Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

July 6th, 2023

Good morning, and happy Thursday! Air travel has come a long way–much more than we often think about–and to remind yourself of the industry’s humble beginnings, check out this video of a YouTuber taking a flight in a working replica of the Wright brothers’ 100-year-old Model B aircraft…with no cockpit. It may be anxiety-inducing, but it’s also quite interesting!

In Today’s Brief

Kyiv: Man detonates bomb in courthouse
Pentagon: Tightening up classified info
Taylor Swift: Adds 14 new tour dates
OpenAI: Authors go after ChatGPT

...and more

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Top Tips

Meta launches Instagram Threads

Meta yesterday officially debuted its Twitter-like messaging app Threads, which the company is pitching as Instagram’s “text-based conversation app.”

As of last night, the app is available to download in about 100 countries, including the U.S. The app is available in Apple’s App Store for iOS devices and in Google Play for Android. Meta said that users can sign in with their Instagram credentials and keep their usernames, followers, and verification status. In his inaugural post on the app, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads.”

Meta stock (NASDAQ: META) closed 2.92% higher yesterday. The launch comes as Twitter has faced recent technical and operational struggles under owner Elon Musk, who took the company private in 2022 for $44B. A disclosure from Fidelity at the end of May stated that Twitter is worth one-third of the amount it was when Musk and co-investors purchased the platform.

UPS talks fall apart

The union that represents nearly 340K UPS workers said that contract talks with the carrier collapsed on July 5th, and both sides have accused the other of walking away from the negotiations without a deal in place.

In a press release, the Teamsters Union said: “Following marathon negotiations, UPS refused to give the Teamsters a last, best, and final offer, telling the union the company had nothing more to give.” Meanwhile, UPS issued a statement in which it denied the union’s claims and accused the Teamsters of stopping negotiations abruptly.

UPS and the Teamsters Union have been in talks since early May with the purpose of reaching a new workers’ contract. The current UPS Teamsters contract expires on July 31st, and no additional negotiations are currently scheduled. The Teamsters have said on multiple occasions that UPS members will not work beyond the expiration of the current contract.

Singer CoCo Lee dies at 48

Hong Kong-born singer-songwriter Coco Lee passed away at age 48 yesterday after attempting to take her own life at her home on July 2nd, according to a statement from her sisters on social media.

Lee was known for voicing the lead character in the Mandarin version of the Disney film Mulan, and for singing the song “Reflection” from its Mandarin soundtrack. She also performed on the soundtracks to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Runaway Bride. Lee’s sisters confirmed that she was rushed to a hospital after she made the attempt on her own life and that she was in a coma before passing away.

Born in 1975 in then British-controlled Hong Kong, Lee moved to San Francisco at age 8 with her mother and two sisters. After high school, she attended the University of California at Irvine and relocated to Hong Kong where her singing career took off. Over her 30-year career, she released albums in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English.

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

A man died after he set off an explosive device at a Kyiv courthouse, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko; Ihor Humeniuk was detained in 2015 over an attack near Ukraine’s parliament and reportedly detonated the device yesterday after barricading himself in a bathroom (More)
Tel Aviv’s police commander said he was quitting the force due to alleged political intervention by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet whom he said wanted more force used against anti-government protesters (More)
A Danish court sentenced a 23-year-old man to indefinite psychiatric treatment at a secure facility for killing three people during a shooting spree in a Copenhagen mall in 2022 (More)

On the Homefront

Housing affordability in the U.S. declined in the spring with the price of a median single-family house rising to $350K in the second quarter, new research shows; the 10% jump from Q1 marks one of the biggest quarterly increases in the past decade (More)
The man accused of fatally shooting five people in Philadelphia on Monday night told police that he carried out the attack to clean up the neighborhood, according to local law enforcement sources (More)
The Pentagon announced plans to tighten controls on classified info after an alleged leak that saw 21-year-old airman Jack Teixeira arrested in April and later indicted on accusations of posting classified documents on the messaging app Discord (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Flaviar

Taylor Swift added 14 new dates to her Eras Tour and announced that rock band Paramore will open the tour’s European shows (More)
New York Yankees relief pitcher Jimmy Cordero was suspended for the remainder of the 2023 season for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy (More)
Hip-hop singer Nelly sells half his music catalog assets to HarbourView Equity Partners for a reported sum of $50M (More)

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Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market ended lower during yesterday’s trading session, with the Dow leading losses (Dow -0.38%, Nasdaq -0.18%, S&P 500 -0.20%)
OpenAI is facing a lawsuit from two authors who allege that their copyrighted books were used to train ChatGPT without their consent (More)
Christmas Tree Shops will liquidate all of its stores and cease operations unless it receives new investment; the company disclosed in a court filing that it is closing its roughly 70 stores in the coming weeks (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: Scientists have only recently discovered that communication through laughter isn’t unique to humans - see what happens when researchers tickled bonobo chimpanzees and made them laugh in the name of science
Sneak Peek: The epic official trailer for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon promises stunning cinematography, gripping plotlines, and towering performances from its leads when it hits Apple TV+ on October 20th
Bump This: British disco singer Rita Ora incorporates unique violin lines in her new single “Don’t Think Twice” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: Forget the freezer aisle in your local grocery store - try out this recipe for watermelon popsicles that only require two ingredients and make the perfect treats for hot summer days
Go Deep: Author Steven Covey developed a model called the Maturity Continuum which chronicles the four stages of development we move through as adults - check out the four different stages of adult development and see which one best describes where you’re at
Hot Goss: Realtor and Selling Sunset personality Amanza Smith revealed that she was hospitalized for 31 days with osteomyelitis, an infection that spread from her bloodstream to her spine and caused her to have two operations to have diseased portions of her bones removed
Life Hack: Some old habits die hard, but if we understand the science behind our habits and how to change them, we can get closer to becoming the best version of ourselves - here is a five-step process for breaking bad habits for good, according to a neuropsychologist

Tip-Offs

How massive Chicago rains impacted the city’s NASCAR race.

The part of our brains responsible for out-of-body experiences.

See the steps OpenAI is taking to bring AI under control.

…and watch this interview with Aldous Huxley on technology.

An enthusiastic archaeologist breaks down carbon dating.

Ranking 20 of Stephen King’s best movie adaptations.

Learn what’s happening with long passport processing times.

One journalist’s mission to taste the world’s best chocolate.

Looking Back…

On July 6th: Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in Amsterdam (1942); Paul McCartney meets John Lennon for the first time at a church event in Liverpool, England (1957); Serena Williams defeats her sister Venus to clinch her first Wimbledon singles title (2002); U.S. President George W. Bush is born (1946).

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