Business

Few jobs are guaranteed to turn hair grey faster than running operations for a multinational business in China. Diplomatic spats and consumer boycotts are hazards of the job. A zero-covid policy that causes intermittent local lockdowns, such as the one that recently began in the southern city of Guangzhou, has disrupted supply chains and made the country inhospitable to foreign managers. A fractious workforce is adding to the woes. On November 23rd a riot erupted over pay and working conditions at the main factory that makes Apple’s iPhones in China. In a survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in China, 60% of members reported that the business environment has become more challenging.Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

Mainland China reported more than 31,000 Covid infections for Wednesday, including cases without symptoms.
That’s more than the country reported during the Shanghai lockdown in April.
Shanghai Disneyland said it plans to resume operations on Friday, after suspending operations due to Covid on Oct. 31.

Only a few vehicles, including one with two health workers, drive through Beijing’s central business district on Nov. 23, 2022, as the area has announced tighter Covid controls.
Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images

BEIJING — Mainland China reported more than 31,000 Covid infections for Wednesday, including cases without symptoms.
That surpassed the 29,317 high seen in mid-April, during the Shanghai lockdown, according to CNBC calculations of Wind Information data. 

However, daily Covid infections with symptoms remain well below the high seen in April. Nearly 90% or more of total Covid cases reported in recent days have been asymptomatic, the data showed.
The southern city of Guangzhou, the national capital of Beijing and the southwestern municipality of Chongqing have been the hardest hit in the latest Covid wave.
But nearly all of China’s 31 province-level regions have reported new Covid infections, with and without symptoms, each day.
Since the weekend, six Covid-related deaths have been reported as of Wednesday, mostly in Beijing.

China’s stringent Covid controls have weighed on sentiment and business activity. National GDP barely grew during the second quarter due to the Shanghai lockdowns. As of the end of the third quarter, growth for the year was up by just 3% from a year ago — well below the official target of around 5.5% announced in March.

Factories located near Covid outbreaks have tried to maintain operations using what’s called closed-loop management, which typically requires staff to live on-site.
Business representatives have noted difficulties in getting workers from locked down neighborhoods to factories, while staff living at production sites for too long often become fatigued.
During the latest Covid wave, Apple supplier Foxconn’s iPhone factory in the city of Zhengzhou has drawn attention for videos of renewed worker unrest shared on social media. It was unclear how many of the factory’s roughly 200,000 staff were involved, or whether there was any impact to production.
Foxconn said Wednesday that some new hires had appealed to the company about a work allowance, while stating that contrary to speculation, new hires would only move into disinfected dormitories.
Separately, Zhengzhou said those living in the central part of the city should not leave their homes for five days beginning Friday while authorities conducted mass virus testing.

China this month trimmed quarantine times and has announced other measures to try to make Covid controls more targeted. But authorities have emphasized their zero-Covid policy, while there are concerns whether the public health system could handle a surge in infections.

Targeted Covid measures

The latest Covid controls on in-person business and apartment building lockdowns are scattered across parts of China, a country of 1.4 billion people. Fewer measures are publicly announced, while restrictions are increasingly targeted and can range from just a few days — to weeks or longer.
For example, Shanghai Disneyland said it plans to resume operations on Friday, after suspending operations due to Covid on Oct. 31.
Meanwhile, despite tighter restrictions in Beijing’s business district, Universal Beijing Resort on the city outskirts remains open, after a five-day closure that ended Oct. 31.
— CNBC’s Jihye Lee contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC.

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Sustainable Energy

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Ocean Oasis says its technology will enable “the production of fresh water from ocean waters by harnessing the energy of the waves to carry out a desalination process.”
Development of the prototype has received financial backing from a range of organizations including Innovation Norway and the Gran Canaria Economic Promotion Society.
The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean.

