Transgender Swimmers, Vaccines for Kids, Apple Employees Unionize

Your Daily Brief

June 20th, 2022

Good morning, and happy Monday! Today is a federal holiday in observance of Juneteenth (which was yesterday), and here’s what we have for you:

Today’s Highlights

World swimming bans transgender swimmers who transitioned after age 12 from competing in women’s events
FDA and CDC authorize Covid-19 vaccines for infants and preschool-age children
Maryland Apple store employees form the first recognized union in the company’s history

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World swimming bans transgender swimmers who transitioned after age 12 from competing in women’s events

FINA, the international governing body of swimming, has enacted a policy that prohibits transgender swimmers who have transitioned after age 12 from competing in elite women’s events, starting today.

The decision–which 71% of FINA’s 152 members voted in favor of–came with the release of a statement in which the organization says that male-to-female transgender athletes are still eligible to compete in the women's category “provided they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 [which marks the start of physical development], or before age 12, whichever is later.”

James Pearce, spokesperson for FINA president Husain Al-Musallam, told The Associated Press the new policy “is not saying that people are encouraged to transition by the age of 12. It’s what the scientists are saying, that if you transition after the start of puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair.” Pearce also added that FINA “is not saying everyone should transition by age 11, that’s ridiculous. You can’t transition by that age in most countries and hopefully you wouldn’t be encouraged to.”

On top of the new policy, FINA members voted to create a working group to establish an "open" category for transgender women who have transitioned after the cutoff age of 12 to compete in some events.

FDA and CDC authorize Covid-19 vaccines for infants and preschool-age children

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use in children as young as 6 months old.

According to announcements from the two agencies, Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine is now authorized for individuals between 6 months and 4 years old, while the Moderna vaccine has been authorized for individuals between 6 months to 17 years old. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was previously authorized for emergency use in individuals older than 5 years in age, and Moderna’s was previously authorized for individuals 18 years and older.

The FDA’s decision comes days after a panel of independent advisers unanimously voted to recommend Moderna and Pfizer’s Covid-19 shots for emergency use in infants through toddlers, the last age group other than newborns not eligible to receive the two vaccines.

On Saturday, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on the FDA’s authorization, and the White House expects vaccinations to start as soon as tomorrow (Tuesday).

Maryland Apple store employees form the first recognized union in the company’s history

The majority of employees at an Apple store in Towson, Maryland voted to form the first recognized union in the company’s history this weekend.

The union–called the Apple Coalition of Organized Retail Employees–will be part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which is an industrial trade union that represents over 300,000 employees. While the Towson store employees have formed the first union within Apple to be recognized, employees at over two dozen Apple store locations throughout the country have also expressed unionizing in recent months, per union leaders.

The formation of the company’s first recognized union comes in tandem with efforts from Apple to discourage employees from unionizing, including bumping starting wages for retail employees up from $20 to $22 an hour, and the release of a video in which vice president of people and retail Deirdre O’Brien cautioned employees that joining a union could hinder Apple’s business.

Roughly two-thirds of employees at the Towson Apple store voted in favor of forming the union; of the 110 employees eligible, the union received 65 votes in favor and 33 “no” votes.

Around the Globe

Former rebel fighter Gustavo Petro wins presidential race in Colombia; Petro is the nation’s first “leftist” president, and his running mate Francia Márquez will become Colombia’s first black vice president
French President Emmanual Macron’s Ensemble party loses majority control of the French National Assembly in Parliament
More than 200 Amhara people were killed in an alleged ethnic attack in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, according to witnesses

On the Homefront

Airlines canceled thousands of flights over the weekend, including on the busiest travel day of the year, according to the TSA
Yellowstone officials announced plans to reopen parts of the park starting Wednesday after being closed due to flooding
Pro-choice activists donned fake blood-stained clothes and carried baby dolls to protest outside of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s home

Glitz and Games

English golfer Matt Fitzpatrick wins the U.S. Open, earning his first major title in the United States
Pixar’s Lightyear misses earnings expectations for opening weekend, grossing $51 million in U.S. and Canada
Oscar-winning director and screenwriter Paul Haggis arrested in Italy on sexual assault charges

Money Moves

Go get a massage and try not to think about your portfolio; the stock market is closed today in honor of Juneteenth
Bitcoin dropped below $18,000 over the weekend before rebounding to over $20,000
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told ABC News during an interview that she doesn’t “think a recession is at all inevitable,” though added that “inflation is unacceptably high”

Tip & Tricks

Bump This: Keep today ultra-chill with this “Lobby Music” playlist on Spotify full of saxophone covers of classic jams
Chow Down: Kevin Hart plans to open a chain of plant-based fast-food restaurants called “Hart House”
Nerd Out: Physicists have engineered an atom laser that can stay on “forever,” they say
Go Deep: Anna Sorokin, convicted fraudster and subject of Netflix’s Inventing Anna, is launching a line of NFTs called “Reinventing Anna”
Say What: Charlie Sheen now supports his daughter Sami joining OnlyFans, saying that his ex-wife Denise Richards "has illuminated a variety of salient points, that in my haste, I overlooked and dismissed"
Hot Goss: President Biden fell off his bike this weekend while riding in a park near his Delaware home (he wasn't injured and is doing just fine)
Life Hack: You can cut through some stacked pieces of aluminum foil to sharpen your knives

Question of the day

What musical instrument makes the strangest sound? Tell us what you think here:

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Looking Back…

On June 20th, 1975, Steven Spielberg's thriller 'Jaws' was released in theaters; the film grossed over $470 million and is regarded as a pivotal moment in movie history for becoming the first summer blockbuster.