The Full Belmonte, 7/26/2022
Then-President Donald Trump arrives at the ‘Stop The Steal’ rally on January 6, 2021.
“Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to return to Washington, DC, today for the first time since leaving office. He is set to make a speech at a policy summit for former aides and officials from his administration. Trump's appearance comes in the wake of fresh evidence from the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot and new testimony released by the committee that revealed the then-President crossed out lines in a speech condemning lawbreakers. President Joe Biden also fired off his harshest criticism yet of his predecessor, saying law enforcement officers on January 6 were subject to a ‘medieval hell’ for three hours while Trump watched the violence unfold.” Read more at CNN
“Two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence testified last week to a federal grand jury in Washington investigating the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the highest-ranking officials of the Trump administration so far known to have cooperated with the Justice Department’s widening inquiry into the events leading up to the assault.
The appearances before the grand jury of the men — Marc Short, who was Mr. Pence’s chief of staff, and Greg Jacob, who was his counsel — were the latest indication that the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the events surrounding and preceding the riot is intensifying after weeks of growing questions about the urgency the department has put on examining former President Donald J. Trump’s potential criminal liability.
The testimony of the two Pence aides marked the first time it has become publicly known that figures with firsthand knowledge of what took place inside the White House in the tumultuous days before the attack have cooperated with federal prosecutors.” Read more at New York Times
President Biden at a virtual meeting with CEOs and labor leaders Monday to discuss a bill boosting the manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
“The first major prescription drug legislation in nearly 20 years. More than $50 billion to subsidize computer chip manufacturing and research. A bill that would enshrine protection for same-sex marriage.
After a turbulent stretch in which much of President Biden’s legislative agenda seemed to be foundering, the president and his party may be on the cusp of significant wins in Congress that the White House hopes will provide at least a modest political boost.
Most politically resonant is a bill to let Medicare negotiate drug prices, a hugely popular idea that Democrats have been pursuing for more than 20 years. Even before that — possibly within days — Congress is likely to pass a bill providing $52 billion to the U.S. semiconductor industry, intended to bolster the U.S. economy and cut China’s influence. ‘We’re close, so let’s get it done,’ Biden said of the bill on Monday. ‘So much depends on it.’” Read more at Washington Post
“Indiana lawmakers reconvened on Monday to consider more restrictions on abortion, the first state to hold a special session with the goal of potentially curtailing abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Indiana's Senate Republicans, who have control of the state's legislature, said they hope to have a final vote on the abortion ban by Friday. If passed, the bill would go into effect on September 1. Although many states nationwide are examining their laws after Roe v. Wade's reversal, particular attention has been paid to Indiana after a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio crossed state lines to get an abortion. Separately, medical students at the University of Michigan are receiving attention on social media for walking out of their induction ceremony to protest a keynote speaker with anti-abortion views.” Read more at CNN
“Since testing positive for Covid-19 last week, President Joe Biden said he is ‘feeling great’ as his symptoms begin to wane. On Monday, Biden's physician said his symptoms had ‘almost completely resolved’ after five days with the illness. ‘So far, everything's good,’ Biden said, adding that he's been participating in various tests every evening, checking ‘everything, from the temperature to the oxygen in my blood, to my pulse.’ The White House has sought to underscore that Biden's symptoms have been mild because he is vaccinated and boosted, and he began a course of the antiviral Paxlovid as soon as he tested positive. Separately, two key moderate senators -- Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska -- said they have tested positive for Covid-19.” Read more at CNN
“KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to a Russian courtroom on Tuesday for her drawn-out trial on drug charges that could bring her 10 years in prison if convicted.
The trial of the two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury standout began July 1 but only four sessions have been held, some them lasting only a few hours. In one of them she acknowledged that she was carrying vape canisters containing cannabis oil when she was arrested at a Moscow airport in mid-February, but said she had no criminal intent.
The slow-moving trial and her five months of detention have raised strong criticism among teammates and supporters in the United States, which has formally declared her to be ‘wrongfully detained,’ a designation sharply rejected by Russian officials.
