This week in the news | 13 July 24
News from the past week, and a few other things.
👋 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
The world’s population is projected to peak at around 10.29 billion people in 2084 before declining to 10.18 billion by 2100, according to the United Nations (WSJ 🔒)📊.
North America
Harvard reversed its decision to suspend five students for participating in a pro-Palestine encampment, downgrading their suspensions to probations of varying lengths following a Faculty Council appeal (The Crimson). Mayor Eric Adams announced New York City's first official trash bin rollout, requiring secure latching lids on trash bins for residential buildings to combat the growing rodent problem (ABC7NY).
Europe
A coalition of the French left won the most seats in the legislative elections, preventing a far-right surge but resulting in a hung parliament and political paralysis (AP). The French government is relocating thousands of homeless immigrants out of Paris ahead of the Olympics, with many ending up in unfamiliar areas or flagged for deportation (NYT 🔒). Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that F-16 fighters from Denmark and the Netherlands are now en route to Ukraine, with operations expected to start this summer (Air & Space Forces). President Joe Biden announced a new $225 million military aid package for Ukraine, including advanced missile systems and artillery rounds, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit (VOA).
Middle East
The United States does not expect policy changes from Iran under its new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remaining the key decision-maker (VOA). Yemen’s Houthi rebels likely fired an Iranian-made missile at a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea in December, linking the attack to Tehran (AP).
Africa
Three West African countries, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, have withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to form their own confederation, destabilizing the region (NYT 🔒)📊. Kenya faces a $26 billion debt challenge over the next decade with limited options for raising funds (Bloomberg 🔒).
East Asia
Japan and the Philippines signed a defense pact allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint drills in response to increasing concerns over China (AP).
Space
Two astronauts aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, which has faced multiple technical issues, remain confident in its ability to return them safely to Earth, with a possible return by the end of July (AP). Researchers in Japan have developed the world’s first wooden satellite LignoSat, which aims to reduce pollutants released by re-entering satellites (WSJ🔒).
Economy
U.S. inflation cooled for the third straight month in June, potentially paving the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates soon (AP)📊.
Business
Abercrombie has successfully rebranded, now generating more revenue than during its peak in the early 2000s, with sales reaching $2.2 billion last year (The Cut). Wendy’s and Jersey Mike’s franchise owners in California are reducing hours and jobs to offset labor costs from the new $20 minimum wage (NY Post).
Real Estate
Home insurers are pushing for rate increases and weakened consumer protections, with states increasingly conceding to their demands (WSJ 🔒)📊. Title insurance costs for homeowners are seen as disproportionate to the risk they cover, with new initiatives looking to waive the need for such insurance on low-risk mortgage refinancings (WSJ 🔒). Distressed investors see opportunities in the U.S. commercial property market, with significant funds targeted at North America (Bloomberg 🔒)📊.
Technology
NATO is financing a project to reroute internet traffic to satellites in the event of attacks on subsea cables, aiming to ensure uninterrupted communication during disruptions (Bloomberg 🔒).
Cyber
Hackers stole phone call records of nearly all AT&T Wireless customers, affecting over 100 million individuals (WP🔒).
Artificial Intelligence
Microsoft has resigned from its board seat at OpenAI amid intensifying antitrust scrutiny of its AI partnership (AP).
Life
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, both from rich Indian families, have been celebrating their engagement for seven months (CNN).
Education
Confidence in higher education among Americans has dropped to 36%, with many feeling the system is headed in the wrong direction due to high costs and political debates (AP).
Health
Private insurers under the Medicare Advantage program made numerous questionable diagnoses to secure extra taxpayer-funded payments, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis (WSJ🔒). Nearly half of adult cancer deaths in the U.S. could be prevented through lifestyle changes, according to a new study (CNN)📊. STD diagnoses among seniors increased by nearly 24% during the pandemic, with syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV/AIDS seeing the largest jumps (Axios). Financial struggles, such as missed payments and increased debt, may be early signs of dementia, according to research (Fortune).
