This week in the news | 13 Apr 24

News from the past week, and a few other things.

Apr 13, 2024

👋 Hello Reader, I hope you had a great week.

Below you’ll find the “quick shot”—a supercharged summary of summaries, followed by the “slow brew”—longer summaries with select graphics, and comments from me.

THE QUICK SHOT 🚀

A supercharged summary of summaries

A lock icon (🔒) indicates articles behind a paywall, and a chart icon (📊) indicates an informative chart/graphic in “Slow Brew.”

World

I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust (The FP)

North America

The Explosion of Asylum Claims Driving the Global Migrant Crisis (WSJ🔒)📊
Parents of Michigan School Shooter Ethan Crumbley Sentenced to 10-15 Years in Prison (WSJ🔒)
Biden Closes ‘Gun Show Loophole’—Here’s What To Know And When Rule Comes Into Effect (Forbes🔒)
Elon Musk Boosts Headcount by 86% at Biggest Site of His Texas Empire (Bloomberg🔒)

Latin America

Europe

Middle East

Africa

10,000 miles and 352 days later, a UK man reaches his goal of running the length of Africa (AP)

Asia-Pacific

Vietnam Tycoon Lan Sentenced to Death Over $12 Billion Fraud (Bloomberg🔒)
Russian honeytraps useless against French spies … their wives already know (The Telegraph)

Space

The Black Market That Delivers Elon Musk’s Starlink to U.S. Foes (WSJ🔒)
Trash from the International Space Station may have hit a house in Florida (Ars Technica)
‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ Hits No. 1 During Solar Eclipse 2024 (Forbes🔒)
Total eclipse of the Internet: traffic impacts in Mexico, the US, and Canada (Cloudflare)📊
Delta Eclipse Flight Makes Wrong Turn Outside Path of Totality (YouTube)📊
Map of future eclipses in North America (National Eclipse)📊

Government

Speaker Johnson’s Woes Grow After GOP Holdouts Block Spying Bill (WSJ🔒)

Defense

Kendall: Space Guard ‘Doesn’t Make Any Sense,’ USSF Has New Authorities to Manage Transition (Air and Space Forces)
Kendall Will Fly on Autonomously-Piloted F-16 for a Sneak Peek on CCA Technology (Air and Space Forces)

Economy

Hot Inflation Report Derails Case for Fed June Rate Cut (WSJ🔒)📊
A Million Simulations, One Verdict for US Economy: Debt Danger Ahead (Bloomberg🔒)📊

Business

Norfolk Southern will pay $600 million to settle East Palestine derailment lawsuit (NPR)

Real Estate

Mortgage Rates Move Toward Seven Percent as Markets Digest Incoming Data (Freddie Mac)📊
Insurers Are Spying on Your Home From the Sky (WSJ🔒)

Technology

Cyber

Life

Education

Biden canceling student debt for more than 277,000 borrowers (The Hill)
Harvard, Caltech Reverse Course and Reinstate Standardized Tests (Bloomberg🔒)
If You Didn’t Get Into [an Ivy League], a Public School Is the Better Investment (Bloomberg🔒)📊

Health

Entertainment

Beyoncé Achieves Eighth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘Cowboy Carter’ (Billboard)

Sports

For Fun

Why AI Chess Bots Are Virtually Unbeatable (ft. GothamChess) (Wired)

THE SLOW BREW ☕

A more relaxed approach to the summaries.

World

I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust (The FP)

Uri Berliner, a veteran at the public radio institution, says the network lost its way when it started telling listeners how to think.

NOTE: Well written post on the dangers of bias, echo chambers and ignoring dissenting ideas/opinions.

North America

The Explosion of Asylum Claims Driving the Global Migrant Crisis (WSJ🔒)

The U.S. received more than 920,000 applications for asylum during its 2023 fiscal year, compared with just 76,000 in 2013. Since a single application can cover multiple members of a family, the figures underestimate the actual numbers of people seeking asylum. Family groups, who now almost always ask for asylum, make up about half the roughly two million people encountered by authorities who illegally crossed the U.S. frontier with Mexico last year. Another half million came through legal ports of entry, many using a Border Patrol smartphone app that launched in January 2023 to make an appointment to cross and ask for asylum.

