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Your Daily BriefAugust 18th, 2022 |
Good morning, and welcome to your Thursday! Today, we’re covering the reversal of a decades-old economic policy in Cuba, domestic retail spending, the upcoming launch of the iPhone 14, and more. Here’s what we have for you:
In Today’s Brief
- Cuba: Allowing foreign investment into retail for the first time in 60 years
- Ohio: CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart to pay $650M over opioid prescriptions
- Shark Tank: Gwyneth Paltrow joining season 14
- Apple: Planning to unveil iPhone 14 line on September 7th
- Love is Blind: Contestants Jarrette Jones & Iyanna McNeely divorcing
- Top Tips: CDC director announces plans to restructure the agency; explosion at a mosque in Afghan capital of Kabul kills at least 10; Airbnb testing “anti-party” tech to prevent bookings that may turn into unauthorized parties
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CDC director announces restructuring plans for the agency
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced plans to restructure in an attempt to rehabilitate its reputation and strengthen its response to future public health events.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said yesterday that she intended to improve the agency’s communication, timeliness, and accountability, and acknowledged that the CDC’s “performance did not reliably meet expectations” in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. During the pandemic, the agency faced criticism for its communication with the public, as well as for changes it made to masking guidance and recommendations on how long to isolate after testing positive for the virus.
Walenksy’s plans come amid falling levels of public trust in the agency. According to a survey by Pew Research Center, 79% of Americans said they were satisfied with the way public health officials such as those at the CDC were responding to the pandemic in March 2020. By May 2022, Pew found that the number of Americans who felt the same way fell to 52%.
At least 10 dead and dozens injured from explosion in Kabul mosque
A bombing at a mosque during Wednesday evening prayers in the Afghan capital of Kabul has killed at least 10 and injured dozens of others.
According to witnesses, the mosque’s imam–an Islamic cleric who leads prayers–was among those who died in the blast. While local witnesses claim that a suicide bomber was behind the attack on the Siddiquiya Mosque, there was no immediate claim of responsibility after it transpired. On Twitter, Kabul’s Emergency NGO Hospital said it had received 27 patients wounded in the blast, including five children, and added that two patients arrived dead and one died in the ER.
While the exact number of casualties has yet to be confirmed, a Taliban intelligence official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told reporters that as many as 35 individuals may have been wounded or killed, and said that the death toll could rise further.
Airbnb rolls out “anti-party” technology in the U.S. and Canada
As it attempts to enforce a global ban on house parties that it made permanent this year, Airbnb is testing out new “anti-party” technology in the United States and Canada.
According to a press release on Airbnb’s website, the new screening tools look “at factors like history of positive reviews (or lack of positive reviews), length of time the guest has been on Airbnb, length of the trip, distance to the listing, weekend vs. weekday, among many others.” Airbnb added that the main goal behind the system is “attempting to reduce the ability of bad actors to throw unauthorized parties” that negatively impact its platform’s hosts, their neighbors, and the communities in which they are located.
The company said that it has seen a 35% drop in authorized parties in areas of Australia where a similar system has been piloted since last October. Per the release, Airbnb is now codifying the policy nationwide, and hopes for similar success in the U.S. and Canada.
Around the Globe
- Cuba says it will allow foreign investors into its wholesale and retail trade for the first time in 60 years, though noted that “a state market has to prevail,” per the country’s foreign trade minister Betsy Díaz Velázquez
- The remains of an Indian army soldier were discovered more than 38 years after he went missing on a glacier in the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan
- Falling water levels in the Yangtze River have revealed statues in China’s Chongqing province estimated to be around 600 years old
On the Homefront
- The U.S. Commerce Department’s recent report shows that overall retail sales–a measure of spending at stores, restaurants, and online–remained at the same level in July as the previous month; see the report here
- A federal judge in Cleveland ruled that CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart must pay over $650M in “abatement” fees to two Ohio counties over their failure to properly monitor opioid prescriptions in the regions
- The National Basketball Association announced that it won’t hold games on November 8th to encourage fans to vote in the midterm elections that day
Glitz and Games
- Actor and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow will join season 14 of Shark Tank as a guest shark along with DoorDash CEO and co-founder Tony Xu
- Rapper A$AP Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers) pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of assault with a firearm in connection to a non-fatal shooting of his former friend in Hollywood, California last November
- Attorney and TV host Eboni K. Williams of The Real Housewives of New York City is launching the second season of her podcast Holding Court with Eboni K. Williams with Interval Presents, the new in-house podcast network from Warner Media Group
Money Moves
- Major indexes in the stock market closed lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending five consecutive days of gains (Dow -0.50%, Nasdaq -1.25%, S&P 500 -0.72%)
- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is targeting September 7th as the date it will unveil the iPhone 14 line, according to people familiar with the matter
- Cryptocurrency brokerage Genesis is cutting 20% of its workforce–or more than 50 jobs–and announced that CEO Michael Moro is stepping down
Tips & Tricks
- Binge Watch: Get ready to do some push-ups and crunches in front of your TV, because Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now streaming on Disney+
- Sneak Peek: Check out the trailer for Netflix’s upcoming comedy-horror series Wednesday, based on Wednesday Addams of the Addams Family
- Bump This: Capture that cloud-like feeling of being in love with the new track “Stay” by Alicia Keys and Lucky Daye - listen on Apple Music and Spotify
- Nerd Out: Read about a glowing snailfish that scientists discovered beneath a Greenland iceberg with antifreeze proteins in its veins meant to protect it from frigid environments
- Say What: “I just think life is changing all the time. Day to day, week to week, year to year. I think a perfect example of that is over the last six months, both of us have gone through very serious health issues. You have to figure out how to deal with [it] as it comes, you know? There’s a reason they say ‘for better or for worse.’ Like, that’s for real!” model Hailey Bieber said regarding her marriage to Justin Bieber in a feature with Harper’s Bazaar
- Hot Goss: Love is Blind contestants Jarrette Jones and Iyanna McNeely have announced that they are divorcing after one year of marriage
- Life Hack: You can rub cornstarch into knots in shoelaces, chains, strings, and more to help loosen them up and untangle them
Looking Back…
On August 18th: The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Consitution is ratified, granting women the right to vote in the United States (1920); Genghis Khan dies at age 65 (1227); Reykjavík is designated the administrative capital of Iceland (1786); actor Edward Norton is born (1969).
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