Hamas Leader Killed, India Landslides, and the Skibidi Toilet

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Breaking news:  Hamas' top political leader outside of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran, according to separate statements from Iran and Hamas. Israel has not commented as of this writing. Read more here.

Landslides in India

At least 123 people were killed and hundreds more injured Tuesday after heavy overnight rains caused landslides in India's southwestern state of Kerala. Hundreds of disaster relief workers and military personnel were conducting rescue efforts amid continued downpours, and over 3,000 people had been evacuated to safety.

At least three separate landslides occurred in the early-morning on the slopes of the Western Ghats in the tourist district of Wayanad, where hundreds of tea and cardamom farmers were asleep in their homes. The rains washed out villages, roads, and bridges near the towns of Mundakkai and Chooralmala (see map), making access for rescuers difficult. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced grants of roughly $2,400 to victims' families. See photos here.

Officials determined over 22 inches of rain fell in Wayanad over two days—roughly 10% of the average annual rainfall. Heavy downpours are common during the region's monsoon season from June to September (watch explainer). In 2018, over 400 people were killed in similar floods in the state.

Olympics Redemption 

Team USA yesterday clinched its first Olympic gold medal in the women's gymnastics team all-around competition since the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Simone Biles—who competed in all four events (bars, beam, vault, and floor) after a calf injury—won her eighth Olympic gold medal and broke her own record as the most decorated gymnast in history. Italy and Brazil finished second and third, respectively. Biles, as well as teammate and defending Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee, will return for the individual all-around competition tomorrow. 

In the men’s swimming 800-meter freestyle, Daniel Wiffen became the first athlete from Northern Ireland to win an Olympic gold medal in 36 years, edging American distance swimmer and two-time Olympian Bobby Finke, who won silver. Today, seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky is looking to secure another gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle final. 

Separately, Team USA men's soccer advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in 24 years and will face Morocco Friday. Overall, the US became the first country to win 3,000 Olympic medals, following its latest wins from the Paris Olympics. See updated medal count here.

Meta Settlement

Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to a $1.4B settlement with the state of Texas over its use of facial recognition technology, marking the largest privacy-related payment to a single state. The lawsuit, filed in 2022, accused Meta of violating Texas privacy laws by collecting and storing biometric data without proper user consent.

The case centered on Facebook's "Tag Suggestions" feature, which used billions of biometric identifiers contained in uploaded photos and videos on Facebook without customers’ consent. The state’s biometric privacy law, which allows damages of up to $25K per violation, prohibits companies from capturing biometric identifiers without informing users and obtaining their consent. The news comes as the state continues to press a separate biometric data lawsuit against Alphabet.

Meta settled a similar $650M class-action lawsuit in 2021 with Illinois for violating the state’s biometric privacy law. Meta stopped using the technology in 2021.

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