealed substantial sales fraud.
The SEC is currently investigating New York Stock Exchange–listed Chinese education firm GSX Techedu for allegedly falsifying its sales. (GSX denied short-sellers’ fraud allegations and said it is cooperating with the SEC probe.) In November, San Francisco–based short-seller Muddy Waters Research—which shorted Luckin and GSX earlier this year—accused Nasdaq-listed Chinese media platform JOYY of fraud. (JOYY denied the allegations.)
U.S. exchanges are still attractive to many Chinese firms. But the new law is one more reason Chinese firms seeking capital may look elsewhere. “It increasingly makes less sense for Chinese firms to list in the U.S., particularly for firms in strategically important sectors such as technology,” Hirson said.
Because the new law can be framed as addressing U.S. national security concerns, and because of “the very real problem of lack of transparency” among many U.S.-listed Chinese companies, said Chamorro, “it’s something that, from a domestic political perspective, would be very hard not to support.”


fortune--2020-12-26--Apple device activation problems cause holiday disappointment

Congress just passed the most important anti-corruption reform in decades , but hardly anyone knows about it

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If you received an Apple device for Christmas, you may have to wait a bit longer to enjoy it. Apple says its iCloud sign-in servers have been having issues since early Christmas morning, preventing some users from activating new Apple Watch, iPhone, HomePod, and other devices.
The issue, according to Apple’s services status page, began just before 5 a.m. on Christmas and is still impacting some users. A tweet from Apple’s support team on Friday suggested that the issue, which is ongoing as of Saturday afternoon, was related to increased holiday demand for the disrupted service.
Fortune has contacted Apple for comment and will update this article with any additional information.
Christmas-related demand might be particularly high because of an unusually late-in-the-year release of the iPhone 12 caused by pandemic manufacturing delays, according to AppleInsider, which first reported the activation problem.
Dozens of users at the MacRumors forums report difficulties activating devices. Many of the issues appear to involve activating devices using Apple’s Family Sharing system, which provides parental controls. Some users did report success after repeated attempts.


fortune--2020-12-26--Girl Scouts embroiled in ‘highly damaging’ legal war with Boy Scouts

