1. According to a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, the preference for male offspring in some cultures has led to a decline in the number of female newborns. If left unchecked, the number of newborn girls worldwide will decrease by 4.7 million in the next 10 years. The study suggests that 1/3 men around the world will be single 10 years later due to a shortage of girls, a sex ratio that could also lead to an increase in antisocial and violent behaviour.

2. The United States: in July, ADP employment increased by 330000, the lowest since February, and is estimated to be 683000, compared with a previous figure of 692000.

3. Germany’s DAX30 index closed up 0.88% at 15692.13, Britain’s FTSE index closed up 0.26% at 7123.86, and France’s CAC40 index closed up 0.33% at 6746.23.

4. The governing Council of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a new round of universal distribution of Special drawing Rights (SDR) worth 650 billion US dollars (about 456 billion Special drawing Rights) on the 2nd local time to increase global liquidity.

5. According to the regulations of the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic gold medal is not pure gold, but gold-plated silver, with at least 6 grams of pure gold. Each gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games contains 550g of silver and 6g of gold plating, which is currently worth more than 5000 yuan in terms of material price alone. The silver medal is made of sterling silver of 550g, which is about 3000 yuan according to the current silver price. The bronze medal weighs about 450 grams and is made of 95% copper and 5% zinc, which is currently about 30 yuan.

6. Nikkei News: the wholesale price of granulated sugar in Japan hit a 35-year high. Under the background of abnormal climate in the main producing countries, the import cost of raw material crude sugar remains high, and the supply prices of Mitsui sugar and other sugar enterprises rose again in July.

7. CoinDesk: JPMorgan began marketing internally circulated bitcoin funds to its private banking clients this week, completing the transition from a giant bank that has never been exposed to bitcoin to a real player in digital assets.

8. Egypt’s Ministry of electricity and Renewable Energy: due to high temperatures, Egypt’s electricity consumption reached an all-time high of 33400 megawatts on Aug. 4. In addition, Egypt’s power supply system has a capacity of 45400 megawatts. The Egyptian Meteorological Service says this summer is the hottest in the country in nearly five years. The hot weather is expected to last at least a week.

9.South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor: the minimum hourly wage for 2022 is 9160 won, or about 52 yuan, up 5.1% from a year earlier. Based on 209 hours of working hours per month, the minimum monthly salary in 2022 is 1.91444 million won, or about 10800 yuan. The new rules will take effect from January 1, 2022 and apply to all units.

10.BMW Group: in the second quarter, a total of 702441 new cars were delivered, an increase of 44.7% over the same period last year; in the first half of the year, a total of 1339047 new cars were delivered, an increase of nearly 40% over the same period last year, a record high; and a total of 467064 new cars were delivered to Chinese customers, an increase of 41.9% over the same period last year, a record.