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| All your news in a single email. We scour 100+ sources so you don't have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and more - all packaged in a 5-minute read below. |
| Need To Know. |
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| Anime Attack in Japan. |
| 33 were killed and 36 others injured after a man attacked a Japanese anime production studio yesterday, spraying flammable liquid around the interior before setting the crowded office on fire. The attack resulted in Japan's deadliest fire in the past two decades and the worst mass killing in the country since World War II. The 41-year-old assailant, who tried to escape after igniting the blaze but was hobbled by smoke inhalation, was detained by police and hospitalized. Officials have not revealed any motive. The target of the attack, Kyoto Animation, is one of the country's most beloved anime producers - the genre is a stylized animation that often appeals to both adults and children (see 101). The studio is responsible for revered works (paywall, NYT) like Lucky Star and Free!, among others. The #PrayForKyoAni hashtag had nearly 300,000 tweets as of last night. |
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| One Small Step. |
Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the first time a human being set foot on the Moon, as the Apollo 11 crew descended in their lunar rover on July 20th, 1969. Three astronauts - Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins - made the three-day, 240,000-mile trip. Only Armstrong and Aldrin stepped on the surface, as Collins remained operating the command module during the 21-hour operation. Armstrong and Aldrin spent the time collecting materials for study and setting up a solar wind experiment - Aldrin, a devout Christian, took communion shortly after stepping onto the lunar surface. In total 12 people have reached the Moon, all through NASA's Apollo program, with the last being the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The launch occurred in the middle of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, and came 10 years after the Soviets successfully landed an uncrewed craft on the Moon's surface.
See the plaque left by the Apollo 11 crew on the moon's surface. |
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| Second Democratic Debates. |
The Democratic National Committee released the lineups for the second round of primary debates last night, with former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (CA) set to face off again on the debate's second night. An exchange on Biden's record on school segregation punctuated the first round of debates (watch here) - Biden opposed federally mandated busing to facilitate racial integration, while Harris, as a student, was bused to school. The lineup for the debates, scheduled for July 30-31st in Detroit, will be mostly unchanged from the first round, with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock replacing Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15) who dropped out. Sen. Cory Booker (NJ) will join Harris and Biden on the second night, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), Bernie Sanders (VT), and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg headline the first night.
Elsewhere in DC, President Trump plans to tap Eugene Scalia, son of former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, as Labor Secretary. |
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| In The Know. |
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| Sports, Entertainment & Culture. |
| > Sesame Street, actress Sally Field among 2019 Kennedy Center Honorees for lifetime achievement in the arts (More) | See a full list of honorees by year (More) |
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| > Special effects coordinator, Warren Appleby, dies in stunt accident on set of comic book TV show Titans (More) |
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| > Paul McCartney developing musical-adaptation of classic film It's A Wonderful Life; planned for a late 2020 opening in London before eventually heading to Broadway (More) |
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| Science & Technology. |
| > Researchers discover new cell type, found in the fluid sac around the heart, that helps heal heart injuries in mice (More) |
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| > Hacker charged after nearly every adult in Bulgaria has their information stolen; officials call hacker a "wizard", experts say cybersecurity was simply inadequate (More) | Google ends Project Dragonfly, its attempt at building a censored search engine for the Chinese market (More) |
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| > Scientists show triggering just a few brain cells in mice is enough to stimulate the visual cortex, with mice reacting as if they've seen an image (More) |
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| Business & Markets. |
| > US House passes federal minimum wage raise to $15/hour by 2025, still needs to pass Senate (More) |
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| > Boeing will take $4.9B charge for 737 MAX grounding disruptions, shares down 2% (More) |
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| > Earnings Season: Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations on strong cloud revenues, shares up ~3% in after-hours (More) | Morgan Stanley beats expectations on strong wealth management performance (More) |
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| Politics & World Affairs. |
| > Former Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi arrested on corruption charges, accused of arranging improper natural gas contracts while in office (More) |
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| > In latest escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran seizes tanker for alleged oil smuggling; tanker thought to be based out of the United Arab Emirates (More) | US officials report shooting down an Iranian drone, say action was defensive (More) |
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| > Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein denied bail, will remain in prison until sex trafficking trial begins (More) |
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| Weekend Reads. |
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| The New Race to the Moon. |
| Time | Jeffrey Kluger. Humans haven't set foot on the Moon in almost 50 years. Now, dueling billionaires are racing to be the first to get back. (Read) |
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| The Corruption Investigation that has Shaken South Africa. |
| The Guardian | Mark Gevisser. Gavin Watson and his family were regarded as heroes in the fight against apartheid, but after a video surfaced showing Watson counting out cash bribes for South African government officials, the family's flawless reputation hit a wall. (Read) |
| How North Korea’s Leader Gets His Luxury Cars. |
| NYT | Edward Wong and Christoph Koettl. Despite sanctions which are intended to keep luxury items out of North Korea, Kim Jong-un shows still travels in the most expensive Mercedes-Benzes he can find. (Read, paywall) |
| An Epidemic of Disbelief. |
| The Atlantic | Barbara Bradley Hagerty. A staggering number of rape kits go untested each year, helping to allow sexual predators to remain free. Is the backlog made worse by the skepticism of investigators? (Read) |
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"Our life's journey is really about the people who touch us."
- Stuart Scott |
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