White House reports that 90% of federal workers have received dose of COVID-19 vaccine

• A senior administration official from the White House has said that approximately 90% of federal employees are vaccinated
• The White House also reports that the federal workforce has reached 95% compliance with the vaccination mandate 
• The federal guidance states that Federal personnel who have not been immunized or submitted proof of vaccination may eventually be terminated

UK government says new homes in England must have EV charging points

• Authorities in the United Kingdom have announced plans that will require new homes in England to have charging points 
• During the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated his remarks on the new regulations which will allow 145,000 new charging points to be installed

The US National Guard has helped combat the labor crisis 

• As employers across the US are experiencing a substantial labor shortage, with slowdowns in the supply chain, politicians have looked to the US military for support’
• So far, the US has used the National Guard to help fill in gaps in the healthcare sector, and in schools as well

Target to keep its stores closed on Thanksgiving going forward

• In an announcement from Target, the company will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day and will make a permanent shift to the unofficial start of the holiday season
• On November 22, Target said its distribution and call centers will have some staff on thanksgiving Day but stores will remain closed

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• By the end of November 17, about 2.6 million kids from 5 to 11 years old will have received their vaccine shot, according to information from the White House
• On October 29, the vaccine was approved for kids in this age criteria by the CDC
• Pfizer said its smaller dose for kids is more than 90% effective at preventing symptomatic infection, and the shots were well tolerated with side effects similar to those experienced by people ages 16 to 25

Research finds that more Americans are planning holiday parties with no masks this year

• In a poll conducted by researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, they studied 2,042 adults across the nation from October 29 to November 1 on their Covid precautions 
• In the study, researchers found that 51% would ask partygoers to wear masks which is down from 67% 
• 50% of those in the survey would ask their guest’ vaccination status and only 46% required a negative Covid test 

Chancellor of Germany warns country of fourth wave of Covid 

• Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, has said, “The fourth wave is hitting our country with full force,” at an event for the Association of German cities 
• As of November 17, Germany has recorded more than 50,000 new cases and an additional 294 deaths
• Over the course of the pandemic, Germany has accumulated over 5.1 million COVID-19 cases and around 100,000 fatalities, according to John Hopkins University 

Police in Austria start to conduct random vaccination status checks across the country 

• Anyone in Austria who has not been vaccinated and has violated the lockdown rules may face fines of up to 500 euros ($567 USD) and those who refuse to comply with checks will be fined 1,450 euros ($1,641 USD)
• These restrictions only apply to anyone in the country over the age of 12 and have not had two doses of the vaccine

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• As part of their diversity hiring initiative, leaders at one of the largest investment firms in the world, State Street Global Advisors, need permission to hire white men
• The investment firm aims to triple the amount of black, asian, and other minority staff in senior positions by 2023, according to the Sunday Times

Inspire brands looks into virtual restaurants with launch of “ghost kitchen”

• On November 9, Inspire Brands launched a ghost kitchen in Atlanta that houses five of its fast-food brands
• The restaurant is called “Alliance Kitchen and customers will be allowed to order from both third-party aggregator platforms and the brand’s apps
• Alliance Kitchen uses segmented workstations that allow it to fill orders for multiple brands and Inspire said this results in both labor efficiency and the ability for workers to train across the kitchen

General Electric to break up into three company branches

• According to an announcement on November 9, General Electric will break up into three separate companies after years of seeing its stock underperform
• The company said that the three separate units will focus on aviation, health-care, and energy and GE plans to spin off the healthcare unit as soon as 2023 and the energy unit by early 2024

Businesses told by White House to proceed with vaccine mandate despite court pause

• On November 8, the White House urged businesses to move forward with vaccination requirements despite the court-ordered pause
• The 5th Circuit of the US Court of Appeals halted the requirement on November 6 and is currently pending review
• Republican attorneys general in at least 26 states have challenged Biden’s vaccine and testing requirements in 5 different US appeals courts

Bank of America reports sales of pregnancy tests on the rise

• According to a note by Bank of America, a “millennial baby boom” could come this year and boost sales for retailers like Target and Walmart
• Membership clubs like Costco and grocers like Kroger could benefit as food and baby merchandise sales increase

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• According to the White House coronavirus response coordinator, Jeff Zients, the kid’s vaccination program will be “fully up and running” beginning on the week of Nov. 8
• The kid’s vaccination program is intended for those ages 5 to 11 years old

