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Your Daily BriefJuly 22nd, 2022 |
Good morning, and welcome to your Friday! Depending on where you are, we’re guessing there are approximately just 16 hours, 11 minutes, and 27 seconds until the weekend (but hey…who’s counting, right?), and here’s what we have for you:
In Today’s Brief
- Migratory monarch butterflies: On the endangered species list
- Polio: First case in the U.S. since 2013 found in New York
- Novak Djokovic: Denied from playing in the U.S. Open
- Amazon: Buying One Medical for about $3.9 billion
- Ricky Martin: Case dismissed in Puerto Rico
- Top Tips: President Biden gets Covid-19, Europe’s central bank raises rates, world’s oldest male giant panda in captivity dies
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President Biden tests positive for Covid-19
President Biden tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday, according to reports from both the White House and the President himself.
According to a statement from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the President “is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing mild systems.” Jean-Pierre also noted that the President is isolating at the White House consistent with CDC guidelines and that he has begun taking Paxlovid, an at-home antiviral therapy developed by Pfizer that the Food and Drug Administration authorized for emergency use in December 2021 for people aged 12 and older who are at higher risk for severe illness from Covid-19.
After the news broke, President Biden tweeted an update on his condition, saying, “Folks, I’m doing great,” and followed up with a video where he said he’s “doing well, getting a lot of work done, and going to continue to get it done.”
Europe’s central bank raises interest rates for the first time in 11 years
To fight inflation, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates by 50 basis points–or 0.50%–marking the bank’s first rate hike since 2011.
When announcing the rate hike, ECB president Christine Lagarde said “economic activity is slowing,” in the eurozone, and that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “is an ongoing drag on growth.” Lagarde added that the ECB expects inflation to remain high “for some time” due to rising food and energy costs, as well as pipeline pressures from Russia. After previously signaling that it could raise rates in July and September, the ECB posted an explanation statement in which it said, “More rate hikes will come.”
Yesterday’s rate hike puts the bank’s key rate at 0.00%, effectively ending an experiment with negative interest rates enacted in 2014 to boost the economies of all 19 countries that use the euro as a common currency.
World’s oldest male giant panda in captivity dies at the age of 35
An An, the world’s oldest male giant panda bear in captivity and under human care, died yesterday in Hong Kong at age 35.
According to Hong Kong’s Ocean Park Zoo where An An spent most of his life, the bear’s health deteriorated over the past few weeks as he gradually stopped eating, leading authorities to euthanize him after consulting the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Announcing his death in a statement, Ocean Park said that An An “lived a full life that ended at the respectable age of 35–the equivalent of 105 years in human age.” In the same statement, Ocean Park Chairman Paulo Pong added that his “cleverness and playfulness will be dearly missed.”
Along with female panda Jia Jia, An An was gifted to Hong Kong by China as a sign of diplomatic goodwill in 1999. Like An An, Jia Jia was put to sleep at Ocean Park in 2016, and was the oldest-ever panda bear in captivity at 38.
Around the Globe
- The kaleidoscopic migratory monarch butterfly has been added to the global endangered species list, according to an announcement from the International Union for Conservation of Nature
- Italian president Sergio Mattarella accepted Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s resignation; early elections will be held on September 25th, per President Mattarella’s office
- Turkey confirmed that Russia and Ukraine have reached a deal to allow Ukraine to resume grain exports through the Black Sea; Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are expected to sign the agreement on Friday in Istanbul
On the Homefront
- Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights; Lane will be the second officer imprisoned for Floyd’s death, following Derek Chauvin
- The House of Representatives voted 228-195 to pass “The Right to Contraception Act,” a bill that would protect access to birth control
- New York state reported the nation’s first confirmed case of polio since 2013, discovered in a man in Rockland County who had traveled to Poland and Hungary earlier this year
Glitz and Games
- Martial arts fantasy film Everything Everywhere All At Once will be re-released theatrically on July 29th with eight extra minutes of outtakes and an introduction from the filmmakers
- U.S. Open confirms that Novak Djokovic cannot participate in the tournament unless he presents evidence of vaccination against Covid-19
- Elvis actress Shonka Dukureh was found dead at her Nashville apartment at age 44, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department; the cause of death is still unknown
Money Moves
- Stocks were mixed with a choppy trading session before major indexes edged higher to close the day in the green (Dow +0.51%, Nasdaq +1.36%, S&P 500 +0.99%)
- Amazon announced a plan to buy concierge medical provider One Medical for $18 per share in an all-cash deal worth roughly $3.9 billion
- Snap Inc. stock (NYSE: SNAP) fell almost as much as 27% in after-hours trading when the company’s quarterly earnings report showed that it missed revenue guidance
Tip & Tricks
- Sneak Peek: Check out the newest trailer for the upcoming film Don’t Worry Darling directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, and others
- Bump This: No disrespect to Gorillaz, but beabadoobee’s new track “Sunny Day” sounds just like sunshine in a bag - listen on Apple Music and Spotify
- Nerd Out: Learn how a group of scientists from New York University has synthesized tetrodotoxin, the most poisonous natural neurotoxin known to humanity found in marine animals like pufferfish, octopuses, and frogs
- Go Deep: Read about Alena Analeigh Wicker, who, at age 13, has become the youngest black student to ever get accepted to medical school (just try not to spiral about your life choices as you read, as we did)
- Say What: “I just wanted to spread the gospel of ‘D&D,'” actor Chris Pine said at the Hall H Comic-Con panel for upcoming film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
- Hot Goss: The court case against Ricky Martin in Puerto Rico has been withdrawn after the singer’s nephew–who accused him of sexual abuse and incest–asked to have the case dismissed
- Life Hack: Putting batteries in your refrigerator for a day before using them will double their lifespan
Looking Back…
On July 22nd: Pablo Escobar escapes from police custody facing a prison transfer from La Catedral (1992); terrorist attacks in Oslo and the island of Utøya in Norway leave 77 dead (2011); American aviator Wiley Post completes the first solo flight around the world (1933); Selena Gomez is born (1992).
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