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經濟學人每日濃縮逐字稿：
https://www.economist.com/espresso

A United Nations index of global food prices rose for the 12th consecutive
month, its longest stretch in more than a decade. Since the pandemic began, a
drought in Brazil has hit coffee and maize production. Output of vegetable oil
in South-East Asia has also stagnated. Meanwhile, soaring meat consumption as
China’s economy rapidly recovers has increased its demand for grain imports.

NASA announced two new missions to study Venus, Earth’s closest planetary
neighbour. America’s space agency said it was awarding around $1bn to develop
the launches which would take place between 2028 and 2030. One will measure the
composition of the Venusian atmosphere. The other would map the planet’s surface
(which is hot enough to melt lead) to establish why it developed so differently
from Earth’s.

America responded to the imposition of digital-service taxes on its tech firms
by levying tariffs on Austria, Britain, India, Italy, Spain and Turkey. That may
have been more of a negotiating tactic than a genuine threat—Katherine Tai,
America’s trade representative, said the tariffs would be suspended for six
months to allow for multilateral discussions of tax arrangements.

日經亞洲每日疫情追蹤：
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Coronavirus-Free-to-read/Coronavirus-latest-Indonesia-cancels-hajj-pilgrimage-again
Thursday, June 3 (Tokyo time)
6:00 p.m. Hong Kong's Department of Health has approved a government advisory
panel's suggestion to lower the minimum age for the BioNTech vaccine from 16 to
12, citing phase-three clinical data. As of Thursday, about 14% of Hong Kong's
population is fully vaccinated.
5:00 p.m. Indonesia has canceled the hajj pilgrimage for people in the world's
largest Muslim-majority nation for a second year in a row due to concerns over
the pandemic, the religious affairs minister says. For many Indonesians, the
religious pilgrimage is a once-in-a-lifetime event, with the average wait time
20 years due to a quota system.
"Due to the pandemic and for the safety of the pilgrims, the government has
decided that this year it won't allow Indonesian pilgrims to go again," the
minister said, adding Saudi Arabia had not opened access for the hajj.
4:00 p.m. Taiwan reports 583 domestic infections, including 219 cases added to
recent days' totals as it reflects delays in reporting positive tests. The
figure was an increase from 549 reported on Wednesday.
3:55 p.m. While Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long shocked the world
on Saturday by hinting that a newly discovered variant could have contributed to
outbreaks within the country, Kidong Park, the WHO representative in Vietnam,
told Nikkei Asia on Wednesday, "There is no new hybrid variant in Vietnam at
this moment based on WHO definition."
Long had said the government uncovered "a new COVID-19 variant" that combines
characteristics of two existing variants first found in India and the U.K.
1:50 p.m. India reports 134,154 cases in the last 24 hours, the seventh straight
day with fewer than 200,000 infections, pushing the country's total to 28.44
million. Deaths rose by 2,887 to 337,989. Meanwhile, the health ministry says it
has finalized a deal with domestic vaccine maker Biological-E and ordered 300
million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, which is currently in Phase 3 clinical
trials. "These vaccine doses will be manufactured and stockpiled by Biological-E
from August to December 2021," the ministry said in a statement, adding an
advance payment of 15 billion rupees ($205 million) will be made.
11:10 a.m. Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee,
has insisted the games must go ahead as planned despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We cannot postpone again," she said in an interview with Japan's Nikkan Sports
newspaper. The Olympian-turned-politician also rejected the possibility of
canceling the games.
11:00 a.m. South Korea reports 681 cases, up from 677 a day earlier and bringing
the country totals to 142,157 cases, with 1,968 deaths.
7:54 a.m. Taiwan's baseball association tweets that it is withdrawing from the
final Olympic baseball qualifier in Mexico later this month -- an event the
island was due to host itself before tighter COVID-19 border rules prompted a
venue change.
5:01 a.m. A COVID-19 vaccine summit hosted by Japan and global vaccine alliance
Gavi secures nearly $2.4 billion, filling a shortfall for delivering 1.8 billion
vaccine doses to low-income countries. Japan said it will donate $800 million to
the COVAX facility, in addition to the $200 million the country has already
disbursed.