Project Kulper: Amazon’s first internet satellites to launch in late 2022

• On November 1, Amazon announced its plans to launch its first internet satellites in the 4rth quarter of 2022 
• Amazon also states that the satellite program (Project Kulper) will launch with ABL space on its RS1 rocket
• This network will contain 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit in order to provide high-speed internet to anyone in any part of the world 

Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay transitions to cat food industry

• Early in 2021, American Celebrity Chef, Bobby Flay, launched his own cat food brand named “Made by Nacho”
• Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, pet ownership and spending have increased allowing the pet food and treat market to grow to more than $42 billion in value

Details on Covid vaccine mandate for businesses to be published by Biden Administration soon

• According to to the Department of Labor, on November 1, the Biden Administration will publish details in the coming days about the vaccine mandate for businesses
• Currently, the mandate would apply to businesses with 100 or more employees which are estimated to cover about ⅔ of the private sector workforce

Travel continues to be disrupted by staffing challenges despite reduced cancellations

• As of October 31, more than 136,000 airline customers were affected by disruptions and a lack of staff was listed as the reason, according to American Airlines
• On November 1, American Airlines canceled more than 460 flights or 16% of its normal schedule 
• Southwest Airlines reported that flight cancellations early in October cost the company $75 million and Spirit Airlines reported similar issues that cost the company $50 million

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• BMW’s new project centered around the development of a long distance electric vehicle battery has been awarded $36 million in joint funding from the EV industry along with the U.K. government
• By 2030, the U.K. plans to stop selling new gasoline and diesel engine cars and vans; technology that boost the range of electric vehicles will be crucial

US Covid booster shot distribution begins in September 

• United States agencies are preparing to offer booster shots to all eligible Americans (over 12 years old) starting in the week of September 20
• The announcement has come ahead of a White House Covid press briefing Wednesday, where federal health officials further outlined their plan for boosters
• According to the statement signed by CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, it says, “We are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease.” 

Southwest Airlines to give referral bonuses worth $300 to hire workers

• Staff at Southwest Airlines have been informed that the company is struggling to hire workers so they have offered a referral bonus program
• The program will run until November 20 and staff can receive up to 20,000 “SWAG Points” consisting of 10,000 on their referral’s first day of work, and 10,000 after that individual completes six months with the airline. 
• Those points on Southwest’s internal platform have a taxable value of 1.5 cents each giving them a value of $300

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• State and Local governments face pressure by the White House to quickly adopt new policies that protect renters as the eviction moratorium expires
• In a statement made on August 2, the White House accused states and cities of being too slow at allowing renter’s aid to make its way to tenants

Immigrant Detention will end due to new law in Illinois

• Under a plan signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker on August 2, Illinois will be ending immigration detention and further restrict law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration authorities
• Kankakee, Pulaski, and McHenry are the three Illinois counties to have an agreement allowing jails to house immigrant detainees awaiting a court hearing 

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• With the success of their new all-electric vehicles, Porsche has seen record sales 
• The CEO of the company Kjell Gruner has reported that the company is looking into investing into all-electric cars, internal combustion engines, and plug-in hybrids
• Compared to the year prior, Porsche’s second quarter earnings has increased by 55%

To deal with delta variant of Covid, White House plans to deploy response teams

• Across the United States, the White House is deploying response teams to aid states against the delta variant of coronavirus
•  Containing officials from the CDC and other federal agencies, the teams are going to work alongside communities who are at a higher risk of experiencing an outbreak which are with low vaccination numbers
• A total of 1,000 counties in the US have a less than 30% coverage of vaccinations

• Today (Thursday), Doughnut Company Krispy Kreme has returned to public market after being off the market for 5 years 
• The company’s IPO was priced at $17 a share which is below their planned range of $21 to $24 a share
• Back in 2020, the company had a total revenue of $1.12 billion which is a 17% increase

Walgreens could have increased sales due to Passport photos and makeup sales

• During Walgreens sales in their third quarter, makeup, covid vaccines, and passport photos have driven their sales
• As the economy is slowly reopening across the US, Walgreens has said that the discretionary spending has increased in pick up online and at stores

General Motors’ sales for second quarter have been up 39.7% and miss analyst expectations

• The second quarter sales for General Motors has been slightly lower than what analysts expected
• Today (Thursday) has reported that they have sold 688,236 vehicles which is up form 39.7% from a year prior in 2020
• The Analysts had expected General Motors to have an increase of about 40% to 43% in sales according to Edmunds and Cox Automotive

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