Good Morning Earth | October 14 Reality? dreamland? The British highway erected a "squid game" to indicate road signs, the United Kingdom and Europe fought the Brexit war, Poland wanted to build a border wall, and Hollywood was brewing a strike

Welcome to our Good Morning Earth World Economic Briefing.

Captain Kirk, who has returned from a circle from the edge of space, excitedly says he doesn't want to end this journey of "the deepest experience of my life" and suggests that everyone in the world should try it. William Shatner, who became star trek fame in the 1960s, officially became the oldest space traveler on Wednesday, setting a new standard for what a 90-year-old can do. His 10 minutes and 17 seconds space tour with three others also increased the list of nasa-registered astronauts to 597.

But Britain's prince William, who has always been cautious, was blunt in his criticism of the trip: We need the smartest people in the world to work on how to mend the planet, not try to find the next place to live.

<h4>World trends</h4>

The UK has long since left the EU, but the five-year-old Brexit battle is back. Recently, there has been a dispute between the two sides over the Northern Ireland Protocol, with Northern Ireland complaining that the European Union has used 20% of its tariff inspection power in Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom demanding that the Protocol be amended. The European Commission yesterday proposed a compromise plan to eliminate tariff inspections and 50% customs procedures for 80% of goods from the British mainland to Northern Ireland, but the British side wants to exclude the European Court of Justice's judicial arbitration of trade disputes in Northern Ireland, so the deadlock may continue and even trigger a trade war.

Poland is poised to extend the 2.5-metre-high barbed wire fence between the border with Belarus, which was installed only in August, into a solid barrier that would block the illegal entry of more and more refugees into the EU through Belarus. The new wall, which will be equipped with monitoring systems and motion detectors, has a budget of 36.6 billion euros and will require parliamentary approval. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in response to EU sanctions, announced in May that he would no longer prevent refugees from continuing on their way to Poland and the Baltic states. The number of refugees entering Germany from Belarus through Poland is soaring, mainly from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Iran.

Austria's parliament plans to set up a corruption investigation committee in November to investigate allegations of corruption and bribery by former Prime Minister Kurtz and his team, who stepped down last weekend.

<h4>Financial news</h4>

After the Salvadoran government introduced Bitcoin as a legal tender parallel to the US dollar, the sky did not fall. Conversely, as the value of Bitcoin soared in October, the country's president, Nayib Bukele," saw its astonishing move positively. In the seven days that ended Tuesday, both gold and silver were falling, while Bitcoin was up 15% and worth more than $57,000. Bitcoin's rise has also pushed the total market capitalization of the crypto market to more than $2.3 trillion. The president of El Salvador, a marketing expert by training, has taken advantage of the situation to announce that the government will use the surplus funds of the Bitcoin Trust to build a veterinary hospital. Using Bitcoin proceeds for such a noble cause undoubtedly helps to increase bitcoin's low public acceptance. However, on Wednesday, bitcoin fell more than 4% to $55,000. Will the future go all the way up and all the way down, or will it go up to $64,000 and then $30,000 like a roller coaster ride in April? No one knows.

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors on Wednesday approved a global agreement to reform corporate taxes, ensuring the new rules take effect globally in 2023; and pledged to avoid prematurely withdrawing fiscal support and keep a close eye on inflation.

The annual growth rate of the US consumer price index rose to 5.4% in September from 5.3% in August. While some so-called short-term factors such as used car prices, air tickets and clothing have eased after sharp increases in previous months, real inflation is widening. Many companies have begun to offer fewer services instead of price increases, and "shadow inflation" has become ubiquitous.

<h4>Business field</h4>

The European Union plans to pass the Chip Law in the third quarter of next year to create a European chip manufacturing ecosystem and achieve self-sufficiency. The Dutch government warned the EU not to cling to the "illusion" of leaving the global semiconductor supply chain. The Netherlands, which owns ASML, the world's leading producer of advanced chip manufacturing tools, believes that an open ecosystem focused on attracting investment, accelerating innovation and increasing market value is in Europe's best interest.

Hyundai Motor's global chief operating officer Muñoz said the industry's worst chip shortage is over, and Intel is investing heavily in expanding production capacity, but the automaker plans to develop its own chips to reduce dependence on chipmakers.

Hollywood is brewing strikes. The International Federation of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), a union group, said Wednesday that unless contract negotiations with producers are resolved and agreement is reached on reasonable breaks, meal times and raises for those at the lowest wage level, the staff behind Hollywood movies and TV shows will launch a nationwide strike next week. The last general strike in Hollywood was in late 2007 and early 2008, when film and television writers went on strike for three months, forcing all scripted shows to be stopped and television networks to rerun them.

McDonald's launched its first vegan burger in the UK, named McPlant, which allegedly took three years to develop.

<h4>Climate and environmental protection</h4>

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its annual flagship report, the World Energy Outlook, a month ahead of schedule, warning countries that climate commitments need to be met more ambitious than its stated policies to meet decarbonisation targets, and that the world is currently off track and is not yet on track to meet 20% of the emissions reductions needed to limit warming to 1.5°C to 2030. To bring carbon emissions to net zero by mid-century, investments related to the energy transition need to triple to about $4 trillion a year by 2030.

The European Commission has proposed that member states jointly buy fuel on international markets and implement energy tax cuts in response to soaring energy prices. Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson has recommended that countries take temporary subsidies to electricity and gas to cushion energy price shocks faced by poor EU households and small companies. Simson stressed that energy prices are not rising because climate policies or renewables are expensive, but because of fossil fuel prices, so the EU must produce more renewables faster. Analysts don't expect any solution to the energy crisis in the coming months.

<h4>Pandemic news</h4>

Beginning in early November, the U.S. land and sea borders with Canada and Mexico will reopen to fully vaccinated travelers, and air travel restrictions will be eased in November.

The NHS COVID-19 Pass app was unavailable for more than three hours yesterday afternoon due to malfunction, severely affecting people who need to show proof of vaccination to travel. Britain reported 42,776 new cases on Wednesday, the highest number since mid-July, with 136 deaths.

The French government has asked the legislature to extend the outbreak emergency until July 31 next year in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, which means the government will retain the power to extend or restore restrictive measures such as health passes. The current state of emergency and health pass requirements will expire on November 15.

The Republic of the Congo announced a 45-day ban on weddings. The country is facing a third wave of the outbreak.

Some drivers driving on the M4 highway near Slough, west of London, have recently been horrified to discover that a new yellow sign with triangle, square and circular markings has been erected at Junction 5, with arrows pointing to the left, strikingly similar to the logo in Squid Games. The police had to issue an announcement to assure drivers that the new sign would not lead them into the "squid game", but only a guide to diversion routes during road works. phew!

Netflix announced yesterday that the South Korean series broke the platform's viewership record, having been watched by 111 million subscribers since its release on September 17. The show is said to have been baffled by the show's unprecedented success in the international market.

Captain Kirk is moving from the screen to reality, and the M4 driver is from reality trance into illusion. Is it true or false when it is fake?

Thanks for listening. I am Shi Yan, a 21st Century Business Herald correspondent in the UK.

This is London, October 14th, have fun.

Editorial Board: Yu Xiaona

Planner, Editor: Li Yanxia

Written and broadcast by: Shi Yan

Executive Producer: Xiang Xiufang

Producer: Yuan Sijie

Design: Zheng Wenjing, Liao Yuanni

21st Century Business Herald Overseas Nancai Audio and Video Department co-produced

Produced by Southern Finance All Media Group

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