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| Need To Know. |
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| The Giving Pledge. |
Billionaire MacKenzie Bezos pledged to give away half her $36B fortune to charity yesterday, joining a growing list of ultra-wealthy individuals who have signed onto the Giving Pledge. Bezos, an award-winning author who became one of the five richest women in the world following her recent divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, had previously launched Bystander Revolution, an anti-bullying organization in 2014. The Giving Pledge was launched in 2010 by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet, and now counts 204 of the world's richest people, with signatories from 23 countries (see full list). 18 others committed to join the effort yesterday along with Bezos, including American investor Paul Tudor Jones and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton.
Read Bezos' letter announcing her intent to join the pledge here. |
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| Major Opioid Lawsuit Begins. |
A landmark case implicating pharmaceutical companies in the nation's ongoing opioid epidemic began yesterday, with Oklahoma state prosecutors blasting Johnson & Johnson over what they believe were deceptive marketing practices. The case, seen as a litmus test for nearly 2,000 other lawsuits across the country, alleges that pharmaceutical companies downplayed the addictive nature of prescription opioid painkillers despite longstanding scientific research. According to officials, this fueled a rise in overdose deaths from illegally-obtained prescription drugs like fentanyl, which is 100 times more potent than morphine, and illegal street drugs like heroin. Prosecutors argued that J&J was in part responsible for over 46,000 deaths in the state since 2009 (explore by state). The case originally included Purdue Pharma and Teva Pharmaceutical, but the former settled in March for $270M and the latter settled on Sunday for $85M.
According to studies, over 80% of heroin users began by abusing prescription opioids. |
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| Indiana Abortion Law. |
| Weighing in on a years-long debate, the Supreme Court partially reversed a lower court's ruling on a controversial Indiana abortion law while leaving most of the decision intact. Among other provisions, the 2016 law required that fetal remains be either cremated or buried (as opposed to being disposed of as medical waste) and prohibited abortions based on the child's sex, race, disability, or other factors. A federal judge overturned the law, signed by now-Vice President Mike Pence, in 2016 - the Justices said requirements for fetal tissue handling may go into effect, but allowed the lower's courts striking of abortion restrictions to stand. The Court said it was making no judgment on the law, saying that is had not been considered by a Court of Appeals. Elsewhere, the last abortion clinic in Missouri may close by the end of the week unless the state renews its operating license, while legislators in Illinois passed an expansive abortion rights law. Finally, streaming giant Netflix said it would consider ending filming in Georgia if new abortion restrictions go into effect. |
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| In The Know. |
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| Sports, Entertainment & Culture. |
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> Ellen DeGeneres reveals that she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather as a teenager (More)
> Tony Horwitz, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Civil War author and historian, dies at age 60 (More) |
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> Kit Harrington, the actor who played the lead character in HBO's Game of Thrones, checks into wellness center following finale (More)
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| Science & Technology. |
| > New diabetes diagnoses in the US fell from 1.7 million to 1.3 million between 2009 and 2017, despite obesity rates continuing to rise (More) |
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| > New analysis shows global fishing fleets have doubled since 1950, but catch only 20% the amount of fish for comparable efforts (More) |
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| > Google funded secretive $10M project to investigate cold fusion beginning in 2015; projects failed but made advancements in measurement technologies (More) |
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| Business & Markets. |
| > Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba looks to raise $20B through a Hong Kong listing, build an investment war chest (More) |
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| > Payment technology giants Global Payments and Total System Services (TSYS) to merge in deal valued at $21.5B (More) |
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| > Tobacco stocks fall – Altria (owner of Phillip Morris) down 4%, British American Tobacco down 5% - as cigarette sales fall 11% in latest 4-week period; total cigarette sales have declined for 18 consecutive months (More) | US consumer confidence jumps in May (More) |
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| Politics & World Affairs. |
| > US identifies the remains of 6 Korean War soldiers handed over by North Korea; 49 soldiers left to be identified (More) |
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| > Japanese man injures 17, kills 2 after attacking a group of schoolgirls at a Tokyo bus stop; officials yet to uncover a motive (More) |
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| > 12 injured after tornadoes strike outside Kansas City (More) | US tornado reports are on a historic pace, with over 500 spotted in May (More) |
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"Change is the law of life."
- John F. Kennedy |
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