Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

August 30th, 2023

Good morning, and happy Wednesday! Because so many of you said that you watched The Price is Right, we thought you would like to know that CBS is inviting viewers to come on down to remember Bob Barker in a primetime special on Thursday. Barker, who died Saturday at 99, served as host of the show for 35 years. The Price is Right: A Tribute to Bob Barker will air Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT. Take a look and let us know what you think of the tribute!

In Today’s Brief

Greece: Records the EU’s largest wildfire
Hurricane Idalia: Now a Category 2 storm
Taylor Swift: Achieves a Spotify record
Amazon: Raising prices for free shipping

...and more

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Top Tips

First Medicare drugs to be negotiated

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced 10 prescription drugs that will be subject to the first-ever Medicare price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act.

The drugs include the blood thinner Eliquis, diabetes treatment Jardiance, and eight other medications. The negotiation process was authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden signed last year. CMS plans to meet this fall with drugmakers that have a drug on its list, as well as host patient-focused listening sessions. By February 2024, the government will make its first offer on a maximum fair price and then give drugmakers time to respond. PhRMA and several drugmakers have filed lawsuits over the administration’s plan.

The Medicare program paid more than $50B for the 10 drugs between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, according to CMS. The medicines up for negotiation were chosen from a list of the 50 products with the highest spending in Medicare's prescription drug program.

Meta unveils disinformation campaign

Meta released a report yesterday saying that it disrupted a disinformation campaign linked to Chinese law enforcement.

According to the report, the company took down more than 7.7K accounts and 930 pages on Facebook, calling it the in “largest known cross-platform covert influence operation in the world.” The operation targeted more than 50 platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit. The influence network generated positive posts about China, with a particular focus on positive commentary about China’s Xinjiang province. The network also attempted to spread negative commentary about the U.S. and disinformation in multiple languages about the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meta began looking for signs of a Chinese influence operation on its platforms after reports in 2022 highlighted how a disinformation campaign linked to the Chinese government targeted a human rights nongovernmental organization. Researchers were able to link this latest disinformation network to a prior influence campaign in 2019, code-named Spamouflage.

Burger King’s Whopper lawsuit

A U.S. district judge rejected Burger King’s bid to dismiss a class action lawsuit brought by customers alleging their menu boards show a bigger Whopper than what is served.

The lawsuit claims that Burger King portrays its signature sandwich as having ingredients that “overflow over the bun," making it appear 35% larger overall and with more than double the meat of an actual Whopper. The lawsuit also alleges the company began to overstate the size of its burgers in ads in September 2017. The burger chain argued that it wasn’t required to deliver burgers that look “exactly like the picture.” The judge ruled, however, that the company must defend against the claim and let a jury to decide.

This is the latest in a string of false advertising lawsuits that consumers have filed against fast-food restaurant chains. Consumers filed at least 200 class action lawsuits between 2020 and 2022 over false advertising in food products, per QSR magazine.

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

A forest fire in Greece is the largest wildfire ever recorded in the EU and the bloc is mobilizing nearly half its firefighting air wing to help put it out, according to a statement from a spokesperson from the European Commission (More)
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried in a private funeral in St. Petersburg yesterday; the Wagner mercenary boss was killed in a plane crash on August 23rd, two months after he staged a mutiny challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin (More)
The Biden administration announced a $250M military aid package for Ukraine yesterday that includes equipment to clear Russian minefields that have stalled Ukraine’s counteroffensive (More)

On the Homefront

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has been diagnosed with a form of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma and is undergoing treatment; Scalise, 57, says he will continue to serve in the House (More)
More than 31K acres have burned in the Tiger Island Fire in Louisiana, the largest wildfire in recorded state history, which remains only 50% contained; more than 511 wildfires have burned in Louisiana in August, according to the state agriculture and forestry commissioner (More)
Hurricane Idalia intensified to a Category 2 storm yesterday as it moved over waters in the Gulf of Mexico; this will be the first major hurricane on record to have ever passed through the bay next to the Big Bend region in Florida (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Remi

Taylor Swift has become the first female artist to hit 100M monthly Spotify listeners, making her the second most listened-to artist on the app; the Weeknd holds the number one spot for most monthly listeners on the app with more than 110M (More)
The U.S. Open began in New York on Monday, with the first-round games coming to a close yesterday; Daniil Medvedev, Coco Gauff, and Novak Djokovic are among those advancing to the second round (More)
‘The Idol’ will not be returning to Max for a second season; the series from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, currently holds a 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (More)

From our partners: Stop grinding your teeth at night — Getting a custom professional night guard from your dentist used to mean a huge hit to your wallet, but Remi has reinvented the night guard to be far more comfortable, convenient, and affordable. Save your teeth from stress. Use code TIP25 for 25% off your own custom night guard.

Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market closed higher yesterday, with the Nasdaq leading the gains (Dow +0.85%, Nasdaq +1.74%, S&P 500 +1.45%)
California-based Farmers Insurance is laying off 11% of its workforce across all areas of the company in a bid to restructure itself for long-term growth, per a statement on its website; the layoffs will affect 2.4K employees (More)
Amazon is raising the amount some customers must spend on its site to avoid paying for shipping; to qualify for no-cost deliveries, some Amazon customers who don’t have Prime memberships now need to spend $35, up from $25 previously (More)

Tips & Tricks

Sneak Peek: See a snippet of the story behind the biggest heist in history in the official trailer for the upcoming British TV series The Gold, starring Hugh Bonneville, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Spencer, and more
Bump This: It’s a bit of an oldie, but atmospheric singer-songwriter Novo Amor brings us the best soundtrack for the ending of summer with his nostalgic single “Anchor” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: Eggs are one of the best sources of protein out there, and we’re always on the lookout for new ways to whip them up - try out this easy recipe for everything but the bagel egg bites that are packed with colorful veggies and are sure to become one of your new breakfast favorites once you taste them
Nerd Out: Read up on how researchers have used the unlikely combination of DNA and glass to create an extraordinary new material that’s five times lighter and four times stronger than steel…and how the applications are virtually endless
Go Deep: The entertainment industry reaches into every corner of Los Angeles, and it’s not just writers and actors who are hurting due to the ongoing strike - read about all the other industries suffering as a result of the ongoing strike and the work it has brought to a halt in California and beyond
Hot Goss: Tiffany Gomas, the woman who went viral this summer for tearfully causing a scene on a plane, has started traveling again and was recently interviewed at LAX…but said that she “can’t comment” on what she saw on the airplane that elicited such a strong reaction
Life Hack: Believe it or not, the simple decisions you make about the design of your house and the pathway of your everyday life can affect your health and longevity - check out these 10 healthy home design tips from some of the world’s longest-lived people

Tip-Offs

Listing the top 10 states for high-paying entry-level jobs.

…and 2023’s best and worst states for teenage drivers.

Ranking the world’s highest-earning content creators.

Stunning photos of 40 of America’s most beautiful places.

Examining why unhappy workers have a hard time quitting.

In a first, doctors remove a live worm from a woman’s brain.

Tourists list the vacation spots with the best architecture.

…and economists map each country’s price of happiness.

Looking Back…

On August 30th: Guion S. Bluford Jr. becomes the first African American to travel into space (1983); Ty Cobb makes his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers (1905); the Late Show with David Letterman debuts on CBS (1993); novelist Mary Shelley is born (1797).

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