Parents of Michigan School Shooter Ethan Crumbley Sentenced to 10-15 Years in Prison (WSJ🔒)

A Michigan judge sentenced the parents of a teenager who killed four classmates at his high school to 10 to 15 years in prison each, the first parents of a school shooter to be held directly responsible for their child’s attack. James and Jennifer Crumbley were each convicted of four counts of unintentional homicide in separate trials that ended in February and March. Their son, Ethan Crumbley, pleaded guilty to four counts of murder in the 2021 killings at Oxford High School about 40 miles north of Detroit and is serving life in prison.

Biden Closes ‘Gun Show Loophole’—Here’s What To Know And When Rule Comes Into Effect (Forbes🔒)

The Justice Department announced new rules that would force unlicensed gun sellers who primarily sell firearms at gun shows and online marketplaces to register with the federal government—a significant change that could close the notorious “gun show loophole” and end one of the primary ways guns are sold without background checks in the U.S. “Under this regulation, it will not matter if guns are sold on the internet, at a gun show or at a brick-and-mortar store,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said, adding that “if you sell guns predominantly to earn a profit, you must be licensed and you must conduct background checks.” The new rule will expand the definition of who is “engaged in the business” of selling firearms and now required to conduct background checks—for example, sellers who “repetitively” sell firearms within 30 days of their purchase, or sell guns that are new or “like new” and in their original packaging. The regulation will also close the “firesale loophole,” which allows gun sellers to quickly sell off their inventory without background checks if they lose their federal license.

Elon Musk Boosts Headcount by 86% at Biggest Site of His Texas Empire (Bloomberg🔒)

Elon Musk is now officially Austin’s largest private employer. Tesla Inc. boosted headcount 86% last year to 22,777 in the fast-growing region in Texas, where the carmaker churns out Model Y SUVs and angular Cybertrucks. It surpassed grocery-store chain H-E-B, according to a new annual compliance report Tesla filed with Travis County’s economic development program.

Latin America

‘Outrage against international law’: Mexico breaks diplomatic ties with Ecuador over embassy raid (CNN)

Mexico is breaking diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police raided its embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had been seeking asylum there.

What to know about Elon Musk's 'free speech' feud with a Brazilian judge (ABC)

Headline-grabbing billionaire Elon Musk is clashing with a Supreme Court justice in Brazil over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation on X, the social media platform Musk bought when it was Twitter. In the United States, free speech is a constitutional right that’s much more permissive than in many countries, including Brazil, where Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes this month ordered an investigation into Musk over the dissemination of defamatory fake news and another probe over possible obstruction, incitement and criminal organization. In Brazil, judges can order any site to remove content. Some decisions are sealed from the public.

Europe

Ukraine’s parliament passes a controversial law to boost much-needed conscripts and fill army ranks (AP)

Ukraine’s parliament passed a law Thursday that will govern how the country recruits new conscripts, following months of delay and after thousands of amendments were submitted to water down the initial draft. Lawmakers dragged their feet for months over the law, which is expected to be unpopular. The law was spurred by a request from Ukraine’s military, which wanted to mobilize up to 500,000 more troops, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in December. Exhausted soldiers, on the front lines since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, had no means to rotate out for rest, while many thousands of Ukrainian men evade the draft. The law was passed to the backdrop of an escalating Russian campaign that has devastated Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent weeks.

Ukraine war: UN body urges restraint after Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant hit (BBC)

A new drone attack on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia power plant has raised the risk of a "major nuclear accident", the UN's atomic watchdog has warned. Russia said Ukraine was behind the attack, which it said injured three people. Ukraine has denied involvement. The giant Russian-held nuclear plant, with six reactors, is on the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly warned against such attacks.

Middle East

Middle East on alert for Iranian attack as Lufthansa suspends Tehran flights (Reuters)

The region and the United States have been on alert for a retaliatory attack by Iran since April 1, when Israeli warplanes were suspected of bombing the Iranian embassy compound in Syria. Lufthansa on Thursday said it had suspended flights to and from Tehran until probably April 13, extending its suspension by two days.