Food & Drink
A new type of synthetic butter made from CO2 could lead to food production without farming (New Scientist). Athletic Brewing, a leading nonalcoholic beer brand, has doubled its valuation to around $800 million following a new financing round (WSJ🔒). Researchers in Chile are developing new yeast strains to produce unique flavors in lagers (Economist 🔒).
Nature
Mount Everest’s highest camp is littered with garbage and bodies, with cleanup efforts expected to take years (AP). AI research reveals that sperm whales use a sophisticated communication system similar to a phonetic alphabet (BBC).
Travel
Frontier Airlines ranked worst for customer complaints in 2023, with 32.99 complaints per 100,000 passengers (Forbes🔒)📊. New York will ban single-use plastic toiletry bottles in hotels starting next year, with fines for non-compliance (NYT 🔒). The TSA reported over three million travelers passing through U.S. airport security checkpoints on a single day, setting a new record (WSJ 🔒)📊.
Entertainment
A collaboration between Cypress Hill and the London Symphony Orchestra brought to life a joke from a 1996 episode of "The Simpsons," delighting fans of both the band and the show (NYT 🔒).
Sports
Ollie Watkins’ 90th-minute goal sent England to the Euro 2024 final, thrilling fans with a dramatic win (AP). The 663rd Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Championships in Turkey saw Yusuf Can Zeybek retain his title after nearly an hour of grappling under the blazing sun (AP)📊.
For Fun
The Yard on Governors Island offers a unique adventure playground for kids, providing materials for building, exploring, and destroying in a safe, supervised environment (Gov Island)📊.
THE SLOW BREW ☕
A more relaxed approach to the summaries.
World
Earth’s population should peak before the end of the century (WSJ🔒) 📊
The world’s population is growing more slowly and will peak at a lower level than previously projected, new estimates from the United Nations show. The Earth will top out at around 10.29 billion people in 2084, before declining to 10.18 billion by 2100, the U.N. said in biennial population estimates released Thursday. That compares with the Earth’s population in July 2023 of 8.09 billion.
North America
Harvard reverses decision to suspend 5 pro-Palestine protesters following faculty council appeal (The Crimson)
The Harvard College Administrative Board reversed its decision to suspend five students for participating in the pro-Palestine encampment earlier this year after the Faculty Council criticized its handling of the cases. The College informed students on Tuesday of their updated disciplinary charges, which saw the suspensions downgraded to probations of varying lengths, according to a person familiar with the decisions who was granted anonymity to discuss disciplinary matters. The most severe probation charge will last for just one semester, a remarkable change from the initial punishments which required at least one student to withdraw from the College for three semesters. Some students who were initially placed on probation in late May also had the length of their probations reduced.
Mayor Eric Adams unveils first official NYC bin for trash pickup, announces new rule for this fall (ABC7NY)
Mayor Eric Adams was joined by Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Monday morning to unveil New York City's first official trash bin outside of Gracie Mansion. In addition to the new bins, officials announced that starting Nov. 12, landlords with residential buildings with one to nine units will be required to use trash bins with secure latching lids. The city says the containers will keep city streets cleaner by keeping black trash bags off the streets and will help cut the rat population. "They are getting more and more bold," Adams said about the growing rodent problem. "They no longer run from you; they just hang out and just do what they want. And we want to make sure that we change that in a real way."
Europe
French vote gives leftists most seats over far right, but leaves hung parliament and deadlock (AP)
A coalition of the French left won the most seats in high-stakes legislative elections Sunday, beating back a far-right surge but failing to win a majority. The outcome left France, a pillar of the European Union and Olympic host country, facing the stunning prospect of a hung parliament and political paralysis. The political turmoil could rattle markets and the French economy, the EU’s second-largest, and have far-ranging implications for the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability.
France is busing homeless immigrants out of Paris before the Olympics (NYT🔒)
The French government has put thousands of homeless immigrants on buses and sent them out of Paris ahead of the Olympics. The immigrants said they were promised housing elsewhere, only to end up living on unfamiliar streets far from home or flagged for deportation. President Emmanuel Macron of France has promised that the Olympic Games will showcase the country’s grandeur. But the Olympic Village was built in one of Paris’s poorest suburbs, where thousands of people live in street encampments, shelters or abandoned buildings. Around the city over the past year, the police and courts have evicted roughly 5,000 people, most of them single men, according to Christophe Noël du Payrat, a senior government official in Paris. City officials encourage them to board buses to cities like Lyon or Marseille.