Griner was arrested amid high U.S.-Moscow tensions ahead of Russia sending troops into Ukraine later that month. Some supporters contend she is being held in Russia as a pawn, possibly for a prisoner swap. American soccer notable Megan Rapinoe last week said ‘she’s being held as a political prisoner, obviously.’” Read more at AP News
“ATLANTA — In an embarrassing blow to the prosecutor investigating election interference by former President Donald J. Trump, an Atlanta judge has disqualified District Attorney Fani T. Willis of Fulton County from developing a criminal case against one Trump ally, citing a conflict of interest.
Ms. Willis had recently notified State Senator Burt Jones, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia, that he could face indictment. But on Monday, Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court barred her from pursuing a case against Mr. Jones because she had headlined a June fund-raiser for his Democratic rival in the race.
Mr. Jones was one of 16 pro-Trump ‘alternate electors’ in Georgia who were sworn in on the same day as the state’s legitimate presidential electors, who cast their votes for Joseph R. Biden Jr. Ms. Willis’s office had recently warned the pro-Trump electors, as well as another state senator and the head of the Georgia Republican Party, that they could face charges in the matter.” Read more at New York Times
“Jared Kushner, former President Donald J. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while he was serving in the West Wing, he wrote in an upcoming memoir set to be published next month….
Mr. Kushner wrote that the cancer was caught ‘early’ but required removing a ‘substantial part of my thyroid’ and that he was warned that there could be lingering damage to his voice.
His illness was one of the few pieces of information that did not leak out of one of the leakiest White Houses in modern memory.
Mr. Kushner wrote little in the book about why he did not make the information public, other than to say he worked to make sure a small circle was aware of it.” Read more at New York Times
“A 37-year-old woman was taken into custody on Monday after she fired several rounds inside Dallas Love Field Airport in Texas and was shot and injured by a police officer, the authorities said.
No other injuries were reported, the police said, but the shooting sent travelers scrambling for cover and delayed several flights.
The woman was dropped off at the airport just before 11 a.m. and appeared to change her clothes in a restroom before emerging and opening fire inside the airport, Chief Eddie Garcia of the Dallas Police Department said at a news conference on Monday afternoon.” Read more at New York Times
“AUSTIN, Texas — The far-right conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones spread lies for years about the Sandy Hook school shooting, saying it was staged by the government and that the families of the victims were complicit in the hoax. Juries will now decide in three separate trials how much Mr. Jones must pay for the suffering he caused.
The first trial begins on Tuesday in Austin, where Mr. Jones and his Infowars website are based. Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of Jesse Lewis, 6, who died at Sandy Hook, will testify to the torment they suffered after Mr. Jones implied on his show in 2017 that Mr. Heslin’s televised recollection of cradling Jesse’s body shortly after the shooting was false. The family has since endured years of accusations and threats.
Lenny Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, the parents of Noah Pozner, the youngest Sandy Hook victim, are scheduled to testify at a second trial in September in Austin. That same month, the families of eight other Sandy Hook victims will testify at the third trial, in Connecticut.” Read more at New York Times
“Democrats are reacting with immense scrutiny to Republicans' opposition to codifying same-sex marriage, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg becoming the latest Democrat to chime in on the hot button issue. Buttigieg, who is gay, recently reacted to comments from Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who said it's a ‘stupid waste of time’ to vote on a bill that protects same-sex marriage. ‘If [Rubio's] got time to fight against Disney, I don't know why he wouldn't have time to help safeguard marriages like mine.’ While the Democrat-led House of Representatives last Tuesday voted to pass a bill that would enshrine protections for same-sex marriage into federal law, it still remains unclear whether the bill can pass the Senate. And in an interesting turn of events, Republican congressman Glenn Thompson attended his gay son's wedding last week, three days after opposing the bill in the US House that would protect same-sex marriage.” Read more at CNN
Time To Reform 135-Year-Old Law?
“The Electoral Count Act governs the counting of the Electoral College votes used to determine presidential winners. The 19th-century law was at the root of Donald Trump’s effort to steal a second term in the White House.
Now, a bipartisan group of senators is behind legislation to update the law, and it appears they’re on the brink of the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Senate filibuster.
