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Good evening. Here’s the latest news at the end of Friday.
1. The death toll in the devastating flash floods that hit Kentucky rose to 16 and was expected to rise.
“It gets much higher” state governor Andy Beshear said of the toll. Six children have died in the floods, four of them from one family. Heavy rains caused what the governor said was “one of the worst and most devastating floods” in the state’s history.
The National Guard, state police and other government agencies assisted in search and rescue. The teams have picked people from rooftops and reached others by boat. Nearly 300 people have been rescued across the state as of this morning.
Many homes, roads and bridges were still unreachable and more than 21,500 customers in Kentucky were still without power.
Floodwater was expected to decrease in some areas tomorrow, giving search and rescue teams a chance to reach more people, Beshear said.
2. We took an in-depth look at what the new climate law could mean for the automotive and energy sectors.
The $369 Billion Climate and Tax Package Senate Democrats Proposed This Week can have far-reaching consequences about the types of cars Americans drive (electrically energized), the places where those cars are made (with financial incentives for American factories), and the way the country produces its energy. The legislation also aims to break China’s hold on battery supply chains.
“I think it’s definitely a transformative bill,” said one expert. “It will lower every American’s utility bills.”
Here are seven key provisions in the climate package.
3. Recent economic reports are likely to keep the Federal Reserve on track for rate hikes.
A Wage Growth Measure That The Federal Reserve Is Watching Closely climbed fastan increase of 5.1 percent in the second quarter. Prices rose sharply last month, this year through June by 6.8 percent. It was the fastest rise in the personal consumption expenditure index since 1982.
4. An explosion at a detention camp killed at least 40 Ukrainian POWs and maimed dozens more.
Russia and Ukraine blamed the attack in the Russian-occupied region of Donetsk. The prison, in the town of Olenivka, is where Russia is holding thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war, including about 2,500 fighters from the Azovstal factory who were forced to surrender in May. The fighters are considered war heroes in Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry accused the Ukrainian military of hitting the facility with a high-precision missile, and Ukrainian officials accused Russia of conducting a false flag operation to hide evidence of torture and extrajudicial killings.
5. Monkeypox remains a mystery in a number of important ways. Scientists race to find answers.
Three things will determine how quickly monkeypox can be contained – if at all: dissemination, vaccination and treatment. The state of New York and San Francisco declared a state of emergency over the outbreak yesterday. But even as the U.S. number approaches nearly 5,000 and experts warn that containment is slipping, federal health officials have failed to follow suit.
President Biden’s health secretary, Xavier Becera, suggested that: states and places bore some of the responsibility to what critics have called a flawed response, saying his agency was still considering whether to declare a national public health emergency.
6. By defending dogs at all costs, Richard Rosenthal has made many enemies. But his animal customers owe him their lives.
Rosenthal, an animal lawyer in New York for over ten years, takes custody cases, sues veterinary clinics for malpractice and specializes in defending dangerous dogs. He often infuriates local officials, animal controllers, prosecutors and even some animal rights groups.
7. Disco, Funk, House, Techno, Bounce and More: The new Beyoncé album has officially arrived.
The singer’s seventh solo studio LP and the first part of a trilogy, “Renaissanceembodies decades of dance music, offering a tour of some of the genre’s most well-known touchstones, including Chicago house, 1970s disco, and more underground sounds such as hyperpop. Here are some of the resources Beyoncé celebrates and explores their meaning.
Lindsay Zoladz, one of our pop critics, described the album as “a dazzling nightclub fantasy” that “feels almost Prince-esque in its ambition.” The song “Alien Superstar” is a “bold pop homage to ballroom culture and an embodiment of the escapist, self-aggrandizing ethos that pervades ‘Renaissance,'” she writes.
8. Ten years ago, the Ultimate Fighting Championship excluded women. The contestants in Saturday’s title fight are proud to be fighters and mothers.
A rematch of Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes will be the main event at UFC 277 on Saturday night in Dallas. Nunes will fight to regain the bantamweight title that Peña took from her in December. Dana White, the president of the UFC, expects the matchup to top Holly Holm’s shocking 2015 of Ronda Rousey as the most profitable female fight.
As martial arts become more and more popular, so are first-rate doctors struggle with the precarious ethics of their role. “I’m clearing someone to fight today. In 20 years he’ll come into my office and have CTE, he’s got Parkinson’s,” said a neurologist and first-rate physician. “Any doctor working ringside should feel confused.”
9. To take advantage of all those fruits and berries, consider an upside-down cake.
One of the earliest recipes called “upside-down cake” was published in the now-defunct Syracuse Herald in 1923. The classic inverted pineapple cake first popped up in 1926. But juicy summer peaches, apricots, plums and nectarines, mounds of purple berries and even velvety bananas are waiting to step in, Melissa Clark writes.
Are you staying in a holiday home? Don’t worry about dinner. The tastiest meals when traveling are perhaps the ones you make yourself. Follow these tips for planning, shopping and using up every ingredient.
10. And finally, piles of new books.
Want ideas for books to keep in your library in August? Our Books editors are here for you. There is an investigation into Beth Macy’s opioid overdose epidemic, new fiction by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Banana Yoshimoto, Mohsin Hamid, and Anthony Marra. If you don’t notice, we still have 88 suggestions.
And speaking of new chapters, I’ll be working at a different agency for the next few months covering the latest news. It was a privilege to guide you through the news of the day all the while.
Thanks, and until next time, have a wonderful rest of your summer.
Jennifer Swanson composite photos for this briefing
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