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Amazon workers take to the streets on the company’s biggest day of the year; temperatures rise to deadly levels in India.
Prime deals, less than prime working conditions
Sean Gallup/Getty Images- Amazon workers went on strike on the e-commerce giant’s busiest day of the year, Prime Day. Workers in Amazon’s warehouses around the world are boycotting for higher salaries and better working conditions. [Al Jazeera]
- Workers in Spain and Germany have planned walk-off strikes with demonstrations to follow. In Spain, 1,800 went on strike with the help of labor activists. Thousands more followed suit in Germany today. [Washington Post / Abha Bhattarai]
- Warehouse workers report awful conditions, saying they are on their feet for 10 hours straight, are not allowed to talk to one another, and are not exposed to any daylight. One worker said that they are worked “to death” and cannot work for Amazon and “maintain a healthy state of mind.” [Vox / Chavie Lieber]
- Employees are also denied bathroom breaks and sick days, and are granted unpaid breaks that require they walk far to get to the break room — taking away most of their downtime. [The Verge / Shannon Liao]
- Several Amazon employees have died while on the job, and ambulances have been called to the company’s warehouses more than 600 times in the past three years. [Vanity Fair / Maya Kosoff]
- The pay is astronomically low for Amazon warehouse employees. Meanwhile, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest man in modern history with a $152 billion net worth. [Newsweek / Brendan Cole]
- On top of the strikes, Amazon’s site crashed at the start of the sale. Nevertheless, Amazon still reported that its US Prime Day is “so far bigger than ever.”[CNBC / Lauren Thomas]
Deadly temperatures in India
- Temperatures are climbing in India, and due to climate change, it’s unlikely they will stop. Indian temperatures have reached 116 degrees Fahrenheit. Many people have fallen ill or died due to the heat wave, known in scientific and developmental circles as the “silent killer.” [NYT / Somini Sengupta]
- Due to fears of sexual assault, some women purposely restrict their water intake to avoid the need to urinate. This, of course, poses a greater health threat during heat waves. [BBC / Pooja Chhabria]
- In order to combat the epidemic killing people across India, officials are implementing policy changes, spreading awareness, and training medics. [Guardian / Michael Safi]
- It’s always been hot in India. But by 2050, average high temperatures could well exceed 95 degrees in 24 of its most populous cities. [C40 Cities]
- And by the end of the 21st century, temperatures are expected to be so high that a person could die if he or she is directly exposed to the heat for more than six hours. [MIT News / David L. Chandler]
- More than 1.1 billion people across the globe now face “significant risks” from lack of cooling. [AP / Edith M. Lederer]
Miscellaneous
- A new study found a correlation between heavy screen usage and ADHD diagnoses in teens. It’s unclear, though, if the chicken or the egg came first. [The Verge / Rachel Becker]
- Happy #WorldEmojiDay! In honor of the global holiday, Apple has announced a new set of 70 emoji that will roll out with an upcoming update. [Apple Newsroom]
- Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has begun his much-expected, fairly inevitable comeback tour by announcing the release of his memoir, The Briefing. It will be out next week. [Page Six / Mara Siegler]
- Bruce Willis finally ended the age-old debate that’s been tearing families apart for decades — Die Hard is … “not a Christmas movie.” [EW / Mike Miller]
Verbatim
“As to the question of who can or can’t be believed and whether anyone can be believed: no one can be believed. Where did you get the idea that President Trump trusts me or that I trust him fully? He protects the interests of the [US]. I protect the interests of the Russian Federation.” [Russian President Vladimir Putin on why Trump and Americans should believe that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 US election / Vox]
Watch this: Why Stradivarius violins are worth millions
Many musicians prefer these 300-year-old instruments, but are they actually worth it? [YouTube / Dean Peterson]
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