Better Tourism, Hackers, & Good Ol’-Fashioned Air Conditioning
July 10, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Wednesday! Today, we’re talking about Israel’s recent attack on Gaza, Hungary and Russia, China-backed hackers, eco-friendly tourism, extreme heat, Meta’s new hate speech policies, and old-fashioned air conditioning.
Here’s some good news: Michael Bloomberg made a $1 billion donation to Johns Hopkins that will allow nearly two-thirds of its students to attend the school tuition-free. Also, the Gallup Global Emotions Report for 2024 found that positive emotions reached a score of 71 out of 100 worldwide, the highest since the pandemic began, and negative emotions dropped for the first time since 2014.
“Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.” – Walter Anderson
A Ceasefire Starts To Sink, A Pier Proceeds To Perish
On Tuesday, Israel conducted its second consecutive day of airstrikes in Gaza City, with missiles and helicopter strikes killing at least 50 people on Monday – the Hamas media office added that an airstrike killed at least 17 people (including 14 children) in the Nuseirat refugee camp early on Tuesday.
The round of airstrikes comes after Hamas negotiators made a key concession in ceasefire talks last week, dropping calls for a “complete” ceasefire. Unfortunately, the IDF’s wave of attacks, combined with a new set of demands by Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence service, could bring an end to the hopeful air surrounding the negotiations. The head of Hamas’ negotiations team said that the attacks might “reset the negotiation process to square one.”
Meanwhile, the American pier built off the coast of Gaza is being reset to square zero. According to several U.S. officials, the floating pier (which has been out of commission since June 28) is set to be reinstalled on a beach in Gaza. After it’s put in place, the pier will take aid deliveries for several days before being taken out of commission permanently.
Hungary For A Peace Deal
Last week, Hungary took over the rotating E.U. presidency, meaning Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will act as the figurehead leader until the end of the year. Once Orbán grabbed hold of the position, the Hungarian leader took off on a wacky week of diplomatic visits, chartering back-to-back-to-back flights to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing. The visits are part of Orbán’s Ukraine “peace mission,” but a leaked document shows that Hungary’s head honcho has been pushing pro-Putin propaganda behind the scenes.
In the letter, which was penned for the reading pleasure of European Council President Charles Michel, parroted various arguments plucked straight from the Kremlin. “Time is not on the side of Ukraine, but on the side of the Russian forces,” wrote Orbán at one point, adding that “the Russian side estimates the monthly losses and casualties of the Ukrainian forces at 40-50 thousand soldiers.” Because of these points (whether they’re true or not), Orbán says that the E.U. should push Ukraine to accept a peace deal with Russia. Meanwhile, other European and U.S. leaders continue to push for more military aid for Kyiv.
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Copenhagen Dangles The Carrot
- Yesterday, we wrote about Barcelona using protests and government policies to ward off tourists. Today, Copenhagen is turning to the carrot – instead of the stick – to make tourism more agreeable for locals. On Monday, the Danish city’s tourism authority announced the “CopenPay” trial scheme, which will reward well-behaved tourists who engage in eco-friendly activities.
- The “green” activities that the CopenPay trial seeks to reward include riding public transit, picking up litter, and volunteering at urban farms. The rewards include access to museum workshops, the opportunity to ski down an artificial ski slope on the roof of a local heating plant, and even a free lunch made from crops grown at local farms. “With CopenPay, we’re empowering people to experience more of what Copenhagen offers while placing less burden on our planet,” said the CEO of the city’s tourism authority.
APT40 Attacks Apartment Networks
- On Tuesday, Australia’s cybersecurity agency accused a hacker group named APT40 of stealing passwords and usernames from multiple Australian networks. The hackers, according to the Australian government, were working on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security, which is in charge of the country’s foreign intelligence.