Ocean Oasis’ Gaia system has been designed to use wave power to desalinate water.
Ocean Oasis

Plans to use marine energy to desalinate water received a further boost this week, after a Norwegian firm presented a system that will be put through its paces in waters off Gran Canaria.
In a statement Monday, Oslo-headquartered Ocean Oasis said its wave-powered prototype device, which it described as being an “offshore floating desalination plant,” was called Gaia.

The plant — which has a height of 10 meters, a diameter of 7 meters and weighs roughly 100 tons — was put together in Las Palmas and will undergo testing at the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands.
Ocean Oasis said its technology would enable “the production of fresh water from ocean waters by harnessing the energy of the waves to carry out a desalination process and pump potable water to coastal users.”

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The company said the development of its prototype had received financial backing from a range of organizations including Innovation Norway and the Gran Canaria Economic Promotion Society.
The main investor in Ocean Oasis is Grieg Maritime Group, which is headquartered in Bergen, Norway.

Desalination

The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. According to the Canary Islands Institute of Technology, the islands have been “a pioneer in the production of desalinated water at affordable cost.”

A presentation from the ITC highlights some of the reasons why. Describing the Canary Islands’ “water singularities,” it refers to a “structural water deficit due to low rainfall, high soil permeability and aquifer overexploitation.”
While desalination — which multinational energy firm Iberdrola describes as “the process by which the dissolved mineral salts in water are removed” — is seen as a useful tool when it comes to providing drinking water to countries where supply is an issue, the U.N. has noted there are significant environmental challenges linked to it.
It says that “the fossil fuels normally used in the energy-intensive desalination process contribute to global warming, and the toxic brine it produces pollutes coastal ecosystems.”

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With the above in mind, projects looking to desalinate water in a more sustainable way will become increasingly important in the years ahead.
The idea of using waves to power desalination is not unique to the project being undertaken in the Canaries. In April, for example, the U.S. Department of Energy revealed the winners of the last stage of a competition focused on wave-powered desalination.
Back on the Canary Islands, Ocean Oasis said it would be looking to construct a second installation after testing at the PLOCAN facility had taken place. “In this phase, the prototype will be scaled with the capacity to produce water for consumption,” the company said.
While there is excitement about the potential of marine energy, the footprint of wave and tidal stream projects remains very small compared to other renewables.
In data released in March 2022, Ocean Energy Europe said 2.2 megawatts of tidal stream capacity was installed in Europe last year, compared to just 260 kilowatts in 2020.
For wave energy, 681 kW was installed, which OEE said was a threefold increase. Globally, 1.38 MW of wave energy came online in 2021, while 3.12 MW of tidal stream capacity was installed.
By way of comparison, Europe installed 17.4 gigawatts of wind power capacity in 2021, according to figures from industry body WindEurope. More

View from the Gulf

The UAE’s commercial capital of Dubai is set to see an estimated 1 million additional visitors during the course of the soccer tournament, according to the Dubai Sports Council.
Property data estimates Dubai has roughly 140,000 hotel rooms while Qatar has 45,000.
Private jet and yacht charter operators are seeing a boom in demand from customers coming to watch the 2022 World Cup.

A yacht that can be rented to watch the World Cup while sailing around Dubai is docked in Dubai harbor on November 1, 2022, ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup football tournament. Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)
Giuseppe Cacace | Afp | Getty Images

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Qatar isn’t the only country getting a massive boom in tourism thanks to its hosting of the 2022 World Cup. 
The neighboring United Arab Emirates is set to benefit from the wave too, with its glitzy commercial capital of Dubai set to see an estimated 1 million additional visitors during the course of the soccer tournament, according to the Dubai Sports Council.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, in August called Dubai “the major gateway” to the World Cup and predicted it would see more tourists than Qatar itself.
And the city is pulling out all the stops, leveraging its reputation as a hyper-modern city more liberal and built-out than Qatar and advertising the extravagant tourist attractions it’s developed a reputation for. 
Dubai is known for over-the-top and outlandish experiences — like its indoor ski slope complex in the desert, the world’s deepest man-made plunge pool, the world’s tallest building and largest Ferris wheel. It’s now added specific World Cup-themed experiences, simultaneously taking advantage of the fact that Qatar, a tiny country of 3 million people, is struggling to accommodate all its expected tourists and many of them will opt to lodge in Dubai for the matches instead. 

