YOUR
PRESIDENTIAL
DAILY BRIEF

Protests Greet Trump in Texas, Ohio

Staying mostly out of the public eye during his visits to El Paso and Dayton yesterday, President Donald Trump deflated hopes that he’d use the trip to push for unity following those cities’ weekend shootings. While he sought to comfort victims in the hospital, Trump also lashed out at his Democratic critics for “politicking” and hailed the “amazing day” — during which he said he encountered “love” and “respect for the office of the presidency.” In both cities, the president was met with protests.

Was everyone unhappy? Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, both targets of Trump’s criticism, cast the president’s visit in favorable light, with Brown saying, “They were hurting. He was comforting.”

UN: Land Use, Meat Diets Fuel Global Warming

A landmark report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found that humans must alter their current practices in agriculture and forestry, among other forms of land use. Currently, they generate one-third of the world’s human-generated greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to what one scientist called “a perfect storm” threatening humanity. A plant-based diet could be one key to fighting climate change, though the report advocates merely reducing meat intake.

How are food and climate change connected? Not only does livestock produce harmful methane gas, but it also requires mass deforestation to create pastures. 

Don’t miss OZY’s original series, The New Frontiers of Climate Change.

Hundreds Reported Detained as Kashmir Crisis Escalates

Potentially more than 500 political opponents were detained in the Indian-administered territory as it faces a growing clampdown by New Delhi, according to local officials. The central government has enforced a communications and media blackout along with its revocation of Kashmir’s special status, a move critics say represents a blow to democracy in India. “There is a lot of anger among the people,” one police official said.

What are the global effects? Pakistan, which administers part of the disputed region and has condemned the status change, has said it will quit trading with India and expel its ambassador, further increasing tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.

FedEx Cuts Remaining Ties With Amazon

Two months after terminating the companies’ U.S. air-shipping agreement, FedEx says it’s stopping ground deliveries for the online retailer after their contract expires this month. Dumping Amazon – which accounted for only 1.3 percent of FedEx revenue last year — is part of its plan to cater to big-box retailers like Walmart and Target, which directly compete with the e-commerce giant. Meanwhile, Amazon has been building its own delivery network while also relying on the U.S. Postal Service and UPS.

Is there any bad blood? It doesn’t appear so: One top Amazon exec called the move “conscious uncoupling at its finest,” adding that FedEx was “a very small piece of our network and vice versa.”

Also Important...

In a sweeping raid across Mississippi yesterday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained nearly 700 people at seven agricultural processing plants. Puerto Rico is bracing for more civil and political unrest after Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez was sworn in yesterday as the third governor in a week. And security forces in Kyrgyzstan have clashed with supporters of former President Almazbek Atambayev at his home in an apparent bid to detain him.

#OZYfact: Religious freedom in China is at a 40-year low. Read more on OZY.

OZY is hiring! We’re looking for a creative, organized and ambitious social media manager to engage and expand our online audience. Check out our jobs page and read the description here.

Scientists Spot Dozens of New Galaxies

They’ve been there all along — but it wasn’t until astronomers combined findings from two sources that researchers discovered 39 new galaxies that could redefine the beginnings of the cosmos. Data gathered by two telescopes, the orbital Spitzer infrared telescope and a radio dish array in Chile, revealed galaxies billions of light-years away that appear to be generating the equivalent of 1,000 stars the size of our Sun each year.

What are researchers planning next? They’ll study these cosmic bodies to learn more about how they formed, the supermassive black holes within them, and the origins of the universe.  

Read OZY’s story on whether a new space race is really necessary.

For This New Industry, Breakups Are Good Business

Brokenhearted but business-savvy entrepreneurs are turning their pain into productivity, OZY reports, by launching boot camps, logistic services and fitness training for their lonely peers. Offering everything from post-divorce parties to legal and financial consultation, these services take aim at post-relationship chaos so clients can focus on healing. They’re also cashing in on a multibillion-dollar love and marriage sector.

Is all help created equal? While assistance finding a new home or a therapist is useful, the value of dominatrix therapy or alpaca petting isn’t clear — though many organizations insist their methods are “scientific.”

Are Microsoft Contractors Listening to Skype Calls?

Tasked with analyzing Skype’s real-time voice translation service, the workers also hear personal conversations, according to internal documents and audio recordings. The evidence also shows these same analysts listen to users’ voice commands to the company’s Cortana digital assistant. The news has prompted criticism of Skype for not clearly stipulating that a human — not artificial intelligence — evaluates audio interactions. 

Why does it matter? While Microsoft says all information is accessed through a secure portal, contractors who leaked the information say regulations are clearly too lax. 

Check out this OZY feature about how secret apps are violating your privacy.

Israel Reveals Lost Franz Kafka Archive

Following this year’s German and Swiss court decisions releasing caches of long-lost documents, Israel’s national library unveiled a trove of the Bohemian novelist’s papers. The collection includes a notebook in which Kafka, who died in 1924, practiced Hebrew, in addition to three drafts of the short story, Wedding Preparations in the Country, as well as letters, drawings and journals. The collection will be published online.

Why the legal dispute? Kafka’s work was broken up and either stolen or sold following the death in 1968 of his friend Max Brod — who ignored the famously dispirited writer’s request to burn all his work.

Don’t miss OZY’s Flashback about the deadliest book in history.

US Soccer Hires Lobbyists Over Equal Pay Bills

Facing equal pay legislation inspired by America’s world champion women’s national soccer team, the governing body has hired two lobbying firms to convince Washington that players aren’t underpaid. According to US Soccer, FBB Federal Relations and Van Ness Feldman were retained to ensure lawmakers — who’ve threatened to cut 2026 World Cup funding unless female players are paid as much as their male counterparts — “have accurate information” about the “unmatched support and investment” the organization says it’s provided female players.

Who’s speaking out? Besides a USWNT spokeswoman saying players, who are also suing for equal pay, are “stunned and disappointed,” the men’s national team also characterized the move as “disappointing but not surprising.”