| |
| Today's newsletter digs into the Supreme Court's decision ending affirmative action in higher education, French protests that followed the killing of a teen driver by police earlier this week, a tragic story of starvation and food aid theft in Ethiopia's Tigray region, and more. Your faithful IDB writer, Daniel
p/Dan-Smith | |
| 1 | | The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that colleges and universities can no longer consider applicants' race in admissions decisions, effectively ending affirmative action in higher education. The 6-3 majority decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, rejected existing precedent to conclude that racial considerations in university admissions are unconstitutional. More: - The cases, both of which were filed by the anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions, questioned the legality of the admissions practices of Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
- The litigants argued that the affirmative action policies practiced by the elite universities were discriminatory and in violation of applicants' constitutional rights.
- The constitutionality of affirmative action in university admissions was confirmed in the 1972 case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.
- The ruling overturns the precedent set by Bakke, finding that the Bakke decision violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
- In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that "Equal educational opportunity is a prerequisite to achieving racial equality in our nation."
Zoom Out: - Officials at the University of Michigan, which had to stop using race-based criteria in admissions decisions after a 2006 referendum barred the practice, said that a change to race-neutral admissions practices led to lower enrollment rates for African-American and Native-American students.
|     | |
| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: New weekly unemployment claims fell by the greatest number in 20 months last week, with 26,000 fewer people submitting new unemployment claims than in the previous week. Relevance: New unemployment claims had risen in each of the previous three weeks to levels not seen since October 2021. The significant drop in new claims signals that the labor market may not be cooling off as much as some economists had expected. A change in Minnesota law that allows school workers to apply for state unemployment benefits during the summer fueled the increase in claims seen earlier this month, Reuters reported. What's next: The Federal Reserve will be closely watching unemployment claims and jobs data for June before it meets next month. Chairman Jerome Powell suggested that the Fed could hike interest rates when it meets next month after pausing its rate-hiking campaign in June. | | | |
| A message from our sponsor, Remote. |  | | Remote makes it easy for any company to hire and pay anyone, anywhere in the world. Your trusted HR team in every country! As the Employer of Record, Remote fully owns and operates entities in the markets we serve so you don’t have to. You’ll save time and money while protecting your business and employees. - We offer comprehensive coverage at rates meant for larger groups — even if you’re still a small team.
- Get personalized service from our HR and legal experts during every step of your global hiring journey.
- We do the work to understand and proactively act on local labor and tax law requirements.
- Our fair price guarantee means that you can say goodbye to 3rd party markups and hidden fees.
- Retain full ownership of your IP and invention rights in every country where you operate.
- We help you understand tax treatment in each country so you can offer the best plans and packages.
- For employees looking to apply a special tax regime in their country, which will help them maximize their take-home pay, we have an expert team to help them navigate the process free of charge.
- We're proactive and not reactive about our customer service. We care for you, the customer, and that is why we make every interaction count.
Get started employing global talent! Get started today | |
|
| 3 | | More than 700 people have starved to death in Ethiopia's Tigray region after the U.S. and U.N. paused food aid in March over claims that the food was being stolen. Tons of food donations were sold in sacks branded with the U.S. flag, the Associated Press reported. More: - The U.S. and U.N. stopped distributing food aid to Tigray in March and now have expanded that decision to the rest of the country.
- An estimated 20 million people in Ethiopia rely on foreign food assistance for sustenance.
- USAID said: "The theft of food from this highly vulnerable population is unconscionable."
- U.S. officials told the Associated Press that this may have been the largest-ever theft of food aid in any country.
- The Ethiopian government, which controls food aid delivery and distribution, rejected claims that it was responsible for the theft.
- It agreed to collaborate in a U.S. investigation into the matter. The U.N. World Food Program will carry out its own probe.
- Before resuming food deliveries, the U.S. and U.N. plan to introduce biometric checks to ensure the food reaches people in need, and want to ensure that Ethiopian officials are no longer involved in the distribution process.
