Biden’s $6 trillion budget, India’s true death count, the MGM tiger

Plus: Meituan’s rocky 2021. [Quartz]( Sponsored by Good morning, Quartz readers! Here’s what you need to know Joe Biden’s $6 trillion budget aims to expand the US middle class. The president plans major investments [in infrastructure, education and healthcare](. Japan is extending its state of emergency. There will be [an extra three weeks]( of restrictions, as the Covid-19 crisis continues and the Olympic Games loom in July. Nike dropped Brazilian superstar Neymar over sexual assault allegations. The company ended the partnership following an accusation—which the soccer player denies as “baseless”—involving a Nike employee, the [Wall Street Journal reports](. Jimmy Lai will serve even more time in jail. The already-imprisoned dissident Hong Kong media tycoon, 73, was sentenced to [14 more months]( for taking part in a 2019 protest. Russia is blocking flights that are avoiding Belarusian airspace. [Air France and Austrian Airlines have already canceled]( services because Russian aviation authorities rejected their revised flight plans. China censored parts of the Friends reunion. Music stars [BTS, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber]( were cut from the broadcast, possibly because they may have offended China in the past. What is Twitter Blue? It’s in app stores, and may be something to do with paid subscriptions to the social media platform, but [nobody is completely sure](. Sponsor content by Invesco These 5 innovations could transform the next decade of work. Companies like Alphabet, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft are pioneering a limitless workforce with the help of translation technology, low-orbit internet satellites, ethical AI, and more. [Glimpse the possibilities]( in this guide from Invesco. What to watch for Chinese food delivery giant Meituan today [reported a 120% increase in revenue](, year on year, to 37 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) for the first quarter of 2021. Its net losses widened, however, to $750 million from $270 million in the same period last year, because of heavy investments in 2020 and 2021. There are several other aspects worth watching: Antitrust scrutiny: In late April, China’s top market regulator [launched an investigation]( into Meituan, raising fears the company could become the next target of Beijing’s crackdown on big tech. Outspoken CEO: Wang Xing [stirred huge controversy]( this month after he posted and deleted an ancient Chinese poem that some say is a veiled criticism of Beijing. Whether Wang will join today’s earnings calls and what remarks he might make are likely one focus for investors. Updates on new initiatives: The company has said it will spend part of [the $10 billion funding]( it raised in April on drone technology. It has also been developing autonomous delivery, which has been in use in Beijing for some orders. Tallying India’s true death count Journalists in Narendra Modi’s home state exposed India’s Covid-19 deception. Rajesh Pathak, resident editor of a 98-year-old local newspaper in Gujarat, was alarmed by government figures counting local Covid deaths at 0 on a day his wife had personally seen two dead bodies. So he sent his reporters digging. Sandesh’s Ahmedabad journalists talked to sources at the biggest hospital in the state’s biggest city. With every conversation, their suspicions became clearer: There was a glaring gap in the Covid death counting at the facility. The team then took it upon itself to piece together the reality, and found that undercounting dead bodies [was just the tip of the iceberg](. Is there a way to make brainstorming meetings more productive? [Figjam interface] Figma Some experts believe that open-ended, idea-gathering meetings are better done virtually, but that isn’t exactly conclusive given the various distractions associated with working remotely. Who among us has not experienced a Zoom grid of awkward silence during a virtual brainstorm? Dylan Field, the co-founder and CEO of Figma, says the answers lie in playfulness and clarity. “I think that when we’re in a state of play, we’re able to think more creatively, which often improves whatever work we’re doing,” says Field. His company’s tool, Figjam, combines [a multi-player game mentality]( with a pared-down interface that evens the playing field for designers and non-designers alike. ✦ [Quartz at Work]( looks into how and where human beings get their jobs done. A Quartz membership will give you