Getty Images | A general view of the West Bay area ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at on November 18, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Getty Images | Francois Nel

This has been made possible by “match day air shuttles” being operated by Qatar Airlines and Dubai-based low-cost carrier FlyDubai– allowing travelers to book same-day round-trip flights from Dubai or nearby Oman to attend a match in Qatar and return in less than 24 hours.   
“Only an hour away from Qatar by flight, Dubai is a familiar destination for global travelers,” Taufiq Rahim, a research fellow at the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, told CNBC. “Its tourism infrastructure and straightforward entry requirements make it a convenient base for World Cup fans.”

Qatar is expected to have delivered 45,000 hotel rooms in total by the start of November, according to Cushman & Wakefield Qatar, with tournament accommodation “bolstered by cruise ships, camping facilities, apartments and villas.” Dubai, meanwhile, as a city has more than 140,000 hotel rooms, according to hotel data firm STR. 
Around the UAE’s different emirates, 43 fan zones for watching matches have been set up, with some of the biggest – like Budweiser’s official BudX fan zone in Dubai Harbor – big enough to host 10,000 fans daily with matches aired on enormous 3,552 square-foot screens. There’s even a soccer-themed hotel on Dubai’s man-made Palm archipelago, where the most dedicated fans can stay while being shuttled in and out of Doha for daily matches.

A general view of the downtown area in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 08, 2021.
Satish Kumar | Reuters

A $20,000 per night match viewing experience

Dubai’s revenue won’t just be coming from hotel stays and restaurants. Visitors to the emirate can rent superyachts running in the tens of thousands of dollars per night to watch matches while sailing through the Persian Gulf.
Xclusive Yachts, the UAE’s largest private charter yacht company, offers its most opulent seaborne experience at $20,000 per night on a tri-deck superyacht complete with a skydeck, onboard bar, skylounge, five cabins and a Michelin-starred chef serving gourmet meals. 
“We are expecting a more than 300% [rise] in yacht bookings in November and December mainly due to visitors for the World Cup and Qatar who are also looking for leisure activities in Dubai,” Managing Director Amit Patel told Doha News in October.

Akbar al-Baker (3rd-L), Qatar’s Tourism Minister and CEO of Qatar Airways, gives a press conference regarding preparations for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, in the capital Doha on May 26, 2022, while accompanied by Oman Air CEO Abdulaziz al-Raisi, flydubai CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith, and Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) CEO Captain Ibrahim Koshy.
Karim Jaafar | Afp | Getty Images

Flight traffic is also shooting up — Dubai Airports in mid-November announced that a whopping 120 shuttle flights will fly in and out of the Dubai World Central airport each day between the tournament’s start and end dates of Nov. 20 and Dec. 18. 
And on Monday, the CEO of Flydubai, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said that nearly all of the airline’s match-day shuttle flights to Doha were at full capacity. 
“This is a pattern that looks set to continue over the next couple of days and weeks,” Al Ghaith said.
Flydubai and Qatar Airways will be jointly running the match day shuttle flights between DWC and Doha. With the addition of flights from Dubai’s main airport, Dubai International (DXB), travelers can catch a flight every 30 to 50 minutes. 

Private jet demand booms

But like everything in Dubai, there’s a luxury option if you have the cash to spend: Private jet charter companies have seen a boom in business, with some fans willing to pay eye-watering sums to get to matches.
“We certainly see a great increase in traffic between Dubai and Doha over the coming month,” Oleg Kafarov, portfolio development and communications director at Dubai-based private charter jet company Jetex, told CNBC. 
Jetex offers two packages: a full private jet service priced at 240,000 UAE dirhams ($65,340) for up to 10 passengers, or individual seats priced that run for 29,000 dirhams ($7,895) apiece. The flight time between Dubai and Doha is roughly an hour. 

