THE BIG STORY

The Trump administration has reversed its ban on foreign students taking all classes online

Last week, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement announced a policy that would have revoked legal status for international students who planned to take classes entirely online in the fall because their university campuses are closed.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration rescinded the policy. A reversal like this is rare for this administration (to put it somewhat mildly). Often, government officials have opted to double down on controversial programs.

Here’s what was different this time: droves of major universities had lined up to challenge the policy in court. The Associated Press counted more than 200 universities that had agreed to support Harvard’s challenge. International students in the US also spoke up on social media as politicians railed against its necessity.

One expert simply noted, “This is the first time since family separation that the Trump administration has backed down on an immigration policy without a court order.”

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

The Trump administration carried out the first federal execution in 17 years

Daniel Lewis Lee was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday morning, becoming the first death row inmate executed by the federal government since 2003.

On July 13, a federal judge blocked the government from carrying out executions, concluding that Lee and other death row inmates who challenged a new lethal injection protocol were likely to succeed in arguing that it violated the prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment.”

But the US Supreme Court reversed the lower court injunction in a 5–4 decision, and Lee’s execution went ahead a few hours later.

According to a pool report from the Associated Press, Lee, who was convicted of killing a family of three, maintained his innocence in his final statement.

A lethal injection facility is shown before being dismantled at San Quentin State Prison, in March, 2019. Handout / Getty Images

SNAPSHOTS

Mythbusters host and electrical engineer Grant Imahara is dead at 49. The host's cause of death has not been publicly revealed, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, he “died suddenly following a brain aneurysm.”

Moderna’s early COVID-19 vaccine results show it can spur an immune response. Two doses of the vaccine triggered the production of antibodies in all 45 patients tested, though the results are still preliminary. Moderna’s vaccine, mRNA-1273, is one of more than 155 vaccines being tested and developed to fight the pandemic.

Christian Cooper says he won’t help in the investigation of Amy Cooper who called the cops on him in Central Park. Cooper, a Black writer, editor, and bird-watcher, wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post, “I must err on the side of compassion and choose not to be involved in this prosecution.”

Data collection and state surveillance put LGBTQ people at risk online and off. Apps that harvest data, dark web marketplaces, and state surveillance are just some of the dangers LGBTQ people have to think about online.

SIGNS OF TROUBLE

Fatal drug overdoses are likely increasing again because of the coronavirus pandemic

Public health experts are warning that illicit drug use and fatal overdoses are likely surging during the US coronavirus pandemic.

A bit of context here: Fatal overdose numbers dropped slightly two years ago, which was seen as a glimmer of hope in the overdose crisis. But they crept upward again last year, according to preliminary data.

In May, an early report from the federally sponsored Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program found an average increase of 20% in overdose rates in six states for 2020.

Now, a brand new report that analyzes urine drug tests from doctor’s offices found more signs of trouble. The report found a 32% increase in illicit fentanyl results, a 20% rise in methamphetamine, and a 10% increase in cocaine positive test results nationwide from January to May. The numbers shot upward after the March 13 declaration of the COVID-19 national emergency.

Millennium Health / Via documentcloud.org

THIS IS THE ANTHEM

This band’s TikTok song is the anthem for this year: “Fuck 2020”

Avenue Beat wrote a 90-second song about the horror show that has been the year 2020, and it immediately went viral on TikTok.

As with all viral things, audiences couldn’t get enough of the catchy jam and begged (and begged) the band to make a full song.

So Avenue Beat quickly finished the rest of the song and now it’s a relief to have an anthem for a year we’d all like to forget as quickly as possible.

Be compassionate to yourself today, in whatever form that needs to take,

Elamin