The package of two bills — which have won the approval of pro-democracy groups and election law professors — features the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act. That bill would specify that the vice president has a purely ministerial role in counting Electoral College votes, raise the threshold in Congress to object to states’ votes, clarify that each state can only submit one slate of electors, and establish that only one official per state can certify those electors. It would also provide a legal pathway for aggrieved candidates to challenge results, with expedited appeal to the Supreme Court, among other steps.
‘I think this very well could be the most important thing this Congress does, and for some of these senators, might be the most important thing they do in their career,’ Michael Thorning, director of governance at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said Thursday.
The proposal does have its critics, who imagine among other things a scenario in which a Republican governor declares an election’s winner contrary to the vote count. Others respond that the law prepares for this.” Read more at Talking Points Memo
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff and security officials aren’t ruling out plans for her to visit Taiwan in early August on a trip that has already stoked more US-China tensions and could come within days of an expected call between President Joe Biden and Xi.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Daily record highs are expected to be broken Tuesday from Northern California to the metro areas of Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The temperatures in Portland could top 100 degrees, making it likely the hottest day of a week-long heat wave for the Pacific Northwest region that rarely sees such scorching weather. Forecasters issued an excessive heat warning for parts of Oregon and Washington state. As the Northwest heats up, the Northeast appears ready to cool down. From Maine to Washington, D.C., severe storms were lined up over the busy urban corridor Monday. As the front pushes southeastward into Tuesday, the Northeast will finally be able to enjoy calm, seasonable weather, AccuWeather said.” Read more at USA Today
Amir Brown, 15, tries to cool down while helping his mother set up a stand selling cold drinks near the National Mall on Friday, July 22, 2022, in Washington.Nathan Howard, AP
“The Disney-backed streaming service Hulu is refusing to run political ads on central themes of Democratic midterm campaigns, including abortion and guns, prompting fury from the party’s candidates and leaders.
The streaming service popular among younger voters, which has a policy against running content deemed controversial, is like other digital providers in not being bound by the Communications Act of 1934, a law that requires broadcast television networks to provide politicians equal access to the airwaves.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Governors Association tried to purchase joint ads on abortion and guns with Hulu on July 15, along with identical placements on a Disney-affiliated ABC affiliate in Philadelphia and the company’s cable sports channel ESPN. The Hulu ads never ran, while the others did.” Read more at Washington Post
“Big announcement? | Donald Trump’s keynote speech this afternoon for the America First Policy Institute could be the moment he announces he’s running for president again in 2024. But for his supporters, it’s not about the if, but the when. As Mario Parker and Diego Areas Munhoz report, a lot will depend on his volatile temperament.
A speech by his former vice president, Mike Pence, was postponedlast night due to bad weather in D.C. Pence is scheduled to speak at another gathering today.
Declaring a run presents Trump with a quandary, because once he does, federal law will put $103 million he controls as the head of the Save America political action committee beyond his reach.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Angry workers | Britain’s next prime minister will inherit the worst relations with unions and workers since the 1970s, with millions of public sector employees angry their pay is slipping behind inflation. As Philip Aldrickwrites, discord among government workers is likely to be the most immediate legacy for Boris Johnson’s successor as unions sound out members including teachers and nurses about walking off the job this autumn.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak attacked each other’s plans for the UK economy in their first head-to-head debate of the campaign to replace Johnson.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Energy angst | European Union countries expect to reach a political agreement on emergency regulation today that could force 15% cuts in gas consumption through the winter if Russia halts deliveries. Many member states are skeptical about making the voluntary target binding, highlighting concerns over the potential impact on companies and consumers.
Russian gas giant Gazprom will cut shipments via the Nord Stream pipeline — the main link to the EU — to about 20% capacity tomorrow, raising worries that Moscow will use supplies to undermine Europe’s support for Ukraine as winter approaches.” Read more at Bloomberg
“MASKWACIS, Alberta (AP) — Pope Francis issued a historic apology Monday for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s ‘catastrophic’ policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed families and marginalized generations.
‘I am deeply sorry,’ Francis said to applause from school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta. He called the school policy a ‘disastrous error’ that was incompatible with the Gospel and said further investigation and healing is needed.