The Girl Scouts are in a “highly damaging” recruitment war with the Boy Scouts after the latter opened its core services to girls, leading to marketplace confusion and some girls unwittingly joining the Boy Scouts, lawyers for the century-old Girl Scouts organization claim in papers filed in a federal court.
The competition, more conjecture than reality two years ago, has intensified as the Boy Scouts of America organization — which insists recruits pledge to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous and kind” — has unfairly recruited girls lately, according to claims in legal briefs filed on behalf of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
The lawyers filed papers in Manhattan federal court Thursday to repel an effort by the Boy Scouts to toss out before trial a trademark infringement lawsuit the Girl Scouts filed in 2018.
Last month, lawyers for the Boy Scouts asked a judge to reject claims that the Boy Scouts cannot use “scouts” and “scouting” in its recruitment of girls without infringing trademarks.
It called the lawsuit “utterly meritless.”
Messages seeking comment on the latest filing by Girl Scouts were sent Saturday to lawyers for the Boy Scouts.
In its filing, the Girl Scouts said the Boy Scouts’ marketing of expanded services for girls was “extraordinary and highly damaging to Girl Scouts” and had set off an “explosion of confusion.”
“As a result of Boy Scouts’ infringement, parents have mistakenly enrolled their daughters in Boy Scouts thinking it was Girl Scouts,” the lawyers said, adding that this never occurred before 2018.
The Girls Scouts said they can prove there are “rampant instances of confusion and mistaken instances of association between Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts” after the Boy Scouts targeted girls and their parents with marketing and recruiting communications in ways it never has before.
“The parties’ programs, which have many similarities, are now directly competitive,” the Girls Scouts maintained.
The organization cited proof from a narrow subset of documents turned over by 19 of 250 local Boy Scout councils, including evidence that registration fees sometimes were returned to parents who mistakenly thought they registered girls for the Girl Scouts.
It said repeated instances of confusion and interference at the local level by the Boy Scouts was a tiny fraction of what was occurring nationwide.
Each of dozens of times the Girl Scouts complained about unfair marketing, the Boy Scouts responded by blaming individuals, churches or others for what they said was an isolated incident, the lawyers said.
“According to Boy Scouts, blame for the rampant marketplace confusion lies at everyone’s feet but its own,” they wrote.
Both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, like other major youth organizations, have seen declines in membership in recent years as competition grew pre-pandemic from sports leagues and busy family schedules.
In spring 2018, the Boy Scouts program for 11- to 17-year-olds announced it would change its name to Scouts BSA in early 2019. The parent organization, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Cub Scouts, a program serving children from kindergarten through fifth grade, kept their names.
The organization started admitting girls into the Cub Scouts in August 2018, and Scouts BSA began accepting girls in February, 2019, lawyers said.
Afterward, Boy Scouts councils and volunteers began using Girl Scouts’ intellectual property to recruit girls, employing targeted advertising utilizing terms such as “Scout, Scouts, Scouting, Scout Me In and Scouts BSA,” the lawyers wrote.
“Boy Scouts knew full well in 2017, just as it had in the 1930s and 1970s, that SCOUT, SCOUTS and SCOUTING, when used in connection with girls’ services, could only create associations with Girl Scouts unless other distinguishing content referencing Boy Scouts of America appeared in advertising and promotional materials,” they said. “But it did so anyway, and the only plausible inference is that its motive was to free ride off of Girl Scouts ‘impeccable’ reputation and boost its position in a ‘new market — Girls in Scouting.’”
The lawyers said Boy Scouts councils in Illinois acknowledging improperly using the Girl Scouts’ slogan in Cub Scout recruiting materials and pictures of Girl Scouts to promote a Boy Scouts “Scouts Sign-Up Night!”
They said a western Massachusetts Boy Scouts council posted a recruiting flyer on Facebook including a photograph of a girl depicted in her Girl Scouts Brownie uniform.
Meanwhile, Ohio Boy Scouts used the Girl Scouts trademark to try to get a local newspaper to write an article, suggesting a storyline entitled “Boy and Girl Scouts Looking for Members” even though the recruitment involved only the Boy Scouts, the lawyers said.
In Seattle, a Boy Scouts council used the Girl Scouts trademark in social media recruiting materials, the lawyers said.
They said confusion has skyrocketed among children, parents, schools and religious organizations and they cited examples in other states, including Florida, Minnesota, Arkansas, Michigan, North Carolina and Hawaii.


fortune--2020-12-26--Holiday retail sales rose 3%, driven by online shoppers

U.S. holiday season sales beat low expectations for the pandemic year as online shopping surged.
Total retail sales grew 3% over the extended 75-day holiday period, versus a forecast of 2.4%, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks online and in-store retail sales across all payment methods. The number is far better than the 3.5% drop recorded during 2008, the last U.S. recession.
“It’s a very healthy number” given the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard and former chief executive officer of Saks, said in an interview. “That shows me the American consumer is highly resilient.”
Online sales rose a whopping 49% from a year ago, according to the Mastercard report. E-commerce now accounts for one in five dollars spent, up from about 13% of overall retail spending in 2019.
This year, Mastercard measured spending over an extended holiday period, from Oct. 11 through Dec. 24, because many retailers started the sales season early to disperse crowds. Within the traditional holiday period from the start of November to Christmas Eve, sales grew 2.4%, according to the report.
Home-related categories, which have been outperforming throughout the pandemic as consumers splurge on their residences, saw the strongest growth. Furniture and furnishings rose 16% and home improvement products gained 14% compared with a year ago. The weakest sectors were apparel and luxury, falling 19% and 21%, respectively.
Department store performance still lagged because of shoppers’ reluctance to visit malls. Total retail sales at department stores fell 10% during the extended season, with modest online spending growth of 3%.
Going forward, retailers should watch for gift card sales, a bright spot this year, which will only be recorded when they’re redeemed. For shoppers, expect fewer year-end promotions because retailers have accumulated low inventory this year. That’ll benefit their profit margins, Sadove said.


