US Swimmers Find Themselves in Hot Water

[The Presidential Daily Brief] [The Presidential Daily Brief] IMPORTANT August 18, 2016 [Swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were taken off their flight to the U.S. Wednesday as part of a criminal probe in Rio. Source: Getty] [US Swimmers Pulled From Rio Flight Amid Robbery Case] Not so fast. Brazilian authorities removed Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz from their flight to the United States yesterday, the U.S. [Olympic] Committee confirmed. The athletes, along with fellow gold medalist swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen, said men posing as police robbed them at gunpoint in the Olympic Village early Sunday - but authorities have raised questions about inconsistencies in their account. A Brazilian judge ordered the swimmers' passports seized - and while Lochte had already left for the U.S., it's unclear how long the other three swimmers must stay in Brazil. Sources: [AP], [USA Today] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [California Wildfire Eats 25,000 Acres in One Day] It began with five acres. But just hours later, the Blue Cut Fire near San Bernardino was severing major highway links to Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and people were running for their lives. Nobody's been reported dead, but 82,000 were ordered to evacuate as 1,300 firefighters battled the unusually fast-moving blaze. Authorities fear hundreds of homes have been destroyed. Rescue teams with dogs are searching wreckage to find victims who may not have escaped, and scientists warn that California's ongoing [drought] could spark more ferocious conflagrations. Sources: [NYT], [BBC] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Clinton Campaign Pounces on Trump's Media Mogul Team] It makes for great TV. With Breitbart News' chief as his new campaign CEO and ousted [Fox News] head Roger Ailes reportedly advising him, Donald Trump's campaign has now merged with the right-wing media that's championed the mogul - and excoriated Republican leaders. This latest staff shakeup is seen as an audacious move to battle plummeting poll numbers. Usually reluctant to weigh in on Trump aides, Hillary Clinton's chairman bashed Steve Bannon as a peddler of "racist ... conspiracy theories," who's helping Trump "double down on his most small, nasty and divisive instincts." Sources: [NYT], [Politico], [Washington Post] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Asian Stocks Get a Boost as Dollar Drags] The East is back on top, for now. Asian shares have jumped over the past week, putting pressure on Western markets. With the dollar falling, major currencies like the Japanese yen have risen nearly to [post-Brexit] levels. That's a welcome change for Japan after last month, when the country's imports and exports suffered their biggest fall since 2009. Meanwhile, the dollar's reached a seven-week low and it's looking increasingly unlikely that U.S. interest rates will get a hike next month - thought analysts say that'll depend on market data. Sources: [Reuters], [FT (sub)], [Bloomberg] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] Briefly Know This: The Philippines' president is pushing back at the U.N. for criticizing his [killer anti-drug] campaign. At least three are dead after a suspected Kurdish [militant car bombing] in Turkey. And you can buy a [D-Day tank] from a French history museum going bankrupt. Read This: Want to cheer on a badass queer black intersex Olympian this Friday? Get to know her [here]. Watch This: Someone call Indiana Jones. Things got weird at Europe's top physics lab yesterday when someone caught a [fake human sacrifice] on camera. Pranking scientists are the suspected culprits behind the staged occult ceremony. INTRIGUING [U.S. Women Own the Podium in 100M Hurdles] It was a shutdown. Track and field stars Brianna Rollins (gold), Nia Ali (silver) and Kristi Castlin (bronze) formed the first-ever U.S. sweep of the 100-meter hurdles. Tianna Bartoletta grabbed gold in the long jump and Evan Jager got a surprise silver in the steeplechase, extending America's track and field [Olympic] medal lead over Jamaica and Kenya. After a tough start, the U.S. men's basketball team steamrolled Argentina, securing a semifinal showdown with Spain on Friday, as Kevin Durant scored a whopping 27 points - an Olympic personal best. Sources: [SI], [ESPN] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Dig Begins for Hidden Train of Nazi Gold] There's gold in them thar hills ... maybe. Amateur researchers have begun to excavate a Polish mountain where locals believe the [Nazis] stashed a train carrying priceless artwork, guns, gems and gold as the Red Army approached in 1945. Piotr Koper and Andreas Richter produced evidence of the train's location last year, but geologists and engineers using ground-penetrating radar said they'd debunked the claim. Undeterred, Koper and Richter are drilling three holes in the Owl Mountains, where they believe the loot train rests, and hope to announce findings today. Sources: [Smithsonian] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [How Ultra-Rich Families Make Private Deals Online] The oligarchs have their own Craigslist. Cloistered away from commoners, platforms like ShareNett keep big financial transactions opaque and limited to the richest Americans. Instead of mingling and squabbling in person, families use the platforms to arrange high-stakes transactions. "Family offices" that have long managed money for the uber-rich, have gravitated away from media-monitored big financial institutions since the 2008 financial crisis spotlighted their transactions. The new online clubs, if you will, help keep elite investments out of the press - an increasingly hard sell in a digital age. Sources: [OZY] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Ford's No-Steering-Wheel Taxis Are Coming] Watch out, Uber. Ford's planning to create a fleet of [self-driving cars] and taxis by 2021 - to operate their very own ride-hailing service. After 10 years of developing autonomous cars - and partnerships with mapping, machine learning and "virtual retina" companies - Ford plans to triple its current fleet of 30 autonomous vehicles by next year. But the ultimate self-drivers won't even have a steering wheel and will cost a lot more, which may not matter as they'll be used for taxi services and carpools. Sources: [Wired], [The Verge] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [J.K. Rowling to Publish Three Short Story Collections] The magic never ends. A few weeks ago, J.K. Rowling told fans she was "done" with the boy wizard, but clearly she doesn't feel the same about the fantasy world she created. On September 6th she'll release three new 10,000-word [e-books] of short stories that publishers say reveal the "dark side" of the wizarding world - and new insight into Remus Lupin, Professor McGonagall and Lord Voldemort's Hogwarts days. Perhaps the books will help salve the psyches of fans who weren't pleased by the recent spin-off play about adult Harry. Sources: [Time], [Rolling Stone], [The Atlantic] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] Your 8 must reads to get you ahead of the curve TRUE STORY [Meet the Doctor Who Makes House Calls by Horse] [Read In Full] FLASHBACK [The Suicide Bomber Who Nearly Blew Up Hitler] [Read In Full] FAST FORWARD [Old Money Goes High-Tech: No Commoners Allowed] [Read In Full] 20M people love reading OZY every month. Be part of the revolution. [Facebook] [Twitter] [Instagram] [Vimeo] [Youtube] Add us to your Address Book | Having trouble viewing this email? [Read Online] This email was sent to {EMAIL} This email was sent by: OZY Media 800 West El Camino Mountain View, CA 94040 [Manage Subscriptions] | [Unsubscribe from this email] | [Privacy Policy]