‘I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,’ Francis said.
In the first event of his weeklong ‘penitential pilgrimage,’ Francis traveled to the lands of four Cree nations to pray at a cemetery and then deliver the long-sought apology at nearby powwow ceremonial grounds. Four chiefs escorted the pontiff in a wheelchair to the site near the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, and presented him with a feathered headdress after he spoke, making him an honorary leader of the community.” Read more at AP News
“Power switch | South African President Cyril Ramaphosa turned to the private sector to end a 14-year-old electricity crisis that the government has failed to resolve. Companies will be allowed to build power plants of any size without a license to meet their own needs and to sell energy to the grid, the boldest move yet to end blackouts that have prompted stinging criticism of Ramaphosa and the ruling party.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The IMF’s outlook. The International Monetary Fund releases its updated World Economic Outlook today after weeks of warning of further downgrades to global economic growth. The IMF already slashed its estimate to 3.6 percent growth following the war in Ukraine. Earlier in July, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warned that the outlook since April had ‘darkened significantly,’ and did not rule out a global recession coming by the end of the year.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Macron in Cameroon. French President Emmanuel Macron begins an official visit to Cameroon today where he is expected to meet with President Paul Biya. Macron’s travels take him to Benin and Guinea-Bissau later this week. An unnamed French presidential official said Macron’s trip is meant to show that the French president will make Africa a ‘political priority’ in his second term.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Myanmar’s executions. World leaders have condemned Myanmar’s military junta for executing four pro-democracy activists on terrorism charges on Monday. Those killed include Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former lawmaker with Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party. It was the first use of capital punishment in the country in decades.
A joint statement from the European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Britain and the United States described the executions as ‘reprehensible acts of violence that further exemplify the regime’s disregard for human rights and the rule of law.’” Read more at Foreign Policy
Former Australian rugby league player Ian Roberts gestures during a red carpet event for the movie premiere of ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ at the Entertainment Quarter in Sydney, Australia, Monday, June 27, 2022. Roberts, who in the 1990s was the first high-profile rugby league player to come out as gay, said he was not surprised, Tuesday July 26, 2022, that seven Manly Sea Eagles players withdrew from a National Rugby League match because they're unwilling to wear their club's inclusion jersey. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
“SYDNEY (AP) — Seven Manly Sea Eagles players have withdrawn from a National Rugby League match in Australia because they’re unwilling to wear their club’s inclusion jersey.
The jersey has rainbow stripes and a rainbow collar — in place of the regular white sections — to support LGBTQ inclusion in sports, and the club plans to use it for one game against Sydney Roosters.
Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler on Tuesday said seven players advised club officials that wearing the pride jersey conflicts with their cultural and religious beliefs.
‘The players will not play on Thursday and we accept their decision,’ Hasler said. ‘These young men are strong in their beliefs and convictions and we will give them the space and support they require.’
‘The playing group are solid and understanding of each other’s views. As a club we will wear the jersey on Thursday night.’
Josh Aloiai, Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu, Josh Schuster, Haumole Olakau’atu, Tolu Koula and Toafofoa Sipley are not available for selection on Thursday. NRL squads contain 13 starting players and four on the interchange bench for each game.” Read more at AP News
“The heat waves blasting Europe this summer have killed many people and forced thousands of others from their homes. They are also threatening an industry central to much of the continent’s way of life: wine. Vineyard owners worry that extreme weather including drought, frost and hail, and increasingly intense heat, may lower yields by 25% or more for some vintages, and signal conditions could become worse.” Read more at Bloomberg
Smoke surges from vineyards in Pumarejo in northwest Spain on July 18. Photographer: Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images
“Noxious fumes | Dumps and landfills near South Asian megacities are huge emitters of methane, highlighting a major challenge in the global climate fight. More clouds of the greenhouse gas — which has 84 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere — were spotted in India than any other country except for the US during the first half of this year, according to satellite observations. Pakistan ranked fourth and Bangladesh sixth.” Read more at Bloomberg
The Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi on July 1. Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg
The debate over inflation often treats it as a uniquely American problem. It’s not.