The company even decked out its VIP terminal at DWC airport as a World Cup fan zone, with a mini soccer pitch and other themed decorations. 
Despite the steep prices, demand for private flights is significantly higher than this time last year, charter operators are reporting, though the figures vary from company to company. 
Ian Moore, chief commercial officer for private charter company VistaJet, says more than 70 of its executive jet flights to Qatar for matches are already booked.
“There’s obviously some people that are waiting to see if their favorite team gets past the qualifying rounds,” Moore told Gulf News.
“We strongly encourage our clientele to book with us as early as possible, even with a private jet, given the restrictions, and the amount of volume of flights that Doha is expecting, you need to be well organized and well-structured.” More

Japan celebrates during a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group E match against Germany at Khalifa International Stadium on Nov. 23, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Brad Smith | ISI Photos | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Japan stunned Germany with a late comeback in their World Cup opener, with goals from Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano seeing them win 2-1 at the Khalifa International Stadium.
Japan had never previously beaten their European opponents, but they capitalized on German errors and missed chances to secure a famous victory in the first game of Group E.

Striker Thomas Muller said after the game: “It is ludicrous that we are here with a defeat. We played a good game over long periods of time but a game is also marked by the chances that you convert into goals.”
Japan had an early ‘goal’ from Daizen Maeda ruled out for offside too, but Hansi Flick’s side soon went ahead after a clumsy challenge from goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda on David Raum gave them a penalty and Ilkay Gundogan slotted home from the spot (33).

Germany thought they had scored a second at the end of the first half, but Kai Havertz’s strike was also ruled out for offside.
The four-time World Cup winners continued to see chances come and go — Gundogan hitting the post on the hour — before Japan used their lightning quick attack to score twice late on.

Did you know?

Germany haven’t lost a World Cup match when leading at half-time since 1978. 

Four minutes after coming on as a substitute, Doan (75) turned home from close range after a Manuel Neuer save. Germany were then caught out with a ball over the top, allowing Asano (83) to smuggle the ball home on a tight angle.

Ritsu Doan of Japan scores their 1st goal during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group E match against Germany at Khalifa International Stadium on Nov. 23, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Marc Atkins | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Each Japan goal was greeted with a team bundle at the corner flag, and there were joyous celebrations at full-time. “It’s a big surprise. We saw the Saudi victory over Argentina – the Asian countries are reaching the global standard,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said.
For Germany, their poor World Cup form continues, having finished bottom of their group at the 2018 tournament.
How Japan secured a famous victory
Japan started brightly and had the ball in the net inside seven minutes. Gundogan was muscled off the ball in midfield before Junya Ito drove down the right flank. Maeda then slotted home his cross, but he was a yard offside.
Germany soon began to find their feet and had a string of chances after the 20-minute mark. Joshua Kimmich saw his effort from distance palmed away by Gonda before Gundogan skied the rebound. The Man City midfielder then saw an effort go straight at Gonda, before another attempt a minute later was well-blocked.

Big moments in the game…

7th min: Maeda’s early goal ruled out for offside.
32nd min: Germany awarded penalty after Gonda foul on Raum, scored by Gundogan.
45+3 min: Havertz’s goal also ruled out for offside.
61st min: Gundogan sees his effort hit the post.
75th min: Doan scores the equaliser for Japan shortly after coming on as a substitute.
83rd min: Asano scores the winner for Japan after a long ball over the top.

But for all Gonda’s good work in the opening half hour, his sloppy goalkeeping then gave Germany a penalty as he raced out to meet Raum, tipping him over before catching the defender again and almost landing on top of him.
After having two earlier efforts blocked, Gundogan stepped up and expertly dispatched his spot-kick to see the four-time World Cup winners in front.
Germany then began to dominate and thought they had a second in the third minute of four added on at the end of the first half. Havertz slotted home from a Serge Gnabry cross, but, after a VAR check, the goal was rightly ruled out for offside.
Japan could have made the end of the first half more interesting still, but Maeda directed a header just wide of the target.

