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Your Daily BriefAugust 3rd, 2022 |
Good morning, and happy Wednesday! We’re covering everything from sinkholes to images of far-reaching galaxies today, so as you get ready to attack the middle of the week, here’s what we have for you:
In Today’s Brief
- Chile: Sinkhole 82 feet in diameter and over 650 feet deep appears on land owned by Canadian company Lundin Mining
- McKinney Fire: Death toll rises to 4
- Tiger Woods: Turned down an offer between $700-$800 million to join LIV Golf
- Uber: Stock closes 19% higher after reporting a $2.6 billion loss
- NASA: Releases new image of Cartwheel galaxy taken by the James Webb Space Telescope
- Top Tips: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives in Taiwan, Robinhood lays off 23% of its workforce, Senate passes bill aimed at expanding benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits
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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touches down in Taiwan
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan yesterday despite warnings from China, making her the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the island in 25 years.
The weeks leading up to Pelosi’s visit have contributed to rising tensions between the United States and China, which claims that it views visits from foreign governments to Taiwan as recognition of the island’s sovereignty. Taiwan split off from China during a civil war in 1949, though under the “one-China policy,” China claims the island as its own territory and has stated the possibility of using military force to take it.
Despite China’s warnings that it would conduct military maneuvers as a result of Pelosi’s arrival, the Biden administration has asserted that the U.S. remains committed to the one-China policy, which recognizes Beijing but also allows for informal relations and defense ties to Taiwan.
Online stock brokerage platform Robinhood is laying off 23% of its staff
Robinhood Markets Inc. said yesterday that it would lay off about 23% of its total workforce due to a downturn in consumer trading activity.
CEO and co-founder Vlad Tenev announced the layoffs in a message posted to the company’s blog. According to the post, most of the layoffs are in the company’s operations, marketing, and program management functions. Tenev also wrote that Robinhood has experienced “deterioration of the macro environment, with inflation at 40-year highs accompanied by a broad crypto market crash,” which he states has “reduced customer trading activity and assets under custody.”
The layoffs mark the second round of job cuts at the company, which announced a 9% staff reduction of its full-time employees in April. This most recent round of layoffs affects over 750 employees, bringing Robinhood’s total layoffs this year to more than 1,000 individuals.
Senate passes bill aimed at expanding healthcare for veterans exposed to burn pits
The Senate voted yesterday to pass the PACT Act, a bill that aims to expand healthcare and disability payments to millions of veterans who have been exposed to toxins from burn pits.
The bill was passed in the Senate by a vote of 86-11 after days of protests led by comedian Jon Stewart and more than 60 veterans groups outside the U.S. Capitol. The $280 billion legislation now goes to the desk of President Biden, who described it as the “biggest expansion of VA healthcare in decades” and the largest single bill ever to address exposure to burn pits.
President Biden commended the Senate after the legislation passed, and said, “I look forward to signing this bill, so that veterans and their families and caregivers impacted by toxic exposures finally get the benefits and comprehensive health care they earned and deserve.”
Around the Globe
- The first grain ship to depart Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February has reached Turkish waters; it is set to be inspected this morning before continuing to Lebanon
- Ukraine has recaptured 53 settlements in the southern region of Kherson that has been occupied by Russia after its invasion, according to the local governor
- A sinkhole 82 feet in diameter and over 650 feet deep (the length of about two soccer fields) appeared in Chile on land owned by the Canadian mining company Lundin Mining
On the Homefront
- Primary elections took place last night in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington; see the results here
- California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency to speed up efforts to combat the monkeypox virus outbreak; according to California health officials, over 780 cases have been reported in the state
- Four people have died in the McKinney fire in Northern California so far; the blaze has burned over 56,000 acres and is still 0% contained as of last night, per an update from Cal Fire
Glitz and Games
- Tiger Woods reportedly turned down an offer between $700-$800 million to join the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, according to Liv Golf CEO Greg Norman
- Warner Brothers has shelved the upcoming Batgirl film starring Leslie Grace with no plans to release it on any platform, including in theaters or on streaming services
- The Washington Nationals have traded Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the San Diego Padres in exchange for C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, and Luke Voit, as well as Padres’ prospects Robert Hassell III, James Wood, and Jarlin Susana
- Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully passed away last night at age 94; Scully announced for the Dodgers for 67 seasons and retired in 2016
Money Moves
- Major indexes in the stock market ended yesterday’s trading session in the red, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average leading losses (Dow -1.23%, Nasdaq -0.16%, S&P 500 -0.67%)
- Uber stock (NYSE: UBER) closed almost 19% higher after beating analyst’s revenue expectations and reporting a $2.6 billion loss
- Electric vehicle maker Nikola (NASDAQ: NKLA) has won shareholder approval to issue additional shares of stock; the company can now increase its total outstanding shares from 600 million to 800 million
Tip & Tricks
- Bump This: We have no idea how this made it past our radar, but we can’t stop playing “Monica Lewinksy” by SAINt JHN and A Boogie wit da Hoodie - check it out on Apple Music and Spotify
- Nerd Out: Discover how SpaceX has been working with astronomers to make the company’s next-generation Starlink satellites “invisible” to the naked eye without installing a visor to reflect sunlight
- Go Deep: Read about a study that shows how childhood friendships between wealthier and poorer individuals can lead to higher earnings in life for less affluent children
- Look Up: NASA released a new image taken by the James Webb Telescope of the Cartwheel Galaxy, a ring galaxy located 500 million light-years away from Earth
- Say What: “I want him to know what it's like to have his own name and his own life and not have the pressure of trying to live up to whatever or whoever your father was,” actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry said when asked why he keeps his 7-year-old son Aman out of the limelight
- Feel Good: Watch this footage of a “guardian angel” saving a family whose home was almost entirely underwater in the Kentucky floods
- Life Hack: You can point a blow dryer at any mirror to instantly defog the glass after a shower
Looking Back…
On August 3rd: Christopher Columbus sets sail on his first transatlantic voyage with the three ships Niña, Pinta, and Santa María (1492); Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, beginning World War I (1914); Mary Lou Retton becomes the first American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in gymnastics (1984); American singer Tony Bennett is born (1926).
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