The Upstart Union Challenging Starbucks - Baristas nationwide are remarkably organized. Is the company’s C.E.O., Howard Schultz, using firings, store closures, and legal delays to thwart them? - link
Will the Manchin Deal Finally Kill the “Carried-Interest” Loophole? - Democrats may be on the verge of forcing private-equity tycoons to pay their fair share in taxes—a step that reformers have been demanding for years. - link
The Death of Ayman al-Zawahiri - The Al Qaeda leader was reportedly killed in Afghanistan by a U.S. drone strike. - link
The New Fight Over an Old Forest in Atlanta - The plans for an enormous police-training center—dubbed Cop City by critics—have ignited interest in one of Atlanta’s largest remaining green spaces. - link
Ayman al-Zawahiri and the Taliban - What does the stark evidence of the renewed relationship between Al Qaeda and Afghanistan’s leaders suggest? - link
From Vox
Instagram is once again in its flop era -
A slew of new changes has drawn the ire of celebrities and regular users alike. But hating Instagram is nothing new.
For as long as Instagram has existed, peoplehavecomplainedaboutit. Hating Instagram — and to an even greater extent its sister site, Facebook — is among the few opinions that a majority of the internet seems to share, but over the past few weeks, the volume has been turned up rather significantly. Last Thursday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri addressed the criticism in a video that, naturally, resulted in even more of it.
The most recent controversy stems from Instagram’s parent company Meta (previously called Facebook) and its propensity to copy the features of up-and-coming social media platforms. Right now, Instagram’s biggest competitor is TikTok, which serves users an infinite feed of personalized trending short-form video and whose popularity has skyrocketed just as Facebook’s has begun to wane. In an effort to replicate its success, several of the latest Instagram and Facebook updates prioritized “recommended” videos (i.e., from random users across the platform as opposed to someone you already follow), among other things that made people very stressed out. “The new Instagram update really understood what I was looking for: none of my friends’ content, reposted TikToks from meme accounts I do not follow, 100x more ads, everything played at full volume against my will,’’ summarized one viral tweet.
The furor reached a fever pitch when a post by photographer Tati Bruening went viral, demanding, “Make Instagram Instagram Again,” and “stop trying to be TikTok, I just want to see cute photos of my friends. Sincerely, everyone.” The post, which now has more than 2 million likes, was reshared by some of Instagram’s most powerful users, namely, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner.
Concurrently, dozens of meme creators staged a rally outside of Meta’s New York headquarters on July 23 in what they called an “Instarrection.” Though the event was not focused on the new updates and instead protested Instagram’s nebulous, inconsistent moderation practices, which often result in accounts being taken down for unclear reasons, it reflects a growing sentiment among Instagram users that Instagram is getting worse.
By all accounts, Meta’s shareholders agree. Earlier this year, Meta announced that users were spending less time on its platforms and that it expected revenue growth to slow, causing its stocks to plunge 26 percent, losing $232 billion in the process, and becoming the steepest one-day decline for a single stock in US history. The mood, on Instagram and within its headquarters, is bleak: This summer, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has limited spending at the company while pressuring employees to “operate with increased intensity” and threatening to cut low performers. “There are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” he told staff.
Being mad at Instagram is sort of like being mad at the president: Venting your frustrations about it is both a cathartic and logical response to a seemingly insurmountable problem, the problem of too much power in the hands of too few people. In 2019 I wrote about how, within a decade of its existence, Instagram broke our brains, training us to view one another as commodifiable brands and splinter ourselves in two. In 2021 I wrote about how visual-first social platforms can make as many changes as they like in response to the knowledge that their products harm users’ self-esteem, but they will never solve the problem they created. In 2022 I wrote about how Instagram’s incessant fixation on video ends up worsening the content on the site while also dramatically increasing the workload required to succeed on the platform. Instagram has made dangerous misinformation look adorable and beautiful destinations unbearable; it has lied, repeatedly, and yet people feel as though they have nowhere else to go.