- According to the Cyber Security Centre’s report, the group has been “exploiting vulnerable small-office and home-office (SoHo) devices as a launching pad for attacks.” SoHo devices, according to the ministry, are less likely to have the most updated cyber defense technologies, so it’s easier for hackers to worm their way into the networks. It’s not clear what the intrusions actually led to.
More Mixed Nuts
- Vatican will prepare a document on the role of women in leadership in the Catholic Church (AP)
- Russia issues arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Alexei Navalny (CBS)
- EU announces Georgia’s accession is ‘stopped’ after anti-West pivot (Politico)
- 5 years ago they protested for freedom in Hong Kong. They want us to remember them (NPR)
- Macron’s camp plots unlikely comeback amid French election chaos (Politico)
A Heat Wave For The History Books
- More than 130 million people across the West, the East Coast, Southeast Texas, and South Florida were under heat alerts yesterday as temperatures broke records across the country and contributed to at least five deaths. Nearly all of Oregon, Idaho, Washington, California, western Arizona, and Nevada were under some sort of advisory.
- The heat wave already broke a record in Las Vegas when temperatures climbed to 120 degrees over the weekend, and on Monday, Phoenix, Arizona, reached 118 degrees. Records were also broken in Portland, Oregon (102 degrees), Vancouver, Washington (101), Salem and Eugene, Oregon (105), and Hillsboro, Oregon (102). The wave should (hopefully) come to an end by next week.
Zuck Doesn’t Like The Word “Zionist”
- Yesterday, Meta announced that it will be expanding its hate speech policies and begin removing posts containing the term “Zionist” when used in conjunction with antisemitic tropes or dehumanizing rhetoric. “We have determined that the existing policy guidance does not sufficiently address the ways people are using the term ‘Zionist’ online and offline,” Meta said in a blog post.
- The word at times is used as a proxy for the words “Jew” or “Israeli,” particularly in a negative connotation, Meta said, though the term is intended to refer to the political movement promoting the creation of a Jewish state. Meta said it met with more than 145 historians, civil rights groups, legal and human rights experts, and free speech advocates to come to the decision.
More Nuts In America
- House Dems’ ‘sad’ venting session yields no clear path forward on Biden’s future (Politico)
- Lawyer for megachurch pastor blamed 12-year-old for initiating ‘inappropriate’ sexual conduct (NBC)
- Trump-appointed Alaska judge resigns after sexual misconduct investigation (Guardian)
- Taylor Casey: Police are still searching for missing American woman nearly 3 weeks after she vanished from yoga retreat in the Bahamas (CNN)
- What is Project 2025? What to know about the conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration (CBS)
Keeping Cool With Clay
- As heat waves and hurricanes sweep the globe, India is turning to ancient technology to keep cool. In late May, Delhi reached a record high of 52.9 degrees Celsius (127 degrees Fahrenheit), and many of the country’s northern areas saw sustained temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius. In response, many people began filling their homes with clay pots filled with water, which just … sat there.
- Why the pots? Were they saving the water to pour over their heads when it got too hot? No, but that does sound fun. Instead, the pots employ some ancient practices that can be replicated to cool the air even when a traditional air conditioner isn’t available. The clay pots’ porous surfaces allow the water to slowly evaporate through their walls. When water evaporates, it uses energy to turn from a liquid to a gas.
- In this case, the energy used for that transition is pulled from the heat in the air and water, cooling both the surrounding atmosphere and the water inside the pot. With enough pots in an enclosed space, the technology (called matka) can lower temperatures in a room by up to 15 degrees Celsius. Multiple startups are looking to tap into the growing market, shipping thousands of no-energy cooling systems across the country per day throughout the summer.
More Loose Nuts
- Mummified body of missing American climber found 22 years after he vanished in Peru (CBS)
- He bought a cheap house in Italy to improve his life expectancy (CNN)
- Divers exploring ancient shipwreck where human remains were found off Greece discover second wreck, new treasures (CBS)
- New study finds lead, arsenic, other metals in tampon products (USA Today)