fortune--2020-12-26--Without Trump’s signature, pandemic unemployment relief lapses for millions

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Expanded unemployment benefits have lapsed for millions of Americans because President Trump hasn’t signed a bipartisan $900 billion coronavirus relief package sent to his desk this week. The legislation would add $300 per week in federally-funded unemployment payments to normal state payments, extend emergency unemployment for all workers (PUEC), and extend special unemployment benefits (PUA) for self-employed or gig workers who don’t normally qualify.
Trump could still sign the bill containing the relief measures. But even if he does so, PUA and PUEC payments to about 13 million Americans will be halted for at least one week. Direct relief payments of $600 that could have reached a much larger number of Americans as soon as next week have also been, at best, delayed.
Trump, who is at his Florida home for the holidays, and reportedly golfing, upended a bipartisan deal for the extended unemployment benefits and relief payments on Dec. 22, when he slammed the bill as a “disgrace.”
This morning on Twitter, Trump reiterated his core dispute with the bill, writing: “I simply want to get our great people $2,000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork’”.
However, the stimulus did not seem to weigh as heavily on the President’s mind as other matters – just before his statement about the payments, he sent a half dozen Tweets repeating debunked claims of fraud in the Presidential election that he lost on Nov. 3.
Trump’s criticisms came despite participation of his representative, Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin, in the months-long negotiations that shaped the bill. Mnuchin as recently as Monday said Americans would get money from the bill “at the beginning of next week.” That possibility now appears dead.
Expanded unemployment benefits and relief payments may still be reinstated if Trump signs the bill in the coming days, or if Congress reconvenes to craft a new version that meets the President’s approval. But states cannot issue payments for weeks that begin before the bill is signed, so extended PUA and PUEC benefits will not be paid for the week of Dec. 27-Jan. 2. This would effectively shorten the bill’s PUA extension from 11 to 10 weeks.
The bill waiting Trump’s signature also extends a moratorium on evictions. Without it, economists and housing experts have predicted millions of Americans could be evicted in coming weeks.
Trump’s refusal to sign the bill also raises the specter of a federal government shutdown as soon as Dec. 29, because the relief measures are bundled with a broader government funding package. A shutdown would mean no paychecks for about two million federal employees.
Though those employees would be guaranteed back pay after any shutdown is resolved, their missing paychecks could compound risks to the broader economy posed by the lapse in relief. An economic recovery that began over the summer has slowed, and new jobless claims rose slightly in recent weeks.


fortune--2020-12-26--U.S. economy to drop to No. 2 earlier due to pandemic

The Chinese economy is set to overtake the U.S. faster than previously anticipated after weathering the coronavirus pandemic better than the West, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
The world’s biggest and second-biggest economies are on course to trade places in dollar terms in 2028, five years earlier than expected a year ago, it said on Saturday.
In its World Economic League Table, the consultancy also calculated that China could become a high-income economy as soon as 2023. Further cementing Asia’s growing might, India is set to move up the rankings to become the No. 3 economy at the end of the decade.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said last month it was “entirely possible” for his economy to double in size by 2035 under his government’s new Five-Year Plan, which aims to achieve “modern socialism” in 15 years.
China was the first economy to suffer a pandemic blow, but has recovered swiftly, according to government data. That should prompt Western economies to pay much more attention to what is happening in Asia, according to the report.
“Typically, we compare ourselves with other Western economies and miss out on what often is best practice, especially in the rapidly growing economies in Asia,” it said.


