Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

October 31st, 2023

Good morning, and happy Tuesday! We hope you have your Halloween costume all picked out for a very frightful night tonight, full of fun and delicious treats. If not, check out who the stars dressed up as for Halloween this year in case you need any last minute inspiration. Let us know which spooktacular celebrity costume was your favorite and Happy Halloween!

In Today’s Brief

Israel: Continues ground offensive expansion
Ivanka Trump: Civil case testimony is delayed
FIFA: Hands down 3-year ban to Luis Rubiales
UAW: Reaches tentative agreement with GM

...and more

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Top Tips

Cornell boosts security

Cornell University has heightened security at its Jewish center on campus after antisemitic posts appeared online targeting its students.

The anonymous messages, posted over the weekend in an online forum about fraternities and sororities, came amid increased antisemitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric that has flowed on social media during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The posts reportedly used slurs to refer to Jewish people and threatened violence against Jewish students. Following the posts, law enforcement was notified, and campus police referred the case to the FBI as a potential hate crime. Cornell Hillel, a center for Jewish life on campus, issued a statement condemning the threats and urging students to be cautious.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began, reports of hate crimes against both Jews and Muslims have increased in the U.S. According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. rose 388% since the attacks in Israel compared to the same period last year.

Biden signs AI executive order

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on artificial intelligence yesterday, the U.S. government’s first action of its kind.

The order touches on matters of privacy, civil rights, consumer protections, scientific research and worker rights. Using the Defense Production Act, the order requires leading AI developers to share safety test results and other information with the government. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is to create standards to ensure AI tools are safe and secure before public release. Furthermore, the Commerce Department is to issue guidance to label and watermark AI-generated content to help differentiate between authentic interactions and those generated by software.

Governments around the world are working to establish protections regarding AI. After more than two years of deliberation, the EU is putting the final touches on a comprehensive set of regulations that targets the riskiest applications with the tightest restrictions. China, a key AI rival to the U.S., has also set some rules.

Halloween candy prices surging

For the second year in a row, U.S. shoppers are seeing double-digit inflation in the candy aisle after a global shortfall of sugar and cocoa.

A report from Datasembly released earlier this month shows the price of candy and gum has increased 12.8% over the past year, nearly twice the amount of other groceries, which rose 6.7%. Furthermore, the recent Consumer Price Index found candy and gum prices were up 7.5% year-over-year in September. According to the National Retail Federation's annual holiday survey, candy spending is now expected to reach $3.6B, up from $3.1B last year.

Some scientists are arguing that weather is the main culprit for the higher prices. Cocoa prices are trading at 44-year highs after heavy rains in West Africa caused limited production in the season. Meanwhile, global sugar prices are at 12-year highs, with India having recently banned sugar exports for the first time in seven years after monsoon rains hurt the upcoming harvest.

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into Gaza yesterday, advancing in tanks and other armored vehicles on the territory’s main city and freeing a soldier held captive by Hamas militants (More)
Venezuela's Supreme Court suspended the results of the presidential primaries held by the opposition coalition despite an agreement this month to hold free elections; María Corina Machado, last week clinched the primary election to represent the opposition coalition (More)
U.S. targets in Iraq and Syria have been attacked at least 24 times since October 17th, according to U.S. defense officials; at least five of the attacks have come since the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes on two Iranian-linked targets in Syria last week (More)

On the Homefront

The testimony of Ivanka Trump has been delayed in former President Trump's ongoing civil trial; she was scheduled to take the stand Friday, but will now appear November 8 instead in order to provide sufficient time for her to be questioned (More)
The U.S. Department of Education will penalize student debt servicer Mohela for its failure to send timely billing statements to 2.5M borrowers; as a result of Mohela’s errors, more than 800K borrowers were delinquent on their debt (More)
Shootings across the U.S. over the weekend before Halloween have left at least 11 people dead and more than 70 injured, according to authorities; the series of shootings unfolded as people mourn the 18 killed by a gunman last week in Lewiston, Maine (More)

Glitz & Games

In partnership with The Brothers Apothecary

FIFA banned former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales from the sport for three years, the latest punishment handed down after he forcibly kissed player Jenni Hermoso during the celebrations of Spain’s Women’s World Cup victory (More)
Lionsgate has secured a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement for its upcoming movie, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes; stars of the film are now allowed to promote the film before it premieres in theaters on November 17 (More)
Blumhouse’s ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ has tied Marvel's ‘Black Widow’ as the biggest opening weekend for a day-and-date streaming release; the film is also the third-biggest horror opening of all time, as well as the best showing ever for Halloween weekend (More)

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Business & Markets

Major indexes in the stock market closed higher yesterday, with the Dow leading the gains (Dow +1.58%, Nasdaq +1.16%, S&P 500 +1.20%)
The United Auto Workers union reached a tentative contract with General Motors, the last of the Detroit Three automakers to agree to a deal; all three deals now have to be voted on by the 146K union members who work at the Detroit companies (More)
Employees at CVS and Walgreens’ U.S. pharmacies launched a three-day walkout starting yesterday to push the companies to improve working conditions and add more staff to their stores (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: A 7-year-old girl proved that bravery knows no age limits when she saved her younger sister after their grandfather’s truck she was in was carjacked on the way home from picking them up from a Nashville daycare center last week
Sneak Peek: Netflix dropped the official trailer for the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, which teases some of the film's much-talked-about performances from Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan as well as several odes to Hollywood’s Golden Age
Bump This: YouTuber-turned-singer Poppy released her new single “Zig,” blending industrial rock riffs with catchy indie-pop at its finest - listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube
Flip Through: Willie Nelson released his long-awaited memoir Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs today, and we can’t wait to dive into the country music icon’s reflection on seven decades of prolific songwriting
Chow Down: Milk thistle has strong antioxidant effects and may help promote liver cell regeneration - for a creative way to introduce milk thistle into your diet, try out this recipe for a liver detox latte that’s a warm, nourishing, and zero-caffeine drink that you can enjoy any time of day
Nerd Out: Read up on how the first-ever mouse embryos have been grown in space without any issues as part of a recent experiment on the International Space Station, which proves (so far) that embryos can grow in microgravity environments without harmful effects…and raising some interesting questions about the future of reproduction in space
Life Hack: Saunas continue to grow in popularity all around the world - if you haven’t tried it yet, here are the top seven health benefits of saunas as well as some beginner’s tips such as the ideal time to spend doing it, the optimal temperature, and more

Tip-Offs

Since 2017, the U.S. cities with the highest population growth.

A Friends compilation of some of Matthew Perry’s wittiest lines.

…and a video explanation of the significance of zoning codes.

Mental health experts weigh in on coping with intrusive thoughts.

Examining whether humans can be eaten by carnivorous plants.

…meanwhile, see photos of our country’s 10 wildest wildflowers.

Learn about the old Japanese art of log rafting, or ikada-kudari.

See images of some of the most creepy-looking skulls in space.

Looking Back…

On October 31st: Benito Mussolini becomes prime minister of Italy (1921); the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota is completed after 15 years of work (1941); U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson orders an end to American bombing in North Vietnam (1968); director Peter Jackson is born (1961).

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