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Skimm for August 13th

Skimm’d in pajamas

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I apologize to Tom Brady for not making him as good-looking as he is” - The artist who sketched Brady during his court appearance yesterday for Deflategate. Apparently he just isn’t her type.

WANT YOU TO YUAN ME

THE STORY

Earlier this week, China devalued its currency - the yuan - and it’s been causing a global market freak-out ever since. Yesterday, things got worse when the yuan fell even further.

CATCH ME UP.

To help boost its meh economy, China let the value of the yuan slide to make goods cheaper and encourage people to spend. Nice in theory. But since the yuan is a stabilizing force in the region, it’s caused Asian currencies to take a serious tumble. And the US stock market said ‘bottoms up’ and fell hard for the second day in a row. That’s because investors are freaking out that US products will become more expensive for Chinese consumers and companies to buy.

SO WHAT NOW?

China’s central bank is now reportedly doing some damage control by propping up the currency. Read: selling dollars to keep the yuan from sliding any further.

theSKIMM

The world’s second-largest economy made a bold move and, so far, it’s not paying off. Great timing, because the Fed was about to say the US economy is stable enough to handle an interest rate raise. Womp.

THE *: Yesterday was not China’s day. Explosions at a warehouse containing hazardous goods in a northern port city killed 44 and injured more than 500.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU START A NEW ROUTINE...

Yesterday, the US said it launched its first manned airstrikes against ISIS in Syria from a base in Turkey. While the US has already been doing drone strikes from this base, this is its manned airstrikes debut. And it should make flight time a lot shorter for the planes striking ISIS in Syria . Big deal, especially since Turkey resisted letting the US get cozy with its base. Turkey had different ideas about strategy in Syria, and thought the US should focus more on the Assad problem before tackling the ISIS problem. Then Turkey was hit with a series of attacks blamed on ISIS. Cue a change of heart, and the US and Turkey becoming one big happy airstrike family. This move comes as ISIS is launching more frequent attacks in neighboring Iraq. Overnight, a car bomb killed more than 60 people in Baghdad when it exploded at the most popular food market in the city. The terror group claimed responsibility on Twitter shortly after the attack.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN IT’S WAY TOO HOT...

Can I get a shade ball up in here? California’s been going through a massive drought. So to keep reservoir water from evaporating, Los Angeles released millions of plastic “shade balls” into the city’s reservoir. Because LA didn’t already have enough plastic. The balls float on top of the water and block sunlight. They also make the reservoir look like a giant ball pit, and are a sign the city’s literally going balls to the wall to fight this drought. LA’s mayor said these will conserve 300 million gallons of water a year. Which is helpful, because for the first time, this drought made California put limits on how much water people can use.

WHAT TO SAY AT A FAMILY DINNER...

Thinking about Jimmy Carter. Yesterday, the US’s 39th president announced that he has cancer. It was found recently while Carter was having liver surgery. Carter, who’s 90, said the cancer has spread to other parts of his body. But it’s not clear where the disease has spread.

WHAT TO SAY WHILE BUYING SHEETS...

Nefertiti would approve of Egyptian cotton. For pretty much forever, the location of Queen Nefertiti’s tomb has been a mystery. She’s the one who ruled Egypt with her pharaoh husband around 1350 BC. You know her because of this sculpture and because she was ridiculously, ridiculously good looking. Or not. But her tomb’s been MIA. Now, a British archaeologist thinks he might have found it, behind a door in King Tut’s tomb. He’s the one who ruled after Nefertiti, and was famous for being really young. That’s the sound of your high school history teacher freaking out.

THING TO KNOW

You keep hearing about the South and East China Seas. And why they’re causing 99 problems in Asia. We Skimm’d it for you.

SKIMM LIFE

Admit it, you kinda care about how many likes you get on your Insta pic of the sunset. Here’s something that might up your game.

SKIMM SHARE

Here’s the deal. We know you’re busy. So we want you to rep theSkimm on the go. But first, you have to share us. Top sharer gets a Skimm tote, coffee mug, phone charger. Oh, and $100 to Uber. Share here.

SKIMM BIRTHDAYS

* indicates Skimm’bassador. Cake cake cake.

*Christine Lairson (Salem, NJ); *Kendra Lennon (Burlington, VT); *Erin Fahan (New York, NY); *Heather Branin (Hoover, AL); *Adam Wingler (North Wilkesboro, NC); *Liz Dalrymple (Pinehurst, NC); Sarah Bingham (Washington, DC); Alexis Allen (Tampa, FL); Gabrielle Konin (New York, NY); Audrey Melendez (Atlanta, GA); Olivia Boyd (Los Angeles, CA); Allie MacPherson (Brooklyn, NY); Becky Sullivan (Alexandria, VA); E’vone Starks (San Diego, CA); Erin Regan (Miami, FL); *Meredith Cohen (New York, NY); Sheri Allen (Ft. Worth, TX); Melissa Finn (Cranford, NJ); Shelby Pindell (Big Springs, NE); Ann Slaybaugh (Catonsville, MD); Courtney Moran (Washington, DC); Claire Rehfuss (Latham, NY); Sammy Cavanagh (Charleston, SC); Liz Anderson (Rockville, MD); Kate Bruce (Minneapolis, MN); Jill Raisig (Washington, DC); Julia Lustig (New York, NY); Susan Bainbridge Tague (Villanova, PA); Fraser Parker (Atlanta, GA); Tatum Roessler (Washington, DC); Kiera Carpenter (Tacoma, WA); Tony Beers (Walnutport, PA); Rachel Agin (New York, NY)