Biden vows 'ironclad' support for Israel amid Iran attack fears (BBC)

President Joe Biden has promised Israel "ironclad" US support amid fears that Tehran could launch reprisals for an attack that killed senior Iranians. Mr Biden warned that Iran is threatening to launch a "significant attack" after Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Syria 10 days ago. "We're going to do all we can to protect Israel's security," he added. Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's leader said the Israeli attack in Damascus was equivalent to an attack on Iran itself. "When they attacked our consulate area, it was like they attacked our territory," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but is widely considered to have been behind it. US and Israeli forces in the region have been put on high alert in the days since.

US restricts travel for diplomats in Israel amid fears of Iran attack (BBC)

The United States has restricted travel for its embassy personnel in Israel amid fears of an attack by Iran. The US embassy said staff had been told not to travel outside the greater Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Beersheba areas "out of an abundance of caution". Iran has vowed to retaliate, blaming Israel for a strike on its consulate in Syria 11 days ago, killing 13 people. UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has phoned his Iranian counterpart to urge against further escalation. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the consulate attack but is widely considered to have been behind it.

Africa

10,000 miles and 352 days later, a UK man reaches his goal of running the length of Africa (AP)

British charity fundraiser Russ Cook has reached the northernmost point of Africa, completing a year-long quest to run the length of the continent. Dozens of supporters cheered Sunday as Cook reached a rocky outcrop in northern Tunisia.

Asia-Pacific

Vietnam Tycoon Lan Sentenced to Death Over $12 Billion Fraud (Bloomberg🔒)

A Vietnam court sentenced real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death for her role in a $12 billion fraud case, underscoring the Communist Party’s determination to crack down on corruption. Lan, 67, the chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, was arrested in 2022 and eventually faced charges including bribery of government officials and violation of bank lending rules. The main case against her was that she embezzled funds from Saigon Commercial Bank between February 2018 and October 2022. Under Vietnamese criminal procedure law, Lan is eligible to appeal the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court verdict within 15 days. While the death penalty was awarded on the embezzlement charge, the court also sentenced her to 20 years in prison each on two other charges — violating banking regulations and offering bribes. While capital punishment is not unusual in Communist Vietnam, where the death penalty is awarded for 22 offenses, including murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking and rape, it’s handed out relatively rarely for economic crimes. The last widely publicized death penalty awarded on corruption charges was in 2013 when two former executives of Vietnam National Shipping Lines were found guilty of embezzlement.

Russian honeytraps useless against French spies … their wives already know (The Telegraph)

Honeytraps do not work on French spies because their wives are used to them having affairs, a television documentary about France’s equivalent of MI6 has revealed. Intelligence agents in the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) said that their Russian enemies came to realise that blackmail over taking lovers was ineffective. The stock phrase in response was “Go ahead, my wife already knows” one agent said in the Making of Secret Agents, a 90-minute documentary that gained unprecedented access to the spy agency over several weeks. It was set to air on French public TV channel France 2 on Tuesday night. The agent known only as Nicolas, whose voice and face were blurred, says: “Defectors from the Soviet Union used to talk about the ‘French paradox’, namely if you surprised a Frenchman with a mistress by telling him, we’ve caught you red-handed with a 22-year-old called Tatyana, work for us or we’ll tell your wife, it didn’t work.

Space

The Black Market That Delivers Elon Musk’s Starlink to U.S. Foes (WSJ🔒)

A salesman at Moscow-based online retailer shopozz.ru has supplemented his usual business of peddling vacuum cleaners and dashboard phone mounts by selling dozens of Starlink internet terminals that wound up with Russians on the front lines in Ukraine. Although Russia has banned the use of Starlink, the satellite-internet service developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, middlemen have proliferated in recent months to buy the user terminals and ship them to Russian forces. That has eroded a battlefield advantage once enjoyed by Ukrainian forces, which also rely on the cutting-edge devices. Ukrainian officials said they contacted SpaceX about Russian forces using Starlink terminals in Ukraine and that they are working together on a solution. Ukraine’s telecoms regulator in March published a decree mandating that only Starlink terminals registered with authorities in Kyiv would work in occupied areas or around the front line. It isn’t clear when those new rules will take effect or how they will be enforced.