access to all of it. [Try it free for a week](. Quartz announcement [Help India Breathe]( needs your help in battling India's COVID crisis. After deploying 95 Oxygen Concentrators in hospitals for vulnerable communities, we need to raise a further £50k to train 500 unemployed youth to become frontline health care workers for Covid care, set up an advanced Covid facility and a mobile diagnostic van that would cater to communities which lack basic medical facilities. Donate [here](. You asked about vaccine hesitancy How can we encourage people who are skeptical about vaccines to get their jabs? With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear that the issues around who is not getting vaccinated and why are [more nuanced than simply being anti-vax](. A recent paper published in the [New England Journal of Medicine]( classified individuals’ attitudes towards vaccination on a “spectrum of vaccine ‘hesitance,’ ranging from being ‘vaccine ready’ to ‘vaccine neutral’ to ‘vaccine resistant.’” Different forms of vaccine hesitancy call for different public health approaches. Some US states, for example, offer [lottery tickets and free beer]( to adults who get vaccinated, which might help nudge vaccine receptive or vaccine neutral adults. For those who are receptive to vaccines but not “avid seekers,” simply facilitating access could do the trick. Giving more information about vaccines to the “vaccine neutral” group might help sway them. Once all the people who are receptive to vaccines have been inoculated, the NEJM paper makes the case that governments should go back to providing vaccines where people are used to seeing them, like doctors’ offices, because they have a better chance of reaching people who identify as “vaccine resistant” there than in [baseball stadiums and theme parks](. [📬 Email us your coronavirus question [arrow]](mailto:reply+keyword@qz.com?subject=My%20coronavirus%20question) Handpicked Quartz 🛒 [Costco is proof that in-store shopping is far from over]( 🎮 [The chip shortage is pitting bitcoin miners against gamers]( 😐 [Elizabeth Warren doesn’t buy Jamie Dimon’s commitment to conscious capitalism]( ⛏ [China’s crackdown on bitcoin mining is getting real]( ➡️ [How businesses can create lasting change to advance racial equity for Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders]( 🤗 [How the venture capital community can better support Black founders]( 💪[Companies need to empower their chief diversity officers]( 💸 [The US “labor shortage” is just a wage shortage]( 🇬🇭 [Ghana is entering the surging social bond market]( 🧘‍♂️ [India’s doctors are battling the pandemic—and a yoga guru’s misinformation campaign]( ☀️ [Charted: The biggest hurdles for Narendra Modi’s solar power ambitions for India]( ⚖️ [The 20-word clause that exposed Amazon to an antitrust lawsuit]( 🏬 [The US labor shortage is about to create a big problem for retailers]( Surprising discoveries “Charlie Bit Me” won’t be leaving YouTube after all. The buyer of the non-fungible token (NFT) version of the viral video decided it was [too important to internet culture]( to take down. China hopes to improve marriage rates by making it cheaper for men to tie the knot. Special economical wedding zones have been set up to [weed out traditions]( like “bride prices.” Europeans welcome their robot overlords. About half of respondents to a recent survey want to [replace some government representatives]( with AI. A tiger did the voiceover for the MGM lion. The [distinctive roar]( was added in the 1980s. Is this the original turducken? Scientists say a fossil shows a [shark eating a squid eating a lobster](. SHARE TO EARN SWAG Coffee cups, tote bags, free membership, and more. Refer the Quartz Daily Brief to friends, family, and coworkers to earn all of these premium prizes. [Share the Daily Brief today]( and start reaping the rewards. Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, tiger roars, and turducken recipes to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by [downloading our iOS app]( and [becoming a member](. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Hasit Shah, Jane Li, Tripti Lahiri, Mary Hui, Ananya Bhattacharya, Amanda Shendruk, Annabelle Timsit, Susan Howson, and Liz Webber. [facebook]( [twitter]( [external-link]( Enjoying Quartz Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here]( to sign up. If you’re looking to unsubscribe, [click here](. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10010 | United States Copyright © 2021 Quartz, All rights reserved.