fortune--2020-12-26--Congress just passed the most important anti-corruption reform in decades, but hardly anyone knows a

Congress just passed the most important anti-corruption reform in decades, but hardly anyone knows about it

The U.S. is embracing the most sweeping anti-corruption reforms the country has seen in decades—and will do so with remarkably strong bipartisan support and little fanfare.
With veto-proof majorities, Congress recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill generally meant to shore up U.S. defense spending. This year’s iteration folded in a piece of legislation known as the Corporate Transparency Act, which targets something specific: anonymous shell companies, tools that have allowed criminal networks, human rights abusers, and tax evaders around the world to flourish while hiding their financial tracks.
The bill, which is currently awaiting the President’s signature, will require that the true, human owners of companies formed in the U.S. disclose their identities at the point of formation and upon any change—effectively banning anonymous shell companies. Currently, the U.S. is the easiest place in the world to form an anonymous shell company that can be used for money laundering, crime, and corruption.
A multiyear undercover investigation conducted by Global Witness along with extensive reports published by the New York Times have exposed the criminal enterprises that anonymous shell companies enable. In every state, more information is required to get a library card than to form a secret company, and the U.S. is the largest incorporator of companies in the world. The passage of the legislation will be a substantial blow to those who have long abused the secrecy provided by our financial system.
Many issues plaguing our nation and the international community have some connection to anonymous shell companies, which act as the perfect financial getaway vehicles. After all, given how effectively anonymous shell companies mask perpetrators’ finances—authorities often watch their investigations go cold as soon as they run into one of these shell companies—what criminal network wouldn’t take full advantage of all that secrecy?
Those using and abusing anonymous shells to cloak themselves in anonymity run the gamut. From tax cheats hiding their finances and bleeding local coffers dry to drug cartels flooding American streets with opiates turning to anonymous shells to launder their profits, a wide range of criminal forces have used anonymous companies to mask their tracks.
Clamping down on anonymous shell companies won’t solve economic inequality—most of the very rich are people who take advantage of perfectly legal loopholes in the law—but it will increase fairness by making everyone follow the rules that most hard-working honest Americans already follow.
It will also curb a wide variety of international criminality and wrongdoing that currently flows through the American financial system. The people and companies responsible for ongoing environmental devastation around the world often hide their environmental crimes behind anonymous shell companies, like the European company Norsudtimber, which covers up illegal logging activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a web of anonymous shells. So do repressive regimes abroad, from Moscow to Pyongyang to Damascus, who use anonymous shell corporations to avoid sanctions and bankroll their authoritarian efforts.
Environmental criminals, authoritarian regimes, tax evaders and financial criminals, drug traffickers, wildlife poachers, and gun runners—all those responsible for the most heinous crimes have turned to anonymous shell companies. And all too often, given the outsize role America has played in producing anonymous shell companies, the entities at the heart of these criminal networks are produced here in the U.S.
The pending bill outlawing anonymous shell companies in the U.S. will help solve these problems. Not only will it prevent criminal actors from abusing American financial secrecy tools to expand their own illicit empires, but it will also be the biggest anti-corruption step the U.S. has taken in decades.
Moreover, the bill comes with a strong—and gratifying—range of bipartisan support, with both Democratic and Republican legislators cosponsoring the anti-corruption legislation. Even in these polarized times, legislators across the political spectrum realize just how necessary it is to end the abuses of anonymous shell companies.
The Corporate Transparency Act is a testament to how much patriotic Americans still have in common—and how much the U.S. can, and should, lead when it comes to global efforts to tackle corrupt financial practices.
Morris Pearl is chair of Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director at BlackRock.