F-16 fighters now en route to Ukraine, operations to start this summer (Air and Space Forces)
Much-anticipated F-16 fighters to Ukraine have started, Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed July 10 at the NATO Public Forum held in Washington, D.C. “I’m pleased to announce that as we speak, the transfer of F-16 jets is underway, coming from Denmark, coming from the Netherlands,” Blinken said. “And those jets will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer to make sure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself against the Russian aggression.” While Blinken did not reveal how many fighters will be included in the initial batch, a joint statement from U.S. President Joe Biden, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on July 10 further noted that the nations are committed to “further enhancing Ukraine’s air capabilities, which will include squadrons of modern fourth-generation F-16 multirole aircraft.” A squadron often encompasses a dozen to two dozen aircraft, confirming Kyiv could get several dozen F-16s over the years, in line with previous public pledges from Ukrainian allies. “This is a clear signal that Russia’s ability to terrorize Ukrainian people, cities, and communities will continue to reduce,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a statement on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
Biden announces new $225 million military aid package for Ukraine (VOA News)
President Joe Biden announced a significant new military aid package for Ukraine Thursday at the NATO summit in Washington. The president made the announcement about the $225 million package during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Presidential Drawdown Authority package will include capabilities to help Ukraine to repel Russian forces. Among the items included are a Patriot missile battery, munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS); Stinger anti-aircraft missiles; ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); and 155-millimeter and 105-millimeter artillery rounds. Zelenskyy thanked the president and added that Ukraine also needs some "quick steps ... to lift limitations for our Ukrainian soldiers," a reference to the restrictions that the U.S. places on the use of its weapons.
Middle East
US not expecting policy change from Iran under new president (VOA News)
The United States said Monday that it did not expect policy changes from Iran after voters elected reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, and downplayed chances to resume dialogue. "We have no expectation that this election will lead to a fundamental change in Iran's direction or its policies," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. Miller said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was expected to call the shots in Iran, an adversary of the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution. "Obviously, if the new president had the authority to make steps to curtail Iran's nuclear program, to stop funding terrorism, to stop destabilizing activities in the region, those would be steps that we would welcome," Miller said. Asked if the United States was at least willing to reopen diplomacy with Iran after Pezeshkian's election, Miller said: "We have always said that diplomacy is the most effective way to achieve an effective, sustainable solution with regard to Iran's nuclear program."
Yemen Houthi rebels fired an Iranian missile at Norwegian-flagged ship, debris analyzed by US shows (AP)
Yemen’s Houthi rebels likely fired an Iranian-made anti-ship cruise missile at a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea in December, an assault that now provides a public evidence-based link between the ongoing rebel campaign against shipping and Tehran, the U.S. military says. A report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency released Wednesday linked the attack on the Strinda, which set the vessel ablaze, to Tehran, the Houthi’s main backer in Yemen’s nearly decadelong war. The findings correspond with those of a Norway-based insurers group that also examined debris found on the Strinda. It comes as the Houthis continue their monthslong campaign of attacks over the Israel-Hamas war, targeting ships in the Red Sea corridor, disrupting the $1 trillion flow of goods passing through it annually while also sparking the most intense combat the U.S. Navy has seen since World War II.
Africa
This alliance united West Africa for decades. Now countries are backing out. (NYT🔒) 📊
Three West African countries have broken away from a 15-member regional bloc that has long ensured free movement of people and goods among its tightly knit economies, further destabilizing an area that is home to nearly 400 million people and threatened by violent insurgents. The leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger last weekend announced their “irrevocable and immediate” withdrawal from the bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS. They said that they are creating their own confederation. The three countries, all ruled by military leaders friendly to Russia, span more than half of the bloc’s geographic area and are among its most populous. However, they are not the region’s largest economies, and as landlocked nations, all three depend on access to ports in coastal countries for overseas trade. The three countries share borders, cultural and ethnic ties, and recent political history: Military leaders there ousted civilian governments in coups, accusing them of failing to defeat Islamist terrorist groups. The military juntas sidelined presidents, even locking one up in his residence, and refused to relinquish power or organize elections. As a result, ECOWAS imposed economic sanctions on them, hoping to compel the juntas to restore civilian rule.