Trash from the International Space Station may have hit a house in Florida (Ars Technica)

A few weeks ago, something from the heavens came crashing through the roof of Alejandro Otero's home, and NASA is on the case. In all likelihood, this nearly 2-pound object came from the International Space Station. Otero said it tore through the roof and both floors of his two-story house in Naples, Florida. Otero wasn't home at the time, but his son was there. A Nest home security camera captured the sound of the crash at 2:34 pm local time (19:34 UTC) on March 8. That's an important piece of information because it is a close match for the time—2:29 pm EST (19:29 UTC)—that US Space Command recorded the reentry of a piece of space debris from the space station. At that time, the object was on a path over the Gulf of Mexico, heading toward southwest Florida. This space junk consisted of depleted batteries from the ISS, attached to a cargo pallet that was originally supposed to come back to Earth in a controlled manner. But a series of delays meant this cargo pallet missed its ride back to Earth, so NASA jettisoned the batteries from the space station in 2021 to head for an unguided reentry.

‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ Hits No. 1 During Solar Eclipse 2024 (Forbes🔒)

“Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler shoots to No. 1 on iTunes as the eclipse takes place. The single rises to the highest spot on the U.S. iTunes chart in real-time, reaching the summit as millions are taking in the lunar event.

Total eclipse of the Internet: traffic impacts in Mexico, the US, and Canada (Cloudflare)

Cloudflare’s data shows a clear impact on Internet traffic from Mexico to Canada, following the path of totality.

Delta Eclipse Flight Makes Wrong Turn Outside Path of Totality (YouTube)

At the moment of totality over Northeast Arkansas on April 8 2024, the Delta eclipse viewing flight DL1010 from Dallas incorrectly made a right turn, placing it outside the umbra, which ensured its passengers would not see a total solar eclipse. There do not seem to be other planes preventing a more suitable maneuver at this time. Meanwhile, lucky passengers aboard the left side of flight DL1218 from Austin had an excellent view of totality. Video produced from overlay of FlightRadar24 Playback mode and NASA's 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Explorer.

NOTE: I’ll spare you the pictures I took of the eclipse, as it was cloudy here in Texas and my pictures aren’t that great…and there are many pictures of the eclipse already out there—as noted by XKCD, they fall into one of the following categories:

Map of future eclipses in North America (National Eclipse)

In the 21st century, ten total solar eclipses will occur in the U.S., eight of which will be visible from the contiguous U.S. The map below shows the paths of totality of those eight eclipses. To experience the total phases of the eclipses, you must be located within the paths of totality represented on the map below. Areas outside the paths of totality will get partial solar eclipses only.

Government

Speaker Johnson’s Woes Grow After GOP Holdouts Block Spying Bill (WSJ🔒)

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s tenuous grip on the gavel was dealt another blow Wednesday, after holdout Republicans egged on by former President Donald Trump derailed passage of a critical but controversial national-security spying law. The procedural vote related to renewing the law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, failed with 193 in favor and 228 opposed. The failed vote plunges the fate of the surveillance power into uncertainty a week before it is due to expire.

Defense

Kendall: Space Guard ‘Doesn’t Make Any Sense,’ USSF Has New Authorities to Manage Transition (Air and Space Forces)

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall offered his sharpest critique yet of a proposed Space National Guard on April 10, telling reporters at the annual Space Symposium that the idea “doesn’t make any sense.” The Department of the Air Force has a legislative proposal to fold space-focused Guard units into the Space Force, which can now accept part-time members. Absence a switch in service, Kendall argued it would make more sense to leave the units in the Air National Guard rather than establishing a separate Guard. The debate over a Space National Guard has raged for several years now, and Kendall expressed frustration that the topic continues to be unsettled and hotly debated.

Kendall Will Fly on Autonomously-Piloted F-16 for a Sneak Peek on CCA Technology (Air and Space Forces)

An autonomously-piloted F-16 will fly this year with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on board, giving the service’s top civilian an up-close look at a critical effort for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The Air Force is set to modify six F-16s to test autonomous tech and software at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., as part of the VENOM (Viper Experimentation and Next-gen Operations Model – Autonomy Flying Testbed) project. The first three fighters arrived earlier April 1. Once transformed, the jets will still have pilots in the cockpit to engage in real-time autonomy, retaining control over specific algorithms during test flights.