fortune--2020-12-26--Why micro-gyms could be the next big thing in fitness

Wilfred Valenta opened his first “micro-gym” almost two years ago, repurposing a 580-square-foot office space in downtown Montreal and renting it out by the hour to fitness trainers and small workout groups.
He couldn’t have known back then how fortuitous his timing was.
Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many big gyms to stay closed, his company, Silofit Inc., is rushing to scale up. After five openings since September, it’s adding a dozen locations in Toronto next year.
It’s also accelerating plans to enter the $32 billion gym market in the U.S., backed by money from U.S. and Canadian venture capital firms and NFL player Ndamukong Suh, a defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And it’s preparing add-on services for fitness trainers, its core customers.
“We’re at the point where we’re seeing such a large appetite that we would like to expand faster,” Valenta, Silofit’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said in an interview. “The industry was moving away from big box gyms memberships—COVID just accelerated that.”
The virus has been brutal for fitness clubs, leading to a string of bankruptcies, while propelling companies like Peloton that help people exercise in private.
In the early stages of the pandemic, Silofit was in the same predicament as its big rivals. Even as it planned to add locations, it was ordered to close existing ones. After Montreal reopened, in the summer, occupancy rates for Silofit facilities were still below pre-pandemic levels.
The turning point came in the fall, as the temperature dropped. In Montreal, Silofit was allowed to stay open for two-person workouts even after the government forced big gyms to close again. Newly opened Toronto micro-gyms got media attention and booked up.
“That really got the wheels in motion, and after that it just snowballed,” Valenta said.
There are signs of pent-up demand. The number of people downloading the company’s scheduling app tripled to 6,000 in the six weeks through the end of November. Even though locations were booked up, people were checking availability daily.
In a December survey for U.S.-based investment bank Harrison Co., 27% of respondents who exercised regularly said they’d canceled their gym membership during the pandemic, and another 12% planned to. Research firm IBISWorld expects the industry’s revenue to drop 13% in 2020.
Silofit’s private-gym concept caters to people’s yearning for activities outside the home, while offering a relative sense of safety — there’s no stranger sweating next to you, and the space is cleaned between sessions. Bookings are made through the app, and a code to unlock the door is sent minutes before the session starts.
Rates range from C$15 ($11.70) to C$30 an hour, depending on the time of day and room size. The space has a boutique gym feel, with a decor catering to selfie lovers, including light-color wood, turf, plants and mirrors. The company is targeting personal trainers, who make the majority of bookings.
In the traditional personal-training model, coaches give a hefty cut to the gym they’re attached to. But the pandemic has offered the most business-savvy ones a chance to develop an independent online following, according to Paul Byrne, a fitness industry veteran who’s a partner at Harrison Co. The firm’s survey found that 12% of the 1,050 respondents now use a personal coach, compared with 1% before the pandemic.
“This has been good for trainers, it’s really given them a boost,” Byrne said of the crisis.
Silofit’s longer-term goal is to offer everything trainers need to build and run their business, both online and in person, said Deepen Parikh, a partner at U.S.-based Courtside Ventures, one of the company’s investors.
The company has received C$4.7 million in funding since its 2018 founding and seeks to raise another $10 million to support its U.S. expansion. Besides Suh and Courtside, other investors include Toronto-based Whitecap Venture Partners and Alate Partners.
“This is an opportunity to really own the whole fitness and wellness professional ecosystem” said Parikh, who sits on Silofit’s board.
Silofit plans to take a step in that direction next year, with the launch of monthly subscriptions offering trainers recurring gym bookings and promotional photos. It will also match coaches with potential clients.
To succeed, it will need to win over thousands of trainers like Montreal-based Sandrine Cassis. After developing an online program of workouts and positive affirmations, Cassis got requests for one-on-one sessions earlier this year. She taught outside and over Zoom before finding Silofit in her research for cold-weather options.
“It has everything I want—it’s clean, it’s cozy, it’s bright,” Cassis said.
With locations fully booked lately, Cassis says she’d pay a subscription to get easier access to reservations. Being featured on the platform would also be attractive as she tries to grow her business.
“That would be really good for me—to get new clients,” she said.