Kenya on tightrope as options fade to scale $26 billion debt wall (Bloomberg🔒)
Kenya needs about $26 billion over the next decade to pay off existing foreign debts and there are fewer options to raise that after the nation abandoned plans to increase taxes following deadly protests, analysts said.
East Asia
Japan and the Philippines sign a defense pact in the face of shared alarm over China (AP)
Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact Monday allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint drills in the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II but is now building an alliance with Tokyo as both face an increasingly assertive China.
A short history of Taiwan and China, in maps (Economist🔒)
Just 12 states recognise Taiwan’s government. Others all have relations with the Chinese government in Beijing, and so at least tacitly accept its argument that there is only one China, of which Taiwan is a part. To refer to Taiwan they use purposely vague language, such as “self-governing island”. Even the Taiwanese tread carefully around the subject of their independence—after all, China has warned that a declaration of independence would be grounds for invasion. Our eight maps explain the foundation of Taiwan and its changing relationship with the mainland.
NOTE: Great concise, informative overview.
Space
Astronauts believe Boeing's space capsule will return them safely from ISS (Associated Press)
Two astronauts who should have been back on Earth weeks ago said they're confident that Boeing's space capsule can return them safely, despite a string of vexing breakdowns. NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing's new Starliner capsule early last month, the first people to ride it. Helium leaks and thruster failures almost derailed their arrival at the International Space Station, and have kept them there much longer than planned. Now the earliest they could return may be the end of July, officials said.
Is wood the secret to cleaner, greener space satellites? (WSJ🔒)
When a defunct satellite re-enters Earth’s atmosphere it plunges to a fiery death releasing pollutants such as aluminum oxide, a main byproduct that scientists say depletes the ozone layer. One solution? Make the satellites out of wood. Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut and engineer, and his team at Kyoto University in Japan have invented the world’s first wooden satellite, called LignoSat—a reference to the Latin word for “wood”—which they plan to launch later this year. LignoSat is made of magnolia panels assembled using “sashimono,” the Japanese art of linking wooden pieces together without glue or nails. The box is set into an aluminum frame and houses circuit boards. Solar panels and an antenna are mounted on the outside.
Economy
US inflation cools again, potentially paving way for Fed to cut interest rates soon (AP) 📊
Inflation in the United States cooled in June for a third straight month, a sign that the worst price spike in four decades is steadily fading and may soon usher in interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. In a better-than-expected report, consumer prices declined 0.1% from May to June after having remained flat the previous month, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the first monthly decline in overall inflation since May 2020, when the economy was paralyzed by the pandemic. And measured from one year earlier, prices were up 3% in June, cooler than the 3.3% annual rate in May.
Business
The Unbranding of Abercrombie The Problematic Mall Brand Pulled off the Most Exciting Makeover in American Retail. How? (The Cut)
The Abercrombie brand, once an easy cultural punching bag, now brings in more revenue than it did when it dominated teen culture in the aughts. (Last year, sales reached $2.2 billion.) Its namesake parent company, which also includes the beachy teen retailer Hollister, is now the toast of Wall Street and a curious case study for business reporters. The stock is one of the best-performing of the last two years, with growth outpacing even AI-chip giant Nvidia.
NOTE: Fascinating as a business-strategy case study.
Wendy’s, Jersey Mike’s franchise owners slash hours, jobs to offset labor costs from California’s new $20 minimum wage (NY Post)
Wendy’s and Jersey Mike’s franchise owners in California have cut hours and slashed jobs to offset the spike in labor costs caused by the state’s new $20 minimum wage.