Economy

Hot Inflation Report Derails Case for Fed June Rate Cut (WSJ🔒)

Stubborn inflation pressures persisted in March, derailing the case for the Federal Reserve to begin reducing interest rates in June and raising questions over whether it can deliver cuts this year without signs of an economic slowdown. The consumer-price index, a measure of goods and services prices across the economy, rose 3.5% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That was a touch higher than economists had forecast and a pickup from February’s 3.2%. So-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy categories, also rose more than expected on a monthly and annual basis.

A Million Simulations, One Verdict for US Economy: Debt Danger Ahead (Bloomberg🔒)

The Congressional Budget Office warned in its latest projections that US federal government debt is on a path from 97% of GDP last year to 116% by 2034 — higher even than in World War II. The actual outlook is likely worse. From tax revenue to defense spending and interest rates, the CBO forecasts released earlier this year are underpinned by rosy assumptions. Plug in the market’s current view on interest rates, and the debt-to-GDP ratio rises to 123% in 2034. Then assume — as most in Washington do — that ex-President Donald Trump’s tax cuts mainly stay in place, and the burden gets even higher. With uncertainty about so many of the variables, Bloomberg Economics has run a million simulations to assess the fragility of the debt outlook. In 88% of the simulations, the results show the debt-to-GDP ratio is on an unsustainable path — defined as an increase over the next decade.

Business

Norfolk Southern will pay $600 million to settle East Palestine derailment lawsuit (NPR)

Norfolk Southern has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from the fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the railroad announced Tuesday. The company has agreed to pay $600 million dollars as part of the settlement, but it does not admit any wrongdoing or liability for the derailment in February of 2023. 38 train cars derailed on the outskirts of East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line, including 11 carrying hazardous chemicals. The derailed cars triggered a massive fire, belching toxic smoke into the air far above the town. Roughly 2,000 of the town's 4,900 residents were forced to evacuate.

Real Estate

Mortgage Rates Move Toward Seven Percent as Markets Digest Incoming Data (Freddie Mac)

Mortgage rates have been drifting higher for most of the year due to sustained inflation and the reevaluation of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path. While newly released inflation data from March continues to show a trend of very little movement, the financial market’s reaction paints a far different economic picture. Since inflation decelerated from 9% to 3% between June 2022 and June 2023, the annual growth rate of inflation has remained effectively flat, ranging from 3.1% to 3.7% and averaging 3.3%. The March estimate of 3.5% annual growth is in the middle of that range. However, the market’s reaction was dramatically different, as illustrated by a significant drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average post-announcement. It’s clear that while the trend in inflation data has been close to flat for nearly a year, the narrative is much less clear and resembles the unrealized expectations of a recession from a year ago.

Insurers Are Spying on Your Home From the Sky (WSJ🔒)

Across the U.S., insurance companies are using aerial images of homes as a tool to ditch properties seen as higher risk. Nearly every building in the country is being photographed, often without the owner’s knowledge. Companies are deploying drones, manned airplanes and high-altitude balloons to take images of properties. No place is shielded: The industry-funded Geospatial Insurance Consortium has an airplane imagery program it says covers 99% of the U.S. population. The array of photos is being sorted by computer models to spy out underwriting no-nos, such as damaged roof shingles, yard debris, overhanging tree branches and undeclared swimming pools or trampolines. The red-flagged images are providing insurers with ammunition for nonrenewal notices nationwide.

Technology

Apple Plans to Overhaul Entire Mac Line With AI-Focused M4 Chips (Bloomberg🔒)

Apple Inc., aiming to boost sluggish computer sales, is preparing to overhaul its entire Mac line with a new family of in-house processors designed to highlight artificial intelligence. The company, which released its first Macs with M3 chips five months ago, is already nearing production of the next generation — the M4 processor — according to people with knowledge of the matter. The new chip will come in at least three main varieties, and Apple is looking to update every Mac model with it, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced. Apple is aiming to release the updated computers beginning late this year and extending into early next year. There will be new iMacs, a low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and Mac minis — all with M4 chips. But the company’s plans could change.

