Domestic
This past Wednesday, the record for the longest U.S. government shutdown was broken. Previously, the longest shutdown had lasted 35 days in late 2018 and early 2019. Now, with over 35 days and counting, the broader effects are being felt in full. Millions of civilian workers who haven’t been paid for over a month are forced to rely on food banks, airports are facing delays and food programs for low-income families have been reduced. Still, several Senators have hinted at progress being made. The shutdown stems from a dispute over changes to health care policies.
This past weekend saw more than 50,000 people run through New York City in the 54th New York City Marathon. Benson Kipruto won the men’s race with a time of 2:08:09 and Hellen Obiri set a course record in the women’s race with a time of 2:19:51. Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race with a time of 1:42:10 and Marcel Hug led the men’s wheelchair race with a time of 1:30:16. The race was started in 1970 and included only 127 runners its first year. Over the years, there have been several challenges, including Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Canva has recently announced Affinity, a three-in-one application that offers Designer, Publisher and Photo services. To make this possible, Canva acquired Serif, the maker of Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher. While this may seem unremarkable, Canva has stated that Affinity will be free – forever. The move comes at a time when other design companies, such as Adobe, have increased prices and doubled down on subscription models.
International
Egypt unveiled the Grand Egyptian Museum, a billion-dollar project that was decades in the making. With over 5 million square feet of permanent exhibition space and 57,000 artifacts on display, the museum aims to present ancient Egypt in a modern way. Notably, it houses the complete set of artifacts discovered in King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The project was a massive undertaking, with the first foundation stone for the museum laid in 2002 and actual construction starting in 2005. 79 million cubic feet of sand had to be removed to make way for the building.
It’s been a week since Hurricane Melissa’s destructive path through the Caribbean, causing at least 75 casualties. In Jamaica, where Melissa made landfall as a Category 5 Hurricane, the damage is widespread. At one point, 77% of the country was estimated to be without power. Black River, a popular coastal Jamaican town, has been almost entirely leveled. There, the storm surge was around 16ft. In Haiti, rainfall from Hurricane Melissa caused a river to flood, killing 25 people. In Cuba, over 200 communities were cut off due to landslides and flooding.
