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Good morning, it's Friday, Aug. 21. North Korea allegedly launched 10 ballistic missiles toward the sea. First time reading? Join over 4.7 million insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.
Also in today's Digest: Asia's richest man behind bars (Need To Know), an FBI raid targeting Eric Swalwell (Pol. & World Affairs), gross ways Americans used to stay cool (In-Depth), the etiquette around using LinkedIn for dating (Etc.), and much more.
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Need To Know
North Korean Missiles
North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters yesterday, according to South Korea’s military, hours after Pyongyang dismissed President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to ease tensions.
The missiles traveled roughly 185 miles before landing in the sea (explore the North’s missile arsenal). The test came during the annual US-South Korea Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which Trump shortened from 11 days to five in a bid to reduce tensions. Washington and Seoul call the drills defensive, while North Korea considers them preparations for an invasion and often responds with weapons tests. Kim Jong Un’s sister said the reduction changed nothing, though she described Trump and Kim’s relationship as “excellent.” Trump, who met Kim three times from 2018 to 2019, said Wednesday he hopes to meet him again this year; Pyongyang has rejected giving up its nuclear arsenal as a condition for renewed talks (who has nuclear weapons?).
Explore 25 years of US-North Korea negotiations and provocations with this interactive.
🫶 Humankind: Hospice nurse and local resident fulfill a patient's dying wish to snuggle a golden retriever with "puppy breath." (w/photos)
Property Tycoon Behind Bars
A Chinese court yesterday sentenced the billionaire founder of Evergrande to life in prison, five years after the property developer’s collapse triggered a nationwide housing crisis.
Hui Ka Yan, once Asia's richest man, pleaded guilty in April to eight charges, including misuse of funds and fundraising fraud. The 67-year-old founded Evergrande in 1996 as China was urbanizing. The company borrowed heavily from local governments, banks, and other creditors for decades to finance its rapid growth. When Chinese officials in 2020 restricted how much developers could borrow to curb soaring housing costs, the company was forced to default on over $300B in debt. Hui and other executives were later found to have manipulated financial data, with revenue overstated by roughly $80B in 2019 and 2020.
China's housing crisis has erased roughly $18T in household wealth since 2021, outstripping losses seen during the 2008-09 US financial crisis (scroll for visual comparison). Plus, what's happening to Evergrande's unfinished projects?
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Fall Weather Predictions
Nearly all US states are likely to see warmer-than-average temperatures in the coming three months, a new federal forecast reveals. See more here (w/maps).
Summerlike weather is most likely to persist in the Pacific Northwest, where below-average rainfall is also expected—potentially fueling the spread of wildfires. Wetter-than-average conditions are forecast for the Southwest and Southeast. On the East Coast, an El Niño fall is expected to suppress hurricane activity, though high-tide flooding is predicted on the West Coast (El Niño 101).
Forecasters could not say whether temperatures would be above or below average in the Ohio Valley, encompassing Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
Separately, the Old Farmer’s Almanac and the Farmers’ Almanac both released their outlooks yesterday. Research shows only about half of the latter's predictions have historically been borne out. Read how the forecasts differ from federal predictions.
In The Know
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Premier League soccer kicks off today, with defending champion Arsenal taking on newly promoted Coventry City at 3 pm ET (More, w/full schedule) | US Open singles champions to earn $5.5M, the highest winnings in Grand Slam history (More)
> Nearly 40% of music released in July 2026 was at least partly created using AI, per new AI detection tool; about 23% of songs were fully AI-generated (More) | Apple Music to put labels on songs created with AI later this year (More)
> "The Odyssey" earns nearly $1.4B globally, surpassing Disney's "Deadpool and Wolverine" to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (More)
Science & Technology
> Saliva samples appear able to detect colorectal cancer and may be a more accurate diagnostic tool than widely used fecal tests (More) | Colorectal cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among people under age 50; why? (More)
> Researchers develop electronic skin that can detect pressure and temperature with 10 times more sensitivity than current commercial glove sensors, potentially helping amputees gain feeling in their prosthetics (More)
> Mysterious lipid droplets in cats' kidneys may help create unique scent marks that cats use to identify each other (More) | How scientists are genetically modifying cats so they don't trigger allergies in humans (More, w/video)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close down (S&P 500 -0.9%, Dow -1.3%, Nasdaq -1.0%) as rising Treasury yields increase borrowing costs (More)
> Walmart shares tumble 9.2% after reporting smallest sales growth in over six years; retailer to use its $2.9B in tariff refunds to lower prices on 11,000 items, including groceries (More)
> Charter Communications, the US’ largest cable operator, completes $34.5B acquisition of Cox Communications; merged company will serve approximately 37 million subscribers across 45 states (More)
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Politics & World Affairs
> FBI agents search the Washington, DC, home of former California Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) and seize electronic devices in probe tied to allegations of sexual assault; raid is reportedly part of a federal civil rights investigation (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Russian missile and drone strike kills at least 16 people in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials say, amid the country's ongoing shortages of US-made air defense interceptors (More) | Will the US allow Ukraine to produce its own Patriot missiles? (More)
> A 35-year-old woman is charged in thwarted ISIS plot to bomb the New York State Capitol building in Albany (More)
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Etcetera
A 113-year-old tugboat emerges from a river in Serbia.
Do you live near one of the top 100 public schools?
Poll finds Americans' drinking remains at record low.
What are the rules around using LinkedIn for dating?
Salaries needed to live in the US' most expensive cities.
The world's largest "natural mirror" is a Bolivian salt flat.
See this year's Invertebrate of the Year, which inspired a Pokémon character.
Would you wear shoes made out of flowers?
See photos from Portland's adult soapbox derby.
Read how people survived summer before AC, from stinky ice to rooftop naps. (In-Depth)
Read about Botox, GLP-1s, and the end of America's fear of needles. (In-Depth, free w/email)
Clickbait: Why I otter ...
Historybook: Nat Turner leads rebellion of enslaved people (1831); "Mona Lisa" stolen from The Louvre Museum, is recovered two years later (1911); Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain born (1936); Hawaii becomes 50th US state (1959); Usain Bolt born (1986).
"Don't think about the start of the race, think about the ending."
- Usain Bolt
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