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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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| New Dawn for NAFTA. |
Negotiators from the US and Mexico reached a tentative agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement with an updated deal. NAFTA, which governs nearly $1T in annual trade, is meant to eliminate virtually all tariffs between the US, Mexico, and Canada. The US-Mexico talks focused on so-called "rules of origin" for automobiles. Previously, a vehicle was not subject to any tariffs if at least 62.5% of its parts came from NAFTA countries - that number will be raised to 75% in the new agreement. The deal also requires at least 40% of the components of each auto to be made by workers making at least $16 per hour - more than double (paywall) the average wage of Mexican auto workers. The deal allows Mexico to maintain tariff-free access to US markets, while the US auto sector will be somewhat more competitive through domestic sourcing and higher labor costs. Canadian officials, who sat on the side while the two countries talked, will now hammer out remaining issues with the US.
Stock markets hit new highs on the news. |
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| New Type of Brain Cell Discovered. |
Researchers identified a new type of brain cell that had escaped observation to date and is not found in mice, according to results published yesterday. The newly-discovered cells are neurons - nerve cells that transmit information via electrical and chemical signals - and were termed "rosehip neurons" due to their bushy structure and unusually large tips. The cells appear to make up only about 10% of the neurons in the upper layer of a part of the brain known as the cortex (see diagram). While scientists are unsure of their function at this point they are being categorized as inhibitory neurons - meaning they can block the signaling between other cells located throughout the brain. The new findings may lead to better understanding of psychiatric disorders, among other advances.
The human brain has stunningly complex circuitry, containing roughly 86 billion nerve cells. |
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| UN Officially Accuses Myanmar of Genocide. |
| United Nations investigators concluded that Myanmar's government carried out genocide against the country's Rohingya minority population, according to a report released yesterday. The report (read in full here) said that the country's Commander-in-Chief, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, and five other generals should be prosecuted for leading systematic killing and rape throughout Rohingya villages during a 2017 purge that drove nearly 700,000 into neighboring Bangladesh. International groups estimated that nearly 43,000 people were killed during the exodus, with the military carrying out a number of atrocities, from the burning of entire villages to wholesale murder of civilian women and children. The Muslim minority had accounted for 1.1 million people in the majority-Buddhist country prior to the violence. |
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| In The Know. |
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| Sports, Entertainment & Culture. |
| > Simona Halep becomes first #1 seeded woman in Tennis history to lose opening match at US Open (More) | See full Round 1 results (More) |
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| > Football star JJ Watt announces $41.6M raised for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, an all-time record for a crowdsourcing campaign (More) |
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| > New details emerge on Disney's streaming service including a 2019 release date and cheaper price point than Netflix (More) |
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| Science & Technology. |
| > Studies show that THC from marijuana use accumulates in breast milk, can be present up to six days after use (More) |
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| > Astrophysicists say Jupiter’s growth was delayed by 2 million years due to collisions with kilometer-sized meteorites (More) |
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| > Duke University study shows direct link between happiness and reduced mortality rates in people aged 60 and older (More) |
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| Business & Markets. |
| > Toyota to invest $500M in Uber to jointly develop ridesharing technology (More) | Uber to shift focus on scooters and e-bikes for short, inner-city rides in effort to reduce number of cars in cities (More) |
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| > US Dept. of Agriculture to provide $4.7B in direct payments to farmers to offset losses related to tariffs (More) |
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| > Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway invests ~$350M for 3-4% stake in Indian digital payment firm Paytm; first Indian investment for Berkshire Hathaway (More) |
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| Politics & World Affairs. |
| > Top government official overseeing federal student loan portfolio resigns, cites political differences with leadership (More) |
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| > US Army will test over 40,000 homes located on bases following report that children were exposed to high levels of lead for decades (More) | Read report (More) |
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| > US warns Saudi Arabia that it may pull support from war in Yemen following a strike that killed over 40 children on a school bus (More) |
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| In Depth. |
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| Prisoner of War. |
| US News | John McCain. In case you missed it in yesterday's digest, this first-person account from John McCain detailing his nearly five-and-half-years in a Hanoi prison is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the forces behind his 30 years in the Senate. A gripping - and, at times, grim - portrait of an American hero who put others first, even in his lowest moments. (Read) |
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| Halfway to Boiling. |
| The Guardian | Jonathan Watts and Elle Hunt. Climate change may be driving global temperatures slowly upwards, but city infrastructure - buildings, lack of vegetation, asphalt - is creating urban hot spots around the world. While 50°C (122°F), the temperature at which human cells begin to cook, used to be unheard of, it is becoming increasingly common around the world. (Read) |
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| Etcetera. |
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| John McCain's final letter to Americans. |
| Republicans and Democrats agree they can't agree on basic facts. |
| HBO releases teaser trailer for Season Three of True Detective. |
| The best national parks to tour for eye-popping autumn colors. |
| Breaking down how much celebrities and billionaires make by the hour. |
| The songs of the summer according to streaming music numbers. |
| The ten most dog-friendly cities across the country. |
| A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO breaks the world auction record for cars, going for $48.4M. |
| Clickbait: A dolphin in heat is terrorizing tourists at a French beach. |
| Historybook: Black teen Emmett Till lynched for allegedly flirting with a white woman (1955); MLK delivers ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in DC (1963); HBD Shania Twain (1965); HBD LeAnn Rimes (1982); Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorce (1996). |
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"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Martin Luther King Jr. |
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