Last week, Instagram caved, slightly, to the growing chorus of criticism. In an interview with tech reporter Casey Newton, Mosseri said that the app would phase out one of the recent redesigns it had been testing while also temporarily showing users fewer “recommended” videos in the feed. Yet the changes aren’t permanent: By the end of 2023, Zuckerberg said that the number of “recommended” posts on Instagram will more than double. Mosseri attributes this change to a shift in what news feeds are for. “In a world where more of the friend content has gone from feed into stories and DMs, I think that feed is going to become more public in nature,” he said.
For the average Instagram user, the kind that would never describe themselves as a “creator” despite the growing number of people who do, this won’t come as good news. As one venture capitalist put it, speaking to the Washington Post, “There’s a war between people who want Instagram to be more like Snapchat and people who want it to be more TikTok. Right now the former group is larger and louder.”
The problem is that Instagram doesn’t actually care as much about that group as it does about the other: Instead, Instagram sees the best way to grow a loyal, exceedingly active user base as dangling the prospect of getting famous in front of them. Video, then, is only a means to that end. “I think one of the most important things is that we help new talent find an audience,” Mosseri added. “If we want to be a place where people push culture forward, to help realize the promise of the internet, which was to push power into the hands of more people, I think that we need to get better at that.”
Curiously, some of the buzziest new social apps as of late — BeReal, NGL, and Locket — have nothing to do with fame at all. On BeReal, users see spur-of-the-moment photos from mutual contacts, while Locket allows them to share pictures directly to each other’s home screens. NGL, meanwhile, is an Q&A app that became a popular game on Instagram Stories this June, where those with access to a link could ask anonymous questions of the poster. None of them promise the total digitization of the social circle that Facebook and Instagram do, nor do they offer the possibility of virality.
Instagram, meanwhile, has decided it should be everything to everyone. As Meta continues its pivot towards the so-called “metaverse,” an as-yet-mostly-theoretical vision where bitmojis have meetings (?), it seeks to be even more. What remains in question is whether America’s antitrust laws will actually be enforced to prevent Meta from employing the same monopolistic practices there, too, and to what extent Meta can continue to grow its extensive, unprecedented authority over the internet. In all likelihood, however mad everybody is at Facebook and Instagram now, it’s only going to get worse.
This column was first published in The Goods newsletter. Sign up here so you don’t miss the next one, plus get newsletter exclusives.
Investing is emotional. Here’s how to navigate. -
The stock market can be an emotional roller coaster. It shouldn’t be. | Getty Images/iStockphoto
There’s how you think about investment risk — and then how you feel about it.
Investing can feel very good when things are going well. It can also feel very not good when things are not going well. Case in point: If you were investing (or, let’s be honest here, speculating) in crypto in the fall of 2021, you probably were much happier with the situation than, say, if you were doing so in the summer of 2022.
Conventionalwisdomgoes that you’re not supposed to factor in emotions at all when you invest, or at least you’re supposed to try to keep your emotions out of them as much as possible. To the extent that’s not possible for you, it’s important to know, too.
Investing is inherently risky, no matter how supposedly safe or speculative the asset, and not everyone is equipped to handle risk equally. Finding the right risk-reward mix is a tricky balance. There’s also a difference between risk capacity, meaning the risk you should take to meet your financial goals, and risk tolerance, meaning how much risk you can deal with emotionally. You don’t want your retirement account to keep you up at night. You also don’t want to keep your money in cash your whole life and then run out of money once you actually retire because you never invested it.
“Different people at different times in their lives and with different investments are more able to accept volatility,” said Zach Teutsch, managing partner at Values Added Financial. Experts generally say younger people are better off in riskier investments, such as stocks, because they’re better able to wait out a downturn than someone older and closer to retirement. But there’s more to it than stocks vs. bonds vs. retirement date.
