Good morning. It's Wednesday, July 31, and we're covering the death of a senior Hamas leader, deadly landslides in India, and much more. First time reading? Join over 3.5 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here. |
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Breaking news: Hamas' top political leader outside of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran, according to separate statements from Iran and Hamas. Israel has not commented as of this writing. Read more here. |
At least 123 people were killed and hundreds more injured Tuesday after heavy overnight rains caused landslides in India's southwestern state of Kerala. Hundreds of disaster relief workers and military personnel were conducting rescue efforts amid continued downpours, and over 3,000 people had been evacuated to safety.
At least three separate landslides occurred in the early-morning on the slopes of the Western Ghats in the tourist district of Wayanad, where hundreds of tea and cardamom farmers were asleep in their homes. The rains washed out villages, roads, and bridges near the towns of Mundakkai and Chooralmala (see map), making access for rescuers difficult. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced grants of roughly $2,400 to victims' families. See photos here.
Officials determined over 22 inches of rain fell in Wayanad over two days—roughly 10% of the average annual rainfall. Heavy downpours are common during the region's monsoon season from June to September (watch explainer). In 2018, over 400 people were killed in similar floods in the state. |
Team USA yesterday clinched its first Olympic gold medal in the women's gymnastics team all-around competition since the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Simone Biles—who competed in all four events (bars, beam, vault, and floor) after a calf injury—won her eighth Olympic gold medal and broke her own record as the most decorated gymnast in history. Italy and Brazil finished second and third, respectively. Biles, as well as teammate and defending Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee, will return for the individual all-around competition tomorrow.
In the men’s swimming 800-meter freestyle, Daniel Wiffen became the first athlete from Northern Ireland to win an Olympic gold medal in 36 years, edging American distance swimmer and two-time Olympian Bobby Finke, who won silver. Today, seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky is looking to secure another gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle final.
Separately, Team USA men's soccer advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in 24 years and will face Morocco Friday. Overall, the US became the first country to win 3,000 Olympic medals, following its latest wins from the Paris Olympics. See updated medal count here. |
Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to a $1.4B settlement with the state of Texas over its use of facial recognition technology, marking the largest privacy-related payment to a single state. The lawsuit, filed in 2022, accused Meta of violating Texas privacy laws by collecting and storing biometric data without proper user consent.
The case centered on Facebook's "Tag Suggestions" feature, which used billions of biometric identifiers contained in uploaded photos and videos on Facebook without customers’ consent. The state’s biometric privacy law, which allows damages of up to $25K per violation, prohibits companies from capturing biometric identifiers without informing users and obtaining their consent. The news comes as the state continues to press a separate biometric data lawsuit against Alphabet.
Meta settled a similar $650M class-action lawsuit in 2021 with Illinois for violating the state’s biometric privacy law. Meta stopped using the technology in 2021. |
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In partnership with EnergyX |
Supercharging The Lithium Supply Chain |
Each EV battery needs ~70 kg of lithium—10,000x the amount of a smartphone. With over 1.2 billion EVs needing to be on the road by 2050, current lithium production can’t keep up with that demand.
When EnergyX revealed that their technology could extract up to 300% more lithium than traditional methods, investors everywhere took note. The company has raised $100M+ of investments from General Motors and others, and they just announced Project Lonestar, a US lithium plant supported by a $5M Department of Energy grant.
EnergyX is offering a unique opportunity to join some of the Fortune 500’s biggest companies—like GM—and invest on the ground floor as they’re set to unlock a massive lithium supply. For a limited time, EnergyX invites you to join them as a shareholder.* |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
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> Thirteen novels tapped for prestigious 2024 Booker Prize for fiction longlist, including three from debut novelists (More) | Francine Pascal, "Sweet Valley High" author, dies at age 92 (More) |
> The 2024 MLB trade deadline wrapped last night; see complete breakdown of every trade (More) |
> "Deadpool & Wolverine" moves past $500M at the global box office, the highest global opening weekend since 2021 (More) |
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> California officials create blockchain tokens for all 42 million of the state's registered motor vehicles; owners will be able to access title information from the Avalanche blockchain beginning in 2025 (More) | Blockchain 101 (More) |
> Scientists engineer disease-causing parasite to deliver therapeutic drugs across the blood-brain barrier; Toxoplasma gondii has been shown to cause mice to lose their fear of cats (More) | What is the blood-brain barrier? (More, w/video) |
> Chemists recreate conditions on early Earth, suggest the building blocks for life may have been created by cloud-to-ground lightning (More) |
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> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow +0.5%, Nasdaq -1.3%) as tech stocks fall amid earnings reports (More) | CrowdStrike shares fall on news Delta Air Lines could sue for damages over the software failure (More) | Microsoft shares fall in after-hours trading as cloud revenue growth misses estimates (More) |
> Tesla recalls 1.8 million vehicles due to possible failure to detect unlatched hood after it opens, increasing risk of crash (More) |
> London-based fertility app Flo Health raises $200M in Series C funding at over $1B valuation; company bills itself as the first "purely digital" women's health app to reach unicorn status (More) |
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> Israel says it killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah's top military commander, in a targeted airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon; the strike—reportedly killing at least one other person and wounding 20 others—was in retaliation for Saturday's attack, killing 12 children at a soccer field (More) | See war updates (More) |
> Venezuela protests continue over disputed election results; seven people reportedly killed, close to 750 arrested while election observers cast doubt onto President Nicolás Maduro's claims of victory (More) |
> Project 2025 to end policy work, director to step down from the Heritage Foundation amid criticisms from Democrats, former President Donald Trump (More) | What is Project 2025? (More) |
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In partnership with EnergyX |
How GM Is Securing Its Lithium Supply |
The world will need to produce 3.8 million tons of lithium per year by 2035 to meet the demand for electric vehicles. General Motors is turning to one startup to unlock US-based lithium supply: EnergyX. EnergyX’s patented LiTASTM technology can extract up to 300% more lithium than traditional methods.
GM led a $50 million funding round in EnergyX last year, and EnergyX is now opening up the opportunity for all investors to join them. For a limited time, EnergyX invites you to join them as a shareholder.* |
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