Good morning. It's Thursday, Sept. 24, and protests broke out across the US last night after Kentucky prosecutors released their charging decision in the shooting of Breonna Taylor. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Louisville Erupts

Thousands protested in major cities across the country last night after prosecutors declined to directly charge officers in the March shooting of Breonna Taylor. In Louisville, Kentucky, where Taylor was killed, at least 46 people were arrested and two police officers were shot. Both are in stable condition and recovering, and a suspect has been arrested. The officers were said to be investigating reports of gunfire and a large crowd just blocks east of the state courthouse; few details on the incident were available as of early this morning.

One officer, former Detective Brett Hankison was charged with three felony counts of wanton endangerment, not directly related to Taylor's death, but instead for firing multiple shots that traveled through a wall and into the adjacent apartment. Hankison was terminated in June, and the neighboring family filed suit.

Taylor was killed during a midnight no-knock raid on her apartment. Though her name and residence were on the warrant (case fact-check), she was considered a soft target with police having located the prime suspect. Taylor was shot multiple times when her boyfriend exchanged gunfire with officers, believing them to be intruders. Her death became a central rallying cry for racial and social justice protests that have gripped the nation.

Experts had previously said the case presented a number of legal tangles that would make it difficult for prosecutors to prove officers acted with excessive force.

J&J Reaches Phase 3

Pharmaceutical and consumer goods giant Johnson & Johnson announced yesterday its COVID-19 vaccine candidate has entered Phase 3 clinical trials, becoming the fourth company to reach the final stage of testing. Officials said 60,000 volunteers will receive the single-shot drug—an advantage over Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca, whose Phase 3 candidates each require two staggered doses. The approach uses an engineered version of a much weaker bug, adenovirus 26—a technique also being used to fight Zika and Ebola. Results are expected by early 2021.

Separately, new data provide cautious optimism ($$, WashPo) for K-12 school reopenings. A new nationwide dashboard released its first batch of tracking data, showing two-week infection rates at 0.08% for students and 0.15% for staff, at or below the surrounding community rates. Figures are expected to rise as bigger school districts begin shifting to in-person schooling; find the continuously updated dashboard here. 

The US has reported 6.93 million total COVID-19 cases as of this morning, with 201,909 deaths. See rolling averages for both here and here.

Justice Targets 230

The Justice Department submitted a proposal to Congress yesterday that would modify longstanding protections for a number of internet behemoths including Facebook, Google, Twitter, and others. 

The draft legislation targets Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see overview), which effectively treats internet companies as publishing intermediaries not responsible for lawful content posted by others. The law also protects companies from editing or deleting content broadly defined as objectionable—if done in good faith—even if otherwise protected by the First Amendment. The changes would narrow the protections, potentially opening up companies to lawsuits for moderating anything not explicitly illegal. 

Nearly 75% of Americans believe platforms exhibit bias in content moderation, though experts say users often misunderstand policies and fail to distinguish between legitimate content and mis- or disinformation. 

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Disney pushes back fall releases for several films including Marvel’s “Black Widow” and Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” amid pandemic (More) | New York City Metropolitan Opera will remain closed until September 2021 due to the coronavirus (More)

> Gale Sayers, legendary NFL running back and Pro Football Hall of Famer, dies at 77 (More) | Iconic French chef and restaurateur Pierre Troisgros dies at 92 (More)

> Michael Jordan to be majority owner of new NASCAR team led by Bubba Wallace, the lone Black driver in NASCAR’s Cup Series (More) | Wallace wins Stan Musial award for extraordinary character (More)

Science & Technology

> Tesla sues Trump administration over tariffs on Chinese-made electronic components in its autopilot software, described as the "brain" of its self-driving vehicles (More) | California to phase out new sales of gasoline-powered cars by 2035 (More) 

> Researchers find direct link between the maternal microbiome and fetal brain development; mouse study shows metabolites produced in mother's gut travel into the pups' brains, facilitating the growth of brain neural axons (More)

> Astronomers turn the first-ever photo of a black hole into a time-lapse video using old data; analysis reveals changes in the black hole's accretion disk (More)

Business & Markets

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> US stock markets down (S&P 500 -2.4%, Dow -1.9%, Nasdaq -2.7%) as September sell-off continues (More)

> United Wholesale Mortgage, America’s largest wholesale mortgage lender, to go public via largest-ever SPAC led by Gores Holdings at $16B valuation (More)

> Prescription drug coupon website GoodRx shares surge 53% in first-day trading to near $20B valuation, as IPO parade continues (More)

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Politics & World Affairs

> Former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at the Supreme Court, with public viewing continuing through today (More) | More than 100 former clerks greet casket on arrival (More) | See photos (More)

> Senate Republicans release interim report on investigation into Hunter Biden's, son of Joe Biden, role with Ukrainian energy firm; highlights significant conflict of interest with the role, but no specific influence on US policy (More) | Full report here (More, PDF)

> Alexander Lukashenko, embattled authoritarian Belarus president, sworn in for sixth term in secret ceremony amid monthslong protests over election fraud (More)

IN-DEPTH

Human Extinction: A Timeline

MIT Press Reader | Thomas Moynihan. Only in recent centuries has the idea of human extinction—while the rest of the universe continues on, nonplussed—been seriously considered. Walk through 2,500 years of events that have shaped humanity's view of its own demise. (Read)

Bot or Not

Real Life | Brian Justie. How the evolution of the ubiquitous CAPTCHA authentication box reflects the ever closing distinction between real users and AI-powered bots. (Read)

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ETCETERA

TIME releases its list of the year's 100 most influential people.

Ranking 2020's happiest states.

Eiffel Tower empties over bomb hoax.

This whale shark (and some freeloaders) tops the years best underwater photos.

The best places to camp across the country.

Uncle Ben's reveals its new name.

Satellite images reveal why beavers are nature's firefighters. ($$, NatGeo)

The gig economy moves into evictions.

Clickbait: "Cake Boss" suffers horrific bowling accident.

Historybook: Author F. Scott Fitzgerald born (1896); American astronomer Charlotte Moore Sitterly born (1898); Devils Tower is proclaimed the first American national monument (1906); "Muppets" creator Jim Henson born (1936); Honda Motor Company founded (1948); RIP Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel (1991).

"In any case you mustn't confuse a single failure with a final defeat."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Tender is the Night"

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