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UAW strikes Trump, Omar wins and Kishida bows out

 
Today's LABOR story

UAW sues Trump, Musk over worker threats in X chat

What happened
The United Auto Workers labor union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Donald Trump and Elon Musk on Tuesday, alleging that the pair attempted to "threaten and intimidate workers" during a Monday night interview on X.

Who said what
"You're the greatest cutter," Trump told Musk during their hourslong chat. "I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, 'you want to quit?' They go on strike — I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, 'that's OK, you're all gone.'" Musk, who is backing Trump for president, laughed and said, "Yeah." Federal law prohibits firing workers for legally striking. "When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.
 
Trump campaign adviser Brian Hughes called the UAW lawsuit, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, a "shameless political stunt" to erode Trump's support among blue-collar workers on behalf of "Democrat special interest bosses." The UAW is one of several major labor unions that have endorsed Kamala Harris. The Teamsters, whose president Sean O'Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention, have yet to endorse a presidential candidate. O'Brien, responding to Trump's comment to Musk, told Politico that "firing workers for organizing, striking and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism."

What next?
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) must now investigate if the UAW's complaint has merit. If so, it could "attempt to help settle the case," or go so far as to "sue Trump and Musk on behalf of the UAW," CNN said. Still, if Musk and Trump are found guilty in this case, a judge would "typically" order them to "stop their behavior" and compensate any employees who were "wrongfully terminated."

 
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Today's POLITICS story

Ilhan Omar wins primary, in boost to Squad

What happened
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) fended off a repeat primary challenge from former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels on Tuesday. In winning the Democratic primary for her 5th Congressional District, Omar "avoided the fate of two colleagues in the House's liberal 'Squad' who lost earlier this year after pro-Israel groups heavily targeted them," The Washington Post said.

Who said what
AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups spent $25 million to unseat Squad members Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.). But AIPAC has been "strategic about which races it's investing in," and Omar's wasn't one of them this year, Politico said. Bush and Bowman also had "other vulnerabilities that would have made their reelection bids difficult" even without the "flood of money against them."

Omar's race was "one of the most high-profile contests" in Tuesday's primaries in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin, the Post said. 

What next?
Omar, whose district is heavily Democratic, will face Republican Dalia Al-Aqidi in November. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), the only Squad member still to have a primary, will "cruise to reelection," Politico said, because she's running unopposed in both the Sept. 3 primary and the general election.

 
 
Today's international Story

Japan's Kishida stepping down

What happened
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday he will not stand in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership contest in September, paving the way for a new prime minister this fall. 

Who said what
Kishida's poll numbers have dropped steadily since he took office in 2021 amid high inflation and a scandal involving an LDP faction taking unreported campaign funds. In a televised press conference, he said he was stepping down because it's the "clearest way" to "show to the people the face of an LDP that is changing."

Kishida, 67, undertook campaign finance reforms and other steps to restore trust, but he ended up "with no cards left to play," Japanese political analyst Harumi Arima told The New York Times. He has been a "dead man walking for quite some time," Michael Cucek, a Japan politics expert at Tokyo's Temple University, told Reuters. "There was no way to add up the numbers so that he would get reelected."

What next?
The race to replace Kishida is "wide open," The Wall Street Journal said, but "none of the leading candidates" to becomes party leader and then prime minister is "likely to fundamentally change Japan's basic policies."

 
 

It's not all bad

Marcus Carpenter, a fourth-generation farmer in Medina, Minnesota, is inspiring the next generation while fighting food insecurity in his community. Carpenter's Route 1 organization offers several programs, including the Emerging Farmers Institute, designed to increase the number of people of color running farms, and Seeds for Success Youth Academy, a hands-on project that teaches young people about sustainable farming. Seeds for Success recently delivered 7,000 pounds of produce grown by the kids to local community groups.

 
 
Under the radar

A new species of algae, Chlamydomonas pacifica, has shown the potential to be a biodiesel, according to a study published in the journal bioRxrv. Because the species can reproduce sexually, it can be selectively bred and genetically engineered. When engineered, C. pacifica "can produce oil even when grown in wastewater at temperatures above 40°C (104°F), at a pH higher than 11, in full sunlight and in pretty saline conditions," said New Scientist. The algae's resilience has fueled a lot of interest from scientists.

"Algae are simple aquatic organisms that contain proteins, oils and carbohydrates, which when properly cultivated, can be used to make a variety of products, including renewable biofuels, construction materials and food ingredients," said Forbes. 

Algae has also been considered for use in pharmaceuticals. "A significant portion of all drug ingredients is plant-based, and there are significant cost savings by using algae," Mather Carscallen, CEO and founder of Algae-C, told Forbes. "Using algae saves time and money while reducing waste, land usage and water usage."

Using algae for fuel and biodiesel production poses significant challenges, however. "The big test is whether [the algae] can be successfully scaled up and survive in a large pond instead of in a container," said New Scientist. The good news is that C. pacifica may allow for faster and larger-scale algae production because of its ability to withstand harsh conditions.

 
 
On this day

August 14, 1947

Pakistan became a sovereign country following its independence from the United Kingdom. After the U.K. dissolved the British Raj, it partitioned the territory into two dominions: Pakistan and modern-day India. Pakistan's independence movement was led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who today is considered the nation's founder.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "boasts of success in Kursk," The Washington Post says on Wednesday's front page. "On Russian soil," The New York Times says, you can see the "ruin from Ukraine's offensive." In the U.S., Kamala Harris "surges in state survey" of California, as her campaign "appeals to more Black, Latino and young voters," the Los Angeles Times says. More surprising is "Harris on Trump's heels in Florida," USA Today says. In another boost to Harris, "abortion access to be on the ballot in Arizona," the Times says. The New York newspaper also highlights "an unanticipated consequence of rising heat: melted medicine."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Driving men wild

Male drivers take more risks when their navigation system gives its instructions in a "sexy sounding" female voice, a new study from China's Fudan University found. Participants were told what to do by a woman with a higher voice and one with a lower voice, and a majority said the "higher-pitched voice was more appealing to them," The Independent said. When that voice spoke, the men were 40% more likely to run yellow lights, suggesting the drivers were "showing off" to the nonexistent woman, researchers said.

 
 

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

Image credits, from top: Elijah Nouvelage / Getty Images; Bill Clark / CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images; Philip Fong / AFP / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images