Real Estate
Home insurance premiums are surging—and states are allowing it (WSJ🔒) 📊
Home insurers are pushing for big rate increases and weakened consumer protections—and increasingly getting what they ask for. State regulators across the U.S. appear to be buckling to industry demands for fear that insurers will pack up and exit their regions, leaving residents with few coverage options. In the last 12 months alone, one state has decided its regulator can no longer veto rate requests and another has made it easier for insurers to reduce storm coverage. A third has agreed to expand the types of costs companies can take into account when setting rates. States are also giving home insurers almost everything they ask for on rates, an analysis conducted for The Wall Street Journal suggests. The average state-approved increase since the start of last year is just 0.2 percentage point below the increase requested by the industry, according to the analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The cost of title insurance on homes is out of sync with the risk (WSJ🔒)
Millions of homeowners are forced to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars when they refinance their mortgages to protect against unexpected costs from a challenged property title. Yet claims on such insurance are exceedingly rare. Payouts may only amount to about 3% of overall premiums, according to loss data released by Doma, a financial-technology company that sells title-insurance policies. Doma’s data suggest the cost of title insurance is out of sync with the risk it covers, at least on mortgage refinancings. The obscure insurance product is unavoidable for most homeowners, long required on home loans sold to government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But Fannie late last month formally requested bids from companies to join with it on a pilot program that will waive the need for title insurance on certain mortgage-refinancing transactions seen as low-risk. Often, the borrower in such cases paid for the insurance on an earlier mortgage.
Distressed property buyers seek out ‘exceptional bargains’ (Bloomberg🔒) 📊
Distressed investors see one of the best opportunities in a generation to buy troubled US real estate assets as the commercial property crash continues to roil the market. Private equity firms are already positioning to take advantage. About 64% of the $400 billion of dry powder that the industry has set aside for property investment is targeted at North America, the highest share in two decades, according to data compiled by Preqin.
Technology
NATO backs effort to save internet by rerouting to space in event of subsea attacks (Bloomberg🔒)
NATO is helping finance a project aimed at finding ways to keep the internet running should subsea cables shuttling civilian and military communications across European waters come under attack. Researchers, who include academics from the US, Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland, say they want to develop a way to seamlessly reroute internet traffic from subsea cables to satellite systems in the event of sabotage, or a natural disaster. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Science for Peace and Security Programme has approved a grant of as much as €400,000 ($433,600) for the $2.5 million project, and research institutions are providing in-kind contributions, documents seen by Bloomberg show.
Cyber
AT&T says hackers stole call records of ‘nearly all’ wireless customers (WP🔒)
Hackers stole records detailing the phone contacts of almost all AT&T Wireless customers in one of the most serious breaches of sensitive consumer data in recent years, the company disclosed in a securities filing Friday. The cache includes the numbers called or texted by more than 100 million customers between May 1 and Oct. 31, 2022, as well as one day in January 2023. It contains the numbers themselves as well as the frequency and combined durations of the interactions, but not the customer names or the content of those communications, AT&T said.
Artificial Intelligence
Microsoft quits OpenAI board seat as antitrust scrutiny of AI partnerships intensifies (AP)
Microsoft has relinquished its seat on the board of OpenAI, saying its participation is no longer needed because the ChatGPT maker has improved its governance since being roiled by boardroom chaos last year. In a Tuesday letter, Microsoft confirmed it was resigning, “effective immediately,” from its role as an observer on the artificial intelligence company’s board. “We appreciate the support shown by OpenAI leadership and the OpenAI board as we made this decision,” the letter said. The surprise departure comes amid intensifying scrutiny from antitrust regulators of the powerful AI partnership. Microsoft has reportedly invested $13 billion in OpenAI. European Union regulators said last month that they would take a fresh look at the partnership under the 27-nation bloc’s antitrust rules while British competition watchdogs have also been looking into the deal.
Life
A timeline of the 7-month-long Ambani mega-wedding (CNN)
For better or for worse, days-long wedding events have become common in cultures around the world. Between Friday night cocktail receptions and sore-headed Sunday brunches, what might once have been a half-day affair can now easily envelop three or four days. But a wedding that spans seven months is an outlier — even in the extravagant world of big Indian weddings. On Friday, Anant Ambani — the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, the head of India’s largest private sector corporation, with an estimated net worth of over $122 billion, according to Forbes — and pharmaceutical heiress Radhika Merchant will finally be married. The couple have been celebrating their betrothal since January, averaging an event every six weeks.
