Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

April 19th, 2023

Good morning, and happy Wednesday! It’s officially the middle of the workweek, which means it’s time for your weekly brain buster. Without further ado: see if you can spot the one lollipop hidden amongst the ice cream cones. If so, reply to this email and let us know how long it took you!

In Today’s Brief

Zurich: First T. rex auction in Europe
NYC: Parking garage collapses
Damar Hamlin: Gets OK to play
Fox News: Settles Dominion case

...and more

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Top Tips

Interpol firearm operation

Authorities in Latin America announced yesterday that they seized $5.7B worth of cocaine and other drugs in an operation lasting three weeks and spanning 15 countries.

Dubbed “Trigger IX,” the Interpol-led effort was aimed at fighting the trafficking of illicit firearms in Latin American countries. According to a press release, it is “the biggest firearms operation ever coordinated by Interpol.” On top of the drug seizures, authorities carried out over 14K arrests and seized more than 8K illicit firearms along with 305K rounds of ammunition. 100K pieces of ammunition were secured by police in Uruguay alone, making it the largest amount ever seized in the country.

Police have found gangs in Mexico, Central, and South America to be increasingly well-armed and are often overpowered when confronting them. Interpol Secretary General Juergen Stock said, “The fact that an operation targeting illicit firearms resulted in such massive drugs seizures is further proof…that these crimes are intertwined.”

Southwest service disruption

Southwest Airlines yesterday morning imposed a stoppage of all flights around the country that lasted for about one hour.

In a statement announcing that operations had resumed around 10 AM CT, the airline said that the reason for the stoppage was that “a vendor-supplied firewall went down and connection to some operational data was unexpectedly lost.” According to the website FlightAware, which tracks flight data, nearly 2.5K of Southwest’s flights–or 30% of its scheduled routes for the day–were delayed.

Yesterday’s ground stop came five months after staffing shortages and a breakdown of Southwest’s computer system led to the cancellation of over 16.7K flights during the holiday travel period. It ultimately cost the airline over $1B. The Department of Transportation opened an investigation into the airline as a result, and at the time, Southwest said it had taken steps to prevent another widespread disruption.

New coral reef discovered

A scientific expedition has led to the discovery of a previously unknown coral reef lying 400-600 meters beneath the surface of the Galapagos Marine Reserve.

The reef reportedly has over 50% living coral coverage, resulting in “abundant” marine life compared to other reefs at similar depths, which typically only have 10-20% live coral due to lack of sunlight. Ecuador’s environmental minister Jose Antonio Davalos said the discovery “reaffirms our determination to establish new marine protected areas in Ecuador,” adding that it is “another reason to strive towards achieving the commitments of the Global Ocean Alliance 30x30, which aims to protect at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.”

The Galapagos Islands, which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, is home to giant tortoises, albatrosses, and other species. Before this week, scientists believed the only Galapagos reef to survive El Nino weather in the 1980s was the Wellington reef along the coast of Darwin Island.

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

Private collector purchases a 67M-year-old T. rex skeleton in Zurich on the first occasion that a T. rex had ever gone up for auction in Europe; the name of the skeleton is “293 Trinity,” since it was built from three different T. rexes from dinosaur sites in Montana and Wyoming (More)
Russian-detained ‘Wall Street Journal’ reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain in jail after a Moscow City Court judge denied the appeal of his detention (More)
A fire in the inpatient department at Beijing’s Changfeng Hospital left 21 people dead yesterday, according to Chinese state media (More)

On the Homefront

A parking garage in Lower Manhattan partially collapsed and left multiple people trapped and injured yesterday; per local authorities, at least one death was reported as of last night (More)
The 84-year-old homeowner accused of shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl last week in Kansas City surrendered to authorities (More)
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra violated the Hatch Act by saying at a public event in 2022 that he intended to vote for California Senator Alex Padilla in his re-election bid, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Remi

Principal photography for ‘Rust’ will resume filming tomorrow at Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana; production halted in 2021 when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot with a live round from a prop gun Alec Baldwin was holding (More)
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been cleared to resume football activities, per the team’s general manager; Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle during the Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2nd (More)
Paramount+ orders ‘Star Trek: Section 31’ as an original movie, with Michelle Yeoh set to reprise her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou (More)

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Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market ended mixed after a relatively flat trading session (Dow -0.03%, Nasdaq -0.04%, S&P 500 +0.09)
Absolut Vodka will stop exporting its products to Russia entirely following backlash in Sweden, where the vodka is made; the company initially halted exports in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine (More)
Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems reached a settlement shortly before opening statements were scheduled to begin yesterday; it is reportedly one of the largest settlements ever paid in a defamation case (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: Learn about ChopValue, a Boston-based company that recycles chopsticks from restaurants in over a dozen cities around the world and turns them into beautiful home goods, furniture, board games, and more
Sneak Peek: Watch Lily-Rose Depp and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye in the official trailer for The Idol, an upcoming HBO original series chronicling the underbelly of pop superstardom
Bump This: Indie rock heroes The National team up with Phoebe Bridgers for the soothing ode to anxiety “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: Whether you like your meatballs with pasta or as an appetizer, this recipe for Italian turkey meatballs is full of protein and flavored with herbs to make tasting them an unforgettable experience
Go Deep: Read up on how the Supreme Court yesterday heard the case of a Christian mail carrier who refused to work on Sundays when he was required to deliver Amazon packages…and what may (or may not) change based on their ruling
Hot Goss: The Secret Service responded swiftly when a toddler infiltrated White House grounds by crawling through the fence on the north side (the toddler and his parents were quickly reunited and the president is secure)
Life Hack: Whenever you’re feeling stressed out, need a burst of cheer, or are feeling distracted and unproductive, here are five ways to utilize your different senses to unexpectedly help get yourself out of a funk

Tip-Offs

Mapping each country’s average use of screen time.

…and how much it costs to fight a common cold.

Examining how the government wastes taxpayer funds.

The best arenas in North America to see a sporting event.

Netflix’s announcement that it will stop shipping DVDs.

Questioning the effectiveness of the Montessori method.

What to know about SpaceX’s planned Starship launch.

…and see James Webb’s latest shot of merging galaxies.

Looking Back…

On April 19th: The American Revolution begins with the Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775); a truck bomb nearly destroys the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, leaving 168 people dead and injuring more than 500 (1995); Shirley Temple appears in her first feature-length film, Stand Up & Cheer (1934); tennis player Maria Sharapova is born (1987).

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