Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

July 31st, 2023

Good morning, and happy Monday! We hope you had a great weekend. Today is the last day of July, which means it’s the last day for you to earn your entry to score a $500 credit to a local day spa of your choice. To earn your entry in this month’s raffle, all you need to do is get one friend to join Tip News!

In Today’s Brief

Thailand: Explosion leaves 12 dead
Trump: Defamation lawsuit dismissed
Barbie: Breaks 2nd weekend records
Ford: Issues recall of 870K F-150s

...and more

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Top Tips

Blast in Pakistan

44 people were killed and nearly 200 were injured after a bomb went off at a political rally in northwestern Pakistan yesterday.

The explosion took place at a gathering of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) party in Pakistan’s Bajur district, which borders Afghanistan. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but reports indicate it was caused by a suicide bomb. Provincial police are investigating whether the Islamic State group, which operates in Afghanistan and opposes the Afghan Taliban, is behind the attack. The Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, said in a statement that the bombing was aimed at setting Islamists against each other.

The Bajur district was previously a stronghold of the TTP before the Pakistani army drove them out of the area. In November 2022, the TTP ended a cease-fire agreement with the Pakistani government and attacks have since increased. In terms of the number of casualties, the bombing is one of the four worst attacks in the northwest district since 2014.

Moscow drone strikes

Russia’s defense ministry said that its military shot down three Ukrainian drones on Sunday, with two crashing into offices in the Russian capital of Moscow.

In keeping with its security policy, Ukraine didn’t claim responsibility. However, after news broke of the incident, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a video address in which he said: “Today is the 522nd day of the so-called ‘Special Military Operation,’ which the Russian leadership thought would last a couple of weeks. Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia–to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair process.”

Moscow is located about 310 miles from the Ukrainian border and has rarely been targeted since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has accused Ukraine of launching a series of drone strikes on its territory in recent months, including several on the capital.

A new swimming champion

Olympic champion Katie Ledecky broke Michael Phelps’ record for the most individual world swimming titles on Saturday at the World Aquatic Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

The 26-year-old swimmer received her 16th title in the women's 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:08.87, four seconds slower than her 2016 world record. She beat the second-place finisher by 4.44 seconds. Ledecky now has 21 gold medals at the world championships with relay events included. She also became the first-ever swimmer to achieve consecutive world titles in the same event.

While Lidecky beat Phelps in individual golds on the world stage, she still trails him by 16 gold medals on the Olympic stage. She is expected to swim in the 2024 Summer Olympics, which will take place in Paris next July. So far, 6.8M tickets have already been sold for the games, with more than 1M tickets sold in the first 36 hours of being made available.

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

Fighting broke out in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp yesterday, killing at least six people and wounding seven; the fighting broke out after an unknown gunman tried to assassinate Fatah group member, Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead (More)
West African countries imposed sanctions on Niger’s new military leaders after they took power in a coup last week; the countries gave the junta seven days to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum, who is currently being held captive (More)
12 people died in an explosion in southern Thailand at a fireworks warehouse and another 121 people were left injured; officials reported that almost 1K kilograms of gunpowder exploded, resulting in widespread damage (More)

On the Homefront

Former President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN was dismissed by a federal judge yesterday; the lawsuit alleged that the news network’s use of the term “the Big Lie” associated Trump with Adolf Hitler, but the judge ruled the term as opinion and not fact (More)
A federal judge has blocked Arkansas from enforcing a law that would have subjected libraries and booksellers to criminal charges if they provided "harmful" materials to minors, issuing a preliminary injunction set to take effect August 1st (More)
The use of generative AI for Arizona State University’s Law School applications will be permitted starting in August, according to university representatives; the announcement comes one week after the University of Michigan Law School banned the use of AI tools on student applications (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Atlas.co

Kanye West’s account has been reinstated on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, following the company’s rebrand; West’s account was suspended in December for violating the platform’s rules on inciting violence (More)
‘Barbie’ earned $93M in North America in its second weekend at the box office; the earnings reflect the best second weekend ever for the film’s studio Warner Bros., not adjusted for inflation (More)
Brittney Griner will not travel for the Phoenix Mercury's next two games in order to focus on her mental health, according to the team; Griner made her return to the WNBA this summer after missing all of last season while detained in Russia on drug charges (More)

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Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market closed higher on Friday, with the Nasdaq leading gains (Dow +0.50%, Nasdaq +1.90%, S&P 500 +0.99%)
Ford is recalling over 870K F-150 trucks in the U.S. that could potentially experience a wiring-related problem with their electric parking brakes; the trucks potentially affected belong to the model years 2021-2023 and feature single exhaust systems (More)
Subway has announced a new contest for customers who want free sandwiches for life, where all they need to do is agree to legally change their first name to Subway; people who are interested can register online between August 1 and August 3 (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: Watch this home video of a German shepherd who has taken a clutch of abandoned ducklings under his wing and become their protective surrogate dad, spending most of his days watching over them as they sleep, eat, play, or bathe
Sneak Peak: Check out the official trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary Depp vs. Heard and dive back into the drama around the trial that took the internet by storm in the spring of 2022
Bump This: Pop princess Carly Rae Jepsen stakes her claim for the song of the summer with her new disco-tinged single “Shy Boy” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: If you’re short on time but are still craving some nourishing protein and colorful, fresh produce, try out this recipe for steak and romaine boats that walks you through how to make a perfectly-cooked top sirloin steak
Go Deep: Speaking of steak, read about a new government report released last week claiming that red meat allergies in the U.S. are on the rise due to a strange syndrome triggered by tick bites
Hot Goss: Rapper Cardi B threw her microphone at a concertgoer who hurled a drink at her during a performance at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas over the weekend
Life Hack: Muscle mass starts deteriorating by age 30, but regular bodyweight exercises have been proven to help retain muscle mass and improve longevity - here are five strength-training exercises that can help extend your life and that only take less than 20 minutes per day

Tip-Offs

Mapping every country’s most popular baby name.

…and top U.S. cities where homebuyers are flocking.

Learn more about Netflix’s burgeoning video games.

Some of the most absurd team basketball records.

Learn how to stay asleep without mouth breathing.

See how our bodies are affected by extreme heat.

…and conversely, how they’re affected by frigid cold.

Understand yourself by determining your love language.

Looking Back…

On July 31st: St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic Church, dies in Rome (1556); longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro hands over provisional power to his brother, Raul (2006); American swimmer Michael Phelps captures his 19th career Olympic medal at the Summer Games in London (2012); author J.K. Rowling is born (1965).

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