Timeframe: 23rd July – 29th July 2021
Contributors:
Sabyasachi Karmaker, Musarrat Sarwar Chowdhury, and Farhan Uddin Ahmed.
1. Economics & Business
Cannabis is part of the future, says tobacco giant
The UK’s largest tobacco firm, British American Tobacco, says it sees cannabis as part of its future as it strives to shift away from selling traditional cigarettes. The company said it wanted to “accelerate” its transformation by lowering the impact of its products on people’s health.
Source: BBC
2. Politics
Outspoken billionaire Sun Dawu jailed for 18 years in China
A prominent Chinese billionaire has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, the latest in a string of punishments against outspoken corporate bosses. Sun Dawu runs one of the country’s largest private agricultural businesses in the northern province of Hebei. Sun, 67, has in the past spoken out about human rights and politically sensitive topics.
Source: BBC
3. Significant Corona Update
CDC updates guidance recommends vaccinated people wear masks indoors in certain areas
To prevent further spread of the Delta variant, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mask guidance on Tuesday to recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors when in areas with “substantial” and “high” transmission of Covid-19, which includes nearly two-thirds of all US counties. “In recent days I have seen new scientific data from recent outbreak investigations showing that the Delta variant behaves uniquely differently from past strains of the virus that cause Covid-19,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told a media briefing on Tuesday.
Source: CNN
4. Science & Technology
Hubble found water vapor on the solar system’s largest moon
Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede already holds the distinction of being the largest moon in our solar system; it’s nearly 40 percent as big as Earth! Now, astronomers have found that Ganymede can claim another achievement: having water vapor in its atmosphere. New ultraviolet and near-infrared observations from the Hubble Telescope helped researchers confirm the water vapor finding.
Source: Popular Science
5. RMG/ Agriculture
The US $127 million from World Bank to shore up food security and rural livelihoods in Yemen
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have welcomed US$127 million in support, provided by the World Bank, for an interagency project to fight the spread of extreme hunger in Yemen. The project will provide rural families with opportunities to build sustainable household food security.
Source: Relief Web
6. Social and Education
Medical debt was cut nearly in half in states that expanded Medicaid: Study
Medicaid expansion doesn’t just provide more people health insurance — it appears to cut US medical debt enormously, a new study has found. The study was published in JAMA by scholars from Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, and the National Bureau of Economic Research. The researchers noted that nonmedical debt had fallen by similar amounts in expansion and non-expansion states over the time period they studied, 2009 to 2020, strengthening the case that Medicaid expansion was the difference with medical debt.
Source: Vox
7. Environment
Dubai is using drone technology to create its own artificial rain
To battle the rising temperature in the UAE, Dubai scientists have developed a new drone technology to zap clouds with electricity in an attempt to bring increased rainfalls to the arid country. The technology, also known as “cloud seeding,” was put into use as summer temperatures surged past 48 degrees Celsius in Dubai.
Source: Forbes
8. Expert Opinion
This is no ordinary spying. Our most intimate selves are now exposed -Arundhati Roy
The Pegasus project shows we could all soon be ruled by states that know everything about us, while we know less and less about them- writes famed author and columnist Arundhati Roy.
Source: The Guardian
Disclaimer: The information provided here is obtained solely from the third parties mentioned above. Youth Policy Forum (YPF) is not responsible for any misinformation or misrepresentation.