A food market in Warsaw.Maciek Nabrdalik for The New York Times
Worldwide problems
“Inflation has dominated the news about America’s economy in recent months as prices for food, gas and other goods have increased faster than they have in four decades.
But inflation is a global phenomenon right now — and the U.S. has actually fared better than other countries in recent months. In June, consumer prices in the U.S. increased 9.1 percent over the previous year; they increased 9.6 percent across the E.U. in the same time period.
Chart showing annual change in Consumer Price Index each month up to June 2022. | Source: O.E.C.D.
Much of the public discussion about inflation in the U.S. has focused on domestic problems, particularly President Biden’s policies. Critics argue that the American Rescue Plan, the pandemic relief bill that Biden signed into law 16 months ago, has supercharged consumer demand by sending $1.9 trillion to Americans, state governments and other programs. As higher demand has chased limited supplies of goods, prices have soared.
The law has certainly played a role in increased inflation, economists say. But the global trends suggest that focusing solely on the U.S.’s role misses a big part of the story — how external forces have driven up prices, too.
In today’s newsletter, I want to look at the main causes of inflation and why they might be difficult to fix.
Common causes
The big factors that drove up inflation in the U.S. also affected the rest of the world: the disruption of supply chains by both the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and soaring consumer demand for goods.
But increasing inflation has played out differently in different countries, said Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard University. The U.S.’s earlier, bigger price spike had different causes than Europe’s more recent increase. (Countries differ in how they calculate price changes, but economists still find comparisons of the available data useful.)
In the U.S., demand has played a bigger role in inflation than it has elsewhere. That is likely a result of not just the American Rescue Plan but also economic relief measures enacted by Donald Trump. Altogether, the U.S. spent more to prevent economic catastrophe during the pandemic than most of the world did. That led to a stronger recovery, but also to greater inflation.
In Europe, supply has played a bigger role. The five-month-old war in Ukraine was a more direct shock to Europe than it was to the rest of the world, because it pushed the continent to try to end its reliance on Russian oil and gas. That prompted Europe’s recent jump in inflation.
‘The U.S. is trying to cool down an overheating economy,’ my colleague Eshe Nelson, who covers economics from London, told me. ‘That is just not the situation in Europe.’
What to do
Some of the causes of inflation are in policymakers’ control. Governments can reduce their own spending to reduce demand. Central banks can raise interest rates to increase the cost of borrowing money and, as a result, push down demand — as they have started to do in the U.S. and Europe. In the longer term, investments into, say, clean energy and housing can limit the impact of future supply crunches.
But other causes are outside policymakers’ control. The European Central Bank, which sets policy for 19 of 27 E.U. countries, has acknowledged it can only do so much to fight inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ‘The war is obviously something no central bank can do anything about,’ Eshe said.
The same is largely true for the trajectory of the pandemic, which now mainly depends on the evolution of new variants.
All of that puts policymakers in a bind: They can address part of the inflation problem, but not all of it. That will limit how much policy can bring down price increases in the coming months.” Read more at New York Times
Related
“The Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting today and is expected to announce another big interest-rate increase.” Read more at New York Times
“Is the U.S. in a recession? It’s hard to say.” Read more at New York Times
“Prices are soaring in Ukraine, adding economic havoc to the war’s human toll.” Read more at New York Times
“A former Goldman Sachs banker was accused of passing insider trading information to a squash buddy, part of a group of nine people charged Monday by federal prosecutors in New York.” Read more at Bloomberg
“A new generation is dramatically reshaping the internet — rejecting and rebuking the social networks they grew up with, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes.
Why it matters: The social hierarchies created by decades of public ‘like’ counts — and the noise generated by clickbait posts and engagement lures — have worn on Gen Z. Constant pivots by social media giants have eroded younger users' trust.
Gen Z (born 1997 to 2012, so roughly, ages 10 to 25) is the only generation to see recent declines in social media use, the Pew Research Center found.
It reported less use of every social media app last fall, except for TikTok, according to Piper Sandler's most recent Gen Z consumer survey.
State of play: Today, Gen Z users network across an array of smaller apps, each with a distinct function — Twitch for live-streaming and gaming, Discord for private chat groups, BeReal for spontaneous updates, Poparazzi for candid photos of friends.