Takuma Asano of Japan scores their team’s second goal past Manuel Neuer of Germany during a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group E match at Khalifa International Stadium on Nov. 23, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

It was an end-to-end start to the second half, and Gundogan should have added another on the hour. The impressive Jamal Musiala drove down the left before setting up the midfielder from 15 yards out. However, Gundogan’s effort smashed off the bottom of the post and went wide. In the 70th minute, Gonda also denied Jonas Hoffman and Gnabry in quick succession.
But the Japan comeback was on the horizon, with Neuer’s first save of the game coming soon after, denying Asano. He made another superb stop during the build-up to Japan’s equaliser too, getting a hand to Takumi Minamino’s cut-back, but Doan was lurking inside the area to slot home from close range.
However, Neuer would have wanted to do better for Japan’s winner. A long ball over the top down the right picked out Asano in behind the defence, with the forward driving into the area. He held off Nico Schlotterbeck before squeezing the ball past the goalkeeper and into the far corner.
It was a frenzied end to the game as Germany pushed for an equaliser. Leon Goretzka flashed a volley wide of the post as Neuer came up to provide another body in the area, but it proved ineffective. Every clearance was celebrated like a goal by the Japan bench as they held on for a vital three points.

Germany cover mouths in free speech protest before kick-off | Minister wears OneLove armband

Ahead of the kick-off, Germany players covered their mouths in their team picture in an apparent freedom of speech protest.

It came after a number of European football associations were threatened with FIFA sanctions if they wore a “OneLove” armband during the World Cup.
The DFB later tweeted about the gesture, saying: “With our captain’s armband, we wanted to set an example for values ​​that we live in the national team: diversity and mutual respect.
“Be loud together with other nations. This is not about a political message: human rights are non-negotiable. That should go without saying. But unfortunately it still isn’t. That is why this message is so important to us. Banning us from the bandage is like banning our mouths. Our stance stands.”
German Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser also wore a OneLove armband at the match following FIFA threatening sporting sanctions for wearing the armband.
Flick and Neuer admit: We are under pressure
Germany manager Hansi Flick:

“With this defeat and zero points, we are under pressure, no question about it. We can only blame ourselves. It’s a great disappointment.
“We were on the right path in the first half, we had 78 per cent possession and were ahead 1-0. Then we had good chances in the second half that we didn’t take advantage of.
“Japan were simply more efficient today. We made mistakes that we should never commit especially in a World Cup and those are the things that we need to improve on.”

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer:

“I am totally frustrated and angry that we let this game slip, it was not necessary. After the break we no longer had this game flow and did not play with the same confidence as in the first half.
“We are now under pressure from the start. That was also the most important game of how you start in a tournament but we messed it up.”

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu:

“We wanted to start playing aggressively, we wanted to dominate the game. But Germany are very strong so we needed to defend persistently and take our chances.
“At the end they came at us with the full power, in the past maybe we would have lost but the players have been playing in Germany and Europe they’ve learned so much from that, so we held on.
“United as one, we needed to hang tough until the final whistle went and we were able to grasp our opportunity.”

Pundits: ‘A massive shock’
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville on ITV:

“Absolutely, I expected Germany to win that game. It’s a massive shock. Japan are no mugs but it just shows that when you’re not quite at it, you will get a big surprise. What surprised me with the second goal was that Manuel Neuer turned his body to allow the ball to go past him.
“Usually, Neuer stands up strong and is a brilliant goalkeeper. The result will send shockwaves through the tournament.”

Sky Sports’ Graeme Souness on ITV:

“It’s an almighty blow. When you’re a coach, and if you’re the Spanish manager, the result has in part filled his team talk [against Costa Rica]. He’ll be reminding them they could slip up tonight unless they’re bang on it.”

