Good morning. It's Wednesday, Sept. 29, and we're covering vaccine mandates in New York, this year's genius grant award winners, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Defense Officials Testify

Top defense officials testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, their first such appearance since the conclusion of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last month. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley defended the administration's exit, which suffered a bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 US troops and 169 Afghans and a mistargeted drone strike that killed 10 civilians. 

Separately, Milley defended discussions he held with China in the waning days of the Trump administration, framing the calls as preemptive efforts to deescalate tensions. Milley, who says senior White House officials were aware of the calls, has been accused of subverting the civilian chain of command for twice conveying to Chinese officials that the US would not attack the country.

Separately, the officials confirmed media reports they had recommended maintaining a troop level near 2,500 in Afghanistan, contradicting earlier comments from President Joe Biden.

In separate news, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers yesterday the department's extraordinary measures to avoid default will expire by Oct. 18, urging a raise in the debt ceiling.

Vaccine Mandates Kick In

Tens of thousands of healthcare workers in New York risk being fired if they remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, as a state mandate went into effect Monday. Roughly 16% of the state's healthcare workers, or about 83,000, aren't fully vaccinated, and an estimated 8% haven't received their first shot. An executive order from Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed Monday allows medically trained National Guard members to fill staff shortages if necessary. Workers fired for being unvaccinated will not be eligible for unemployment. 

Separately, a New York City vaccine mandate for educators in the nation’s largest school district becomes effective after school Friday—the teachers’ union says about 3% of its staff remain unvaccinated. In North Carolina, more than 175 healthcare workers at Novant Health have been dismissed after not complying with the company’s vaccine mandate.

The various mandates have sparked ongoing protests, both in New York and elsewhere.

Capital Gazette Sentence

A gunman who killed five people and injured two others in a mass shooting at the Annapolis Capital Gazette in 2018 was sentenced yesterday to six life sentences plus 345 years in prison. Five of the life sentences are without a chance for parole; the terms are set to run consecutively.

Forty-one-year-old Jarrod Ramos pleaded guilty to all charges, but argued he was not criminally responsible by virtue of insanity. A jury rejected the defense, meaning Ramos will spend life in prison instead of a maximum-security mental health facility. Prosecutors argued the attack was meticulously planned—including barricading an exit route before the attack—preempting an insanity defense. 

The deadliest attack on a newsroom in US history, the shooting was preceded by a yearslong harassment campaign by Ramos after a 2011 article by the Gazette covering a stalking case Ramos was involved in. 

See the victims' profiles here.

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

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> MacArthur Foundation announces its 2021 "genius grants," giving 25 fellows $625K to spend however they choose (More)

> Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama break ground on the presidential library due to open on Chicago's South Side (More)

> Former NFL quarterback and season five Bachelor Jesse Palmer to replace Chris Harrison as host of "The Bachelor" (More) | Connecticut Sun forward Jonquel Jones named 2021 WNBA MVP (More)

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Science & Technology

> Method to count tumor cells circulating in the bloodstream shown to work in mice; technique expected to shed light on metastasis, or the spread of cancer through the body (More) | Want to learn more about cancer? Check out our 1440 resource page here (More)

> Scientists identify genetic modifications unique to identical twins; a series of methyl groups attached to more than 830 genes appear left over from early embryonic development (More)

> White-Black life expectancy gap in the US was cut in half over the past three decades, study finds; average life span difference dropped from seven to three-and-a-half years (More)

Business & Markets

> Ten-year Treasury yields increase to highest level in three months; US stock markets sink (S&P 500 -2.0%, Dow -1.6%, Nasdaq -2.8%) seeing worst day since March (More)

> Amazon unveils Astro, a mobile robot with a 10-inch display, meant to roam around the house; officials say the device combines Amazon's work in robotics, AI, speech and visual recognition, cloud computing, and more (More) | See the company's other new offerings revealed at its fall product event (More)

> Netflix acquires first video game studio, Night School Studio, as it seeks to diversify revenues (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Pfizer/BioNTech submit initial data on COVID-19 vaccine trials in children aged 5 to 11; plan to seek emergency use authorization within a few weeks (More) | New reported US cases fall to 116,000 per day, with daily deaths sitting at 2,000; hospitalizations at 74,000, down 25% since beginning of the month (More)

> Japanese lawmakers select Fumio Kishida to replace outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who stepped down after just one year in office (More)

> Russia opens additional criminal probe into jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny, potentially adding a decade to his sentence; charges relate to Navalny's role with the Anti-Corruption Foundation, deemed an "extremist" group by the government (More)

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ETCETERA

AI program completes Beethoven's unfinished Tenth Symphony.

Surreal scenes mark the year's best street photography.

Netflix reveals the audience size of its most popular shows.

This coonhound has record-breaking ears.

Unreleased John Lennon recording goes up for auction.

Spectacular light shows via coordinated drones.

Meet the first two Black women inducted into the inventors hall of fame.

When slime and mold become art.

Clickbait: ... and when an artist says, "take the money and run."

Historybook: John D. Rockefeller becomes world’s first billionaire (1916); Pope John Paul II is first pope to visit Ireland (1979); Stacy Allison becomes first American woman to climb Mount Everest (1988); HBD basketball star Kevin Durant (1988). 

"If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success."

- John D. Rockefeller

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