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Cooling US inflation boosts case for rate cut

A key measure of US inflation — the Consumer Price Index — slowed in July to an annualized pace of 2.9%, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September. It is the first time inflation has risen by less than 3% since 2021, and economists expect the data is enough for the central bank to make its first rate cut since March 2020. With inflation cooling, analysts expect the Fed to turn its attention to a weaker job market, while experts also expressed concern about “stubbornly sticky” housing costs. “The widespread expectation is inflation won’t come down all the way to normal until there’s major headway on the housing component,” The Washington Post reported.

Hamas points finger at US

Hamas said it is losing faith in the US’ ability to mediate a Gaza ceasefire. It’s unclear if the militant group is attending Thursday’s planned talks, and one top official told the Associated Press that Hamas would only negotiate if a May proposal laid out by US President Joe Biden was on the table. But he complained that Washington has been unable to convince or pressure Israel into accepting that deal. One regional diplomat told CNN that the uncertainty over whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be amenable to Biden’s proposal suggests time is running out for a ceasefire deal that could deter an impending Iranian attack on Israel.

Mpox is a global health emergency

The World Health Organization designated the rapid spread of mpox in Africa a “global health emergency” Wednesday. The declaration comes one day after Africa’s top health body declared an emergency on the continent, as a particularly deadly strain of the virus first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has now been reported in at least four East African countries. But similar to the COVID response, there is “a lack of global solidarity and an unwillingness to share life-saving resources” with Africa, Vox reported: Vaccines sent to Europe and the US to stop the spread of mpox in 2022 are only now trickling into the DRC, but the region needs millions more doses to control the outbreak.

Russians criticize Putin after incursion

Many Russians fleeing Ukraine’s surprise incursion are furious at Moscow’s response. Kyiv said it now controls at least 1,000 square kilometers of Russia’s Kursk province and has detained at least 100 Russian soldiers, forcing Moscow to withdraw some troops from Ukraine to counter the offensive. Kursk residents told the Financial Times that authorities failed to coordinate an organized evacuation and blamed Kremlin-backed media and internet blackouts for leaving them in an information vacuum. Russian President Vladimir Putin has aimed to keep the public in “hibernation” about the war, said one Russian political scientist, adding, “The question is, for how long can you ignore the outside reality before it gets to you?”

Hasina investigated for genocide

Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal is investigating ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her allies for genocide and crimes against humanity. The complaint was filed Wednesday on behalf of the father of a teenage protester who was fatally shot by police during nationwide anti-government protests that ultimately forced Hasina to flee the country for India. Bangladesh’s interim leader has vowed to hold trials for those responsible for the deaths of hundreds of protesters. The probe comes as Indian and Bangladeshi officials met Wednesday for the first time since the government was toppled. Delhi, which backed Hasina, has so far “glossed over” her government’s brutality, a Daily Star columnist argued, and needs to do some introspection about its relationship with Bangladesh.

France probes boxer’s complaint

French authorities are investigating Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif’s cyberbullying accusations after she filed a criminal complaint against X. The Algerian boxer alleged that she faced “misogynistic, racist and sexist” harassment from high-profile figures on X including owner Elon Musk and author J.K. Rowling, who questioned her gender and eligibility to compete in the Paris Games. The probe is the latest thorn in Musk’s side: British lawmakers said his posts fueled the UK’s far-right riots, and the EU’s internet commissioner warned him against violating the bloc’s digital misinformation laws before his Donald Trump interview. Europe’s “reputation as the world’s digital regulator is at stake,” Politico wrote, as Musk and Trump accused the bloc of interfering in the US election.

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North Korea reopens to tourists

North Korea is set to welcome international visitors this December, four years after COVID-19 led it to close its borders, tour operators said. While flights to the reclusive East Asian nation resumed last year, with a group of Russian tourists arriving for a private tour this February and Russian leader Vladimir Putin visiting in June, it remained closed to the wider world. Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which has been operating in the country for more than 30 years, said it was “very excited for the opening of North Korean tourism once again.” The agency claimed that foreigners will initially be permitted to travel to Samjiyon, a new mountain city billed as a “socialist utopia” being built near the Chinese border.

Chinese rocket leaves debris

Part of a Chinese rocket disintegrated, creating a debris field in low-Earth orbit. The Long March 6A carried 18 small satellites, the first in a planned constellation intended to rival SpaceX’s Starlink. But its second stage fell apart, with US Space Command reporting more than 700 separate objects on radar, each at least four inches across. Even a fleck of paint traveling at orbital velocity of 17,500 miles per hour can severely damage spacecraft. The Long March 6A rocket has a track record: In its seven launches since March 2022, it has fully disintegrated once and left smaller debris fields several times. Space Command said there are “no immediate threats” from the debris, but it will remain in orbit for decades or centuries, Ars Technica reported.

Cars could get lighter

New varieties of steel could make cars hundreds of pounds lighter and hundreds of dollars cheaper to run. Steelmaking is more than 2,000 years old, but major advances were made in the early 20th century as cars became mainstream. Regulatory changes since the 1960s pushed automakers to seek out stronger, lighter steel, while recent developments, involving higher-temperature furnaces, repeated heating and cooling, and high-pressure injection of water, create steels that are 10 times stronger than older types and are cheaper to produce. New steel alloys, incorporating titanium or niobium, also stabilize the structure. “It is a revolution,” an engineer told Knowable, and one that will be important as carmakers try to squeeze extra range out of heavy electric vehicles.

Swifties enjoy Vienna’s museums

Thousands of disappointed Taylor Swift fans thronged museums in Vienna that waived their entry fee after her concerts were canceled in the wake of a terror threat. The Albertina, which sees an average of 2,000 weekend visitors, welcomed more than 20,000 Swifties over four days last week, and swapped out classical music playing in its historical staterooms for Swift playlists. The Mozarthaus Vienna rushed to add free guided tours in English for more than 2,600 Swifties. “We didn’t think about… losing the money at all,” The Albertina’s spokesperson and self-proclaimed Swiftie told ArtNews. She said the museums wanted to offer hope to devastated fans and say, “‘Hey, you can enjoy a bit of art in Vienna.’”

August 15:

• China releases key economic data, including home prices and retail sales.
• South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol makes a unification speech on the country’s independence day.
• Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, releases second quarter sales figures.

Contemporary artists are subverting Japan’s world-famous aesthetic of “kawaii,” or cuteness. Their works use the aesthetic’s signature colorful and childlike facets — usually associated with manga — to “grapple with personal, national, or global trauma,” the BBC wrote. A 2000 painting by one of Japan’s most famous artists, Yoshitomo Nara, exemplified this by depicting a doe-eyed girl with an uncharacteristically menacing frown. Sotheby’s auctioned the piece for almost $25 million in Hong Kong in 2019. Nara, drawing on the isolation he felt growing up in a post-World War II rural Japanese town, is known for creating “contrary figures” who “deviate from conventional ideals of cuteness with their aggression, irreverence and wit,” an art historian said.

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