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經濟學人每日濃縮逐字稿：
https://www.economist.com/espresso
The World Health Organisation approved Sinovac Biotech’s covid-19 vaccine for
emergency use. It recommends that CoronaVac, the Chinese-produced vaccine, be
given to people aged 18 and over, with a second dose two to four weeks later.
Over 430m doses of the vaccine have already been administered. WHO approval will
allow it to be included in COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing scheme.
Joe Biden visited Tulsa, Oklahoma, where hundreds of African-Americans were
massacred by a white mob in 1921. At least 35 blocks of black-owned
buildings—houses, businesses, a hospital and a school—were burned down. “For
much too long, the history of what took place here was told in silence, cloaked
in darkness,” said the president. “My fellow Americans, this was not a riot,
this was a massacre.
Pope Francis made the most extensive changes to the Roman Catholic Church’s
penal code in four decades. The sweeping reforms widened church law to
criminalise the grooming of minors and broadened the definition of sexual abuse
to include the exploitation of adults. Despite formally allowing women to
administer communion and serve at the altar earlier this year, the Pope affirmed
that they cannot be ordained.
Canada’s economy continued to recover from the pandemic, with its GDP growing by
5.6% at an annual rate in the quarter ending in March. That was slightly below
forecasts made by economists, but still healthy. The rise was buoyed by an
increase in housing spending. Economic activity may slow in this quarter because
of new lockdowns following a covid-19 wave.
House prices in Britain rose by 11% over the past year, the fastest increase
since 2014, according to Nationwide, a building society. Buyers seeking larger
properties and a temporary suspension of property-transaction taxes have fuelled
demand. Lower interest rates have also turbocharged the market, as in America,
where the Case-Shiller national house-price index is rising at an annual rate of
13%.
Katumba Wamala, Uganda’s former army chief and the current minister of
transport, survived an assasination attempt. Four attackers on motorcycles shot
at his car in Kampala, the capital. Mr Wamala was wounded in both shoulders; his
daughter and driver were killed. Such incidents have become common in recent
years in Uganda, where several prominent figures have been gunned down.

日經亞洲：
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Coronavirus-Free-to-read/Coronavirus-latest-Lonza-to-make-Moderna-vaccine-ingredients
Wednesday, June 2 (Tokyo time)
3:34 p.m. Malaysia reports 7,703 new cases, bringing its total number of
infections to 587,165. Malaysia is experiencing a corona surge, though cases
have dipped since hitting a record on Saturday.
3:08 p.m. Taiwan reports 549 COVID-19 cases, including 177 added to the totals
for recent days as it continues to readjust its infection numbers following
delays in reporting positive tests. The total is up from 327 on Tuesday.
3:02 p.m. Swiss contract drug maker Lonza says that a new production line in the
Netherlands will produce ingredients for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, part of the
U.S. pharmaceutical's plan to significantly lift output. The line in Geleen will
have the annual capacity to make ingredients for up to 300 million doses at 50
micrograms per dose, Lonza says. That is half the 100-microgram dose that
Moderna has been delivering to date. Moderna and scientists at the National
Institutes of Health have been trying to determine whether doses of the
company's COVID-19 vaccine can be halved to double the supply.
1:16 p.m. India reports a daily rise in new coronavirus infections of 132,788
over the past 24 hours, while deaths rose by 3,207. The nation's tally of
infections now stands at 28.3 million, while the death toll has reached 335,102,
health ministry data showed.
12:24 p.m. Australia's Victoria state extends a snap COVID-19 lockdown for a
second week in Melbourne in a bid to contain an outbreak of the highly
contagious virus strain first detected in India, but it will ease some
restrictions in other regions. Australia's second-most-populous state was
plunged into lockdown last Thursday, initially until June 3, after the first
locally acquired cases in three months were detected, infections rose steadily
and those in close contact reached several thousand. "If we let this thing run
its course, it will explode," state acting Premier James Merlino told reporters
in Melbourne. "This variant of concern will become uncontrollable, and people
will die."
11:30 a.m. A shipment of coronavirus vaccines to North Korea via the global
COVAX sharing program that was expected for late May has been delayed again amid
protracted consultations, South Korea's Unification Ministry says. COVAX, which
secures vaccines for poor countries, has said it will provide nearly 2 million
doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to North Korea.
9:30 a.m. Vietnam is allowing international flights to arrive in Hanoi and Ho
Chi Minh City effective immediately, after a few days of suspension due to
COVID-19, its aviation authority said on Wednesday. The country had initially
banned incoming international flights to Hanoi's Noi Bai airport for a week
starting Monday and to Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airport until June 14.
The aviation authority did not say why it is resuming flights earlier than
planned, but most of the COVID-19 cases in the current outbreak are locally
transmitted, not from international passengers.


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經濟學人每日報 https://www.economist.com/espresso
逐字稿：

