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| Happy Friday, Insiders! Today's newsletter covers Twitter's feud with Meta over the new Threads app, a disturbing study on the widespread presence of "forever chemicals" in U.S. tap water, news about a meeting to curb global fentanyl trafficking, and more. Your faithful IDB writer, Daniel
p/Dan-Smith | |
| 1 | | Following the launch of Threads, Twitter accused Meta of stealing trade secrets to develop a
copycat" app. In a letter to Meta, Twitter Attorney Alex Spiro accused Mark Zuckerberg's company of using "systematic" and "unlawful misappropriation" to build Threads. More: - Spiro alleged that Meta hired former Twitter employees to develop a clone of Twitter.
- Meta communications director Andy Stone said the Threads engineering team does not include former Twitter employees.
- Spiro wrote that Meta is "expressly prohibited" from scraping Twitter's follower data without providing any evidence that Meta had done so.
- Twitter owner Elon Musk said: "Competition is fine, cheating is not."
- More than 70 million people have reportedly signed up for Threads since the mini-blogging app was launched on Wednesday.
- According to The New York Times, Threads became the most rapidly downloaded app ever, surpassing ChatGPT's record of 1 million downloads in five days.
Zoom Out: - In April, Musk said he had laid off ~80% of Twitter's staff since he bought the company for $44B in late 2022.
- In May, Fidelity Investments, which owns a stake in Twitter, estimated that the social media company is worth just $15B.
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June jobs data: The U.S. added 209,000 jobs in June, according to Labor Department data. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, down from 3.7% in May. The Labor Department noted that June saw the lowest number of new jobs created in more than two years. Annual average wage growth was 4.4% in June, continuing a trend of strong income growth for U.S. workers. Labor force participation rate: The labor force participation rate stayed at 62.6% for the fourth straight month. It is still well below the pre-pandemic level of 63.3% seen in January 2020. The labor force participation rate for prime-aged workers between 25 and 54 rose to 83.5%, continuing a three-month trend of rising above the pre-pandemic levels of 83.1% seen in January 2020. The prime-age labor force participation rate is at its highest level in over 20 years. After peaking at 84.6% in January 1999, the prime-age labor force participation rate steadily declined until the start of the pandemic. However, the post-pandemic employment boom is now bringing the rate close to levels last seen at the turn of the century. | | | |
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| 3 | | The average global temperature hit all-time highs on three days this week, according to unofficial data. The global average temperature was 63.01F (17.23C) on Thursday, surpassing the previous records of 62.92F (17.18C) and 62.62F (17.01C) set on Tuesday and Monday, respectively, according to the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer. More: - The Climate Reanalyzer is a platform that relies on readings from the Earth's surface, air balloons, satellite observations, and computer modeling to produce climate data and weather forecasts.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it could not independently verify the measurements but noted that its researchers are recording record high temperatures in many parts of the world.
- Climate scientists said that the record temperatures are driven by a combination of human-induced climate change and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a natural weather pattern.
- ENSO occurs every three to seven years, bringing warm water to the surface of the Pacific Ocean and pushing heat into the atmosphere as a result.
- The previous record of 62.46F (16.92C) was set in 2016, which was also an El Nino year.
- Friederike Otto of Imperial College London said that the temperature record "should be a wake-up call for anyone who thinks the world needs more oil and gas."
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| 4 | | Representatives of 80 countries met virtually on Friday to discuss how to end the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs like fentanyl. China, a leading producer and exporter of fentanyl precursors, has not agreed to participate in the effort. More: - Todd Robinson, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, said that China "needs to do more as a global partner to disrupt illicit synthetic drug chains."
- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is visiting China this week, is expected to discuss fentanyl production and trafficking with Chinese officials.
- Earlier this year, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a group of Chinese and Mexican companies that are suspected of producing fentanyl pills.
- When Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China last month, he told reporters that the U.S. and China had agreed to "explore setting up a working group" on fentanyl trafficking.
- Since then, China has backed off from collective efforts to deal with fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
Zoom Out: - Nearly 110,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, with a majority of those deaths linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
- At Friday's meeting, Blinken said that transnational criminal enterprises are "turning elsewhere to expand their profits" after "having saturated the U.S. market."
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| 5 | | A study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that at least 45% of tap water in the country is contaminated with PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals." Research has shown that exposure to PFAS can increase the risk of cancer and other health problems in humans. More: - The study tested water samples from more than 700 U.S. locations over a five-year period.
- The USGS researchers found that PFA levels were similar in water sourced from public reservoirs and private wells.
- The USGS estimates a 75% likelihood of PFAS being detected in water in urban areas, versus 25% in rural areas.
- Kelly Smalling, the study's lead author, said that potential hotspots for PFAS contamination identified in the study were: "the Great Plains, Great Lakes, Eastern Seaboard, and Central/Southern California regions."
Zoom Out: - In June 2022, the EPA issued drinking water health advisories for two of the most common forever chemicals: PFOA and PFOS.
- The agency said that the chemicals can cause health problems at levels low enough to be detected.
- Many of the 12,000 known per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances cannot be detected due to a lack of suitable tools.
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| 6 | | The median monthly mortgage payment listed on new home purchase loan applications reached an all-time high of $2,165 in May, up from $1,320 two years ago. Average mortgage payments for new homes increased by 14.1% from the same month last year, and 2.5% month-on-month. More: - High interest rates and limited housing supply have pushed many would-be homebuyers out of the market.
- The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage hit 6.81% this week, more than twice what it was two years ago.
- Average home prices have fallen in 2023 after reaching record highs in 2021 and 2022. The national median home price is still nearly 40% higher than it was three years ago.
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- According to a report from the Brazilian government, deforestation in the Amazon decreased by 33.6% in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who campaigned on protecting the Amazon rainforest, took office in January.
- The Louis Armstrong Center, which commemorates the life and career of the jazz legend, opened last week in Queens, New York. The Center will house the 60,000+ items held in the Louis Armstrong Archive.
- The German health ministry has proposed banning people from smoking in cars carrying children and/or pregnant women.
- Northwestern suspended football coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks after an investigation found evidence that Fitzgerald allowed hazing to occur.
- A few months from now, you could be celebrating your new hair. Get 60% off with code FIREWORKS60 from now until July 7th!*
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Term of the Day Digital agency: A digital agency provides specialized services for businesses in digital marketing and advertising, with expertise in areas such as web design. Question of the Week What's your stance on employees discussing their salaries with each other? Join the conversation |
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 | Writer | | Dr. Daniel Smith is an Inside writer with a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. Follow him on Twitter @DJS12321 or email him at Daniel@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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