Monday, August 8th, 2022
51-50 Climate Vote, Job Market Surprise & Amazon Buys Roomba
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Zocdoc.com/newsworthy and Thrivecausemetics.com/newsworthy
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to review the latest happenings...
Inflation Reduction Act Advances
The U.S. Senate passed a bill that includes the largest climate investment in American history. More than $300 billion will be invested in energy and climate reform. Then, there’s the healthcare part of the bill. It lets Medicare negotiate the prices of certain expensive drugs and extends subsidies for millions of people who use the Affordable Care Act. The third big issue in the bill is tax reform. Among other things, it creates a 15% minimum tax for corporations that make $1 billion or more. Every Senate Democrat voted “yes”, but all Republicans voted against it, saying it will hurt the economy.
Read More: Senate Dems, White House, Politico, WSJ, NPR, AP, Axios
New Indiana Abortion Law
A new Indiana law makes abortion illegal at every stage of pregnancy. There are exceptions if the life or health of the mother is seriously at risk. Also, victims of rape and incest can get an abortion, just not once they’re more than 10 weeks pregnant. If a doctor doesn’t follow these rules, they can face up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Indiana’s governor says it makes “progress in protecting life”, but the new law is getting backlash. For example, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly said it will have to look outside the state for growth opportunities because of the law.
Read More: Gov. Holcomb, Indy Star, WaPo, NY Times, Fox Business
Albuquerque Muslim Killings
Authorities say it’s possible a serial killer has been targeting Muslim people in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four men of the faith have been murdered there in the last nine months, and police say there are things in common in all of the cases. Now, state authorities are putting extra law enforcement at New Mexico mosques. The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service are helping local police with the investigation. Also, the largest Muslim civil rights group in the country is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information that could lead to the killer.
Read More: APD, Abq Journal, NY Times, NY Post, Reuters
Israel-Palestinian Violence
This weekend brought the worst fighting between Israel and Palestinian forces in more than a year. Before a recent ceasefire, at least 44 people were killed in Gaza, including a top Palestinian militant. Israeli forces have been attacking the region with airstrikes, and Palestinian militants have been responding by attacking Israel with hundreds of rockets. Egypt stepped in as a mediator and was able to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire. However, it’s not clear if it will hold.
Read More: Reuters, BBC, Sky News, NY Times
Attacks on Ukrainian Power Plant
Explosions shook Europe’s largest nuclear plant. It’s in a Ukrainian city that’s been overtaken by Russian forces. Each side has blamed the other for attacking the plant. The fighting has destroyed some power grids, but authorities say no radiation has leaked. Still, the United Nations atomic agency is trying to get a team out to assess the plant just in case. Ukraine’s nuclear regulator said, “This time, a nuclear catastrophe was miraculously avoided, but miracles cannot last forever.”
Read More: IAEA, NY Times, WSJ, Politico
More Ukraine Grain Shipments
More grain shipments have been able to leave Ukraine, meaning the international deal meant to ease global food shortages and prices has been working. The latest ships are headed to Turkey, Italy, Ireland, the UK, Lebanon, and China. However, there is a long way to go before Ukraine can clear the backlog. Remember, before this deal, Russia had been blocking Ukraine’s ports for months, leaving roughly 20 million tons of grain stuck.
Read More: AP, CNN, Politico, Reuters
Surprising Jobs Report
The latest jobs report served up some big surprises. Economists thought about 250,000 jobs were going to be added in July, but the U.S. ended up adding more than double that: 528,000. The numbers were strong in almost every type of business. It also means all 22 million jobs lost at the start of the pandemic have been recovered. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, matching its lowest level in decades.
Read More: BLS, WSJ, CBS News, NY Times, NPR
Amazon to Buy iRobot
Amazon is looking to clean up with a $1.7 billion deal to buy the maker of the Roomba. The all-cash deal between Amazon and iRobot needs to be approved by regulators and shareholders. If it goes through, it will be Amazon’s fourth-largest acquisition. It would expand Amazon’s presence in smart home devices and consumer robotics. Last year, Amazon rolled out an at-home robot called Astro which monitors your home and can help with other tasks, but it doesn’t clean. iRobot launched the Roomba in 2002 and now makes robotic mops, air purifiers, and more.
Read More: Amazon, TechCrunch, CNBC, Bloomberg, NY Times
Meta’s New AI Chatbot
Meta wants you to chat with its new artificial intelligence bot and offer your feedback. People can type messages to BlenderBot 3, whether it’s a simple conversation or asking it questions like a digital assistant. Meta says the bot can search the internet, and users can click on its responses to see where the information came from. It can also remember what someone says to it. While BlenderBot is still a prototype, Meta will store conversations and feedback and says it plans to publish that information. Because of that, people are discouraged from putting in personal information like names, addresses, or birthdays.
Read More: Meta, The Verge, CNET, Business Insider
Test it Out: BlenderBot
Weekend Box Office
The most popular movie at the box office is now an action comedy with some big-name stars. We’re talking about ‘Bullet Train’ starring Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, and Bad Bunny. It brought in more than $30 million in the U.S. and Canada in its opening weekend. That was enough to top the charts, but it wasn’t a slam dunk for the movie studio, considering it cost $90 million to make.
Read More: Deadline, Reuters, AP, Variety
‘Top Gun’ Topples ‘Titanic’
Even though the latest ‘Top Gun’ movie isn’t at the top of the box office anymore, it’s still bringing in big money and making history. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was released in May. Since then, it has brought in $662 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada. That means the movie has toppled ‘Titanic’ as the seventh-highest grossing movie of all time. That said, it still has a long way to go before claiming the top spot. That one still belongs to ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’.
Read More: Variety, TMZ, Forbes, Cinema Blend
Money Monday: Most Valuable Sports Team
The most valuable sports team in the world is a team that hasn’t won a championship in decades. A new report from Sportico says the Dallas Cowboys have an estimated value of $7.6 billion. That’s nearly $2 billion more than the Los Angeles Rams, who won the Super Bowl last year. One Sportico reporter says it’s because the Cowboys have the largest fanbase in the country. Also, football is so popular that the NFL is the richest sports league in the world.
Read More: Sportico, CBS Sports, Axios, The Guardian