Greetings from Dubai, where Bloomberg has remarkable Sales, Product and News teams hard at work in a growing capital market. A shout out to our road warriors today on the Dubai – Abu Dhabi Highway (Steiner, Pav and Anthony) where it’s a seasonable 105 degrees (41C).

I head back to NYC this evening where I will never again complain of July heat.

And in case this is the my last newsletter, here’s what I’m reading today:

Airbus to Check for Cracks on Emirates, Qantas A380 Wings (Bloomberg)

Today in Trade:
U.S. Picks Another Trade Fight as it Opens Investigation Into France’s Plan to Impose a Tax on Tech Giants (Bloomberg)
The U.S. is to investigate French plans to tax technology giants like Facebook and Amazon over concerns the move “unfairly targets American companies.” The standoff makes for difficult discussions among Group of Seven finance ministers next week, then G-7 leaders next month. The host? France.

Today in Financial News:
-The EU’s Bank Stress Test Was Too Easy on Lenders, Auditors Say (Bloomberg)
-Deutsche Bank Keeping Its U.K. Broking Mandates as Firm Shrinks (Bloomberg)
-Taiwan Is Home to the World’s Fastest-Growing ETF Market (Bloomberg)

Must Read of the Day: Is the Tide Turning Against Populism? (New York Times)
In Central Europe, people are protesting or electing as if they were sick of rule by corrupt demagogic authoritarians. Perhaps it’s contagious. More than 10 different countries have voted out populists, undergone serious protests, or taken strong stands against Russia. (Hat tip: Howard Wolfson’s Daily Biscuit)

Today in Climate Risks: Tropical Storm Strengthens in Gulf of Mexico as It Races to Louisiana with Record Rain (Bloomberg)
The storm may drop as much as 20 inches of rain and threatens New Orlean’s levees along the Mississippi River, where water levels may reach the highest in 90 years after record rainfall in the Midwest. Oil producers have cut 32% of oil output and 18% of natural gas production in the Gulf and Louisiana has begun evacuating some counties.

Climate Change Reminder from Axios: While a tropical storm or hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico during mid-July is relatively common, scientific studies show that as air and ocean temperatures increase, more rain is falling in heavy bursts, including from tropical cyclones.

Widening Divide in the U.S.: Big Cities Poised To Get Bigger, Richer and More Powerful (Axios)
A new analysis of 315 U.S. cities and more than 3,000 counties shows only the healthiest local economies will be able to successfully adapt to disruptions caused by the next wave of automation. Wide swaths of the country, especially already-distressed rural regions, are in danger of shedding more jobs.

Today in Publicly-Funded Campaign Events: Trump’s Fourth of July Event Bankrupted D.C. Security Fund (Washington Post)
President Trump’s overhauled Fourth of July celebration cost the D.C. government about $1.7 million, an amount that has bankrupted a special fund used to protect Washington from terrorist threats and provide security at events such as rallies and state funerals. Washington Mayor Muriel E. Bowser also noted that the now-bankrupted account was never reimbursed for $7.3 million in expenses from Trump’s 2017 inauguration.

The ‘Oculus’ World Trade Center Mall Adding Food, Pop-Up Shops to Get You to Stick Around (Bloomberg)
The Santiago Calatrava-designed Oculus draws as many as 120 million visits each year — often people passing through on their way to somewhere else with visitors spending just a little over a half hour on average at the mall.

To get people to stay longer, they’re adding more food choices, seating, pop-up shops, health and wellness options and entertainment such as virtual reality. Or, as Mitchell Moss calls it, they’re adding “different stores, new graphics and more energy” in the revamp.

Opening Today in London! Olafur Eliasson at Tate Modern “Set To Be the Must-See Art Event of the Summer”
(Evening Standard – UK)
Olafur Eliasson’s major Tate Modern retrospective opens today and it looks set to be possibly the most Instagram-friendly exhibition ever. Earlier this year the Danish-Icelandic artist planted a set of gigantic ice blocks outside the gallery and Bloomberg London and let them melt, an intervention that got Londoners talking about climate change. Bloomberg Philanthropies has been a longtime supporter of his work, and this retrospective is on display from July 11 to January 5.

With its bright colors and immersive installations, it’s set to be the must-see art event of the summer.

Best of late night.

“Uber just launched this new thing called Uber comfort. You get more leg room! Which I guess means the driver just … moves his seat up?”
— Jimmy Kimmel

“Hawaii yesterday became the 26th state in the United States to decriminalize marijuana. Finally! At long last, people in Hawaii can relax!”
— Jimmy Kimmel

And the best of satire from The New Yorker:

U.K. Unable to Find Replacement Ambassador Who Does Not Think Trump is ‘Inept’ (The New Yorker’s Borowitz Report)