There is no surefire formula for determining how much risk you can and should take on in investing, and it’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all situation. But as you approach investing — whether you’re already in the market or considering it — it’s absolutely something to keep thinking about.
“You really need to start having a risk-reward conversation with yourself and be honest with yourself about what your risk tolerance is. You really need to ask yourself, ‘How much am I okay losing?’” said Kristin Myers, editor-in-chief of The Balance, a finance website. She said you also have to think about how much potential opportunity you’re comfortable with losing out on if you’re super risk averse. “I challenge people, when it comes to risk, to really think about the potential and the upside, the opportunity for reward,” she said, “especially if you’re in it for the long term.”
Here are some ideas on how to think about measuring investing risk in your own life — though to be clear here, neither I nor Vox can provide financial advice. I also want to be clear that we’re largely talking about more traditional investments like the stock market, and not crypto, which can be quite abitdifferent risk-wise.
Figure out your goals and what it will take to achieve them
When investors are thinking about their risk tolerance in investing, a lot depends on what the investment wealth will be used for, explained Hersh Shefrin, a professor of finance at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, in an email. Essentially, that means think about your goals. If it’s for retirement, figure out when you’re looking to retire, and what your needs will be when you do. The same advice goes for if you’re investing to pay for a vacation or a new car or education or your kids’ weddings. Ask yourself when you want to pay for something, how much it will cost, and what you’ll need to invest to try to get there. Talk to your partner or anyone you share finances with as well, so that you’re on the same page about what you want to achieve.
Missing goals can feel like a failure to people, and a failure they’d like to avoid, so it’s important to keep that in mind as well. “Asking how much can I afford to lose is about asking what amount corresponds to failure, either partial or total,” he said. “Tolerance for risk is often tied up with two questions: how important is a goal and how ambitious is the goal? People who set ambitious goals and feel very strongly about achieving those goals will take a lot of risk.”
Once you figure out the goals, then that’s the time to think about the investing plan. I’m not going to tell you what the plan should be, but once you do have one in place, it’s important to recognize that the going at some points could get a little tough. Part of figuring out your risk profile is determining what you want to do if that happens — and do that ahead of time.
Shefrin said it’s important to have policies in place so that you’re not overcome in the heat of the moment and make a decision you’ll later come to regret. “In cool, calm moments, write yourself a letter laying out a policy of how you will behave in a few different scenarios, so that you are prepared,” he said.
Have a talk with yourself about your risk tolerance and biases
One important thing to keep in mind in investing is you do not want to be investing money you absolutely need in the near term. If it’s money that you have to have to pay your rent or buy groceries, it’s best to keep it in cash. Ups and downs are part of the process in the market, and you don’t want to get caught in a down moment in a tough spot.
Michael Pompian, founder and chief investment officer at Sunpointe Investments and an expert in behavioral finance, said he generally looks at prospective 10-year returns when making investment plans for his clients, and he thinks people should look at least at a five-year horizon, meaning the amount of time you’re able to stick with the investment until you need the money back. “If you need that money in the next year or two, you shouldn’t be investing with risky investments, with stocks,” he said. He has a risk tolerance questionnaire he gives to clients that is, in part, behavioral, asking people if their portfolios go down, how they’ll feel. If you don’t have an adviser — and many people don’t — you can have this conversation with yourself.
Investors should think of their biases heading in and be aware of them as they proceed. In financial decisions, experts generally talk about cognitive biases and emotional biases. Cognitive biases are concepts and beliefs that may or may not be true; emotional biases are more in-the-moment.
For example, maybe you’re engaged in confirmation bias, where you’re seeking out information that reaffirms what you already think (that a stock is a good or bad pick, say), or you’re dealing with the endowment effect, where you’re putting more value on something you already own than you should. Some investors are overly averse to loss or to risk, or maybe they’re a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Sometimes, investors get caught up believing patterns will just stay as they are, so a bull market will stay a bull and a bear market a bear. Or, when things go poorly, they panic.
