Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

July 26th, 2023

Good morning, and happy Wednesday! Massachusetts State Police said no foul play is suspected in the death of the Obamas’ personal chef Tafari Campbell, who drowned while paddleboarding near the former president’s home on Martha’s Vineyard on Sunday. State authorities said that Campbell wasn’t wearing a life vest and the Obamas weren’t present at the time. We’ll keep you posted with any pertinent updates!

In Today’s Brief

Manipur: Indian state partially lifts Internet ban
Harvard: Facing probe into legacy admissions
LeBron James: Teenage son has cardiac arrest
YouTube: Reports uptick in advertising revenue

...and more

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Tentative UPS deal

UPS and the Teamsters union reached a tentative agreement for a new five-year contract covering 340K workers, six days before a potential strike.

Per a statement from the union, the deal “raises wages for all workers, creates more full-time jobs, and includes dozens of workplace protections and improvements.” Part-time workers will get a raise to at least $21/hour and full-time workers will average $49/hour. In addition, UPS also agreed to start buying only air-conditioned delivery vans (UPS trucks currently don’t have air conditioning), make MLK Jr. Day an official day off, and end mandatory overtime on workers’ days off. The union will vote on the contract starting on August 3rd.

Along with USPS and FedEx, UPS is one of the major carriers in the U.S. The last Teamsters strike at UPS took place in 1997. That year, 185K UPS Teamsters halted deliveries within the company’s network for over two weeks before they reached an agreement with UPS.

Banc of California & PacWest merger

PacWest is merging with Banc of California in an all-stock deal, according to a press release the latter company published yesterday.

Per the press release, the combined bank will have $36B worth of assets and operate more than 70 branches in California under the Banc of California name once the deal completes. The deal comes two months after shares of PacWest Bancorp plunged amid news that the regional bank was considering a sale. While the bank announced its intention to sell at the time, it said that it had not experienced a high number of customer withdrawals like other regional banks.

The merger marks the latest shakeup in the U.S. banking sector after this year’s collapse of three banks: First Republic, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank. With $229B in assets, First Republic’s collapse was the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history (behind Washington Mutal in 2008). Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse was the third-largest.

Ecuadorian prison crisis

Ecuador declared a state of emergency for 60 days across the country’s prison system, following a wave of violence that left 31 inmates dead.

The country’s government launched a security operation yesterday to free dozens of prison guards who were taken hostage by inmates, per Ecuadorian Interior Minister Juan Zapata. The operation came days after six inmates died in a fight between rival gangs in a prison in the port city of Guayaquil; that incident then triggered unrest in a dozen other of the country’s jails, where inmates went on hunger strike. As part of the operation, around 2.7K soldiers stormed the Guayaquil prison to retake control following riots that broke out on Sunday.

This is the second state of emergency President Guillermo Lasso declared in a 24-hour period. On Monday, Lasso established a similar state of emergency in two provinces after the shooting of the mayor of the city of Manta, Agustin Intriago.

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Around the Globe

China removed Qin Gang as foreign minister following an unexplained one-month absence seven months after he was appointed; diplomat Wang Yi has been named as his replacement (More)
Manipur’s ban on broadband internet has been partially lifted for the first time since violence erupted in May in the Indian state, leading to a state-wide internet shutdown; mobile internet, social media websites, and VPN services will remain suspended (More)
A jury in Belgium has found six men guilty of murder for their role in the 2016 bombing attacks in Brussels, which killed 32 people and injured more than 300; this is the largest judicial trial in Belgium's history with more than 900 civil plaintiffs taking part in the court case (More)

On the Homefront

Harvard University’s legacy admissions policies are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education; this investigation follows Wesleyan University’s announcement that it would no longer consider legacy status in admissions decisions (More)
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he wasn’t yet calling for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, but clarified that he believes the actions the House has uncovered through its investigations “could rise” to one eventually (More)
A rule that allows immigration authorities to deny asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through was blocked by a federal judge in Northern California yesterday (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Pique Tea

Jaylen Brown has agreed to a five-year, $304M supermax contract extension with the Boston Celtics, the most expensive in NBA history; the deal surpasses the $276M contract extension Nikola Jokic received in 2022 with the Denver Nuggets (More)
Snoop Dogg canceled his ‘Doggystyle’ 30th-anniversary concert at the Hollywood Bowl due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA Strike after initially delaying the event amid the writers strike, per an announcement from the rapper on his Instagram (More)
LeBron James’ son Bronny James suffered cardiac arrest during basketball practice in Southern California yesterday morning and is reportedly in stable condition; James, 18, is entering his freshman year at USC (More)

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Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market closed higher; the Dow closed higher for the 12th straight day, registering its longest rally since February 2017 (Dow +0.08%, Nasdaq +0.61%, S&P 500 +0.28%)
YouTube brought in $7.7B in advertising revenue in Q2; the amount marks an increase from the $6.69B in the previous quarter, which had been the third consecutive quarter with a decrease in ad revenue (More)
Shares of Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) rose by more than 3% in after-hours trading after the bank announced it would buy back $30B in stock (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: A recent study conducted by UCLA sociologist Giovanni Rossi and an international team of collaborators found that small acts of kindness are very frequent and occur universally, with people helping and requesting help every 2 minutes
Bump This: Chris Stapleton’s thunderous voice booms in his new cowboy-inspired single “White Horse” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: Craving a cookie, but don’t want the extra calories? Try this recipe for healthy oatmeal energy balls that, despite being healthy, still make for a delicious snack, dessert, and even breakfast that satisfies your sweet tooth
Nerd Out: People have long been fascinated with the possibility of life on other planets; check out the most promising places for life to exist in the Solar System, according to scientists, and why they might hold the answer to whether or not we are alone in the universe
Jaw Drop: Read about how a retired pastor who presided at the funeral of a kidnapped eight-year-old girl almost fifty years ago has been charged with her murder and confessed to the crime after being arrested last week
Hot Goss: Raven-Symone claimed she is actually psychic in an interview on a recent podcast episode; the now-37-year-old actress starred as a psychic teen in the Disney series That’s So Raven which ran from 2003 to 2007
Life Hack: While many people think that they need to cut things out of their diet in order to be healthier, there is plenty you can add to your plate in the name of better nutrition; read up on the six food groups associated with lower cardiovascular disease and mortality that you might be under consuming

Tip-Offs

Ranking this year’s states where high earners are moving.

…and showing each state’s average marriage duration.

An expert teaches what to do after a venomous snakebite.

How used coffee grounds can lead to home improvements.

Watch Bryan Cranston’s speech at an actor’s strike rally.

A study shows what you get from different types of milk.

…and a list of situations when you truly need electrolytes.

Check out BBC’s 2023 list of the world’s most livable cities.

Looking Back…

On July 26th: The U.S. Postal Service is established and Benjamin Franklin is named the first postmaster general (1775); Los Angeles experiences its first major smog event (1943); President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act into law (1990); author Aldous Huxley is born (1894).

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