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Good evening. Here’s the last one at the end of Thursday.
1. US gross domestic product contracted again, fueling fears of a recession.
GDP fell 0.2 percent in the second quarter, after a 0.4 percent decline in the first quarter, meaning the U.S. economy is under one general but unofficial definition. has entered a recession two years after it emerged from the latter.
Most economists still don’t think the economy fits the formal definition of a recession, which is based on a broader set of indicators. Still, the data leaves little doubt that the recovery is losing momentum.
The legislation also includes tax credits for new and used electric vehicles, $9 billion in rebates for energy-efficient appliances and $60 billion for communities disproportionately affected by climate change. It would be the most ambitious climate action performed by the US
Next steps: Democrats hope to get the bill past the united Republican opposition in the Senate as early as next week. But it needs unanimous support from Democrats to succeed, and Senator Kyrsten Sinema has not indicated whether she intends to support it.
At the state level, West Virginia Said It would stop doing business with banks which did not support the coal industry.
3. Ukraine urges to retake territory in the south as Russia pours in reinforcements.
Ukrainian forces have long been setting the stage for a wide-ranging counter-offensive in the south. Recent Ukrainian attacks disrupted crucial supply routes, forcing thousands of Russian soldiers around the port city of Kherson. stayed behind largely cut off from Russian strongholds in the east.
A Ukrainian official said the country has a chance to drive the Russians out of the city if it has enough weapons and equipment. At the same time, Russia moved “the maximum number” of troops to the southern front of the region, according to the head of Ukraine’s National Security Council.
4. Americans indulge in summer heat.
While much of the country is sweating from record heat waves, people are starting to reshape their lives just to survive the ultramarathon of misery that now defines the white-hot American summer.
Some become nocturnal. Some keep their curtains closed all day or go out with a frozen water bottle. People on limited incomes are cutting back on essentials so they can keep the air conditioning running.
“I’ll be in after 10 p.m.,” says Paolo Pinto, 70, an Austin resident. “I have curtains, shades and fans. I don’t get out until around 7pm, I’m getting red, I’m getting exhausted.”
5. JetBlue Airways struck a deal to buy Spirit Airlines, creating the fifth largest US airline.
The deal, which values Spirit at $3.8 billion, could: reshaping the airline industry by putting pressure on the country’s four dominant airlines — United, Delta, Southwest and American. It comes a day after Frontier Airlines’ bid for Spirit, valued at $2.8 billion. fell apart.
The merger is likely to undergo a thorough investigation by the Biden administration’s antitrust regulators, who have taken an aggressive stance against corporate consolidation, especially in sectors already dominated by a few companies.
7. Mysterious fungal networks hide under our feet that can help combat climate change. Scientists have begun to map them on a global scale.
As one of the first life forms on the planet, fungi helped create the soil and the world as we know it. Researchers focus on mycorrhizal fungi, a type that clings to roots and has a symbiotic relationship with plants. According to one estimate, five billion tons of carbon flows from plants to mycorrhizal fungi every year, preventing it from warming the Earth’s atmosphere.
The data that researchers collect will indicate which types of mycorrhizal fungi sequester so much carbon. Fungi have helped trees adapt on a millennial scale and can be “levers,” as one biologist put it, to deal with a warming climate.
8. You can tell a lot about a comedian from their water keg.
Jerry Seinfeld features an elegant glass next to a sleek, unlabeled bottle in his most recent special. Ali Wong uses a stylish, extra tall bottle. Hasan Minhaj puts two bottles on the stool. Once you start looking for drinks in stand-up specials, they are everywhere.
“It may be that traditionally stand-up relies so much on authenticity,” writes Jason Zinoman, our comedy critic. “The glass of water telegraphs that you are watching a human being at work, sweating.”
9. All aboard!
For the first time in 50 years, a train is carrying passengers straight from New York to the Berkshires. The Berkshire Flyer buzzes along the Hudson River over Labor Day weekend, one of several new services Amtrak has announced in recent months.
International and cross-country travel is also on the rise. Marta Giaccone, a photographer, took the California Zephyr, a 52-hour journey that many train enthusiasts consider to be one of the most scenic Amtrak long-distance train routes in the US. This is what she saw.
More than 400 beagles were released last week and are now settling in new homes. Many of them don’t have names yet, just tattoos with numbers in their ears. Some see grass for the first time. The remaining 3,600 were expected to be released to shelters, rescues, foster owners and adoptive families in the next two months.