Good morning. It's Friday, Aug. 9, and we're covering Ukraine's new strategy in the war with Russia, the latest in Olympics match-ups, and much more. First time reading? Join over 3.7 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here. |
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Ukraine's Cross-Border Push |
Ukrainian armed forces have pushed through two defensive lines in Russia's southwestern Kursk Oblast since the operation began Tuesday. The cross-border incursion—9 miles into Russia—is Ukraine's largest since the war began 30 months ago, involving an estimated 1,000 soldiers in dozens of armored vehicles.
The operation comes amid mostly stalemate conditions along the two countries' 600-mile front line. Analysts say Ukraine has captured roughly 50 square miles of territory, including a Gazprom-owned gas metering station, the Russian town of Sudzha, and at least 11 other settlements (see map). Images showed US-made equipment in use in the operation, though American officials stated the incursion did not violate its policies around the use of US weapons in the war.
Analysts say the sudden move into Russian territory could be designed to divert forces from current hot spot areas of the conflict. A Ukrainian adviser has indicated the move was designed to help Ukraine's position in potential negotiations with Russia. |
The 2024 Paris Olympics are in the final stretch, with a few days of competition remaining before Sunday's closing ceremony. See schedule here.
Botswana's Letsile Tebogo won the men's 200-meter race yesterday, a surprise upset for Team USA's Noah Lyles, who won the 100-meter race this week but took bronze yesterday after testing positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record to take gold in the 400-meter hurdles.
Tomorrow, the US men's basketball team faces off against France for gold after defeating Serbia 95-91 yesterday. The US women's soccer team will also have a shot at gold in its match-up tomorrow with Brazil, a potential redemption arc for the four-time World Cup champions after an early loss in that tournament last year. On Sunday, the women's volleyball team will compete against Italy for gold after defeating Brazil yesterday.
See current medal count here. |
The Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak Sunday night into early morning Monday. During the annual event, which runs from July 14 to Sept. 1, some stargazers can expect to see up to 100 meteors per hour under optimal conditions.
The popular celestial event, first recorded in 36 CE by Chinese observers, gets its name because the meteors appear to stream from the constellation of Perseus. In reality, the shower occurs when the Earth passes through the debris of the Swift-Tuttle comet. As the tiny particles, often no larger than grains of sand, enter the atmosphere at speeds averaging 37 miles per second, they burn up, creating bright streaks across the sky.
This year brings favorable viewing conditions due to the moon being about 50% illuminated and setting around midnight, allowing for dark skies until dawn. The best viewing areas will be in clear, dark areas away from city lights; find a dark sky near you here. |
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In partnership with Sky Quarry |
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For a limited time, the company is accepting private shareholders. Their previous funding round was oversubscribed at $18M, placing it in the top 1% of crowdfunding. Invest in Sky Quarry before their planned Nasdaq listing.* |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
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> Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer and eight-time PGA Tour winner born Juan Antonio Rodriguez, dies at age 88 (More) |
> Paramount Global to lay off 15% of its US workforce in preparation for merger with Skydance Media (More) |
> Colin Jost ends stint as Olympics correspondent in Tahiti after sustaining foot injury resulting in a staph infection (More) |
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> Apple reportedly to release its smallest desktop to date, using the company's in-house built M4 chip (More) |
> NASA discovers two new "super-Earth" exoplanets located dozens of light years away (More) | Everything you ever needed to know about NASA (More, w/video) |
> Chemists discover new reaction to develop polymers for use in drug delivery, electronics, and more (More) |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +2.3%, Dow +1.8%, Nasdaq +2.9%); S&P 500 notches best day since 2022 following latest labor market data (More) | US weekly jobless claims fall to 233,000 for week ending Aug. 3; figure is lower than estimates and largest drop in 11 months (More) |
> Palantir shares close up 11% after announcing partnership with Microsoft; will sell secure cloud, analytics, and AI capabilities to US defense and intelligence agencies (More) | Bumble shares fall to all-time low in intraday trading after slashing annual revenue forecast (More) |
> US mortgage rates fall to 15-month low, with average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.47%; total application volume rises 1% week-over-week (More) |
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> Former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris agree to participate in Sept. 10 presidential debate on ABC; Trump says he has proposed two more debates on Fox and NBC (More) | See latest polls (More) |
> Japan issues major earthquake warning after 7.1-magnitude earthquake strikes off eastern coast of southern Japanese island of Kyushu (More) | Tropical Storm Debby makes second US landfall in South Carolina, with flood threat expanding to northeast US; death toll rises to seven as of this writing (More) |
> Barcelona police search for former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont, who returned to Spain despite an outstanding arrest warrant over his failed 2017 independence bid; two officers arrested for allegedly assisting in his getaway (More) |
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> Humanity's Final Invention?
Kurzgesagt | Staff. It took millions of years for Earth to bring about humanity's powerful intelligence. With Silicon Valley's push for general artificial intelligence, could the reign of the human mind soon be over? (Watch)
> Kenya's Extremely Online Pastors
Rest of World | Vincent Owino. As attendance at traditional churches in Kenya declines, virtual services led by online preachers are flourishing—and raising questions over the efficacy of church without community. (Read) |
> Minds Without Mental Images
Quanta | Yasemin Saplakoglu. A dive into aphantasia, a condition affecting roughly 2% of the population where individuals don't perceive mental images but instead grasp the attributes of things. (Read)
> Miuccia Prada's Billions
BBC | Simon Jack, Zing Tsjeng. (Podcast) How the one-time mime turned her grandfather's shop into a global fashion powerhouse—and reached a cool $6B net worth. (Listen) |
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