Zoom Out: | | | |
| 4 | | GOOD NEWS: Detroit is setting up a solar panel network to help power all of its municipal buildings with solar energy. The city, which determined that it will need ~250 acres of solar panels to achieve the goal, is inviting applications from citizens to establish solar farms in their neighborhoods. More: - Solar field sites can range from 10 to 50 acres, and the city will provide $25,000 in community improvement grants for each city-approved acre.
- The community benefits may include funds for parks and recreation improvements, home repairs, and solar panels for neighborhood homes.
- The plan could turn vacant lots into fenced-in solar farms.
- Groups of at least five neighbors can submit community interest forms to the city between July 1 and October 2, and decisions on solar farm locations will be made in the fall.
| | | |
| |
|
| 5 | | France saw its third consecutive day of protests and riots after police shot and killed a teenager during a traffic stop in Paris earlier this week. The officer who was involved in the shooting is being investigated for voluntary homicide. More: - A video posted on social media showed a police officer opening fire at a Mercedes AMG car at close range as the vehicle moved away.
- The officer told investigators he fired his gun to prevent a potentially dangerous car chase after the 17-year-old driver allegedly committed several traffic violations prior to the stop.
- French President Emmanuel Macron described the shooting as "unforgivable."
- The Interior Ministry plans to deploy 40,000 police officers across France to help manage the protests.
- Some public transport services will be suspended in and around Paris.
- Rioters reportedly vandalized more than 50 schools this week, which has led to the closure of at least ten schools for safety reasons.
| | | |
| 6 | | Scientists have, for the first time, detected massive gravitational waves emitted by black holes. By using beacon stars called pulsars, researchers were able to track how space in between galaxies was shaped by gravitational waves. More: - In 2015, scientists at the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) first identified the gravitational waves produced by the collision of two black holes approximately 1.3 billion light-years away from Earth.
- At the time, world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking noted that these findings confirmed Einstein's theory of relativity, which predicted the existence of gravitational waves.
- An international consortium of astronomers from the U.S., Europe, India, and Australia have now detected gravitational waves that likely come from many pairs of much larger black holes.
- To reach that conclusion, they pooled decades' worth of data from huge telescopes used to track the radio waves emitted by dozens of pulsar stars, which served as timers by which the researchers could detect the changes wrought on space-time.
- Researchers noted that the disruptions could come from other sources, with residual gravitational noise from the Big Bang being one possibility.
| | | |
| 7 | | QUICK HITS - DockerProtect your code with help from Docket. Read our white paper to learn how to stay ahead of security threats and build a resilient tech stack.
- The World Health Organization's cancer research arm is set to release a report claiming that artificial sweetener aspartame is "possibly carcinogenic to humans."
- Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán threw the fourth perfect game in Yankees history against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
- Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he plans to step down as leader of the left-wing Syriza party following an electoral defeat last week.
- Sri Lanka's central bank is asking foreign debt holders to take a 30% haircut on the country's sovereign bonds as part of a major debt restructuring plan. The nation of 22 million defaulted on its foreign debt last year.
- It's never been easier for your sales organization to accelerate growth. Learn how AI, and more can help you sell in a whole new way.*
*This is a sponsored post. | | | |
| |
Term of the Day Product positioning: Product positioning involves creating a unique value proposition and an emotional connection between the customer and the product or service. Question of the Week How do you feel about the phrase "The customer is always right"? Join the conversation |
| Upcoming Events | | JUN
29 | | Inside.com Book Club - Automate Your Busywork (June 2023) | | | | | | | JUL
12 | | Monthly Meditation guided by Nicholas Whitaker | | | | | | | OCT
16 | | Meet Our Fund 5, Building and Investing in AI | | | | | | * This is a sponsored event | | | |
 | 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 | |
| |
| |
|
 | Invest in Fine Wine and Rare Spirits. | |
|
| |
Comments
Post a Comment