“When you’re talking to someone who’s driven by emotion, numbers often don’t resonate,” Pompian said.
He said once people think through what their biases are, that’s when they should think about what kind of investor they are — and warned that emotional investors might have a bit more difficulty dealing with ups and downs.
“How you feel about something is typically stronger and more difficult to change than how you think about something,” Pompian said. “If you tend to get emotional about your investing, that’s where you really want to make sure you’re not taking too much risk.”
That might also play into what you want to invest in. One of the principles of investing is that the more individualized risk you take — say, by betting on a single stock — the more potential upside but also the more potential losses. It’s important to understand the difference between diversified and concentrated investment and realize which one you’re in.
People tend to believe that they can time the market and, ultimately, beat it, even though chances really are they can’t. Warren Buffett famously once bet a guy the S&P 500 would beat hedge fund managers over the course of a decade and won. So when thinking about biases, you might also be a little biased toward believing in your own talent.
“Smart people are used to going through life and realizing that when they apply their intelligence to situations, they achieve better outcomes, and that’s true for a lot of things,” Teutsch said. For example, you learn that if you study for a test, you do better. “But investment is different. All the things smart people have learned throughout their entire life, that they do better than normal people, are not really true with investing.”
Recognize there are risks in investing — and in sitting it out
A lot of the time when thinking about risk, you might associate it with people taking on too much uncertainty in a way that loses them money — someone who hopped into crypto or a meme stock hoping it would make them a millionaire and got wiped out. But there’s risk in inaction, too, that’s worth considering.
Teutsch pointed to the example of money for retirement. If you put your 401(k) in exchange traded funds (ETFs), meaning funds that track little baskets of assets like stocks, and other investments with a target retirement date, chances are really high that you will have more money by the time that date arrives. (The S&P 500 historically has an average annualized return of about 10 percent.) But if you just leave the money parked in cash, you increase the likelihood that after you retire, you won’t have money at some point. “It’s pretty clear to people which risk they’re more concerned with,” Teutsch said.
In moments where the market falls, though, it’s easy to get anxious and forget. It can be tempting to panic and sell to try to avoid further losses, without recognizing that in all likelihood those losses will later be recouped.
That’s why a lot of investors fail, Teutsch said, because “they invest in investments which are more volatile than makes sense for their psychology and then respond to down markets poorly.”
Think about it: If an investor panicked and sold when stocks crashed in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, they would have missed out on a bunch of subsequent gains as the market rebounded. Currently, the markets are down again — and if you panic and sell at lows, you could be out for some big losses in the future. It doesn’t mean you absolutely shouldn’t sell (once again, I cannot give you financial advice), but you should think before you act.
It’s important to try to keep your emotions in check when your investments are going well, too. You don’t want to get super attached to an investment that’s gone up to the point that you don’t realize it might be time to sell and take some of your gains. Take the example of Peloton, the share price of which soared in the earlier days of the pandemic as people hopped onto the exercise-from-home train. Shares of the stock have now seen deep declines, and the company’s market cap has fallen from a peak of about $50 billion to under $4 billion now. Peloton rides may be really fun and great, but holding onto the stock, not so much.
“Stop holding onto a stock because you like it,” Myers said. “Just because you like your Tesla doesn’t mean that you need to be heavily invested in the company, especially if the company isn’t doing that well.”
There’s a gender element here you might want to keep in mind, too — namely, women are on average more risk-averse than men. It obviously comes down to the individual, but women might want to take a little more risk than their instincts, and men a little less.
Keep evaluating
How you think about risk in investing is something that’s probably going to change over time. How well you’re able to weather downturns might change, say, as you get nearer to retirement, or if you realize you want that money to buy a house. It’s also a good idea to check in on your investments — Myers suggests once a quarter — and consider if you want to make any changes. Check in with yourself about how you’re feeling about where your money is, and whether you’re letting those feelings guide you a little too much.