NOTE: Um…wow. Definitely worth the read (as long as you’re already married…otherwise it might set you up for outsized expectations).
Education
Is college worth it? Poll finds only 36% of Americans have confidence in higher education (AP)
Americans are increasingly skeptical about the value and cost of college, with most saying they feel the U.S. higher education system is headed in the “wrong direction,” according to a new poll. Overall, only 36% of adults say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education, according to the report released Monday by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation. That confidence level has declined steadily from 57% in 2015. Some of the same opinions have been reflected in declining enrollment as colleges contend with the effects of the student debt crisis, concerns about the high cost of tuition and political debates over how they teach about race and other topics. The dimming view of whether college is worth the time and money cuts across all demographics — including gender, age, political affiliation. The June 2024 survey’s overall finding — that 36% of adults feel strong confidence in higher education — is unchanged from the year before. But what concerns researchers is shifting opinion on the bottom end, with fewer Americans saying they have “some” confidence and more reporting “very little” and “none.” This year’s findings show almost as many people have little or no confidence, 32%, as those with high confidence.
Health
Insurers pocketed $50 billion from Medicare for diseases no doctor treated (WSJ🔒)
Private insurers involved in the government’s Medicare Advantage program made hundreds of thousands of questionable diagnoses that triggered extra taxpayer-funded payments from 2018 to 2021, including outright wrong ones like Lee’s, a Wall Street Journal analysis of billions of Medicare records found. The questionable diagnoses included some for potentially deadly illnesses, such as AIDS, for which patients received no subsequent care, and for conditions people couldn’t possibly have, the analysis showed. Often, neither the patients nor their doctors had any idea. Medicare Advantage, the $450-billion-a-year system in which private insurers oversee Medicare benefits, grew out of the idea that the private sector could provide healthcare more economically. It has swelled over the last two decades to cover more than half of the 67 million seniors and disabled people on Medicare. Instead of saving taxpayers money, Medicare Advantage has added tens of billions of dollars in costs, researchers and some government officials have said. One reason is that insurers can add diagnoses to ones that patients’ own doctors submit. Medicare gave insurers that option so they could catch conditions that doctors neglected to record. The Journal’s analysis, however, found many diagnoses were added for which patients received no treatment, or that contradicted their doctors’ views.
Nearly half of adult cancer deaths in the US could be prevented by making lifestyle changes, study finds (CNN) 📊
About 40% of new cancer cases among adults ages 30 and older in the United States — and nearly half of deaths — could be attributed to preventable risk factors, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society. verall, researchers analyzed 18 modifiable risk factors across 30 types of cancer. In 2019, these lifestyle factors were linked to more than 700,000 new cancer cases and more than 262,000 deaths, the study found. Cancer grows because of DNA damage or because it has a fuel source, Kamal said. Other things — such as genetics or environmental factors — can also create these biological conditions, but modifiable risks explain a significantly larger share of cancer cases and deaths than any other known factors. Exposure to sunlight can damage DNA and lead to skin cancer, for example, while fat cells produce hormones that can feed certain cancers. Potentially modifiable risk factors include: cigarette smoking; second-hand smoke; excess body weight; alcohol consumption; consumption of red and processed meat; low consumption of fruits and vegetables, dietary fiber, and dietary calcium; physical inactivity; ultraviolet radiation; and seven carcinogenic infections.
NOTE: The report can be found here.
STDs jumped nearly a quarter among seniors during the pandemic (Axios)
Diagnoses of sexually transmitted diseases jumped nearly 24% among seniors ages 65 and older during the pandemic, new data provided first to Axios by FAIR Health shows. Sexually transmitted disease diagnoses overall rose roughly 5% among commercially insured patients from 2020 to 2023, according to an analysis of FAIR Health's repository of 47 billion commercial health care claim records. Patients aged 65 and older saw the largest increase (24%) in STD diagnoses during that period, per the claims, which include people covered by Medicare Advantage plans. The next largest increase (about 16%) occurred among patients aged 55 to 64. The STD that saw the biggest jump in diagnoses among all adults was syphilis (29%) followed by gonorrhea (17%) and HIV/AIDS (14%).
