Meanwhile. . .

The Beatles will release a new and 'final record' this year

People in the U.S. are dying at higher rates than in other similar high-income countries, and that difference is only growing... In 2021, more than 892,000 of the 3,456,000 deaths the U.S. experienced, or about 1 in 4, were “excess deaths.” In 2019, that number was 483,000 deaths, or nearly 1 in 6. That represents an 84.9% increase in excess deaths in the U.S. between 2019 and 2021. Excess deaths refer to the actual number of deaths that occur in a given year compared with expected deaths over that same time period based on prior years or, as in this study, in other countries.

Cities that are experiencing longer and more intense heat waves

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A compound for sale by Lake Austin will set a record for the state if it fetches its $50 million asking price, Asher Price writes for Axios Austin. The property, situated on 5.85 acres, with a living space of 10,505 square feet, went on the market last week. It has three guesthouses, nine bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and one private boat dock.

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A jury in Oregon has found the electric utility PacifiCorp responsible for causing devastating fires during Labor Day weekend in 2020, ordering the company to pay tens of millions of dollars to 17 homeowners who sued and finding it liable for broader damages that could push the total award into the billions. Read More.

 

The Supreme Court said Monday it won't review North Carolina's decision to stop issuing specialty license plates with the Confederate flag. As is typical, the court did not comment in declining to hear the case. Read More. 

 U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ... released a report revealing how Big Pharma is "ripping off" Americans with medical treatments that publicly funded experts helped create... "It is unacceptable that half of new prescription drugs invented with the help of NIH scientists now cost more than $111,000," said Sanders... The new report states that "U.S. taxpayers virtually always pay more than people in other countries for treatments that NIH scientists helped invent." For example, a trio of Johnson and Johson's HIV treatments—Prezcobix, Prezista, and Symtuza—cost from $25,000 to $56,000 annually in the U.S., while patients in various other countries can get them for $4,000 to $10,000 per year.