“It’s really just always about ruthless questioning of yourself at all times,” Myers said.
The hard truth, Teutsch explained, is that investing is supposed to be boring — and if you’re having fun with it, that might be reason to worry. A little speculation in moderation is fine, but it’s not the same as investing long-term with a plan. It’s exciting to watch the line go up, but at some point, the line’s going to go down, and you’re not going to be able to guess perfectly ahead of time when it will. “Investment shouldn’t be exciting,” Teutsch said.
The way to think about markets over the long run is that they’re sort of like walking up a hill with a yo-yo. If you look at the yo-yo, then you see it going up and down and up and down. But if you pay attention to the hill, then you see you still end up on top of it at the end.
Investing can be intimidating, especially the prospect of losing money. And in moments like the current one, when markets broadly are down, the entire endeavor can feel pretty bad. It’s important to remember things in all likelihood will not be like this forever. (If the stock market were to completely implode, we would probably have much bigger problems on our hands.) But it is also a good moment to think about risk and uncertainty in investing a little, how you feel about it, and make sure some of your feelings are leading you to make decisions you’ll later regret.
“What’s interesting about periods like this is if you’ve never been through it, it will teach you about risk taking,” Pompian said. It’s advice that might not make you feel better right now, but it is true.
Even Better is here to offer deeply sourced, actionable advice for helping you live a better life. Do you have a question on money and work; friends, family, and community; or personal growth and health? Send us your question by filling out this form. We might turn it into a story.
Winners and losers from Tuesday’s primaries -
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS), right, shares a group hug with women at an election watch party in Overland Park on Tuesday. | Dave Kaup/AFP via Getty Images
Kansas’s abortion measure and Missouri’s GOP senate primary were among Tuesday’s key early races.
Voters in five states — Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington — went to the polls Tuesday to select who will move on to a slew of competitive general election races and, in one case, tell us about the political ramifications of the Supreme Court’s June decision rolling back abortion rights.
Here are two winners and one loser based on what we know from Tuesday’s results so far.
Winner: Abortion rights
Kansas was the first state to put abortion rights on the ballot, in a referendum, since this summer’s Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade. And abortion rights won big.
Kansans rejected an amendment to the state’s constitution that would have removed protections for the right to an abortion, voting to do so by double digits. The Kansas state Supreme Court had previously ruled that the state constitution protected the right to an abortion. This amendment, backed by conservative organizers, would have removed one crucial barrier to the Republican state legislature’s ability to enact more aggressive abortion bans than the 22-week one it currently has.
Tuesday’s outcome is a pretty big statement considering the obstacles abortion rights advocates faced: Confusing wording on the measure (voting “no” meant keeping protections in place), a state where Republicans vastly outnumber Democrats, and a slate of GOP primaries that Republicans hoped would juice their turnout relative to Democrats’.
This calculus, however, was mistaken. Turnout was massive across the political board, far exceeding the previous two primaries. In Johnson County, which contains suburbs of Kansas City, almost four times as many early votes had been cast this year, compared to the same primary in 2018, according to the Kansas City Star.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab says that, based on anecdotal evidence, turnout today may match the turnout in the 2008 presidential general election contest.
That would be around 50% turnout, way above the 36% turnout his office predicted earlier this week. #ksleg
For now, abortion rights are preserved in a state that, as Vox’s Rachel Cohen reported, expects a huge influx of women from neighboring states seeking abortion care. And, for Democrats who saw blowback over the Supreme Court decision as a way to mobilize their voters, the first bellwether is a big win.
Winner: ERIC (Schmitt, that is)
After months of lobbying from Missouri’s GOP Senate candidates, Trump issued a trollish non-endorsement on the eve of the primary. In a statement on Monday, he said he was “proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” leaving candidates Eric Greitens, Missouri’s disgraced former governor, and Eric Schmitt, the state’s current attorney general, both empty-handed and happy to issue simultaneous tweets touting the “endorsement.”
