(Would you like to receive this newsletter in your inbox? Here it is the registration†
Good evening. Here’s the latest news at the end of Friday.
1. A gunman shot and killed Shinzo Abe, Japan’s influential former prime minister as he delivered a speech at a campaign event in the city of Nara, Japan.
Police officials said Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, had used a “homemade” gun and confessed to planning to kill Abe because he believed the former prime minister had some association with a group that Yamagami “held a grudge against”.
Abe was one of Asia’s best-known and most respected leaders, and he remained Japan’s most recognizable politician even after he left office in 2020. He tried to revive Japan’s stagnant economy and normalize the military. Read his obituary†
2. The US job market is going strong.
The brisk pace of recruitment continued in June employers added 372,000 jobs, keeping the country out of the recession zone, at least for now. The unemployment rate was unchanged from May at 3.6 percent, close to its lowest point in 50 years.
Job growth in June surpassed economists’ forecasts by about 100,000. The private sector has now regained pre-pandemic jobs, while the public sector has 664,000 fewer jobs than in February 2020.
The new data complicates the work of the Fed as it tries to suppress inflation. Among a pay jump and hiring, the numbers are likely to keep central bankers on track for a huge interest rate hike at their meeting in July.
3. Elon Musk plans to end his $44 billion blockbuster deal to buy Twitter.
In a regulatory submission, Musk said a disagreement with Twitter over the number of spam accounts on the platform could not be resolved. “Twitter violates multiple provisions” of the deal, Musk’s lawyers said in the filing, and the company “appears to have made false and misleading statements.”
Twitter has said that less than 5 percent of accounts on its platform are fake.
The move comes less than four months after Musk, the world’s richest man, struck a deal to buy the social media platform, which concerns about his approach to freedom of expression and content moderators. But soon after, Musk started changing his tune, expressing his dismay at the deal.
4. President Biden has issued an executive order aimed at ensuring access to abortion medication and emergency contraception.
But the order is vague about how the president hopes to achieve those goals, leaving the details largely to Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services. The order instructs Becerra to develop a report identifying “potential actions” to protect access to abortion, but does not say what those actions will be.
Biden is under mounting pressure to do more to respond to Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and time may be of the essence: Louisiana judge allowed state laws banning nearly all abortions come into effectand South Carolina is consider a total ban†
Meanwhile, New York City was a haven for women before Roe v. Wade. A new generation of advocates have sworn it will stay that way†
5. A meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of 20 industrialized countries ended up in disagreement.
Without a traditional communiqué signed by those present at the meeting, a consensus between the West, Russia and China about the war in Ukraine seemed impossible. Western officials said the meeting underscored Russia’s isolation on the world stage. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov left the meeting early after accusing the West of “blatant Russophobia”.
In other developments basketball star Brittney Griner has yet to be sentenced after pleading guilty yesterday to illegal drug possession. Her next court date is Thursday. Our sports columnist is investigating the role played by Griner’s race, gender, and sexuality playing in her long detention.
6. Boris Johnson hasn’t left 10 Downing Street yet, but the jockeying to replace him has already begun.
The Conservative Party must decide not only who should succeed the scandal-stricken British prime minister, but also when he should leave. The process of choosing his successor can the summer last† Potential candidates include Secretary of State Liz Truss; the Chancellor of the Treasury, Nadhim Zahawi; and two former health secretaries, Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt.
Meanwhile, the lame duck leader presides over what is called a zombie government. Johnson’s critics say his blueprint for dealing with a crisis almost never begins and rarely ends with simply telling the truth. That approach worked for him for years – until it finally didn’t happen†
7. The US could lose the fight against monkey pox, because long-term weaknesses in the public health system give the virus a chance to anchor.
The first cases of monkeypox were reported in May, but tests won’t be available until sometime this month. Vaccines will be few more months scarce† Tracking cases can be difficult and the number of official cases is probably a gross underestimate. Experts say it raises disturbing questions on the country’s preparedness for pandemic threats.
In the corona news, the rapidly spreading Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are the driving force a summer wave of infections in Europe† But vaccines work to prevent serious illness, an official said: Hospital admissions have risen, but intensive care admissions have not increased.
8. Novak Djokovic has a chance at a seventh Wimbledon singles title†
Djokovic defeated Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in four sets on Friday afternoon, overcoming some early game inconsistencies, blazing heat and a raucous hometown crowd. In the men’s final, Djokovic will face Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, which starts at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday. The women’s final, between Our Jabeur and Elena Rybakinatakes place on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
Also on Sunday: The WNBA All Star Game. NB Las Vegas Aces Guard Jackie Youngwho posts the best offensive songs of her career and makes her first All-Star appearance.
9. Few Cultural Disputes Fuel British Passions more than the arrangement of the Parthenon marbles. A robot sculptor can offer a solution.
Britain has repeatedly rejected requests from Greek campaigners to repatriate the works stolen from the Acropolis of Athens by Thomas Bruce, a Scottish statesman and the seventh Earl of Elgin. The Elgin Marbles, as they are sometimes called, have been in the British Museum since 1817.
Roger Michel, an archaeologist at the University of Oxford, has a 3D editing device with the ability to create faithful copies of major historical objects. In his mind, the copies would be made for the “sole purpose” of repatriating the Elgin Marbles. “If two people both want the same cake, baking a second, identical cake is an obvious solution,” he said.
Apparently, birds are to blame, along with an abundance of anchovies in the ocean. When birds carry fish back to their nests, they sometimes drop the fish. One expert says gulls also fight each other for food and may drop their fish in a process known as kleptoparasitism: “That’s when one bird beats up another bird for its lunch.”