Pence Pressed On Pandemic Plans | JPMorgan's $30 Billion Pledge | India's Richest

Plus: Meet The Guilt-Ridden Oil Billionaire Trying To Save The Planet

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The first and only VP debate of this election cycle touched on policy issues from racial justice to fracking. Still, the biggest talking point of the night was the fly that briefly made a home on Vice President Mike Pence’s white hair, followed closely by Pence’s seemingly pink eye. 

Shortly before the debate, a leading medical journal made the unprecedented move of publishing an editorial condemning the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic—a damning indictment of Pence’s record as the head of the White House coronavirus task force. Apparently unfazed by the criticism, or by the outbreak still affecting the White House, Pence is back on the campaign trail.

Next stop: a rally in The Villages, a large retirement community in Florida, the fourth U.S. state to record the grim milestone of 15,000 deaths by coronavirus.

What Else To Know Now

Trump tweeted all U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan should be “home by Christmas,” a date that is months ahead of plans to prepare for a withdrawal by May 2021.

Trump’s Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barrett has made headlines for her association with Indiana’s People of Praise religious group—most recently, for reportedly holding the role of “handmaid.” Perplexed? Here is what it means.

Top Take-Aways

Trump broke isolation from his White House residence to work from the Oval Office. Here’s what we do and don’t know about the president’s current treatment, and why his doctors have chosen these medications—among these, an experimental antibody therapy from Regeneron for which the company is now seeking FDA emergency approval. 

Trump and Biden might be poles apart on the campaign trail but the impact of their policy pledges would lead to a surprisingly small difference in national debt. But as pollsters see a Biden victory as increasingly likely, Wall Street is looking at what a blue wave would mean for stocks and the economy.

JPMorgan pledged $30 billion over the next five years to tackle the racial wealth gap. It’s a welcome initiative at a time when the pandemic has aggravated financial inequalities for people of color, as illustrated by these four charts.

India has been hit hard by Covid-19, with more than 6 million cases—the world’s second-highest count—and reported a 24% plunge in economic growth for the quarter ending June. Despite this adversity, half of the nation’s 100 richest saw gains.

Countries across Europe are imposing new restrictions as the second wave of coronavirus infections that’s swept across the region since summer-time has recently taken a turn for the worse.

In a landmark moment in the history of the U.S. software industry, the Supreme Court held a hearing on Wednesday on a long-running legal dispute that pits tech giants Oracle and Google against one another.

LeBron James is close to winning his fourth ring, but for now he can celebrate another achievement—becoming the latest legendary athlete to grace the iconic orange Wheaties box. Staff and students from his I Promise School are featured on it, too. 

American Poet Louise Glück won the Nobel Prize in Literature, with the committee recognizing “her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.

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