9.21.2024

Facts, without motives.
 

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Good morning. It's Saturday, Sept. 21, and in this weekend edition, we're covering the death of a Hezbollah military leader, an alleged drug pricing scheme, and much more. First time reading? Join over 3.9 million readers. Sign up here.

 

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One Big Headline
 

Hezbollah Commander Killed

Senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil was reportedly killed yesterday after Israel hit Lebanon's capital, Beirut, in a rare airstrike. At least 14 people were killed and more than 60 others wounded in the attack, which came after Iran-backed Hezbollah militants struck northern Israel with 140 rockets earlier in the day.

 

Akil was a member of Hezbollah's highest military body called the Jihad Council, and was wanted by the US for his role in the fatal 1983 bombings of the US Embassy in Beirut in April and a Marine Corps barracks in October, which killed a total of 304 people. The US State Department had offered a $7M reward for information leading to the arrest of Akil, who was designated a global terrorist in 2019.

 

The latest attacks come amid escalating tensions, particularly after more than 5,000 Hezbollah-owned communications devices exploded across Lebanon and Syria this week, killing at least 37 people and wounding roughly 3,000. See war updates here.  

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Quick Hits
 

FTC sues drug intermediaries for allegedly inflating insulin prices.

The Federal Trade Commission accuses the three largest pharmacy benefit managers—CVS' Caremark Rx, Cigna's Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth's OptumRx—of illegally overcharging for insulin used by diabetes patients. The three PBMs control 80% of all prescriptions filled in the US, deciding which drugs are covered and often setting patient out-of-pocket costs. 

 

Secret Service identifies failures preceding July Trump shooting.

An agency report released Friday concluded communication failures between local and federal law enforcement contributed to missed opportunities in stopping the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in July during a rally outside Pittsburgh. Problems included ineffective radio transmissions between the Secret Service and local police, as well as failure to place a team on the roof where the shooter was perched.

 

Georgia election board requires November ballots be hand counted.

The state election board ruled 3-2 Friday in requiring local precincts to count ballots by hand and to confirm the figures with the machine counts before certifying the results in the November elections. The new rule could lengthen the time it takes to tally the results in the battleground state (see overview). Separately, early in-person voting kicked off Friday in Virginia, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

 

Researchers reconstruct Earth's climate over 485 million years.

The effort is considered the most rigorous reconstruction of Earth's past climate and offers new insights into the link between carbon dioxide and global temperatures. The findings—based on 150,000 estimates derived from fossil evidence and climate models—show the planet's climate has varied more than previously thought, with the average temperature fluctuating between 52 and 97 degrees Fahrenheit during the Phanerozoic Eon. The Earth's current average temperature is 59 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Sri Lankans to vote today for their next president.

More than 17 million eligible voters in the South Asian island nation are poised to vote for their next president for a five-year term. Nearly 40 candidates are running in the race, with top contenders including Marxist-leaning lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake and current President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is running as an independent. The election comes after Sri Lanka's economy collapsed in 2022, spurring nationwide unrest and prompting the former president to flee the country. 

Humankind
 

Virginia high school students buy a Jeep Wrangler for custodian's birthday. (More

 

Detroit police officer leaps from moving vehicle to rescue man experiencing a medical emergency while driving. (More, w/video)

 

Bride's wedding guests surprise her with flash mob dance to ABBA's "Dancing Queen." (More, w/video) 

 

Ohio twin sisters celebrate their 102nd birthday and emphasize importance of spreading kindness. (More, w/video)

 

Community raises nearly $10K for homeless musician who went viral. (More)

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Humankind(ness)
 

Today, we're sharing a story from reader Phyllis W. in Kieler, Wisconsin.

 

"I was at a grocery store that does not provide free bags. You may bring your own, or purchase them. After I had paid, the cashier was bagging my groceries in the bags I had brought, but there were not enough. I needed one more. The woman behind me in line called out, 'Give her a bag, and put it on my bill.' (Their bags were more than $2.) How generous and unexpected. Thank you, whoever you are."

 

What act(s) of kindness did you experience this week? Tell us here.

Etcetera
 

Bookkeeping

Meet Pesto, the 46-pound baby penguin whose parents weigh 22 pounds.

> University of Tennessee raises football ticket prices by 10% to help pay student athletes in new revenue-sharing plan set to begin in 2025

 

Browse 

> Bite into America's best burgers

> ... and stay at America's best hotels.

> Visualizing how the world's water is distributed

> How people cleaned themselves before soap was invented

> The best recipes for every classic cocktail.

 

Listen 

> Lofi girl: How a YouTube channel featuring lofi music amassed 14 million subscribers and how lofi affects our brains and behavior

 

Watch 

> Fighting workaholism and understanding the addiction to success

> What's in your veins? A deep dive into the science of blood.

> Why you might have been taught to read incorrectly

> How New York City's Central Park features 13,000 years of history.

 

Long Read 

> One man's journey from state prison to a revered San Francisco restaurant.

How the Cold War spurred odd arctic military projects—including a city under ice.

 

Most Clicked This Week: Are you in the US middle class? Calculate your income.

 

Historybook: Science fiction author HG Wells born (1866); "The Hobbit" is published (1937); Actor Bill Murray born (1950); Senate confirms Sandra Day O’Connor as first female Supreme Court justice (1981); Track and field legend Florence Griffith Joyner dies (1998).

"Sometimes, you have to step outside of the person you've been and remember the person you were meant to be. The person you want to be. The person you are."

- HG Wells

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