How a steel ball protected Taiwan’s tallest skyscraper in an earthquake (WP)

When a 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan on Wednesday, people inside the island’s tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101, were protected by a large yellow pendulum at the building’s center that helped absorb the shock. Known as a “tuned mass damper,” the 730-ton steel sphere is suspended between several floors at the top of the building, where it can be viewed by the public. The observatory is a popular tourist attraction in the capital city. The sphere moves back and forth during earthquakes or typhoons that regularly lash the island, absorbing the force of any “violent swinging,” according to the Taipei 101 website. The damper’s engineers say it can curtail the building’s movement by up to 40 percent, reducing the queasiness felt by its occupants. It has a number of other design features that increase its resilience to natural disasters — including 380 piles driven deep into the ground. The deepest is rammed some 30 meters, or almost 100 feet, into the bedrock, which, according to Taipei 101, “is similar to nailing the entire building onto a solid tectonic plate.”

Cyber

5 things to know about the bipartisan data privacy bill (The Hill)

The chairs of the House and Senate Commerce committees unveiled a discussion draft of a long-awaited bipartisan data privacy bill Sunday evening. Efforts to pass a comprehensive data privacy bill have failed in Congress for years, leaving the U.S. behind on protections as global regulators push ahead and state laws try to fill the gaps, creating a patchwork of regulations for tech companies to follow. Seizing on attention to the issue from mounting concerns about the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media platforms’ harms to children, the draft legislation released by House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) seeks to strike a balance to meet the sticking points both sides of the aisle raised in previous debates around data privacy proposals. “A federal data privacy law must do two things: it must make privacy a consumer right, and it must give consumers the ability to enforce that right,” Cantwell said in a statement.

New Tech That Asks ‘Are You Sure About Sending a Nude Photo?’ (WSJ🔒)

It’s far too easy for teens to receive—and send—nude photos. Instagram is now taking a meaningful step to contain the problem, by automatically detecting and blurring nudes in its direct-messaging service. These images, real or fake, can cause emotional anguish, schoolwide humiliation and even financial harm. In recent months, “sextortion” scams have ensnared thousands of teenage boys across the U.S. Sending sexual images of minors is also a crime. Instagram users who receive nude images via direct messages will see a pop-up explaining how to block the sender or report the chat, and a note encouraging the recipient not to feel pressure to respond. People who attempt to send a nude via direct messages will be advised to be cautious and receive a reminder that they can unsend a pic. The new feature—to be tested in the coming weeks and expected to roll out globally over the next few months—will be on by default for accounts with birth dates corresponding to teenagers, said Instagram’s parent, Meta Platforms. Teens can disable it if they want. Adult accounts will be encouraged to enable the feature.

With $6.6B to Arizona hub, Biden touts big steps in US chipmaking (VOA)

President Joe Biden on Monday announced a $6.6 billion grant to Taiwan’s top chip manufacturer to produce semiconductors in the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona, which includes a third facility that will bring the foreign tech giant’s investment in the state to $65 billion. Biden said the move aims to perk up a decades-old slump in American chip manufacturing. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which is based in the Chinese-claimed island, claims more than half of the global market share in chip manufacturing. The new facility, Biden said, will put the U.S. on track to produce 20% of the world’s leading-edge semiconductors by 2030. The immense value of these tiny chips has fueled fierce competition between the U.S. and China. The U.S. Department of Commerce has taken several steps to hamper China’s efforts to build its own chip industry.

Price of zero-day exploits rises as companies harden products against hackers (TechCrunch)

Tools that allow government hackers to break into iPhones and Android phones, popular software like the Chrome and Safari browsers, and chat apps like WhatsApp and iMessage, are now worth millions of dollars — and their price has multiplied in the last few years as these products get harder to hack. On Monday, startup Crowdfense published its updated price list for these hacking tools, which are commonly known as “zero-days” because they rely on unpatched vulnerabilities in software that are unknown to the makers of that software. Companies like Crowdfense and one of its competitors, Zerodium, claim to acquire these zero-days with the goal of reselling them to other organizations, usually government agencies or government contractors, which claim they need the hacking tools to track or spy on criminals. Crowdfense is now offering between $5 million and $7 million for zero-days to break into iPhones; up to $5 million for zero-days to break into Android phones; up to $3 million and $3.5 million for Chrome and Safari zero-days, respectively; and $3 million to $5 million for WhatsApp and iMessage zero-days.

