Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

May 23rd, 2023

Good morning, and happy Tuesday! As the TikTok saga continues, the ByteDance-owned company filed a lawsuit yesterday against the state of Montana after the governor signed a bill last week that would ban the app statewide. While other states have expressed similar sentiments over the app, Montana was the first to do something about it. Do you think other states will follow suit?

In Today’s Brief

Ireland: Health warnings for alcohol
Tim Scott: Announces presidential bid
Denver Nuggets: Sweep the Lakers
Uber: DEI head placed on leave

...and more

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Colorado River deal

Federal officials in Arizona, California, and Nevada struck a deal to use less water from the Colorado River over the next several years.

The details of the plan involve cities, irrigation districts, and Native American tribes in the three states receiving federal funding in exchange for using less water. The plan would conserve an additional 3M acre-feet of water through 2026 (when current guidelines for how the river is shared expire), and about half the cuts would come by the end of 2024. In total, the three states will cut usage from the river by an estimated 13% over three years. In exchange for the water usage reductions, Arizona, California, and Nevada will reportedly receive $1.2B in compensation.

The Colorado River serves 40M Americans in Western states. Since the 1900s, water flow along the river has fallen by approximately 20%, and reservoirs in the region have reached record lows amid a decades-long drought.

Record fine for Meta

Facebook parent Meta has been hit with a fine and formal suspension order requiring it to stop exporting European Union user data to the U.S. for processing.

In a statement, the European Data Protection Board announced it had fined the company close to $1.3B. An investigation by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission found that Meta continued to transfer user data from countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area to the U.S. despite being suspended from doing so in 2021. Meta–which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram–said there would be “no immediate disruption” to Facebook in Europe. The company plans to appeal the ruling and will seek to suspend the case from proceeding in court.

The fine levied against Meta is the largest ever issued under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. Prior to yesterday, the largest fine ever imposed by the EDPB was $887M on Amazon for misusing customers’ data for ad targeting in 2021.

Fake Pentagon explosion

An AI-generated photo of an explosion at the Pentagon went viral yesterday and briefly caused the U.S. stock market to dip despite it being fake.

The photo reportedly showed smoke billowing outside the Pentagon and was shared by Russian state media outlets and other accounts alongside claims that an explosion had occurred at the building. After the photo circulated, the Arlington County Fire Department said in a tweet: “There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public.”

Yesterday’s photo comes amid debates that advanced AI will allow bad actors to spread misinformation and sow chaos online. In March, Elon Musk and more than 1K experts in the field of AI cited the spread of misinformation as a key motivation in their call for a six-month pause on the development of advanced AI until proper safety guidelines were in place.

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Around the Globe

The first female Arab astronaut to go to space arrived at the International Space Station; Rayyanah Barnawi is one of two Saudis on Axiom Space’s second private mission, which took off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the U.S. on Sunday (More)
Ireland enacted a law requiring health warning labels on alcoholic beverage products, becoming “the first country in the world to introduce comprehensive health warning labels” on such products (More)
Sudan’s army carried out air attacks in Khartoum hours before a week-long ceasefire aimed at allowing the delivery of aid into the country was due to take effect (More)

On the Homefront

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott announced he is running for the Republican presidential nomination (More)
Roughly 1.6K Tennessee students are at risk of repeating the third grade after scoring below the required threshold on the state’s Comprehensive Assessment Program test (More)
Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger refused to enter a plea in the four murder charges he is facing; the judge presiding over the case entered a default “not guilty” plea for him (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Earth Conscious Life

Actor Ray Stevenson, known for film and TV credits including RRR, the Thor and Divergent films, Vikings, and Star Wars animated series, passed away at age 58 (More)
Cinematographer Shelly Johnson is elected 47th president of the American Society of Cinematographers; Johnson’s credits include Jurassic Park III, Captain America: The First Avenger, Greyhound, and more (More)
The Denver Nuggets swept the Los Angeles Lakers 4-0 in the NBA Conference Finals; the team heads to its first NBA finals since it was founded in 1967 (More)

From our partners: The Need to GROW – Our soil is losing quality, stripping our food of vital nutrients and leading to an increase in diseases and skyrocketing food prices. In these tough times, the world needs grounded hope more than ever…and The Need To GROW is a powerful film that offers just that. Click here to watch the film and discover how you can be part of the solution.

Business & Markets

Stocks ended mixed, with the Dow losing while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 gained (Dow -0.42%, Nasdaq +0.50%, S&P 500 +0.02%)
General Motors confirmed it will introduce an all-electric Cadillac Escalade later this year, saying the new SUV will be called the “Escalade IQ” (More)
Uber placed its head of diversity, equity, and inclusion on leave after she moderated an event that some attendees reportedly complained was insensitive to people of color (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: Meet Joe Hollins, a man living in a homeless encampment in Arizona who is being hailed as a hero for helping to rescue a mother, her two young children, and their two dogs from an apartment fire
Bump This: Kelly Clarkson channels some U2-style lead guitar on her single “favorite kind of high” off her upcoming album chemistry - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: All a salad needs to be amazing is the perfect dressing, so why not learn how to whip some up on your own? Try out these three easy salad dressing recipes for Sesame Vinaigrette, Vegan Caesar, and Pepita Cilantro that serve as well-rounded options for any kind of salad you’re craving
Nerd Out: Check out this incredible video footage of the Belva Crater on Mars from the perspective of NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is currently perched over the crater during its mission to teach us more about the Red Planet
Go Deep: See what a longtime hostage negotiator who handled everything from abductions to piracy and cyber-attacks has to say about transforming your life, whether it’s through getting a raise, lowering your rent, defusing a family crisis, and more
Hot Goss: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly engaged to his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, after nearly five years together
Life Hack: Summer vacations are around the corner, and it can be tough to “unplug” if you work a job that requires a lot of email correspondence - here are several different ways to handle emails while on vacation, based on how some CEOs do it

Tip-Offs

From worst to best, ranking Martin Scorcese’s 26 films.

Why your 20s is the best time to start a retirement plan.

…and why young people are turning to military industries.

Examining whether buying a car is better on Memorial Day.

Take a video journey to see the 18 different French fry cuts.

See newly-snapped high-resolution photos of our Sun.

…and photos of the five best sento bathhouses in Tokyo.

Are orca whales exacting revenge by sinking ships?

Looking Back…

On May 23rd: American outlaws Bonnie and Clyde are killed in a police shoot-out near Gibsland, Louisiana (1934); China formally annexes Tibet as an autonomous region (1951); Eminem releases The Marshall Mathers LP, which goes on to become the fastest-selling album in the history of rap (2000); actress Joan Collins is born (1933).

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