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COVID-19 cases are rising again as a new variant begins to circulate in some parts of the world. The World Health Organization said Wednesday the rise in cases is primarily in the eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and western Pacific regions. Airport screening in the United States has detected the new variant in travelers arriving from those regions to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia and New York. The new variant is called NB.1.8.1. It arrives as the United States official stance on COVID-19 vaccination is changing. On Tuesday, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that COVID-19 shots are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women a move immediately questioned by several public health experts. The new variant, increasing globally, had by mid-May reached nearly 11% of sequenced samples reported. The WHO has designated it a variant under monitoring and considers the public health risk low at the global level with current vaccines expected to remain effective. The WHO said some western Pacific countries have reported increases in COVID cases and hospitalizations, but theres nothing so far to suggest that the disease associated with the new variant is more severe compared to other variants. The variant called LP.8.1 is currently the dominant version in the U.S. and globally. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Carla K. Johnson, AP medical writer
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to negotiate aspects of the “big, beautiful” tax bill, expressing dissatisfaction with certain provisions while being satisfied with others. His comments followed billionaire Elon Musk’s criticism a day earlier, in which Musk argued that the bill detracts from efforts to reduce the U.S. budget deficit. “We will be negotiating that bill, and I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” Trump told reporters, without directly addressing Musk’s concerns. He also emphasized the need to secure sufficient support for the bill’s passage in the Senate, stating, “we can’t be cutting, you know, we need to get a lot of support.” In an interview with CBS “Sunday Morning,” broadcast late on Tuesday, Musk said he was “disappointed to see the massive spending bill” because it increases the budget deficit and undermines the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both,” Musk said in the interview. The White House intends to send Congress a small package as early as next week to formalize cuts made by Musk’s team targeting federal government spending, a White House official familiar with the plan said on Wednesday. For months, Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have been asking the administration to codify the federal spending cuts announced by DOGE. Musk, the world’s richest man, was appointed by Trump in February to lead his administration’s chaotic reform of the federal government as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the sweeping tax and spending bill that would enact much of Trump’s policy agenda and saddle the country with trillions of dollars more in debt. Trump and his fellow Republicans, which passed the measure by a single vote, have dubbed the legislation the “big, beautiful bill.” It will add about $3.8 trillion to the federal government’s $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The U.S. Senate is now considering the measure. A DOGE website that claims it has saved U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars has been riddled with errors and corrections. Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu, Reuters
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E-Commerce
David Droga is stepping down as CEO of Accenture Song, the global consultancys creative marketing services unit. In September Droga will transition from his day-to-day leadership into a broader strategic role as vice chair of Accenture. Within only four years, Droga led Songs growth from $12.5 billion to $19 billion in revenue, all while winning Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity every year, I-COM Data Creativity Awards, Red Dot Design Awards, Webbys, and its first Emmy. Droga came to Accenture back in 2019, after Accenture Interactive acquired his ad agency Droga5. At the time, Droga explained that brand communications had gone far beyond just advertising, seeping into every time and place a consumer experiences a brandfrom ads to retail to e-commerce. He knew the combination of Accentures scale and digital expertise and Droga5s strategy and creativity would be in high demand. CEOs, CMOs, and CIOs all need to be on the same page, because they all affect each other now, he said at the time. This isnt a nice-to-have. I think its going to be crucial for any brand going forward. This is future-proofing. Six years later, many brands are now just coming to terms with this. When Accenture Interactive was rebranded as Song, Droga (who was named CEO in 2021) saw it as another future-proofing move, to make sure the companys structure matched client demands. Were now more in line with each other, working on solutions together, same P&L, so theres no competing forces getting in the way, he said. I think thats the only way to step up and deliver what clients need. Given how Song has built up its capabilitiesmaking 62 acquisitions since fiscal 2010it’s clear Droga has built an absolute powerhouse across creativity, design, technology, AI, data, and strategy into one connected platform. I talked to him about how AI was transforming the advertising industry on Fast Companys Brand New World podcast back in February. As part of the transition, Ndidi Oteh, who currently serves as the Americas lead for Accenture Song, will become the CEO of Accenture Song, the company said. Nick Law, current creative chairperson for Accenture Song, will become the creative strategy and experience lead. I spoke with Droga on Wednesday about his not-really retirement, how the company has evolved most under his leadership, and what his next chapter looks like. Fast Company: OK, lets start with the most obvious question: Why this move and why now? David Droga: Well, because I felt like we had our we had great momentum, and I had the right leadership team. That sort of gave me the belief that if I was going to, step into something new, or retireor notthat I wasn’t abandoning ship. We’re ready for the next phase. Assembling the team was probably the most important part. One consistent thing through my career is I’ve always been in a rush to prove things out, not just sort of sit around and wait for things to happen. You’ve got to seize opportunity, and try and live up to it. You never really finish doing what you set out to do, but you can certainly hit benchmarks along the way. Then eventually, you feel like it’s got its own momentum. And then you can throw yourself into trying different things, as well. But I certainly proved what I wanted to prove to myself and to the broader audience that creative leadership can really move an industry, a company, forward. And it’s more of a necessity of leadership now than an accoutrement. Back in 2022 when Accenture Interactive was rebranded Song, we talked a lot about spreading creativity to more areas of business problem solving. How has the company evolved most significantly since then? Across broad Accenture, I know they see our creativity and abilities as an advantage. The scale of broad Accenture is vast. It is seen as very much a tech-led company with consulting and operations at the heart of it, and now that they see the power of infusing creativity into that, we can do even more. For me, the real validation and excitement is when we can do things that only Song can do, which is infusing that creativity across every facet of the customers business. Yes, there’s marketing, but we can now take that consistency to the commerce platforms, and then we can also do that with the service, and we can do that in design, and with data and AI. I see we’re actually proving that out, not just from how much we’re growing, but putting our best intentions and experience into it, and I’m seeing that woven into what we’re doing for clients. We’re not pigeonholed into one dimension of our clients’ needs. What particular pieces of work or projects stand out as highlights that embody those capabilities? Well, you can go from the Coinbase (2022 Super Bowl ad) and the Sydney Opera House work as more traditional advertising. Then theres amazing digital work, which is, like, you know, the Gatorade digital redesign, or the IKEA work where people can resell their old stuff back on the IKEA platform. It’s not just the creative idea. I always say if you look at our very best ideas, is that a marketing idea? Is it a commerce idea? Is it a design idea? Is it a sustainability idea? No, it’s about the ability to make them all come together. I’ve always been trying to prove out not just the worth of creativity, but the different canvases and dimensions where it can show up. I’m a creative person to the marrow, and the best way to prove the worth and value of creativity is by making a sustainable business where we’re growing, where our client work is working, where people have opportunities, and people are excited by what we represent. But it’s also difficult. Forging a new path is intimidating, and sometimes you stumble and fail. Ive said this before, but I’m more afraid of repetition than I am a failure. OK, speaking of forging new paths, this sounds like a sort-of, not-really retirement. Whats next for you? What does a vice chair do? Im still participating. I’m a builder and a worker, and I like to do things. So I’m going to step out of leading this enterprise and being caught up in the day to day operation, and now I can sort of cherry pick and spend time with the things that I think are going to move us forward. I think, had I just retired, its probably too abrupt for someone (like me) who’s probably like a sharkyou die if you stop moving. I don’t have aspirations to play golf and sit on a beach for rest of my life, but I also did want to just take stock. My oldest daughter just started college, for example. So I wanted to be able to ground myself and think about how I can contribute in these other ways. And it’s probably saving me from just playing tennis and pouring tequila over my head.
Category:
E-Commerce
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