Life

Arizona Supreme Court reinstates near-total abortion ban from 1864 (BBC)

The Arizona Supreme court has ruled that the state can enforce a 160-year-old near-total abortion ban. The 1864 law - which precedes Arizona becoming a state - makes abortion punishable by two to five years in prison, except when the mother's life is at risk. The ruling could shutter all clinics in the state, and affect both women's healthcare and the coming election. Arizona voters may be able to undo the ruling in a November referendum. The decision follows months of legal wrangling about whether the pre-statehood law could be enforced after years of dormancy. Many argued it had been effectively nullified by decades of state legislation, including a 2022 law that allows abortions until 15 weeks of pregnancy.

3 Men Rescued from Pacific Island After Writing ‘Help’ With Palm Leaves (NYT🔒)

Three men who were stranded on a remote Pacific island for more than a week were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after spelling out “HELP” on a beach using palm leaves. The lost men were found on Pikelot, an uninhabited island about 100 miles northwest of their home, alongside their damaged boat on Sunday by an American military aircraft, the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam said in a statement.

Education

Biden canceling student debt for more than 277,000 borrowers (The Hill)

President Biden announced on Friday he would be canceling debt for more than 277,000 borrowers. The administration is forgiving $7.4 billion for borrowers in more than 40 states in the latest debt relief program, bringing the total amount of student loan cancellation over Biden’s presidency to $153 billion. The latest loan forgiveness initiative is coming through various income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, including the president’s newly established SAVE program. Biden’s loan forgiveness actions have largely targeted public service workers, those on IDR plans, borrowers defrauded by their schools and people with disabilities. This latest debt relief effort builds on Biden’s announcement earlier in the week to forgive loans for those on IDR plans, people who participated in low-financial-value education programs, individuals experiencing hardship and borrowers whose debt has grown due to unpaid interest.

Harvard, Caltech Reverse Course and Reinstate Standardized Tests (Bloomberg🔒)

Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology said they plan to reinstate the SAT or ACT as requirements for admission, joining a growing group of elite US schools returning to standardized tests after a pause prompted by the pandemic. Harvard said the new policy will apply to students seeking admission in fall 2025, backtracking from an earlier decision to make testing optional for several more years. Caltech also said Thursday it would require applicants to submit scores when they apply this fall, a year before its moratorium on testing had been set to expire.

If You Didn’t Get Into [an Ivy League], a Public School Is the Better Investment (Bloomberg🔒)

Almost everyone wants to go to an Ivy League school. But if you don’t get in — and most don’t — your next best option isn’t necessarily the most prestigious college that accepted you. A Bloomberg News analysis of more than 1,500 nonprofit four-year colleges shows the return on investment at many elite private institutions outside the eight Ivies is no better than far-less selective public universities. In fact, the typical 10-year return on investment of the so-called “Hidden Ivies” — a list of 63 top private colleges — is about 49% less than the official Ivies and 9% less than states’ most prominent universities, known as public flagships. That’s according to ROI calculations provided by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, which relied on publicly available tuition and earnings data of graduates who accepted federal financial aid, meaning the analysis doesn’t include information on those who paid out of pocket.

Health

EPA puts limits on 'forever chemicals' in drinking water (NPR)

The Environmental Protection Agency announced new drinking water standards Wednesday to limit exposure to a class of chemicals called PFAS. "There's no doubt that these chemicals have been important for certain industries and consumer uses, but there's also no doubt that many of these chemicals can be harmful to our health and our environment," said EPA administrator Michael Regan in a call with reporters. This is the first time the agency has set enforceable limits on PFAS in drinking water. PFAS stands for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances – a large group of man-made chemicals that have been used since the 1940s to waterproof and stainproof products from clothing, makeup and furniture to firefighting foam and semiconductors.

Quebec man has two healthy fingers amputated to relieve 'body integrity dysphoria' (National Post)

Ever since he was a child he’d had “incessant,” intrusive thoughts about his left hand’s fourth and fifth fingers, the sensation that they weren’t his, that they didn’t belong to his body. At night, he’d wake from nightmares that his fingers were burning or rotting. The young Quebec man was so desperate to get rid of his fingers he contemplated building a small, makeshift guillotine. “He couldn’t imagine himself living for the years to come with those fingers,” according to a recently published case report. Instead, a surgeon at his local hospital agreed to an elective amputation in what is being called the first described case of “digits amputation” for body integrity dysphoria, or BID, a rare and complex condition characterized by an intense desire to amputate a perfectly healthy body part, such as an arm or a leg.

