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South Korea Says Slain Official Tried To Defect

An investigation into a South Korea official who was shot and killed by North Korean sailors in contested waters last Tuesday concluded that the man was trying to defect to North Korea. The South Korean Coast Guard found evidence that the official had been in contact with North Koreans and said he likely did not fall overboard by accident since he had a life vest and flotation device. 

More: Why people defect to North Korea.

Democrats Unveil New Stimulus Bill

House Democrats revealed a new $2.2T coronavirus stimulus bill yesterday. The proposed legislation includes an expanded round of $1,200 stimulus checks, an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits through January, and provides student loan relief measures that would allow students to wait an extra year before paying off federal loans (interest accrual would be halted during the time period).

More: Earlier this month, the Senate failed to pass a ~$500B GOP stimulus bill that Democrats said didn’t go far enough.

Breonna Taylor Tapes To Be Released

A judge ordered Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron to release a recording of the grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case by noon today after an anonymous grand juror sued to make them public. Last Wednesday, the grand jury indicted one of three police officers involved in the shooting on charges of endangering Taylor’s neighbors, and found the other two officers were justified in their use of deadly force.

More: After last week’s grand jury decision, Vice News published officer body cam footage and the Louisville Courier-Journal obtained the department’s ballistics report, raising additional questions about the situation.

Worth Noting: Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait who led the country for 14 years, died Tuesday at the age of 91. | Former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was buried in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.

📝 Making A Statement… former Special Counsel Robert Mueller released a statement on Tuesday regarding a ‘tell-all’ book written by a former prosecutor in his office. Read it.

Following Suit

French luxury goods group LVMH - owner of Louis Vitton, Dior, & others - filed a countersuit against Tiffany on Monday regarding LVMH’s agreement to purchase Tiffany for $16B last November. LVMH officially backed out of the deal earlier this month (citing interference from the French government), which led to Tiffany filing a suit to force the sale through.

The Price Is Wrong

JPMorgan Chase admitted to misconduct and agreed to pay a $920M settlement for manipulating the price of precious metals on Tuesday. This crime, commonly known as “spoofing,” involves entering - and then quickly canceling - large orders to move the market price in a direction preferable to the spoofer.

More: Last year, four former JPMorgan Chase officials were charged with crimes tied to spoofing. All four pleaded not guilty and remain on trial.

The Mouse Cleans House

Disney laid off 28k workers across several theme park divisions - 67% of which were part-time employees - citing forced closures and limited attendance due to the pandemic. Disney's global set of theme parks accounted for 37% of its total revenue last year.

Worth Noting: The Tennessee Titans closed their facilities until Saturday after three players and five personnel tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

🏬 Closing Time… retail store closings reached a record high in the first half of 2020, according to an industry report. Dig deeper.

⏰ Stock O’Clock… Palantir makes its debut on the New York Stock Exchange today. (What you need to know)

Speak For Yourself

Learning to speak is a major milestone in a child’s development, long-awaited by new parents who eagerly anticipate their little one’s first words. However, when five-year-old Micah McGuire of Grove City, OH, first learned to speak, he did so using sign language. Micah has nonverbal autism, which makes it difficult for the young boy to communicate with his voice. Until recently, he had never spoken aloud.

This month, Micah’s mother, Haley, posted a series of videos to TikTok sharing the moment her son finally spoke his first words. The heartwarming recordings (here, here, & here), which have gone viral, feature Micah being met with cheers from family members as he proudly declares their names, eventually working his way up to his most significant accomplishment yet – saying his own name.

Winning The Rat Race

According to APOPO - an organization that finds and removes active land mines from civilian areas in Cambodia - an estimated four to six million explosive devices were planted in the country over the last 40 years. As a result, more than 40,000 people have lost limbs to accidentally triggered land mines, causing Cambodia to have the highest number of mine amputees per capita.

To make the country safer for civilians, APOPO enlisted the help of Magawa, a giant African pouched rat who can search an area the size of a tennis court for landmines in just 30 minutes – a job that would take a human four days. To date, Magawa has cleared explosive devices from more than 35 acres of land, an achievement which this month earned him a British civilian award for animal bravery.

Pasta Point Of No Return

Although Ashlyn MacDonald of Attleboro, MA, has always been a picky eater, her tastes took an unusual turn earlier this year when the young girl, who has autism, stopped eating food altogether – except for SpaghettiOs. Just as her mother, teachers, and therapists were beginning to introduce Ashlyn to a more multifaceted menu, the pandemic hit. Suddenly, the shelves at the local grocery stores were utterly cleared of the canned pasta.

With Ashlyn still refusing to eat anything other than her favorite food, her mother, Crystal, placed a desperate plea in the newspaper asking if anyone in the community knew where she could find the elusive noodles. Within days, hundreds of cans of SpaghettiOs began appearing anonymously on the McDonalds' doorstep, as generous neighbors went out of their way to support Ashlyn's special diet.

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