Our daily stroll around the world

🌎🥵 Earth just experienced its hottest summer since at least 1940. A UN report, published yesterday by the World Meteorological Organization and European climate service Copernicus, found the June-July-August season was the “warmest on record globally by a large margin.” Average global temperatures over that span stood at 62.2°F, or 1.2°F higher than the previous all-time record. The report predicted 2024 will be even hotter than this year, as the full warming impact of the ongoing El Niño weather event is felt across the globe.

🇨🇳🍎 Apple is to China what TikTok is to America. China has ordered officials at central government agencies to stop using iPhones or other foreign-branded devices for work, and to stop bringing them into the office, per a new WSJ report, mirroring similar bans in the US restricting federal and local government officials from using Chinese-owned TikTok over security concerns. Experts say China’s move is likely geared towards both national security and its economy, as the government hopes to boost market shares for domestic smartphone manufacturers.

🇪🇺 The EU classified six tech giants as “gatekeepers” under its new Digital Markets Act. The new designation, which covers Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and ByteDance, applies to large platforms the EU considers to be restricting access to core services like online search, advertising, or messaging. The tech giants now have six months to comply with the new law, which essentially prohibits them from restricting other competing apps on their platforms. For example: Apple can’t restrict users from installing Google Play on their iPhones, and ByteDance can’t prevent Meta from advertising Instagram on TikTok, under penalty of fines worth up to 10% of global revenue.