What's happening: In a world where users are more concerned about online privacy and public interactions are more scrutinized than ever, younger users have become much more deliberate about how they present themselves online, forcing social giants to become far less social.
Reproduced from Pew Research Center. Chart: Axios Visuals
The big picture: The pandemic forced Gen Z users, many of whom were living at home, to create stronger communities online.
Unlike the early social networks (MySpace, Friendster and Facebook), these communities don't start with friends. They are created by people — often strangers — with shared interests.
What's next: Many of the biggest tech firms have distanced themselves from the toxicity of social media as regulators circle.
TikTok says it's an ‘entertainment platform.’ Snapchat calls itself a ‘camera company.’ Meta says it's a ‘metaverse’ company.” Read more at Axios
“Lives Lived: Paul Sorvino played calm but dangerous men, most notably in “Goodfellas.” He was also a trained tenor, singing on Broadway and in the New York City Opera. Sorvino died at 83.” Read more at New York Times
“Hybrid work reduced attrition rates at a large technology firm by 35% and improved self-reported work satisfaction scores—with no negative impact on performance ratings or promotions, according to a new study.” Read more at Bloomberg
“A young female walrus has chosen Norway's capital Oslo as her holiday destination for 2022.
Onlookers spotted the marine mammal clambering onto boats - which often look like they are about to capsize under her not inconsiderable 600kg (94 stone) heft - to nap in the sun.
Nicknamed Freya after the Norse goddess of love, she has become something of a celebrity in the country.
It is thought this may be the latest European stop-off for the mammal.
There have also been sightings reported in the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.
But she first caught people's attention in Norway when she was spotted climbing onto boats in the southern coastal town of Kragero in June.” Read more at BBC
“The world’s most iconic dinosaur is undergoing an identity crisis.
In February, a team of scientists posited that Tyrannosaurus rex was actually three distinct species. Instead of there being only one sovereign ‘tyrant lizard king,’ their paper made the case for a royal family of supersized predators. Joining the king in the genus Tyrannosaurus would be the bulkier and older emperor, T. imperator, and the slimmer queen, T. regina.
The proposed T. rex reclassification struck the paleontology community like an asteroid, igniting passionate debates. On Monday, another team of paleontologists published the first peer-reviewed counterattack.
‘The evidence was not convincing and had to be responded to because T. rex research goes well beyond science and into the public sphere,’ said Thomas Carr, a paleontologist at Carthage College in Wisconsin and an author of the new rebuttal. ‘It would have been unreasonable to leave the public thinking that the multiple species hypothesis was fact.’
The earlier team of researchers have anticipated the rebuttal, which was published in the journal Evolutionary Biology. Gregory Paul, one of the authors of the original study, is working on another paper and says many of the rebuttal’s claims are outlandish.” Read more at New York Times
“The Q, a celebrity-backed, multilevel nightclub in New York was meant to be a gamechanger for the city's nightlife by being as inclusive and welcoming as possible. Instead, what ended up being built was far more controversial. A lawsuit by a former employee alleges one of the event producers used racist, transphobic and generally discriminatory language and took advantage of young gay men who came to the club.” Read more at NPR
“Shark Week, a Discovery Channel staple, is now more than 30 years old. NPR's Linda Holmes reflects on how it became a household name.” Read more at NPR
Samantha Bee attends the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony at the Kennedy Center on April 24. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)
“After seven seasons of bold jokes and witty monologues, the Emmy-nominated late-night show ‘Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’ was canceled Monday by TBS.” Read more at Washington Post
“Third time's a charm: The XFL league is returning once again, and it's expanding to three new cities.” Read more at NPR
This Week in History
July 26, 1945
“British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigned.
His Conservative government lost the election shortly before World War II ended; the Labour Party’s landslide victory made Clement Attlee the new P.M. In his farewell message, Churchill expressed his ‘profound gratitude for the unflinching and unswerving support which they have given me.’ Earlier this month, current P.M. Boris Johnson made international headlines for resigning amid scandals.” Read more at Wall Street Journal