Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

March 23rd, 2023

Good morning, and happy Thursday! People say they love to live in Southern California for the relaxed vibes and calm weather. However, that wasn’t the case yesterday when a town in the eastern Los Angeles area was hit by what may have been a tornado, which is rarely seen in that part of the country. If you were nearby, reply to this email and tell us what you saw or experienced!

In Today’s Brief

Russia: Launches new wave of strikes
Trump: Grand jury postpones meeting
Rick & Morty: Creator cleared of charges
Virgin Orbit: Nearing rescue deal

...and more

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Top Tips

Lower rate hike

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points (or 0.25%) yesterday.

Yesterday’s rate hike brings the federal funds rate to a target range of 4.75% to 5%, its highest level since September 2007. In a statement, the Fed called the U.S. banking system “sound and resilient” and wrote that inflation “remains elevated.” It also said that “some additional policy firming may be appropriate” to bring inflation down to its target of 2%. Meanwhile, inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 6% in February compared to last year and 0.4% from the month prior.

The Fed raised rates in February by the same amount (0.25%), marking a lower increase than December’s rate hike of 50 basis points. Before December, the Fed issued a string of four consecutive increases of 75 basis points that it began imposing in June 2022 for the first time since 1994.

Ugdana LGBTQ bill

Uganda’s parliament passed a law yesterday evening making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ in the country.

More than 30 African nations, including Uganda, already ban same-sex relations. However, the bill appears to be the first to outlaw identifying as LGBTQ without any associated action. Under the bill, people who identify as LGBTQ may face up to 10 years in prison for engaging in same-sex relations. Individuals may face the death penalty in certain cases, such as engaging in “aggravated homosexuality” under Ugandan law. In addition, the bill would ban “promoting and abetting homosexuality” as well as “conspiracy to engage” in same-sex relations.

The bill now goes to the desk of President Yoweri Museveni. In a statement, Human Rights Watch said the bill “would violate multiple fundamental rights, including rights to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality, and non-discrimination” if Museveni signs it into law.

Cosmic dust storm

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have observed a dust storm on a planet outside our solar system for the first time.

The telescope used its Mid-Infrared Instrument and its Near-Infrared Spectrometer (“NirSpec,” for short) to make the discovery on the exoplanet VHS 1256b, which is about 40 light-years from Earth. The dust particles observed are reportedly silicates: small grains that comprise silicon and oxygen, which form the basis of most rock-like minerals. Researchers noted that the silicates observed on VHS 1256b are “the size of smoke particles.”

VHS 1256b was first identified by the VISTA telescope in Chile in 2015. The exoplanet is what's called a “super Jupiter,” meaning it’s similar to the gas giant in our own solar system, but with a mass of approximately 12 to 18 times the size. In prior observations, researchers reported detecting water, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sodium, and potassium in VHS 1256b’s atmosphere.

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

Russian drone and missile strikes on apartment buildings and dormitories left at least eight people dead between Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia yesterday, according to Ukrainian officials; 25 people were reportedly hospitalized (More)
Canada’s population increased by more than 1M people for the first time in history in 2022, with “temporary immigration” as the leading contributor to the population increase (More)
Brazilian police say they foiled plots to target authorities by raiding locations in several states to crack down on a gang accused of plotting killings and kidnappings of public officials (More)

On the Homefront

A settlement of $600M was approved over Flint’s contaminated water supply and will be paid by the state of Michigan; combined with settlements from the city and a local hospital, it will be the largest settlement in the state’s history (More)
The Manhattan grand jury investigating former President Trump postponed their meeting scheduled for yesterday amid speculation of a possible indictment, according to familiar sources (More)
A male student shot two faculty members at a Denver high school and then fled the scene yesterday; one of the faculty members is in critical condition while the other is stable, and police are searching for the suspect as of last night (More)

Glitz & Games

A stage musical adaptation of the NBC series ‘Smash’ is expected to debut on Broadway during the 2024-2025 season, with original series producers Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt, and Neil Meron serving as lead producers (More)
‘Rick and Morty’ creator Justin Roiland cleared of domestic violence charges due to “insufficient evidence”, according to a statement from the Orange County District Attorney’s office (More)
Director Peter Werner passed away at 76, according to a statement from his family; Werner was known for his work on series such as Moonlighting, A Different World, Justified, Law & Order: SVU, and more (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market ended lower following the Federal Reserve’s rate hike announcement (Dow -1.63%, Nasdaq -1.60%, S&P 500 -1.65%)
Shares of video game retailer GameStop (NYSE: GME) closed over 35% higher after the company reported its first profitable quarter in two years (More)
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc is reportedly nearing a deal for a $200M investment from Texas-based venture capital investor Matthew Brown to help the company remain operational (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: A Tennessee weatherman rescued a chicken named Penelope from a snowstorm…and ended up adopting her and bringing her along for all of his other reporting adventures (if anyone uses this concept for a children’s book, you’re welcome)
Sneak Peek: Watch Julia-Louis Dreyfus explore the ways we are honest–and not-so-honest–with our loved ones in the official trailer for A24’s upcoming film You Hurt My Feelings, coming out on May 26th
Bump This: Indie pop singer-songwriter Lauv has dropped a demo version of his simple, synth-based single “Talking to Myself” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: Believe it or not, nuts don’t have to only be eaten right out of the bag or container - if you want to spice things up for a quick snack, try out this recipe for Za’atar roasted nuts that are high in fiber, protein, and fat
Nerd Out: Read up on how researchers at an Australian university were able to use a hydrogen-conducting enzyme extracted from a bacterium called Mycobacterium smegmatis to literally create electricity out of thin air
Hot Goss: A Romanian court ruled yesterday that social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan will remain in custody in the country for a fourth consecutive month
Life Hack: There are tons of benefits of squats, from toning your legs to burning calories…but most of us are actually doing them wrong - check out these directions on how to do a proper squat so you can practice the correct technique for this exercise going forward

Tip-Offs

The best activities for getting a good night’s sleep.

Mapping out the types of governments around the world.

Danny Elfman shares the albums that influenced him the most.

…and acoustic cameras show us what sound looks like.

Breaking down the most overused word of our era.

A satellite image with enhanced color of Louisiana’s rice fields.

How Jack Daniels has ended up in the Supreme Court.

Meet the men who cycled from Finland to Singapore.

Looking Back…

On March 23rd: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark begin their return trip back to St. Louis, Missouri (1806); inventor Elisha Otis installs the first commercial elevator in a department store in New York City (1857); the Suez Canal is blocked after the mega-freighter Ever Given runs aground (2021); actress Elizabeth Taylor dies (2011).

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