Fiery heat waves, bankrupt retirees, NYC caps on Uber and Lyft, and the highest number of women in politics in US history.

Here are the top newsworthy items from this past week as shared on our Facebook page.

• This summer of fire and swelter looks a lot like the future that scientists have been warning about in the era of climate change.
  Heat waves are bound to get more intense and more frequent as emissions rise, scientists have concluded

From The New York Times

• New York became the first major American city to halt new vehicle licenses for ride-hail services, dealing a significant setback to Uber in its largest market in the United States. The legislation passed overwhelmingly by the City Council will cap the number of for-hire vehicles for a year while the city studies the booming industry.

From The New York Times

• Airlines are boosting salaries and setting up training centers to combat what is projected to be one of the biggest pilot shortfalls to date, as the current crop retires and planes come off the assembly line at a record pace. Boeing estimates that it will need 635,000 pilots worldwide over the next two decades.

From The Wall Street Journal

• Profits at S&P 500 companies jumped an estimated 23.5% in the three months through June. Savings from a cut in the U.S. corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% are driving a big piece of the profit gains, the direct impact of which will fade after four quarters under the new law. Any lasting tax-related benefits will depend on how companies use the savings.

From The Wall Street Journal

• The rate of people 65 and older filing for bankruptcy is three times what it was in 1991. Driving this is a three-decade shift of financial risk from government and employers to individuals. Longer waits for Social Security benefits, the replacement of employer-provided pensions with 401(k) savings plans, more out-of-pocket spending on health care, and declining incomes compound the challenge.

• Extreme poverty is decreasing, while extreme inequality is on the rise. Extreme poverty (less than $1.90/day) has fallen from 30% of the world in 1996 to 11% as of 2013. If established trends in wealth inequality were to continue, the top 0.1% alone will own more wealth than the global middle class by 2050.

• The indictment of Rep. Chris Collins on insider trading charges is drawing new attention to the freedom members of Congress have to serve on corporate boards or to buy and sell stock in industries they’re responsible for overseeing.

From AP

“…the conflict in Afghanistan on track to be a destination for American soldiers born after it began.”

• “In early October, the Afghan war will be 17 years old, a milestone that has loomed with grim inevitability as the fighting has continued without a clear exit strategy across three presidential administrations… And still the wars grind on, with the conflict in Afghanistan on track to be a destination for American soldiers born after it began.”

– C.J. Chivers, a Marine Corps infantry veteran of the Persian Gulf war and writer for The New York Times magazine.

• There are now at least 172 women nominees for U.S. House and 11 women nominees for governor — the highest in history, per the Center for American Women and Politics.

From Axios

 

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