Check out the supersonic car that hopes to hit speeds of 500 mph during test runs this fall in South Africa.
Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)
1. Immigration
Immigration raids are “absolutely going to happen,” acting US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli said yesterday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is due to start the raids Sunday nationwide, targeting “thousands of members of undocumented families,” reported The New York Times, citing current and former Homeland Security officials. The raids were supposed to have happened last month, but President Trump held off to see if Congress could work out a deal, which didn’t happen. Cuccinelli said there are about a million people in the US with removal orders.
2. Iran
Iran tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, raising already heightened tensions in the region. Five armed boats affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard approached the tanker as it was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz, two US officials with knowledge of the incident said. The Iranians ordered the tanker to change course and stop in nearby Iranian territorial waters. But a UK Royal Navy frigate that had been escorting the tanker aimed its guns at the Iranians and told them to back off, which they did. The Revolutionary Guard today denied it tried to stop the tanker. The incident is yet another flashpointin a series of episodes involving Iran, including the Iranians shooting down a US drone last month.
3. Weather
The first tropical system of the year spins away in the Gulf, lashing the Deep South with rain, causingflooding in New Orleansand putting 4 million people under flash flood watches. It’s expected that the system will strengthen and become Tropical Storm Barry later today. By tomorrow, it could be a Category 1 hurricane. The storm could make landfall Saturday in Louisiana or Texas. Meanwhile, almost 40 million Americans are under warnings or advisories because of dangerous heat.
4. Politics
Looks like embattled Labor Secretary Alex Acosta still has President Trump’s support after Acosta held a news conference to defend his role in the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse case. The President told Acosta to talk with reporters about his involvement in the plea deal he helped broker more than a decade ago when he was a US attorney. Critics say the deal was too lenient and Acosta should resign. But Acosta said he got the best deal possible at the time and put Epstein behind bars briefly. The agreement generated fresh scrutiny after Epstein was indicted this week on sex trafficking charges; he pleaded not guilty. Acosta didn’t apologize for his past actions, nor apologize to Epstein’s victims.
Meanwhile, the President scored a big legal victory after a federal appeals courttossed out a case brought by attorneys generalfrom Maryland and the District of Columbia about whether foreign visitors to Trump’s Washington hotel violate the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution. The AGs claimed that the Trump International Hotel in DC harms hotels and other businesses that the states partially own. But the judges weren’t buying that argument. This is a big deal because it effectively keeps the states’ attorneys general offices from gathering financial info from the Trump Organization and Trump himself.
5. Climate crisis
In about three decades, London’s climate will feel a lot like Barcelona’s. This prediction, coming from a new study from a Swiss university, doesn’t mean London will start enjoying Mediterranean breezes. It means the city could be facing severe droughts, like Barcelona did a decade ago when it almost ran out of drinking water and reservoirs nearly ran dry. The study predicted the future climate conditions of 520 major cities worldwide, pairing those predictions with the conditions of cities today. By 2050, Madrid will feel more like Marrakesh, Morocco; Seattle will feel like San Francisco; and New York will feel like Virginia Beach, Virginia, according to the report. An estimated 77% of cities around the world will see their climate conditions change drastically, the study warned.
TODAY’S QUOTES
“Parades are cool. Equal pay is cooler.”
A sign held by Team USA member Crystal Dunn during the ticker tape parade honoring the US Women’s National Team’s fourth World Cup title. During the parade, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed pay equity legislation for New York state.
“There was just going to be a lot of opportunities where it would’ve been an awkward situation I didn’t want to put myself in.”
Mississippi GOP gubernatorial candidate Robert Foster, on why he denied a female reporter’s requestto go along on a campaign trip for a story unless she brought along a male colleague
BREAKFAST BROWSE
Sounds like heaven
Conversation-free rides can be ordered up on Uber nationwide. So, you can just stare out the window and zone out instead of engaging in painful small talk with the driver.
Taking flight
Check out the Tokyo airport hotel that has a full flight simulator inside one of its rooms.
Call me maybe (not)
You should start to get fewer robocalls if you have AT&T, which became the first wireless company to automatically block them. (AT&T owns WarnerMedia, which owns CNN.)
DNA dating
What’s the deciding factor on whether you get a second date in Nigeria? Is it mutual interests or chemistry? It could be your genetic makeup.
What is this, Florida?
A 5-foot alligator ended up in a lagoon in a Chicago park, and police have no idea how it got there.
TODAY’S NUMBER
$175,000
The amount of cash that rained down on an Atlanta interstate after an armored truck’s door unexpectedly opened. Some drivers pulled over to scoop up the money; police want them to give it back.
AND FINALLY
Wide receiver
Football season’s still more than a month and a half away, so there still may be time for some team to sign up this cat. (Click to view.)
