Today's Liberal News

As Sudan Fighting Escalates, Displacing 3 Million in 3 Months, Peace Talks Must Include Civil Society

The United Nations has warned that Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” as fighting between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has forced over 3 million people from their homes. After multiple failed ceasefires, Egypt is hosting a summit this week with the goal to “develop effective mechanisms” with neighboring countries to settle the conflict.

What Happens If UPS Goes on Strike

Americans’ shopping habits have made us reliant on delivery workers—and helped UPS’s business boom. Now UPS workers are threatening to strike to get a piece of that success.First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic:
When will the Southwest become unlivable?
Learn a foreign language before it’s too late.
The Republican lab-leak circus makes one important point.

‘Things Don’t Always Change in a Nice, Gradual Way’

It’s getting hard to keep track of all the overlapping climate disasters. In Phoenix, Arizona, the temperature has broken 110 degrees for nearly two weeks running. The waters off the Florida coast are approaching hot-tub hot, and before long, marine heat waves may cover half the world’s oceans. Up north, Canada’s worst wildfire season on record burns on and continues to suffocate American cities with sporadic smoke, which may not clear for good until October.

FOMO Has Never Been Worse on the Internet

Earlier this year, ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer app of all time, reaching 100 million active users in what seemed like an astonishingly brisk two months. Now, just six months later, that record has been usurped: Threads got there in less than a week. According to data from Sensor Tower, a market-intelligence firm, Meta’s Twitter clone had the best launch day of any app in the past decade.The internet is moving faster than ever before.

18 Ways to Think About the Heat

Below is a list of ideas, arguments, and practical tips from Atlantic stories to help you navigate this heat.
What if we called it heat season, not just summer?
There’s no single too-hot-to-be-outside temperature. Trying to set one might mislead more than it would help.
Heat is becoming the 21st century’s defining human-rights issue.
The denser the city, the less greenery? Not necessarily.
Beware the “wet bulb” temperature.
Consider a white roof.

“Cobalt Red”: Smartphones & Electric Cars Rely on Toxic Mineral Mined in Congo by Children

The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces nearly three-quarters of the world’s cobalt, an essential component in rechargeable batteries powering laptops, smartphones and electric vehicles. But those who dig up the valuable mineral often work in horrific and dangerous conditions, says Siddharth Kara, an international expert on modern-day slavery and author of Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives.

Meet the TV Meteorologist Who Quit After Facing Death Threats for Explaining Climate Crisis on Air

Chris Gloninger resigned from his position as chief meteorologist for KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday after receiving death threats as a direct result of reporting on climate change. One man behind the emails has pleaded guilty to harassment. We speak with Gloninger, now a senior climate scientist at the Woods Hole Group, about the difficulties scientists and journalists face when reporting on the climate crisis.

The Republican Lab-Leak Circus Makes One Important Point

For more than three hours yesterday, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic grilled a pair of virologists about their participation in an alleged “cover-up” of the pandemic’s origins. Republican lawmakers zeroed in on evidence that the witnesses, Kristian Andersen and Robert Garry, and other researchers had initially suspected that the coronavirus spread from a Chinese lab.