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| | Dose Of News Useful TodayWednesday, July 29th |
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Daily Sprinkle | “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” -Oprah Winfrey |
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 | Ex-Malaysian PM Sentenced In 1MDB Scandal | On Tuesday, a Malaysian court found former PM Najib Razak guilty of abuse of power for his role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. A deeper dive… Razak was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and fined nearly $50M for his involvement in one of the world’s largest-ever financial scandals. - The verdict marks the first of five cases against Razak over allegations he stole more than $4.5B in government money from the 1MDB state investment fund started in 2009 to boost the economy.
- Razak was found guilty of transferring ~42M ringgit (about $9.87M) from 1MDB into personal bank accounts for political funding, renovating properties, and buying luxury goods.
- His defense lawyer argues that Razak wasn’t part of the conspiracy, instead blaming Jho Low, a fugitive Malaysian financier who advised the 1MDB fund.
Goldman Sachs – the central banker for 1MDB – agreed last week to pay the Malaysian government $2.5B for its role in the alleged fraud, and guaranteed the additional recovery of $1.4B in assets. What’s next? Razak denies guilt and will remain free, pending the outcome of an appeal. Two more trials against Razak are currently pending, while two others have yet to begin. - Jho Low is still at large, and his whereabouts are unknown. The DOJ reached a civil-forfeiture settlement with Low in Oct. 2019 to recover nearly $1B in assets.
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 | COVID-19 Snapshot- Check your state’s ICU bed capacity.
- Major virus news: Russian intelligence operatives are reportedly using three English-language websites to publish hundreds of misleading articles about the pandemic response, U.S. officials told the Associated Press.
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| Barr Testifies Before CongressAttorney General William Barr testified before the House Judiciary Committee for the first time yesterday. Barr touched on several topics but primarily focused on the deployment of federal agents to cities. Read his written testimony or watch it here. | |
Trump Admin. To Reject New DACA ClaimsOn Tuesday, the Trump administration said it will reject new applicants to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and take steps to wind down the deportation protections laid out in the Obama-era legislation. The DACA program prevents the deportation of thousands of immigrants living in the U.S. who entered illegally as children. More: A senior Trump administration official also said there would be a lengthy review of last month’s SCOTUS decision that found the administration had erred in trying to end the program. | |
Worth Noting: Six U.S. mayors signed a letter to Congress urging the halt of federal troop deployment in their cities. Also Worth Noting: Joe Biden announced he will pick a running mate by the first week of August. In other election news, Kanye West filed to appear on New Jersey’s ballot as a presidential candidate. | |
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 | The Coronavirus Effect- CES, the world’s largest consumer-electronics exhibition, will be held entirely online in 2021 rather than its usual in-person showcase in Las Vegas.
- Kodak has secured a $765 million loan from the U.S. government to produce ingredients for a number of generic drugs through the Defense Production Act.
- Two Chick-fil-A locations in AL & VA have offered free food to customers who swap $10 worth of change for bills amid the national coin shortage.
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Coming Soon To TheatersAMC Theaters and Universal have reached a new agreement to limit the exclusive theatrical release of movies to 17 days. The deal marks a radical shift from the standard release window, as theaters in recent years generally had between 70 and 90 days to show films before they became available online. |
Going NuclearThe world’s biggest nuclear fusion project, called ITER, has begun its five-year assembly phase in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France. Construction of the ~$23.5B facility is a collaboration between the U.S., EU, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Russia, who all share in the cost. Advocates say nuclear fusion could be a source of clean, unlimited power to help combat climate change. Worth Noting: Twitter banned Donald Trump Jr. from tweeting for 12 hours after he posted a video containing “misleading and potentially harmful” information regarding COVID-19. Also Worth Noting: The Big Four tech CEOs – Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, & Tim Cook – will testify before the House Antitrust Subcommittee today starting at noon. Watch it live. |
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 | Take It To The BankIn Washington state, the extended closure of restaurants due to the pandemic has caused demand for the region’s potato and onion harvests to plummet, forcing many farmers to destroy their crops or leave them in the fields to rot. Meanwhile, the number of food-insecure households in the state continues to rise as fears of the virus cause unemployment levels to rise. Perceiving an intrinsic solution within these two crises, a man named George Ahearn founded the nonprofit EastWest Food Rescue, which transports the unused potatoes and onions from oversupplied farms to the state’s struggling food banks. The nonprofit, which also raises money to compensate farmers for the food, has hauled more than 2.4 million pounds of produce to date.
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Game Of BonesFor sports fans around the globe, the instantly recognizable voice of BBC broadcaster Andrew Cotter is a staple of viewing beloved athletic competitions such as Wimbledon and the Olympic Games. This summer, Andrew, who relaxes audiences with his gentle yet agile commentary, has been out of work as these athletic competitions have been canceled or postponed. To pass the time during quarantine, Andrew began posting YouTube videos in which he commentates on the daily lives of his two dogs, Olive and Mabel, describing their peaceful routines as if he was witnessing the final round of a high-stakes athletic tournament. From footage of eating competitions to leisurely walks, Andrew captivates viewers with his hushed remarks.
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The Need For SeedsWith a rapidly growing population, India is currently suffering the adverse environmental and health effects of excessive carbon dioxide in the air. In an attempt to dramatically reduce the country’s carbon dioxide pollution by 2030, the country’s government recently committed to the lofty goal of increasing its forest cover to 235 million acres by 2030 – a land area the size of Texas and New Mexico combined. This month, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 2 million residents demonstrated their commitment by gathering to plant more than 20 million trees along the banks of the Ganges river. To complete the enormous project, the region’s officials handed out saplings to the volunteers, all of whom adhered to social distancing measures.
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 | The Sweet Life | One teaspoon of honey is the lifetime work of about how many bees? A) 50 B) 3 C) 10 D) 100 | (keep scrolling for the answer) |
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| Dose of Knowledge Answer | A) 10 A worker bee in her lifetime will produce about 0.8g of honey – roughly 1/10 of a teaspoon (or 1/556 of a pound). |
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