Hilary Cass: Weak evidence letting down children over gender care (BBC)

Children have been let down by a lack of research and "remarkably weak" evidence on medical interventions in gender care, a landmark review says. The Cass Review, published on Wednesday by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, calls for gender services for young people to match the standards of other NHS care. She says the "toxicity" of the debate around gender meant professionals were "afraid" to openly discuss their views. NHS England says it has already made significant progress in making changes. The Cass Review, which looked at gender identity services for under-18s, was commissioned by NHS England in 2020 after a sharp rise in the number of patients referred to the NHS who were questioning their gender. It was announced after whistle-blowers raised concerns about care at the Gender Identity and Development Service (Gids) - which was the only specialist gender clinic for children and young people in England and Wales. Gids closed last week, four years after it was rated as "inadequate" by inspectors.

Entertainment

Beyoncé Achieves Eighth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘Cowboy Carter’ (Billboard)

She’s the first Black woman ever to have led the Top Country Albums list, dating to its January 1964 inception. Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter gallops in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 13), debuting with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 4, according to Luminate. It’s the superstar’s eighth No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200.

Sports

Paris Olympics lifts intimacy ban for athletes and is stocking up on 300,000 condoms (CBS)

The intimacy ban that had been in place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has been lifted for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the Olympic village, where the athletes stay during the event, will be stocked with 300,000 condoms, Laurent Michaud, director of the village, told Sky News. In an interview about the upcoming games, which will be held in the French capital from July 26 to Aug. 11, Michaud said they are preparing for 14,250 residents at the village and are aiming to have 300,000 condoms for the athletes.

NOTE: 300,000 / 14,250 = 21

NCAA Women Beat Men in Finals’ Ratings for First Time—but Got 99% Less TV Money (WSJ🔒)

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament final Sunday drew more viewers than the men’s final for the first time in history, fueled in part by Iowa standout Caitlin Clark’s rise to superstardom and marking a stunning moment for the sport. But that won’t be reflected in the money each side earned for TV rights: $6.5 million for the women’s tournament and $873 million for the men’s. Sunday’s women’s final attracted 18.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen, almost four times what the women’s final drew just two years ago. The last basketball game to be watched by more people was the 2019 NCAA men’s final between Virginia and Texas Tech, which drew 19.6 million viewers. Monday’s NCAA men’s final between Connecticut and Purdue was watched by 14.8 million.

Bill Murray’s Son Designed UConn’s Offense. It’s No Joke. (WSJ🔒)

If the University of Connecticut were living in “Groundhog Day,” it probably would look a little something like their last two NCAA tournament runs. Always on the sidelines is Dan Hurley, stomping and hollering about the tiniest mistakes. Always on the scoreboard, UConn is holding a double-digit lead. A major reason for the Huskies’ never-ending loop of NCAA tournament triumph is an assistant coach who has designed their unstoppable offense. He also happens to be Bill Murray’s son. Luke Murray may have grown up as the scion of comedy royalty, but his gift is for the X’s and O’s of the hardwood. When he joined Hurley’s program in 2021, UConn hadn’t won a single tournament game in five seasons. Now, the Huskies can’t lose.

For Fun

Why AI Chess Bots Are Virtually Unbeatable (ft. GothamChess) (Wired)

"I got checkmated in 34 moves." Levy Rozman a.k.a. GothamChess plays chess against Stockfish 16, the strongest chess computer in the world, and analyzes the way it thinks in order to apply it to his own gameplay. With help from computer chess software engineer Gary Linscott, these chess pros identify why Stockfish is virtually unbeatable by a human, from opening move to endgame.

Have a great weekend!

The Curator

Two resources to help you be a more discerning reader:

AllSides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

Media Bias Chart - https://www.adfontesmedia.com/

Caveat: Even these resources/charts are biased. Who says that the system they use to describe news sources is accurate? Still, hopefully you find them useful as a basic guide or for comparison.

Curated Compositions

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