8.1.2024

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Good morning. It's Thursday, Aug. 1, and we're covering Iran's reaction to the killing of Hamas' leader, new leadership at Boeing, and much more. First time reading? Join over 3.5 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.

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Need To Know
 

Iran Vows Retaliation

Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly ordered a direct strike on Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh Wednesday. Haniyeh's death has been widely attributed to Israel, which did not claim responsibility but has pledged to eliminate Hamas' leadership following the Oct. 7 attacks.

 

Haniyeh has led Hamas' political wing since 2017 and was seen as its overall leader (see organizational structure). Based outside of Gaza, he acted as the group's representative in negotiations to secure a cease-fire deal and hostage release. He was killed early Wednesday in Tehran, where he attended the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian alongside representatives from other Iranian-funded groups including Hezbollah, whose top commander was killed by Israel hours earlier.

 

It is not yet clear where or when Iran plans to strike; in April, it launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel following the killing of top Iranian commanders in Syria. An estimated 99% of the projectiles were intercepted.

 

Boeing's New Direction

Boeing's board announced yesterday industry veteran Kelly Ortberg will become the aerospace company's new CEO starting Aug. 8, replacing outgoing head Dave Calhoun. The leadership shift was announced as Boeing reported a 15% decline in overall revenues from a year earlier.

 

The former CEO of aeronautic technologies provider Rockwell Collins, Ortberg will inherit significant production slowdowns and increased regulatory scrutiny following several high-profile incidents with its planes in recent years, including a midflight door plug blowout in January (see timeline). The world's largest aerospace company consists of three business units: commercial airplanes, defense, and international work, and has customers in over 150 countries, with a market valuation of roughly $115B. 

 

Adding to Boeing's woes is the continued delay of the company's flagship spacecraft Starliner's return to Earth, where a nine-day mission to the International Space Station has been extended 46 days to address technical issues. 

 

World's First Peanut Program

Australia announced the world's first nationwide program to treat peanut allergies in babies yesterday. The approach, based on encouraging results from clinical trials, seeks to build tolerance through small-dose exposure in early development.

 

The free program applies to parents of babies under age 1 diagnosed with a peanut allergy at one of 10 participating hospitals. Babies will be provided a daily, individualized dose of peanut powder, with the dosage increasing until the child reaches their maximum tolerance level. After two years, the child will be given a food allergy test to measure reactivity. The program builds on existing research suggesting positive results from oral immunotherapy to treat peanut allergies; in the US, such dosing is available through specialized healthcare settings.

 

Australia—considered the allergy capital of the world—has a relatively high incidence of peanut allergies, with 3% of its population diagnosed by age 1. Only 20% of those diagnosed will outgrow a peanut allergy by the time they are teenagers.

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In The Know
 

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Katie Ledecky wins women's 1500-meter freestyle, her eighth Olympic gold medal and 12th medal overall (More) | Spanish men's tennis doubles team of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz defeated by Team USA duo, likely ending Nadal's Olympic tennis career (More) | See latest medal standings (More)

> Longtime BBC presenter Huw Edwards pleads guilty to three counts of "making indecent images of children" (More

> Lollapalooza 2024, headlined by Megan Thee Stallion, SZA, The Killers, and Blink-182, kicks off today from Chicago; see full lineup and streaming schedule (More

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Science & Technology

> OpenAI rolls out hyper-realistic ChatGPT voice generator to select users (More) | Engineers develop "confidence thermometer" to measure how much users should trust different large language models (More)

> The nose and nasal pathways are home to long-lived immune system B and T cells that learn from incoming pathogens, and act as the body's first line of defense against viruses, study finds (More) | The different types of immune cells (More)

> Preliminary data suggest GLP-1 agonists—drugs to treat diabetes and obesity, like WeGovy and Ozempic—reduce brain shrinkage in Alzheimer's patients by 50% (More

 

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.6%, Dow +0.2%, Nasdaq +2.6%); S&P 500 and Nasdaq record best single-day gain since February as Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady, signals possibility of September rate cut (More

> Meta shares rise in after-hours trading on better-than-expected Q2 revenue and earnings (More) | Etsy to begin testing first-ever loyalty program in September as part of effort to boost sales (More) | StubHub sued by Washington, DC, attorney general over allegations it tricked consumers into overpaying for tickets (More

> Boar's Head recalls 7 million pounds of meat over listeria risk; at least 34 people have become sick across 13 states, including two people who died (More) | See map of outbreak (More) | What is listeria? (More

 

Politics & World Affairs

> The Pentagon reaches a plea deal arrangement with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two others accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks; deal would reportedly involve life sentences for all three and avoid a death-penalty trial (More)

> Ukraine receives F-16 jets after monthslong delay; aircraft delivered via the Netherlands and Denmark (More) | ... and repels largest drone attack by Russia since January (More) | See war updates (More)

> Former President Donald Trump attends National Association of Black Journalists conference, claims Vice President Kamala Harris did not always identify as Black (More) | Watch full appearance (More, w/video) | Experts say polling data still early for Trump versus Harris; see current data (More)

 

In-Depth

> Pregnancy and the Brain

Nature | Liam Drew. A critical but neglected area of neuroscientists, researchers are beginning to uncover the ways in which pregnancy changes the brain and prepares expecting mothers for parenthood. (Read)

 

> Mystery Illness or Mass Hysteria? 

Hysterical | Dan Taberski. (Podcast) Was an outbreak of physical and verbal tics among teens in upstate New York caused by something in the water, or a case of mass hysteria supercharged by social media? (Listen)

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Etcetera
 

Fisherman catches rare cotton-candy-colored crustacean.

 

Egyptian fencer wins match seven months pregnant.

 

New technology helps Olympians enhance their performance.

 

... and how AI is helping judge Olympic gymnastics.

 

X-ray shows 520-million-year-old fossil the size of a poppy seed.

 

US states with the most (and least) student debt.

 

How a bar in Portland started a women's sports movement.

 

A look at the cult 1990s show "My So-Called Life."

 

Clickbait: Newlyweds turn tornado into the ultimate photo op.

 

Historybook: "Moby-Dick" author Herman Melville born (1819); American frontierswoman Calamity Jane dies (1903); Sniper kills 14, wounds 31 at University of Texas (1966); MTV launches with "Video Killed the Radio Star" as first video (1981).

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