Schmitt wound up beating both six-term Rep. Vicky Hartzler — who had the backing of Sen. Josh Hawley — and Greitens, by double digits. It’s a notable victory for Schmitt, who won without help from Trump, and who is the favorite going into the general election this fall given the state’s Republican tilt. The prospect of a scandal-plagued Greitens winning had many Republicans concerned — and Democrats hopeful for a pickup opportunity. Schmitt has clearly defined himself as a “Trump Republican,” and previously joined other GOP officials to back unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the 2020 election outcomes in other states. But he has a lot less baggage than Greitens, and his win will dampen the likelihood of a safe Republican seat becoming competitive.
Schmitt will face off against Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine, a nurse and scion of the famous Anheuser-Busch family, in the general election.
Loser: Progressives
Redistricting pitted two Democratic incumbents in Michigan against one another in the 11th district, and incidentally also set up a direct contest between the two wings of the party.
Progressive Rep. Andy Levin lost that contest to his moderate colleague, Rep. Haley Stevens. The contentious race involved fights over support for Israel (Stevens was backed by AIPAC), appeals to Black voters, and drew in hundreds of thousands in outside contributions.
In the Missouri Senate primary, veteran Lucas Kunce also lost to Busch Valentine after mounting a populist campaign focused on challenging corporate power, and garnering the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
There were bright spots for progressives in Missouri and Michigan, where Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) easily held off primary challengers.
Winner, at least in the short term: Democratic meddling in GOP races
Democrats got what they wanted in Michigan’s 3rd district. But there’s a big looming question about whether landing in the winner column is worth it.
As they have in multiple races this cycle, Democrats spent significant money to boost a more extreme, and they hope, more beatable Republican candidate in Trump-backed election denier John Gibbs. And more than they have in other races this cycle, they faced harsh criticism for the tactic from inside and outside their party over their efforts to take down incumbent Rep. Peter Meijer, a rare Republican who voted to impeach Trump.
Gibbs seen here talking to former President Donald Trump.
“I’ll see you soon. I’m very proud of you, John,” Trump could be heard saying through the phone. (h/t John Barnes) pic.twitter.com/LkIKqs98Io
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in this case spent more than $400,000 in ads linking Gibbs and Trump. Given his massive cash disadvantage to Meijer, it seems the infusion of ads by Democrats was probably decisive. Meijer conceded early Wednesday.
Meijer castigated Democrats as hypocrites for boosting extremists, and plenty of people agree with him. But other Democrats say it’s justified — it’s ultimately Republicans picking between candidates. “It’s clear that, no matter what Republican is nominated, they are going to get pushed to move to where their base is,” Democratic strategist Jared Leopold told Vox’s Nicole Narea last month. “So the best path is to do what you can to set up the best environment for Democrats to win.”
Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial primary, where Democrats spent to boost election denier Kari Lake, has yet to be called. Lake currently has a narrow lead.
Gibbs will face Democrat Hillary Scholten in a seat Democrats now have a chance to flip — it’s rated a toss-up by Cook Political Report. But it’s also possible Democrats put another extreme Republican on the path to a seat in Congress.
Winner: Trump acolytes in Arizona and beyond
Lake’s race is closer than many Arizonans would have expected earlier this year given Trump’s fervent early backing of her. But his picks dominated other races in the state. His preferred candidates for secretary of state, state Rep. Mark Finchem, and Senate, venture capitalist Blake Masters successfully beat back candidates who held Trump’s election lies at least at arms length. Separately, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers lost a bid for state Senate after previously refusing to challenge the state election results in 2020 and testifying about pressure he faced from Trump before the January 6 committee.
These wins were a decisive victory for Trump in a state where establishment Republicans, including his former Vice President Mike Pence and current GOP governor Doug Ducey, backed more establishment picks. All of Trump’s candidates fully embraced the denial in a primary that was largely focused on relitigating the 2020 election.
