THE BIG STORY

An enormous explosion rocked Beirut, blowing apart buildings and killing at least 70 people

The massive explosion rocked central Beirut, killing at least 70 people, shattering buildings across large stretches of the city, and burying bodies under rubble.

Lebanese officials believe more than 3,000 people had suffered injuries, according to the Associated Press.

The incident comes as Beirut is already struggling to provide healthcare and other social services following a jump in COVID-19 cases.

The explosion was so powerful that people miles away reported falling to their knees due to its force. The damage stretched across several Beirut neighborhoods.

The AP reported that the head of Lebanon's intelligence agency said the explosion may have come after highly explosive material was confiscated from a ship and stored in a warehouse in Beirut's port. The source of the explosion was not immediately known, and authorities are investigating.

Anwar Amro / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Young Hispanic voters overwhelmingly support Biden. They’re just not sure he’ll win.

It’s election season, which means it’s polling season in America.

In partnership with Telemundo, we conducted a national survey of Latino voters between the ages of 18 and 34. We found a majority of respondents said that they would definitely be voting in the upcoming election and that they’re fired up but nervous about the outcome of the race.

The survey found that 64% of young Latino voters said they would definitely vote in the upcoming election. 57% said that they were feeling “fired up” about the race and 52% said that they were feeling nervous.

Here are the full results of the survey.

NOT GREAT

Exciting stuff: We just launched a brand new podcast. Not Great, hosted by Scaachi Koul, is a weekly podcast that mixes comedy and interview while ruminating on politics, pop culture, and society. It's hosted by culture writer Scaachi Koul, and it's a great time. Listen to the first episode for the three P's: policing, pandemic, and periods.

SNAPSHOTS

A black family was held at gunpoint by police who thought they were in a stolen car. Brittany Gilliam, her daughter, sister, and nieces were going to get their nails done when Aurora police spotted their car and drew guns on them. Bystander video shows the girls lying on the ground, screaming and crying as officers surround them.

Ellen Show executives are vowing change after misconduct allegations, but employees remain skeptical. The show’s executive producers addressed employees in a series of Zoom meetings, promising to make “concrete changes” amid allegations of behind-the-scenes racism and sexual misconduct.

A bachelorette group was asked not to move tables together due to the coronavirus, so one allegedly coughed on a server. Tennessee police are investigating after a member of a bachelorette party in Nashville allegedly deliberately coughed on a restaurant employee as they were unhappy about coronavirus guidelines being enforced.

The husband of LA County’s District Attorney has been charged after pointing a gun at protesters. DA Jackie Lacey said her husband acted in fear when he pointed his handgun at Black Lives Matter organizers outside his home.

RUNNING BEHIND

The pooled testing method could help fix the backlog of coronavirus tests. So why did the US just start using it now?

“Pooled testing” is a decades-old strategy. It allows labs to test combinations of multiple swab samples in batches.

The idea is: If the virus turns out to be present in a batch, then each of its samples gets retested to determine which are positive. But if a batch is negative, then all of its samples are considered virus-free and don’t need to be tested individually, saving both time and scarce supplies.

Pooled testing has already been deployed in China, Israel, and Germany.

In the US, which has more than 4 million confirmed cases and many more unconfirmed, public and private laboratories are swamped. People’s test results are arriving in as long as 19 days, making it difficult to contain the virus.

Some health experts are frustrated that the FDA only recently began to authorize pooled testing, months into the pandemic.

DOWN IN THE DMs

This man decided to send a voice note on LinkedIn and it’s the funniest message

Jimmy Diggs, a 77-year-old man from California, has become a hilarious meme after a voice note he sent on LinkedIn went viral.

Diggs, or Jimmy from LinkedIn as he is now known, slid into the LinkedIn inbox of Candice Emefiele, a student from Dallas, with an unforgettable introduction in the style of a late-night radio host for a smooth R&B station.

The whole thing is sensational, and you’re going to find yourself saying, “Jimmmmyyy from LINKEDIN” is no time.

I hope you find a path to uncomplicated joy today,

Elamin