Sky Sports’ Roy Keane on ITV:

“Of course, the result hasn’t just come out of nowhere, but when you’re playing Germany – we spoke about them learning from the past mistakes of the last World Cup – you’re 1-0 down.
“It’s a long way back and so the [Japan] manager deserves huge credit. He had to make those changes and it was part of his game plan as he had to freshen things up.
“They were clinical. There were question marks about Neuer for the second goal, but you can’t begrudge them their victory.
“There was never any doubt they would bring the spirit, fight and energy to the party, but they’ve shown intelligence and great quality.
“Often, you see substitutes who can’t get up to speed with the game, but all of them had an impact to lift their team-mates around them. They all affected the game.
“They’ve lifted their country.”

What does the result mean?
After the opening two games of Group E, Germany sit third after Spain beat Costa Rica 7-0 later on Wednesday. Japan sit second behind the 2010 winners.

Both teams play again on Saturday as Germany take on Spain — which had been viewed as a shootout for first and second spot in the group, but could now see Germany on the verge of an exit if they lose — while Japan face Costa Rica.
In the final group games on Thursday, Dec. 1, Germany will play Costa Rica while Spain face Japan, who will be hoping to cause another upset against one of Europe’s most successful sides.
Opta stats — Japan’s historic win

Japan came from behind to win a World Cup match for the very first time, having drawn two and lost 11 of their 13 matches when they had trailed before today.
Having lost their opening game at just one of their first 18 World Cup tournaments (W13 D4), Germany have lost their first game at each of the last two World Cups.
Through Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano, Japan became the first side to have two substitutes score in a single World Cup game against Germany.
Since 1966, only Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi in 2006 (10 vs Brazil) has made more saves in a single World Cup game for Japan than the eight Shuichi Gonda made today.

Player of the match — Jamal Musiala
He may have been on the losing team, but Germany’s Musiala lit up the Khalifa International Stadium. He showed superb skill throughout, particularly in the second half and is set to have a breakout tournament in Qatar.

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Global child vaccination rates against measles have dropped to their lowest level since 2008, according to the CDC and WHO.
The Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted vaccination services, resulting in millions of kids missing their measles shots.
There is growing concern that measles, which is highly contagious and a serious health risk to the unvaccinated, could stage a comeback.

A nurse holds up a one dose bottle and a prepared syringe of measles, mumps and rubella virus vaccine made by Merck at the Utah County Health Department in Provo, Utah.
George Frey | Getty Images

A growing number of children around the world are vulnerable to measles as vaccination rates have declined to the lowest levels since 2008, global health leaders warned on Wednesday.
The Covid-19 pandemic badly disrupted routine vaccination services which resulted in millions of kids missing their measles shots, according to a report from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 81% of children worldwide received the first dose of the measles vaccine in 2021, down from 86% in 2019 before the Covid pandemic began. This leaves 25 million kids vulnerable to measles, according the report.
Public health experts estimate 95% of children need to be vaccinated against measles to prevent outbreaks. The measles vaccine comes in two doses, but the first shot is the most important because it’s 93% effective at preventing disease.
Steady progress has been made toward eliminating measles over the past 20 years. Deaths from measles have dropped 83% globally from 761,000 in 2000 to 128,000 in 2021 as vaccine coverage has increased, according to the report.
But CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and WHO Chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in separate statements Wednesday, expressed concern that measles could stage a comeback as vaccination rates have been falling for two years now.
The U.S. officially eliminated measles more than 20 years but travelers sometimes bring the virus into the country. This can cause outbreaks if vaccination rates are too low in their communities, according to the CDC.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. It poses a serious health risk for children younger than age 5, adults older than age 20, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.
The virus spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes and it can linger in the air for up to two hours. Measles is so contagious that a person who gets infected will pass it on to 90% of their close contacts who are not protected, according to the CDC.
One in five unvaccinated people who catch measles are hospitalized, according to the CDC. One in 20 unvaccinated kids who catch measles develop pneumonia, 3 in 1,000 develop brain swelling, and as many as 3 in every 1,000 will die from respiratory or neurological complications.
Symptoms start with a high fever that can spike to more than 104 degrees, a cough and a runny nose. White spots then appear inside the mouth and a rash of reds spots breaks out across the body.
The two-dose vaccine is 97% effective at preventing measles. The first dose is administered at age 1 year to 15 months, and the second dose is given between ages 4 and 6 years old.