Trump saw also got victories in Michigan and Kansas. Businesswoman and political commentator Tudor Dixon, a Trump-backed candidate for the gubernatorial seat, won a five-person primary. Unlike the Arizona candidates, however, Dixon has more recently skirted questions about the 2020 election despite previously arguing that it was stolen. In Kansas, longtime Trump ally and former state attorney general Kris Kobach also won his primary for Secretary of State, his third attempt to return to state government after losing the governor’s race to Democrat Laura Kelly in 2018.
Update on August 3 at 8 am: This post has been updated to reflect results in Michigan and Arizona.
From The Hindu: Sports
Regal Command, Mozelle and Singer Sargent show out -
Your weekend guide to Chennai’s Covelong Classic: Surf, Music and Fitness festival - In the run up to the annual Covelong Classic: Surf, Music and Fitness Festival, we put together a quick guide to help you catch a bit of everything
Commonwealth Games 2022 | Weightlifter Lovepreet Singh wins bronze in men's 109kg - Lovepreet Singh lifted a total of 355 kg, including a new national record of 192 kg in clean and jerk, to finish third on the podium
Premier League teams to limit ‘taking the knee’ to significant games - Players and staff of Premier League teams have been taking the knee since the 2020 killing of George Floyd, but they will henceforth be asked to do it do it only in “significant matches”
Indian mixed 4x400m relay team wins silver with Asian junior record in World U20 Athletics - The Indian quartet of Barath Sridhar, Priya Mohan, Kapil and Rupal Chaudhary clocked 3 minutes and 17.67 seconds to finish behind USA (3:17.69).
From The Hindu: National News
Andhra Pradesh: Government shuts down Seeds apparel unit, orders probe into gas leak incident - Industries Minister visits victims in hospital, promises best medical support
ISRO’s ‘baby rocket’ and it’s umbilical cord with Thiruvananthapuram - Fully designed and developed by ISRO facilities in Kerala capital
MCC urges consumers to clear outstanding water tax - One-time interest waiver offered for domestic consumers
ED seals Young Indian office in National Herald premises - The notice pasted under signature of the ED investigating officer outside the YI office space said it cannot be opened “without prior permission” from the agency.
Portion of stonewall damaged in Shravanabelgola - Stones are spread all over Vindhyagiri
From BBC: Europe
Ukraine war: Russia accuses US of direct role in Ukraine war - Moscow accuses the US of directly approving targets for US-made artillery used by Ukraine.
Nuclear annihilation just one miscalculation away, UN chief warns - Luck that has protected the world from nuclear war may not last as tensions rocket, the UN warns.
Ukraine war: First grain ship out of Ukraine cleared to sail to Lebanon - Inspections are completed on the first grain ship to leave Ukraine since the war began.
Aliku Ogorchukwu: Wife of Nigerian killed in Italy demands justice - The wife of the 39-year-old, whose killing was filmed in broad daylight, says her heart is aching.
Ukraine war: The last remaining families in Bakhmut - Olena and her family are one of the last remaining in the Donetsk region where an evacuation order is in place.
From Ars Technica
Monkeypox: 25K cases, a batch of new deaths, and 3 state emergencies - WHO says it’s seeing a broad range of illnesses as more people are infected. - link
MIT scientists create color-shifting films inspired by 19th-century holography - Potential applications include pressure-monitoring bandages, shade-shifting fabrics. - link
3 years after launch, Apple Arcade loses 15 games - Apple’s game subscription service isn’t immune to the usual downsides. - link
EA cracks down on modders selling their custom Sims 4 content - But publisher leaves lucrative loophole for “early access” Patreon subscriptions. - link
Avowed bitcoin creator Craig Wright is not happy with £1 win in UK libel lawsuit - What the judge calls “deliberately false,” Wright calls misunderstood evidence. - link
From Jokes Subreddit
Gender is like the twin towers. -
There used to be two of them, and now it is a sensitive subject.