Struggling with money? It could be an early warning sign of dementia, ‘remarkable’ new research finds (Fortune)
Falling behind on mortgage payments. Late to pay credit card bills. A declining credit score. Years before people are diagnosed with dementia, they often begin facing these financial problems, new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has found. Analyzing both U.S. credit score reports and Medicare data, the researchers found that in the five years before someone is diagnosed with dementia, they begin acting irresponsibly with their money. The magnitude of these payment delinquencies, combined with the long pre-diagnosis period during which they occur, is “remarkable,” the researchers wrote. “Although not everyone in early stage [Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders] will experience a payment delinquency, for those who do, the scale of the change in delinquency is substantial,” the researchers said. One year prior to diagnosis, average credit card debts increased by more than 50%, while mortgage debt increased by 11%, on average. Particularly, she said to watch out for: Repeated missed payments; Inability to use previously mastered financial technology; Disorganization in handling bills and mail; Errors in check writing or balancing accounts; Forgetting about recent financial transactions
Food & Drink
'Butter' made from CO2 could pave the way for food without farming (New Scientist)
A new type of dietary fat that doesn’t require animals or large areas of land to produce could soon be on sale in the US as researchers and entrepreneurs race to develop the first “synthetic” foodstuffs. US start-up Savor has created a “butter” product made from carbon, in a thermochemical system closer to fossil fuel processing than food production. “There is no biology involved in our specific process,” says Kathleen Alexander from the firm.
America’s biggest nonalcoholic beer brand doubles its valuation (WSJ🔒)
Athletic Brewing continues to ride the wave of Americans drinking less alcohol. The biggest nonalcoholic beer brand in the U.S. has closed a new financing round that values it at around $800 million, people familiar with the matter said. That is roughly double its valuation from just two years ago. Growth-investment firm General Atlantic is leading the $50 million equity-financing round. Athletic, founded in 2017, has quickly ascended the ranks to become the king of nonalcoholic beers. It surpassed competing products from Heineken and Budweiser as the No. 1 nonalcoholic beer brand by sales in U.S. grocery stores, according to an analysis of NielsenIQ data.
New yeast strains can produce untapped flavours of lager (Economist🔒)
As frequent pub-goers will be well aware, beers come in two varieties—lagers and ales. Lagers are brewed at cool temperatures and typically have a crisp taste. Ales, known to be spicy and flavourful, are brewed in the warmth. Both get their distinctive flavours from fermentation—the conversion of sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide—by single-celled fungi known as yeast. Different yeast strains fed the exact same sugary diet will create different flavours of beer. Yet lager-fanciers have been short-changed—there are only 85 strains of lager yeast, compared with 358 strains for ale. If a team led by Jennifer Molinet and Francisco Cubillos at the University of Santiago, in Chile, get their way, though, new types of lager may soon arrive, with completely different aromas and flavours from anything currently on tap.
Nature
Mount Everest’s highest camp is littered with frozen garbage, and cleanup is likely to take years (AP)
The highest camp on the world’s tallest mountain is littered with garbage that is going to take years to clean up, according to a Sherpa who led a team that worked to clear trash and dig up dead bodies frozen for years near Mount Everest’s peak. The Nepal government-funded team of soldiers and Sherpas removed 11 tons (24,000 pounds) of garbage, four dead bodies and a skeleton from Everest during this year’s climbing season.
The sperm whale 'phonetic alphabet' revealed by AI (BBC)
Researchers studying sperm whale communication say they've uncovered sophisticated structures similar to those found in human language. In the inky depths of the midnight zone, an ocean giant bears the scars of the giant squid she stalks. She searches the darkness, her echolocation pulsing through the water column. Then she buzzes – a burst of rapid clicks – just before she goes in for the kill. Sperm whales are not easy to study. They spend much of their lives foraging or hunting at depths beyond the reach of sunlight. They are capable of diving over 3km (10,000ft) and can hold their breath for two hours. "It's easier to translate the parts where our world and their world overlap – like eating, nursing or sleeping," says David Gruber, lead and founder of the Cetacean Translation Initiative (Ceti) and professor of biology at the City University of New York. "As mammals, we share these basics with others. But I think it's going to get really interesting when we try to understand the areas of their world where there's no intersection with our own," he says.