CNBC Health & Science

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You have to hand it to Sir Elton John. Not only is he the only musician ever to have top-ten hit singles in Britain for six decades in a row. He is also a rare septuagenarian megastar who knows how to bow out in style. On November 20th at a relatively tender 75 years old, he performed what he said would be his last ever concert in America at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. One of the showstoppers was “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, the theme song for graceful retirements. If only Disney, who live-streamed the event on Disney+, had been listening.It wasn’t, because shortly before the performance started, a bombshell landed. Its hospitality tent at the stadium was convulsed by the news that Robert (Bob) Iger, the Walt Disney Company’s own Rocket Man, was coming out of semi-retirement, aged 71, to retake control of the firm he left only 11 months previously, leaving Bob Chapek, his handpicked successor, out on his ear. It was startling. It shouldn’t have been. After all, as Jeffrey Cole, a communications expert at USC Annenberg puts it, “Disney has had a 40-year succession problem”. During his decade-and-a-half as CEO, Mr Iger postponed his retirement four times, elevating and nixing potential successors. His predecessor, Michael Eisner, expensively jettisoned possible replacements twice during his 21-year reign, before finally settling on Mr Iger. Disney’s board has now given Mr Iger two years—a deadline unlikely to be set in stone—to have another go at finding a suitable heir. Succession problems are not unique to Disney. In fact they plague corporate America, especially when departing CEOs achieve near mythical status—besides Mr Iger, recall GE’s Jack Welch and Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ barista-in-chief. Some high-profile CEOs cling onto power for so long that their firms appear to grow old with them: exhibit a is FedEx, the delivery firm whose founder Fred Smith stepped down as boss in June after 49 years. There is a probationary air to some imperial handovers. Andy Jassy may have done all the right things to become boss of Amazon, but there is little doubt Jeff Bezos, the founder, would swoop back in if the e-commerce giant got into trouble. Then there are the leaders who have made their firms so iconoclastic they are almost irreplaceable: think of Berkshire Hathaway’s investment genius, Warren Buffett, or Elon Musk and his impossible-to-emulate greatest show on earth. What makes it so hard to fill such oversized shoes? One clue comes from Mr Iger himself. It is hubris. In his memoir, “The Ride of a Lifetime”, published in 2019, he acknowledges that all CEOs like to think that they are irreplaceable. Yet good leadership, he adds, demands the opposite. It is about bringing on a successor, identifying skills they need to develop and being honest with them when they are not ready for the next step. That is true. Yet what he doesn’t admit is that grooming a replacement is psychologically tough. It brings leaders face-to-face with their own mortality. It brings up the vexing question of legacy. Tellingly, Mr Iger writes almost mournfully about the day in 2005 when Mr Eisner left Disney for the last time with no board seat, no consulting role—not even a farewell lunch thrown by his colleagues. “Now he was driving away knowing that his era was over,” he wrote. “It’s one of those moments, I imagine, when it’s hard to know exactly who you are without this attachment and title and role that has defined you for so long.” With such a bleak perception of corporate afterlife, it’s no wonder Mr Iger was loth to let go.In theory, that’s where strong, independent board members should have come in. It’s their job to handle succession planning. While the CEO has a responsibility to nurture layers of talent within the firm, it’s up to the board to examine internal and external candidates and decide on a replacement. In practice, however, A-list bosses often dominate their boards. In Disney’s case, the directors went as far as elevating Mr Iger to chairman in 2012 after his masterful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, two animated-film studios, sealed his status as monarch of the Magic Kingdom. When Mr Chapek took over as CEO in 2020, the board continued in Mr Iger’s thrall. He remained executive chairman until the end of last year, reportedly still calling the shots in ways that undermined his successor’s authority. In June, under Susan Arnold, a new chairman, the board unanimously extended Mr Chapek’s contract, though by then his credibility was virtually shot. Five months later, the board sacked him. It could barely disguise its delight at having its more-beloved Bob back. For all such corporate-governance fiascos, some comebacks work. Mr Iger’s might. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of the Yale School of Management likens his return to that of second-world-war generals such as Douglas MacArthur or George Patton, motivated more by restoring Disney’s lustre than by personal ambition. The day after taking back control at Burbank, Mr Iger swiftly set out to dismantle the centralising strategy orchestrated by Mr Chapek, putting decision-making back in the hands of Disney’s creators. Mr Sonnenfeld believes the returning boss already has “excellent” replacement candidates up his sleeve. If he does, he will be able to rectify the biggest mistake in a mostly blemish-free career. When are you gonna come down? Some high-profile successions work, too, most notably the transition at Apple, maker of the iPhone, from the late Steve Jobs to Tim Cook, and, indeed, Mr Iger’s follow-on from Mr Eisner. In both cases, the new bosses succeeded first by not trashing their predecessors’ legacies and second by articulating a strong vision for the future. Yet ultimately the most important thing may have been that their long-serving bosses, however celebrated, had by then left the stage. Long-standing financiers such as Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and Larry Fink of BlackRock; moguls, such as Rupert Murdoch, of News Corp; all should take note. Listen to Sir Elton’s ode to life after superstardom—and learn. ■ More