Chinese parents will soon be allowed to have a third child (see main stories).
The move was one of a range of measures introduced by the Communist Party’s
Politburo to manage the rapid ageing of China’s population. The party’s
leadership also agreed to raise the retirement age and to improve pensions and
health care for the elderly.
The World Health Organisation will use the Greek alphabet to refer to variants
of SARS-CoV-2. “Variants of concern” first detected in Britain (B.1.1.7), South
Africa (B.1.351), Brazil (P.1) and India (B.1.617.2) will be labelled Alpha,
Beta, Gamma and Delta following the order in which they were first reported. The
WHO hopes the system will lessen the stigma on countries detecting new strains.
Peru changed the way it calculates covid-19 deaths. In the process its official
mortality rate from the disease became the world’s highest, nearly tripling to
500 per 100,000 people. A lack of testing meant the disease had been
dramatically undercounted in the country. The new figures are in line with its
excess-death rate—an often more robust measurement which is rarely incorporated
into official covid statistics.
The OECD revised up its forecast for world economic growth this year from 4.2%
to 5.8%. Expansion of 4.4% next year will bring GDP in most places back to
pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022. The club of mostly rich countries
advised governments to switch their efforts from emergency-stimulus schemes
towards long-term investment programmes.
Annual inflation in Germany reached 2.4% in May. Up from 2.1% in April, the
figure was much higher than economists had forecast. The country’s central bank
predicts that inflation “could temporarily reach 4%” at the end of the year, the
highest level the country has seen since it adopted the euro in 2002.
The yuan fell against other currencies after China’s central bank forced banks
to hold a greater share of their foreign exchange in reserve. The increase, from
5% to 7%, in effect reduces the supply of dollars and other currencies in the
country. The move is intended to rein in the yuan’s surging value, caused by a
strong post-lockdown economic recovery.
At least 50 people were killed in two attacks in Ituri province in the east of
the Democratic Republic of Congo. Local officials blamed ADF, a Ugandan Islamist
group with ties to ISIS that has been terrorising the region. In a bid to
restore peace in early May President Felix Tshisekedi placed Ituri and the
neighbouring province of North Kivu under martial law.


日經亞洲：https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/TSMC-s-Japan-project-attracts-over-20-participant-companies
TOKYO -- The Japanese government on Monday was set to finalize a plan in which
it has enlisted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to develop cutting-edge
chipmaking technologies in Japan.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has been concerned about the
Japanese semiconductor industry's declining position in the global market, which
led it to seek TSMC's cooperation.
TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, intends to bear around half the
project's cost of about 37 billion yen ($337 million). Over 20 Japanese
companies -- including Ibiden, which is strong in chip packaging -- will
participate.
The Japanese government -- which intends to establish a joint public-private
sector concern to cooperate with TSMC -- expects the effort to pay off with
improved international competitiveness for Japanese industry.
Construction of a trial facility will begin this summer at the earliest at the
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, in Tsukuba,
Ibaraki Prefecture. Full-blown research and development work will begin as early
as 2022.
The chip industry is nearing limits in some crucial areas, including in the
thinning of wires so semiconductors can have ever greater processing power.
Now the Taiwanese company, which has led the global industry in miniaturization,
is embarking on another strategy to make the more powerful and sophisticated
chips of tomorrow -- cooperate with Japanese companies and harness their
strengths in materials and manufacturing equipment.
Part of TSMC's plan is to come up with so-called 3D packaging technology --
which vertically layers semiconductors -- and to do so in Japan.
Ibiden is a global leader in packaging technology.
Other companies participating in the project include Asahi Kasei, a materials
maker known for its ultrathin wiring; Shin-Etsu Chemical, which makes a new
heat-dissipating material; Nagase & Co., a molding materials specialist; and
Shibaura Mechatronics, a manufacturing equipment producer.
There is a significant advantage for Japan's atrophying semiconductor industry
to collaborate with TSMC, and the Japanese government intends to partially
finance the project by using a fund established to promote the development of
next-generation semiconductors.
It is likely that Japan is cooperating with TSMC on the condition that the
Taiwanese company set up a manufacturing operation in Japan.

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20210108
Wk 1 the Economist digest
#科科咖啡館
2021直播第一發

The Economist經濟學人
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/01/08/the-great-covid-19-race

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/01/09/why-the-crazy-upward-march-in-stock-prices-might-just-continue

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/01/09/who-should-get-the-jab

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/01/09/what-explains-bitcoins-latest-boom

NHK
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210109/k10012805591000.html?utm_int=all_side_ranking-social_001

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210109/k10012805651000.html?utm_int=all_side_ranking-social_004

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210109/k10012805611000.html?utm_int=all_side_ranking-social_005

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[經濟日報]
https://money.udn.com/money/story/5607/5041619

[FierceMed]
Russia posts 91% efficacy for COVID-19 vaccine after jumping the gun to approval
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/russia-posts-91-efficacy-for-covid-19-vaccine-after-jumping-gun-to-approval

[經濟學人]
Janet Yellen will lead Joe Biden’s Treasury. What does she stand for?
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/11/24/janet-yellen-will-lead-joe-bidens-treasury-what-does-she-stand-for

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開盤前 五件國際事不可不知
https://money.udn.com/money/story/5599/5036379

美聯邦疫苗計畫負責人：首批接種可能是12月12日
https://money.udn.com/money/story/5599/5036385

Novartis licenses phase 3 COVID-19 cell therapy from Mesoblast
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/novartis-licenses-phase-3-covid-19-cell-therapy-from-mesoblast

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[台北時報]
Taiwan pushing to join the CPTPP
https://reurl.cc/4mOqzY

[經濟學人]
The meaning of RCEP, the world’s biggest trade agreement
https://reurl.cc/avgRmQ

[FierceBiotech]
Silverback tees up $100M IPO to push ADCs for cancer, hep B
https://reurl.cc/yg0o9y

“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.”- Confucious
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每天讀英日文新聞~
資料來源: The Economist 經濟學人

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