Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

October 13th, 2023

Good morning, and happy Friday! It’s already time to start planning those winter holiday getaways with those you love. If you are planning on flying anywhere this winter, take a look at USA Today’s nominations for the best airlines of 2023, including categories such as best inflight entertainment and best cabin crew. We hope the list can help you with your own travel plans this year and let us know if you agree with their choices!

In Today’s Brief

France: Bans all pro-Palestinian demonstrations
Steve Scalise: Drops out of House speaker race
SAG-AFTRA: Negotiations stall amid actors strike
Qualcomm: Plans layoffs for over 1.2K workers

...and more

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Top Tips

U.S. and Qatar block Iran funds

The U.S. and Qatari governments have agreed to block Iran from accessing any of the $6B it gained access to as part of a prisoner swap deal between the U.S. and Iran.

The Biden administration has faced pressure to block Iran’s access to the money as U.S. officials continue to investigate whether Iran had any direct involvement in Hamas' attack on Israel. According to administration officials, there is no direct evidence of Iran having a direct link to the attack. As part of the deal, Iran could only use the money for humanitarian trade transactions, and the approval of those transactions would be heavily scrutinized by the U.S.

The funds were moved to Qatari accounts as part of a broad deal to secure the release of five Americans who had been wrongfully detained in Iran. According to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, none of the funds have “been spent or accessed in any way by Iran.”

Sen. Menendez indicted as 'foreign agent'

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey was charged yesterday with conspiring for years to act as an agent of the Egyptian government.

The superseding indictment accuses Menendez of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register with the U.S. government if they act as “an agent of a foreign principal.” As a member of Congress, Menendez was prohibited from being an agent of a foreign government. The indictment alleges that he “provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.” Menendez has denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors also charged Menendez's wife and Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana.

The charge comes as more than 30 Senate representatives have called on him to resign. Menendez and his wife, Nadine, last month pleaded not guilty to corruption charges alleging that they accepted bribes from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator’s help and influence over foreign affairs.

NASA’s first asteroid samples

NASA's first-ever asteroid samples, which were delivered last month to a desert in Utah, were shown off at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston this week.

The 4.5-billion-year-old samples of black dust and rubble, which traveled 60M miles from the asteroid Bennu, showed evidence of water and high carbon content, according to researchers. The findings were made through a preliminary analysis involving scanning the sample with electron microscopy, X-ray computed tomography, and more. Scientists believe the preliminary results point to a likelihood of further discoveries that could support the hypothesis that early Earth was seeded with the ingredients for life by celestial objects such as comets, asteroids, and meteorites.

The early findings are the outcome of the seven-year roundtrip that the Osiris-REx spacecraft made to the surface of Bennu before returning to Earth. The primary goal of the mission and subsequent study of the sample is to help learn how the solar system, and Earth in particular, was formed.

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Around the Globe

Australians will go to the polls on Saturday to decide on a referendum that will determine if Indigenous people are recognized in the country’s constitution through a new parliamentary advisory board (More)
The Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended for incorporating regional sports organizations from four territories annexed from Ukraine, according to the International Olympic Committee (More)
France’s interior minister ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations yesterday; despite the ban, a 3K crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested in Paris yesterday, with the police arresting 10 people (More)

On the Homefront

Jurors convicted a Denver-area police officer of homicide yesterday and acquitted another of all charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, who was put in a neck hold, pinned to the ground, and given an overdose of the sedative ketamine by paramedics (More)
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has dropped out of the House speaker race after being unable to gather enough votes to secure the role on the House floor; Scalise was nominated for the role on Wednesday over a week after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted (More)
A former IRS contractor pleaded guilty to one count of disclosure of tax return and return information; Charles Littlejohn admitted that he stole tax records belonging to Donald Trump and other wealthy people in 2019 and 2020 before he leaked them to the media (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with Flaviar

Negotiations between Hollywood Studios and the actors Union were suspended yesterday, according to announcements from both parties, with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers saying that the gap between it and SAG-AFTRA "is too great" (More)
Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the Isley Brothers, has died at age 84; he left the group in 1989 and was among the Isleys inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 (More)
Wild-card team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, completed its postseason sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 4-2 victory at Chase Field; during the game, the Diamondbacks became the first MLB team in postseason history to hit four home runs in one inning (More)

From our partners: Discover Fine Drinks from Craft to Big Brands – Founded in 2012, Flaviar is the world’s largest premium spirits club, with operations in the U.S. and Europe. If you enjoy the finer things and want to refine your palate, Flaviar offers a better way to experience the finest spirits from around the world.

Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market closed lower yesterday, with the Nasdaq leading the losses (Dow -0.51%, Nasdaq -0.63%, S&P 500 -0.62%)
Microchip manufacturer Qualcomm will be laying off 1,258 workers in California in December; the layoff news comes about a month after the company announced a deal with Apple to provide 5G chips through at least 2026 (More)
The EU has sent a formal request to X, formerly known as Twitter, to obtain information related to the spread of unlawful content and disinformation on the service amid the Israel-Hamas conflict (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: A South Carolina family removed a decorative coffin from Halloween lawn decorations after their neighbor was diagnosed with lung cancer, and all the neighbors followed suit - these heartwarming interactions were all captured on doorbell cameras in yet another real-life example of how kindness and compassion both go a long way
Sneak Peak: See Eddie Murphy and Trace Ellis Ross in the official trailer for Candy Cane Lane, an upcoming holiday film about a man who makes a deal with an elf to clinch the town’s Christmas decoration contest…but he doesn't realize that means terrorizing the whole town with a spell
Bump This: Linkin Park and Fort Minor rapper Mike Shinoda proves that he still delivers lines with one of the best flows in the game in his new single “Already Over” - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Chow Down: If you want to host a Thanksgiving meal next month but want to cook your turkey quickly while still locking in crispy skin and juicy meat, try out this recipe for spatchcock turkey that tastes way more delicious than the name makes it sound
Go Deep: We all experience different types of love uniquely, and scientists have mapped where we feel 27 distinct types of love within our bodies - read up on their study and how their findings show that it’s as much about our head as our hearts
Belly Laugh: A 3-year-old girl in North Carolina went viral this week for a hilarious video in which she asked her nanny to read aloud the instruction manual for the family’s iced coffee machine as a bedtime story (you have to see this video for yourself)
Life Hack: Some of us may be familiar with the phrase, “If you don't stop moving, you'll never stop moving” in regards to the importance of staying active as we age - see which two types of exercises will help you stay cognitively sharp well into your 80s and beyond (you can never start too early)

Tip-Offs

See how Europe compares to the U.S. in terms of cost of living.

…and the U.S. cities and states most obsessed with astrology.

Learn about the pretty Vermont town that banned influencers.

A chart of the bachelor’s degrees with the most student debt.

Weirdly mesmerizing drone footage of a real-life sheep herd.

Five family-friendly ideas for Halloween pumpkin decorations.

Dive into the events of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie premiere.

…and look at 50 years of hip-hop songs that changed the world.

Looking Back…

On October 13th: The Boston Americans (later called the Boston Red Sox) defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates to clinch the first modern World Series (1903); Italy declares war on Nazi Germany (1943); the film All About Eve premieres in both Paris and New York City (1950); swimmer Ian Thorpe is born (1982).

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