Second Stimulus Rush | Biden’s Latest Billionaire Donor | Microsoft's New Cloud Push

Plus: The Pandemic Plutocrats: How Covid Is Creating New Fintech Billionaires

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When it comes to the stimulus bill, it is not over until the fat lady sings—or, more specifically, the House goes on recess on October 2.

With pressure to help small businesses by extending the Paycheck Protection Program mounting, the Democrats are still hoping for a compromise with Republicans on a second, smaller relief package.

The potential $2.2 trillion bill would be lower than the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act, and it’s unclear as yet what it may contain—stimulus checks, small business aid, funding for cities and states, as well as additional unemployment and rental assistance are likely candidates.

While the renewed activity is promising, there is also the potential for negotiations to stall again.

What Else To Know Now

Four years ago, billionaire Jennifer Pritzker donated more than $250,000 in support of Donald Trump’s election campaign. Her first—much more modest—donation in this election, however, is going to Joe Biden.

The Oxfam charity is known for its yearly wealth inequality report, but its latest report adds another dimension to it: the disproportionate size of the carbon footprint of the world’s richest 1% compared to the poorest half of humanity. 

Top Take-Aways

Protests sparked by the failure to indict police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor continued for a second night in several U.S. cities, as states such Texas and Florida propose stronger penalties for protesters amid falling levels of public support for demonstrators.

President Trump too faced dissenters while paying his respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with crowds chanting loudly: “vote him out” and “honor her wish.” Meanwhile, the Democrats will reportedly introduce a bill next week to limit the tenure of Supreme Court justices to 18 years.

Speaking of courts, the U.S. Postal Service won’t be able to reinstall all the mail sorting machines removed under the operational changes implemented under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that caused widespread mail delays, the agency admitted in a recent filing.

In a tech-world example of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, Microsoft is developing new tools to compete with Twilio—a blow to the cloud software’s relationship with the tech giant, who courted Twilio’s business in 2012 before the two became each other’s customers.

American businesses have long benefited from the international talent graduating from the country’s top universities, but the Trump administration is pitching new rules to limit the time some foreign students can spend in the U.S., with extra limitations imposed on those coming countries such as Nigeria, Iraq, Ethiopia, and the Philippines.

International collaboration is proving key in the fight against the pandemic, with Maryland-based biotech company Novavax starting the phase 3 trial for its experimental coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom.

The U.K., along with France, is among the European countries that reported record-breaking new daily coronavirus infections. While officials partly credit an increased testing capacity, the numbers point toward a possible second coronavirus wave.

Under pressure to unveil new plans to support employers and employees affected by the pandemic, the U.K.’s finance minister Rishi Sunak admitted he “can’t save every job.” He unveiled a new type of furlough scheme, but the plan did not include any measures to support those who lost their jobs in recent months.

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