Fed cut rates today; Hezbollah pager: NPR

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The death toll has risen to 12, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, after electronic pagers belonging to members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exploded at the same time yesterday. Thousands more were injured in the attack, which Israel blamed on the U.S., a U.S. official told NPR. Many of the pagers were carried in pockets, on hips or in hands when they detonated in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Videos show them exploding in grocery stores, at desks and on crowded streets.

A Lebanese police officer examines a car damaged by an exploding pager in Beirut on Tuesday. Hundreds of Hezbollah members’ pagers exploded simultaneously. The group blamed Israel for the attack.

Hussein Malla/AP

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Hussein Malla/AP

• 🎧 NPR’s Daniel Estrin tells First that the majority of injuries affected the face and eyes when people held their pagers in their hands to read a text message. Hezbollah began using the pagers because they feared that Israel had infiltrated their smartphones. New York Times Israel reportedly rigged the pagers with explosives before taking them to Lebanon. It’s a psychological blow for Hezbollah to know that Israel was in their pocket the whole time, Estrin says. The Biden administration has been working to prevent a regional war, and according to NPR’s reporting, the administration considers the attack to be very unhelpful in its efforts.

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its first interest rate cut since 2020 today. Borrowing costs have been at their highest levels in more than two decades for over a year, making things like taking out a car loan or financing a business more expensive. Here’s what’s at stake and how today’s decision could affect the economy and your wallet.

• 🎧 A big question is how quickly the Fed will reactsays NPR’s Scott Horsley. Some people say the cuts are too late and that they need to be more aggressive to catch up. Horsley says today’s rate cut is just the first step and we’re likely to see more rate cuts in the coming months. He warns that even if inflation falls to the Fed’s 2% target, that doesn’t mean prices will return to pre-pandemic levels. The good news? Wages have been rising faster than prices for over a year, meaning people’s purchasing power could be catching up.

The number of deaths from drug overdoses in the United States appears to be declining sharply for the first time in decades. CDC data shows a more than 10% drop in deaths. Some experts say the trend, which began late last year, is accelerating and could mean thousands fewer drug deaths per year. NPR’s Brian Mann spoke to people suffering from addiction for an exclusive NPR report. Read their stories and learn more about the drop in deaths here.

• 🎧 “To be clear: nobody believes the problem has been solved,” Mann says. Although the number of deaths appears to be declining, there are still around 100,000 fatal overdoses per year. Rahul Gupta, the White House drug envoy, believes this change is because public health and addiction treatment programs are finally working. He attributes this to the spread of the drug naloxone, also known as Narcan, which helps with overdoses. Some experts say public health measures alone cannot explain the significant decline in drug-related deaths. Researchers are trying to understand the change so they can build on it and sustain it.

Deep insight

A view of what two features will look like for Instagram’s teen account, including the ability to set daily usage limits and allow parents to see who their teens are messaging.

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Social media platforms can be a lot of fun, but they can also contain dangerous content for young users. With that in mind, Instagram has unveiled changes that will make the accounts of millions of teens private, improve parental oversight and set limits on messages. Meta says users under 16 will now need a parent’s consent to change “teen account” restrictions, which filter out offensive words and limit who can contact them.

• 📱 This move comes as Congress hesitates to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. It would require social media companies to do more to prevent bullying, sexual exploitation and the spread of harmful content.
• 📱 The House of Representatives fears that the bill would undermine young people’s freedom of expression. If passed, the bill would be the first Congressional legislation to protect children online since the 1990s.
• 📱 Meta officials say they have developed new AI systems to detect Teenagers who lie about their age when trying to join Instagram.
• 📱 Parents can only view about three dozen topics that are of interest to their teenagers. Meta says that themed viewing is less about monitoring children and more about satisfying their curiosity.

Learn more Details about Instagram’s latest child safety initiative can be found here.

Listen today

When you get in your car and turn on the radio, it can seem like an endless time loop. At least I know that’s the case for me. The songs that the DJs played on the radio yesterday are playing again today. Some songs can often be heard several times a day.

3 things you should know before your trip

Sean “Diddy” Combs arrives at the LA premiere of “The Four: Battle For Stardom” at the CBS Radford Studio Center in Los Angeles on May 30, 2018.

Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

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1. Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail yesterday after he was arrested. He is accused in a sweeping federal indictment of conspiracy to commit organized crime, sex trafficking and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
2. A long-awaited mission to Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons The satellite is designed to provide the right conditions for life, according to a NASA statement. It is scheduled to be launched in a few weeks.
3. Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill to a nationwide right to IVF treatment. This is the second time that this measure has failed.

This newsletter was published by Susanne Nuyen.