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California sweeps encampments, video game actors' strike, and Harris 'not silent' on Gaza

 
Today's housing story

California orders mass dismantling of unhoused people's camps

What happened
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced on Thursday that state officials would begin removing thousands of encampments populated by unhoused people across the state, following a sweeping ruling by the United States Supreme Court, which upheld Oregon's ban on people without homes sleeping outdoors. 

Who said what
Newsom's executive order directs state agencies to "address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them," the Governor said in a statement. "There are simply no more excuses. It's time for everyone to do their part." Homelessness has become a "paramount issue in California and a political liability for Newsom and other Democrats as voter frustration has grown," Politico said. Newsom was "among a host of leaders who begged the high court to intervene," earlier this year, after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals initially ruled that it was "unconstitutional to punish people for sleeping in public spaces when they had no other legal place to spend the night," The New York Times said. Homeless people and their advocates have argued that the push to clear the encampments is "cruel and a waste of taxpayer money," which should be put toward "more housing, not crackdowns," The Associated Press said. 

What next?
Newsom's order requires state and local officials to "adopt humane and dignified policies to urgently address encampments on state property," the Governor's office said. They do not need to "ensure there are enough shelter beds for everyone before removing an encampment," Politico said.

 
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Today's labor story

Video game performers to strike over AI concerns

What happened
Video game actors with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted on Thursday to strike against ten gaming production companies after ongoing negotiations broke down over concerns about artificial intelligence.

Who said what
Union members are "not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members," SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement before Thursday's vote. "Enough is enough." Video game producers have "already found common ground on 24 out of 25 proposals, including historic wage increases and additional safety provisions," an industry spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline. "We are disappointed the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal."

What next?
The impending strike has been "signaled for nearly a year," The Hollywood Reporter said. Following Thursday's vote, it is now scheduled to go into effect at July 26 at 12:01 a.m, SAG-AFTRA said. 

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL Story

'I will not be silent' on Gaza, says Harris

What happened
Kamala Harris offered Benjamin Netanyahu support for Israel's right to defend itself from terrorism yesterday, but said she "will not be silent" about the suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza.

Who said what
In a meeting with the Israeli prime minister that "amounted to her debut on the world stage" since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Harris "did not stray from President Biden on policy" but "struck a stronger tone on the plight of Palestinians," said The New York Times.

Harris's remarks, which were "sharp and serious in tone," reflected what could be a "shift from President Biden in how she deals with Netanyahu", said Reuters.

What next?
Just a few hours earlier President Biden had "pressed for a ceasefire" in the nine-month-old war in Gaza in his first face-to-face talks with Netanyahu since just after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, said The Guardian.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said gaps remained between Israel and Hamas striking a ceasefire deal, but "we are closer now than we've been before."

 
 

It's not all bad

Groundbreaking research has found that feelings of gratitude can reduce cravings to smoke. Public health campaigns typically use sadness, fear and other negative emotions to try to get people to quit smoking, and a team from Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Chan School of Public Health and Georgetown University tested whether gratitude, a positive emotion, could encourage people to stop. They found study participants who experienced gratitude did have a reduced craving to smoke and more of these study participants enrolled in an online smoking cessation program.

 
 
Under the radar

Paraguay's dalliance with cryptocurrency

Paraguay is no stranger to "drug busts and bank heists," but in recent years the South American country has become a "mecca" for a very different type of crime: illegal Bitcoin mining. Power worth about $60 million a year – "enough to light up a city" – is being stolen by unlicensed cryptocurrency miners, said The Economist, and there is heated debate over how to tackle the issue. 

Besides "soybeans, timber and a massive cow population," Paraguay has "very cheap electricity," said El País, and this is why "more and more Bitcoin generators" are heading there. But the licensed crypto generators who have set up shop in Paraguay have been joined by dozens of cowboy operations that don't pay the tariff and engage in energy theft that "annoys many Paraguayans," and is now starting to impact the country's energy security. 

The country's "creaking transmission lines" are "increasingly overloaded" and the capital Asunción suffers regular power cuts, causing "food to rot and office workers to broil in the sub-tropical heat," said The Economist. The government has declared what it calls an "all-out attack" on crypto cowboys. This month the Senate approved jail sentences of up to ten years for energy thieves. Authorities recently confiscated 450 Bitcoin mining machines – bringing the total number seized from illegal operators this year to more than 10,000. 

Yet a group of "industrial players" has advised against moves that could "kill off" the sector, claiming a clampdown could hurt Paraguay's standing in the international business community, cost the nation up to $1.5 billion, and jeopardize "hundreds" of jobs.

 
 
On this day

July 26, 1956

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser seized and nationalized the Suez Canal. This eventually led to a political crisis resulting in the combined forces of Israel, France and the United Kingdom invading Egypt. However, the allied trio withdrew from Egypt days later amid international pressure, leading to a significant reduction in the U.K.'s world standing. 

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

The Wall Street Journal says that the U.S. economy has grown at a "faster pace" as households "ratchet up" their spending.

"Cooling inflation" and a "strong labor market" are the factors powering that increased confidence, says The Boston Globe. Meanwhile, an "ugly campaign" to "recast" Kamala Harris is under way, says the Los Angeles Times. Democrats are saying the potential candidate has a "lawyerly, sharp mind" but to Donald Trump and the GOP she's being portrayed as being "as dumb as a rock."

The New York Post leads on "every parent's worst nightmare" after prosecutors claimed that a teacher "preyed on students" at "elite institutions" using Snapchat.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Bird burrito

While barbecuing last week, a family in Amarillo, Texas, found an abandoned baby bird on their property. To warm it up they threw a tortilla on the grill to serve as a blanket for the tiny creature. This was an "inventive method to keep the baby warm, and surprisingly, it was effective," the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, which came to pick up the bird, shared on Facebook. The bird is doing well and now has a name: Taquito.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass, Summer Meza, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Mario Tama / Getty Images; David Livingston / Getty Images; Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images