Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

October 12th, 2023

Good morning, and happy Thursday! Voting is over in Katmai National Park & Preserve’s annual Fat Bear Week contest, where a defensive mama bear named 128 Grazer officially secured the title. She blew her final competitor, 32 Chunk, straight out of the salmon-filled waters they both like to fish with 108,321 votes. Congrats Grazer on your victory and happy hibernation from the Tip News Team!

In Today’s Brief

Ukraine: U.S. to provide military aid package
IRS: Alleges Microsoft owes $28.9B in taxes
Rafael Nadal: To play in 2024 Australian Open
DOJ: Sues eBay over rolling coal devices sold

...and more

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Top Tips

Scalise nominated as House speaker

House Republicans have nominated Majority Leader Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker, following a private ballot vote held yesterday.

Scalise defeated House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan 113-99 to secure the nomination. There will now be a vote of the full House where 217 votes are required to secure the speakership. It remains unclear, however, when a floor vote will occur. In order to become speaker, Scalise can only afford to lose around four Republican votes. So far, however, several members who supported Jordan in the private ballot have indicated they would continue to do so on the floor. Both Jordan and previous House speaker Kevin McCarthy have indicated they will support Scalise.

House business has been effectively on hold for more than a week after Representative McCarthy was removed from the speakership last Tuesday. In an interview following the vote, Scalise said that should he secure speakership, his first action would be passing a resolution in support of Israel.

Israel to establish unity government

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz have agreed to form an emergency unity government as the fighting with Hamas in Gaza continues.

The two leaders agreed to form a war cabinet comprising Netanyahu, Gantz, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, according to a joint statement from Gantz’s National Unity party. Opposition leader Yair Lapid will also be able to join the government if he chooses to and be a member of the cabinet. The emergency government aims to give broader national consensus to Israel’s military action. As the Israel-Hamas war entered its fifth day of fighting yesterday, 2.3K lives had already been claimed on both sides.

The announcement that Netanyahu and Gantz would work together comes after months of protests against attempts by the prime minister to implement controversial judicial reforms. The unity government will not promote any unrelated policy except those related to the ongoing fighting with Hamas in Gaza, including judicial overhaul legislation.

UAW targets Ford’s largest plant

The United Auto Workers union expanded its strike action against the Detroit Three automakers yesterday to include 8.7K members at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant.

The union’s decision to strike the plant, which is Ford’s largest in terms of employment and revenue, marks a change in strategy, which has previously included UAW President Shawn Fain publicly announcing the strike targets before the work stoppages occur. According to a release from the union, “the strike was called after Ford refused to make further movement in bargaining.” Ford called the decision “grossly irresponsible but unsurprising.”

The strike came nearly four weeks after the union began its walkouts against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis on September 15, with one assembly plant from each company. Last week, the union reported progress in the talks and decided not to add any more plants, but battery plants remain a major point of contention in the negotiation.

In partnership with Purality Health

Memory "fudge"

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

Guatemala’s Indigenous leaders continue to protest daily in response to alleged interference in the election victory of Bernardo Arevalo; since October 2, as many as 140 roadways have been blocked, with people flooding the streets of the capital to demand accountability (More)
The U.S. will provide Ukraine with a new military assistance package, valued at $200M; since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. government has provided around $43.9B in support of Ukraine (More)
Myanmar’s military has been accused of launching an airstrike on a camp for displaced persons in the northern state of Kachin that killed about 30 people, according to reports from local media (More)

On the Homefront

A group of House representatives from New York are introducing a resolution to expel George Santos from Congress, one day after federal prosecutors issued Santos a 23-count superseding indictment alleging he committed identity theft, fraud, and other offenses (More)
The Internal Revenue Service says Microsoft owes the U.S. Treasury $28.9B in back taxes, plus penalties and interest, the company revealed in a securities filing; Microsoft disputes the figure, taken from an IRS probe into Microsoft’s profits from 2004 to 2013 (More)
The number of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. is still increasing every month, according to data from the CDC and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, but the pace appears to be slowing (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Xero Shoes

‘The Golden Bachelor’ premiere hit multi-year highs for the Bachelor franchise; the episode drew the biggest total audience for the franchise since a February 2021 episode of The Bachelor and the best 18-49 rating since a September 2021 Bachelor in Paradise (More)
Tennis player Rafael Nadal will play at next year’s Australian Open, according to tournament director Craig Tiley; the 22-time grand slam champion has been absent from the sport since January at the 2023 edition of the tournament, where he sustained a hip injury (More)
Former NFL player Sergio Brown was arrested in Southern California in connection with the death of his mother, according to authorities; Brown played defensive back in the NFL from 2010 through 2016 (More)

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Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market closed higher for the third day in a row yesterday, with the Nasdaq leading the gains (Dow +0.19%, Nasdaq +0.71%, S&P 500 +0.43%)
ExxonMobil will buy U.S. shale driller Pioneer Natural Resources for $59.5B in stock, according to an announcement made yesterday; the merger would more than double Exxon's production in the Permian Basin to 1.3M barrels of oil-equivalent per day (More)
The Department of Justice has sued eBay, alleging that the company has allowed more than 343K unlawful “rolling coal” pollution devices to be sold on its platform; each of the alleged transactions would come with up to a $5.5K fine under the Clean Air Act (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: Firefighters rescued a Pennsylvania boy from a grain bin earlier this week after he was found almost entirely buried in corn, according to Pennsylvania officials - first responders were called to Latimore Township to a report of a trapped child, who was pulled out in less than 30 minutes (here’s hoping he makes a full recovery)
Sneak Peak: See Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, and Holt McCallany all pumped up in the first trailer of the wrestling family drama The Iron Claw, a biographical sports flick based on Kevin Von Erich’s life that hits theaters on December 22nd
Bump This: Colbie Caillat, the queen of low-key acoustic singalongs in the late aughts and early 2010s, is back with another surefire classic in her new single “Meant For Me” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: Pumpkins are the unofficial food of fall, and there’s no better way to lean into the season than with this recipe for creamy pumpkin soup that’s at once comforting, nourishing, and delicious
Nerd Out: Read up on how scientists in China have created some experimental sponges out of starch and gelatin that can reportedly soak up microplastics…and how these sponges could be adopted in various places to reduce plastic pollution from entering the oceans
Hot Goss: In new interviews that surfaced yesterday, Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that she has been separated from her husband, Will Smith, since 2016…and shed light on some of the reasons the two decided to part ways
Life Hack: Our bodies’ natural detoxification systems are running 24/7 to eliminate toxins, fight oxidative stress, and promote our overall well-being, but we can always use some extra help - here are five simple ways to help promote detoxification (and they’re all natural)

Tip-Offs

See America’s most popular destinations for filming horror movies.

…and see which colleges in the country have the most vulgar fans.

How Alaska Airlines plans to solve the issue of bad airplane coffee.

By frequency, the worst cities and states for package delivery theft.

Hear a classic Red Hot Chili Peppers album with Nintendo sounds.

Examining what might happen if a rogue nation dimmed the sun.

Vital tips on how to safely view Saturday’s upcoming solar eclipse.

The reasons why you might be feeling friendship anxiety right now.

Looking Back…

On October 12th: The New World is “discovered” when land is seen in the Caribbean from the ship the Pinta (1492); the first Oktoberfest is celebrated in Munich (1810); President Theodore Roosevelt officially changes the name of the presidential residence from the Executive Mansion to the White House (1901); actor and singer Hugh Jackman is born (1968).

In partnership with Purality Health