THE BIG STORY

The $600 per week unemployment benefit expires this weekend and Congress still doesn’t have a plan

In March, Congress passed the CARES Act in response to the coronavirus pandemic, giving people who are drawing unemployment an extra $600 per week on top of state benefits.

It was a major lifeline to workers as the pandemic started affecting jobs. But that support has an expiry date: July 31. Because states pay out their unemployment benefits on the weekend, the last date people will get the extra $600 is this coming Saturday or Sunday.

Right now, more than 17 million people are drawing unemployment. The additional supports are ending right as temporary bans on evictions in some states are also expiring.

Republicans are broadly opposed to extending the program. They say the benefit is too generous and that people are refusing to return to work because they can make more money staying unemployed.

Here’s Paul Mcleod’s guide to this major negotiation battle of the next coronavirus response bill.

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

A white couple who pointed guns at protesters in St. Louis have been charged

Images and videos of the middle-aged white couple waving their weapons at the crowd in St. Louis last month quickly went viral. The pair, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, were charged on Monday.

In videos of the June 28 incident, Mark McCloskey is seen carrying an assault rifle while Patricia McCloskey holds up a handgun as the two stand outside their mansion.

The McCloskeys, who are both personal injury attorneys, face felony charges of unlawful use of a weapon as well as a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree assault, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner told the Associated Press.

Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP

YOU CAN SIT (AND READ) WITH US

The BuzzFeed Book Club is excited to announce Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half as its August pick.

The best-selling novel follows identical twin sisters Desiree and Stella after they've run away from their small Southern hometown in 1968 and their lives diverge. The novel spans decades, following the sisters’ daughters as their own stories intertwine, in a captivating, expansive, and insightful story about family, race, gender, and identity.

To celebrate, Riverhead Books and Libro.fm are giving away ten signed copies of The Vanishing Half and five audiobooks (U.S. only). Enter here for a chance at one — and check out the first chapter here.

SNAPSHOTS

New early coronavirus vaccine results show promising signs of immunity. Early results from separate British and Chinese candidate coronavirus vaccines showed promising signs of immunity and no serious side effects.

A men’s rights activist is suspected of killing a federal judge’s son and shooting her husband. Judge Esther Salas was in the basement of her New Jersey house when the shooting occurred. The suspect is a misogynistic men's rights activist lawyer who later killed himself.

Former Fox News anchor Ed Henry has been accused of rape and sexual harassment in a new lawsuit. The federal lawsuit was filed by a producer and a frequent guest of the conservative cable news network. Fox News' Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are also accused of sexual harassment in the lawsuit.

Here’s the deal with people talking about hexing the moon. It started with a rumour about baby witches on TikTok, and turned into everyone googling “Artemis” and “fae.”

CALLING OUT HALF MEASURES

A British cosmetics brand pressured Asian influencers to promote its skin whiteners. They fought back.

In South Asia, skin whitening products are part of a colonial history in which people with fairer skin had better job, housing, and marriage prospects. Consumer product giant Unilever introduced the Fair and Lovely product to tap into the market, and for decades advertised fair skin as the key to wealth and romance.

After years of pressure and a new wave of criticism amid the Black Lives Matter movement, Unilever said in June it would stop using words like “whitening” to describe its products.

They’re not the only ones to take this step — competitors including Johnson & Johnson and L’Oreal have done the same. Unilever has stopped short of Johnson & Johnson's decision to cease selling two lines of its skin lightening products entirely.

But critics say changes in branding do not go far enough. Key players in Sri Lanka's fashion industry described intense pressure on journalists, models, influencers, and beauty pageant competitors to use and endorse skin lightening products.

NICKI'S NEWS

Nicki Minaj confirmed she’s pregnant and said she’s “overflowing with excitement”

After months of speculation from fans, rapper Nicki Minaj confirmed she's pregnant with her first child in a post on her Instagram account.

Minaj posted a photo of herself cradling her baby bump, captioning the post with a yellow heart emoji and a simple hashtag: “#Preggerz.”

Prioritize your rest today,

Elamin