Hurricane Idalia, North Korea reopens, and hot dog straws.

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Business & Economy

Daily stock market update

US stock markets closed higher on Friday (S&P +0.67%, Nasdaq +0.94%, Dow +0.73%) ~ Stocks rallied Friday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell spoke about the strength of the economy at the annual central bank conference. During his talk he cited consumer spending and a recovering housing market as key drivers behind the economy’s strong position. (More)

3M agrees to pay more than $5.5B in settlement over military earplugs

3M agreed to more than a $5.5 billion settlement to resolve 300,000 lawsuits claiming that they sold the US military defective combat earplugs that didn’t protect soldiers from hearing damage. 3M’s parent company originally tried to file for bankruptcy so they could negotiate a lower settlement. However, a judge dismissed the filing saying 3M had the financial means to settle the claims. (More)

Zillow is a full-blown housing market bull—predicting that U.S. home prices will jump

Zillow predicts that US home prices will rise 6.5% between July 2023 and July 2024. Analysts are saying that limited for-sale inventory will continue to push prices higher despite mortgage rates reaching near-record levels. Just over half as many homes were listed for sale in July compared to the same month in 2019. And homes that went under contract in July did so in 12 days - a week and a half faster than what was typical before the pandemic. (More)

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US News, Politics, & Government

Thousands march to mark the 60th anniversary of MLK's 'I Have a Dream' speech

Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. The event’s speakers spoke of progress but also called out the prevalence of hate and bigotry while stressing that much more work has yet to be done. (More)

Federal authorities have been probing roughly 5,000 pilots suspected of withholding major health issues

Federal authorities have been investigating about 4,800 pilots suspected of falsifying their medical records to hide that they were receiving benefits for health issues that could make them unfit to fly. The FAA has closed about half of the cases and ordered 60 pilots to cease flying because they were a clear danger to aviation safety. About 600 of the pilots under investigation are licensed to fly for passenger airlines, while most of the rest fly for hire. (More)

Tropical Storm Idalia eyes Florida, to intensify in record-warm Gulf

Tropical Storm Idalia formed on Sunday morning, and is forecasted to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast on Tuesday and Wednesday. Computer models are showing the storm could potentially reach a Category 2 or 3 before making landfall. However, forecasters are still unsure of how the storm will progress as it travels across the record-warm Gulf waters. (More)

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World

North Korea to allow its citizens abroad to return home, a sign of further easing of pandemic curbs

North Korea will finally allow its citizens staying abroad to return home, easing its COVID travel restrictions for the first time. People that return home will be put in quarantine for a week for medical observation. Just last week, North Korea’s first international commercial flight in 3½ years landed in China. The country is expected to resume receiving foreign tourists next year if its returning nationals don’t cause any coronavirus outbreaks. (More)

Wagner chief Prigozhin confirmed dead by Russian authorities after genetic tests

Russian investigators have confirmed that Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was among the 10 people killed in a plane crash last week, after running genetic tests. The crash happened two months after Prigozhin’s attempted coup against Russia’s military leadership. The cause of the crash is still unclear though the US and Russia have gone back-and-forth about whether Vladimir Putin was involved. (More)

Japan says seawater radioactivity below limits near Fukushima

Tests of seawater near Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant have not detected any radioactivity, days after authorities began releasing treated contaminated water from the damaged site. Japan said it filtered out most radioactive elements except for tritium, which is difficult to separate from water. Instead, they are diluting the water until the tritium levels fall below regulatory limits. Tests from 11 points near the plant showed tritium to be below the lower limit of detection. (More)

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Sports & Entertainment

Bob Barker, longtime ‘Price Is Right’ host, dies at 99

Bob Barker, the former host of “The Price is Right”, has died. He was 99. Barker MC’d the show from 1972 until he retired in 2007. He began his career as the host of “Truth or Consequences” in 1956 and spent over half a century on TV. (More)

California's Louis Lappe launches walk-off HR to win LLBWS

Louis Lappe hit a leadoff home run to help California beat Curacao 6-5 in the Little League Baseball World Series championship Sunday. Curacao tied the game in the previous inning by hitting a four run grand slam but Lappe ended the game with his solo shot over the left field fence. (More)

Viktor Hovland stays hot, wins Tour Championship, FedEx Cup

Viktor Hovland won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup by 5 strokes on Sunday becoming the third-youngest player to do so. He won last week’s playoff leg as well and has earned $21.6 million between the two events. (More)

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Science, Health, & Tech

Netflix kills DVD mailings, makes surprising offer to old-school members

Netflix will ship its final DVDs on Sept. 29 after 25 years of sending subscribers DVDs by mail. It also announced that people can keep DVDs they never returned free of charge after Sept. 29. DVD enthusiasts will also have access to a final promotion offer that will allow subscribers to apply for up to 10 free and random DVDs to be mailed to their homes. (More)

SpaceX Crew-7 Dragon capsule docks at space station with international astronaut team

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station carrying a new astronaut crew for a half-year mission. The docking ended their 30-hour journey that launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The four person crew is made up of astronauts from the US, Europe, Japan, and Russia and is the first all-international crew to fly on the same Dragon capsule. (More)

The ADHD drug market is already stretched thin. Now it’s facing a back-to-school supply strain

Supply chain issues have caused a shortage in medications for ADHD over the past 10 months and it could get worse as children head back to school. Many children and young adults cycle off the medication during summer and pick it back up to help them focus during the school year. But manufacturers are not required to share information about their production output, which makes planning for alternatives difficult for health care providers. (More)

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Bonus Material

America’s best small towns of 2023.

Philadelphia held its 14th annual Philly Naked Bike Ride on Saturday. 

Slang terms from the 1930’s.

Hot dog straws are now a reality thanks to Oscar Mayer.