Travel
Frontier ranked worst airline for complaints in 2023 (Forbes🔒) 📊
Through its online complaints and comments portal, the agency’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) received an estimated 61,233 complaints against U.S. airlines last year, breaking the previous record of 47,591 in 2022. Over the past three years, complaints made up an average of 91% of consumer submissions, with the remainder made up of opinions, compliments and information requests. Two ultra-low-cost airlines fared the worst for customer complaints. Frontier Airlines garnered 32.99 complaints per 100,000 passengers, more than twice as many as the next-worst airline, Spirit Airlines (14.76). Rounding out the bottom three was JetBlue Airways (13.32).
With tiny shampoo bottles soon to be banned, N.Y. hotels weigh options (NYT🔒)
Next year, New York will join California as the only two states in the country to ban the little bottles that are ubiquitous in most hotel bathrooms. Washington State has passed a bill to phase out plastic toiletries by Jan. 1, 2027, and other states are weighing similar measures. The New York ban will only apply to hotels with 50 or more rooms. Hotels will be fined $250 for initial violations and $500 for further infractions. The money raised will be funneled to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund. Hotels and motels with fewer than 50 rooms will need to comply with the law beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
Daily travelers passing through U.S. airport security top 3 million for first time (WSJ🔒) 📊
More than three million people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints on [7 Jul] for the first time ever, setting another daily record amid a surge in summer travel. The Transportation Security Administration said 3,013,413 people were screened Sunday, surpassing the previous mark of 2.99 million set on June 23. Some of the busiest air-travel days on record have happened in recent weeks in part due to cheaper flights, a stronger dollar and younger people eager to vacation. But Sunday’s record stands out because it marked the first time the number of daily travelers topped three million. Sunday marked the end of the July 4th holiday weekend that began Thursday.
Entertainment
A ‘Simpsons’ joke comes true for Cypress Hill (NYT🔒)
“Simpsons” fans mixed with Cypress Hill fans on Wednesday at the Royal Albert Hall, a stately concert venue in the English capital, for a one-night-only collaboration between the London Symphony Orchestra and the American hip-hop group. Some were there for beats. Others had come to see a joke become a reality. The evening had been foretold by a 1996 episode of “The Simpsons,” called “Homerpalooza,” in which Homer Simpson takes his family to a festival and then falls in with the stars. In the TV show, a festival employee arrives in a backstage area flanked by tuxedo-clad musicians. “Who is playing with the London Symphony Orchestra?” he calls out. “Somebody ordered the London Symphony Orchestra … possibly while high? Cypress Hill, I’m looking in your direction.”
Sports
WATCH: Fans go wild as Ollie Watkins’ 90th-minute winner sends England to Euro 2024 final (AP)
And, video below shows the goal from every angle.
AP PHOTOS: Oil wrestlers battle for the title in a more than 600-year-old competition in Turkey (AP) 📊
After nearly an hour of grappling with his opponent under the blazing sun, Turkey’s “Tireless Wrestler” was crowned the winner of the 663rd Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Championships. Yusuf Can Zeybek, from the Mediterranean province of Antalya, retained the title he won last year in a contest said to date back to the 14th century. The 30-year-old, who takes his moniker from the endurance he shows in matches, was among 40 wrestlers, or pehlivans, taking part on the final day of the competition Sunday.
For Fun
The Yard - Adventure Playground 📊
The Yard is a kids-only space stewarded by trained playworkers. The main play area is recommended for young people ages 5 to 19 and the family play area welcomes children under 5 with their guardians. The Yard supplies young people with loose parts materials for building, exploring, imagining and destroying. In addition to free weekends, The Yard also offers summer camp, school field trips, birthday parties and special programs, all with adherence to CDC guidelines.
NOTE: We need more play areas like this!
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.