The CDC, in a report published Wednesday, found that about 51% of abortions in 2020 were performed with the pill at or before the ninth week of pregnancy.
The pill, mifepristone, has become a central flashpoint in the battle over reproductive rights after the Supreme Court’s decision to abolish federal abortion rights in June.

Boxes of the medication Mifepristone used to induce a medical abortion are prepared for patients at Planned Parenthood health center in Birmingham, Alabama, March 14, 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

The abortion pill is the most common method to terminate a pregnancy in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC, in a report published Wednesday, found that about 51% of abortions in 2020 were performed with the pill at or before the ninth week of pregnancy. From 2019 to 2020, abortions with the pill increased 22%, according to the report.

The pill, mifepristone, has become a flashpoint in the battle over reproductive rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to abolish federal abortion rights in June. Twelve states have outlawed abortion since then, but banning the pill is difficult because it has become easier to obtain.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration suspended a requirement that women obtain mifepristone in person, allowing them to receive the pill by mail and at retail pharmacies. The drug agency announced in December 2021 that it would make this change permanent.
Anti-abortion groups last week asked a federal court in Texas to overturn the FDA’s more than two-decade-old approval of mifepristone. The groups’ attorneys are from the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization involved in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that led the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and eight other senators asked the FDA in a letter last week to to expand access to mifepristone by approving its use for miscarriage management. This would improve women’s access to the pill in states that are restricting access, the senators wrote.
The FDA has approved mifepristone in combination with the tablet misoprostol as a method to terminate pregnancies before the 10th week. Mifepristone prevents the pregnancy from continuing and misoprostol causes contractions that empty the uterus. The method is 96% to 98% effective at ending early pregnancies.

The abortion pill has become an increasingly common way to end a pregnancy in the U.S. Abortions with the pill increased 154% from 2011 to 2020, according to CDC data.
More than 620,000 abortions were performed in the U.S. in 2020, a 15% decrease since 2011. Almost all abortions, 93%, are performed at or before the 13th week of pregnancy, and 80% are done at or before the ninth week, according to the CDC data.
Surgical abortions are the second most common method to end a pregnancy. About 40% of all abortions were performed with surgical procedures at or before that 13th week of pregnancy, according to the CDC.

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