Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

November 16th, 2023

Good morning, and happy Friday! We are inching closer to living in George Jetson's world. The Samson Sky Switchblade, a street-legal, three-wheel car that folds out to become a small airplane, took its maiden flight at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, last week. The six-minute flight saw the vehicle reach an altitude of 500 feet before returning to the ground. Have a great weekend!

In Today’s Brief

Trump: Gag order temporarily lifted
Israel: Presents hospital tunnel proof
Disney: Frozen sequel(s) in production
Toyota: Camry goes hybrid-only in 2025

... and more

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Top Tips

Santos hammered in ethics report

New York Rep. George Santos said he will not seek reelection after the House Ethics Committee reported "substantial evidence" he is guilty of pending criminal charges and additional wrongdoing.

The findings: The committee said Santos knowingly violated financial disclosure and campaign finance reporting rules and profited off his candidacy, claiming personal campaign loans that did not exist. Santos allegedly used campaign funds for meals, travel, cosmetic procedures and luxury shopping, among other impermissible uses. The report also addressed Santos' repeated public lies and past legal issues.
Still defiant: Santos has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges and said he will not run in 2024 for family reasons. But he maintained his innocence, calling the allegations a "disgusting politicized smear."
Expulsion effort: The committee's report may reenergize efforts to expel Santos from office; legislators may feel the situation is no longer as politicized. Only 20 men have been removed from Congress, and 17 were Confederates kicked out during the Civil War. The last expulsion was Ohio Rep. James Traficant in 2002 after a federal conviction.

Turkey delays Sweden's NATO bid

Turkey's parliament postponed a commission vote to approve Sweden's application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The process: Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. New members need to be unanimously approved by the bloc's existing members.
Turkey's objection: President Tayyip Erdogan raised issues with the Nordic nations' requests, most notably how they handled Kurdish militants and a group Erdogan blames for a 2016 coup attempt. Erdogan eventually relented on Finland's bid and indicated he was open to Sweden's bid after the countries and other bloc members made accomodations. But it is still being determined when Turkish legislators will take up the matter again.
Also in play: Turkey's attempts to purchase fighter jets from the U.S. looms large. Hungary has also raised issues with Sweden's bid. Turkey has been very critical of Israel's actions in its war against Hamas, with Erdogan declining to condemn the militant group.

Michigan accepts Harbaugh suspension

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh will not coach his team’s next two games after the university dropped a legal challenge.

No hearing: The school and the Big Ten Conference reached an agreement before Friday’s scheduled temporary restraining order hearing. The league suspended Harbaugh for three games in response to alleged sign-stealing and prohibited in-person scouting directed by a former staff member. Harbaugh did not coach last week’s game against Penn State and will miss this week’s game against Maryland and the Ohio State game the following weekend.
Investigation ends: The Big Ten agreed to halt its investigation into Michigan’s alleged rules violations. It said it has no proof Harbaugh knew Connor Stalions, who resigned earlier this year, was breaking NCAA rules. The program remains under investigation by the national governing body.
Title hunt: Michigan is undefeated and No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Wolverines have captured the last two Big Ten titles and will be heavily favored to secure a third if they defeat the rival and No. 2-ranked Buckeyes, also unbeaten, in the regular season finale.

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U.S. News

A New York judge temporarily lifted former President Donald Trump’s gag order in his state civil fraud trial, citing constitution and statutory rights at issue; Trump has filed for a mistrial, alleging judicial prejudice has tainted the proceedings (More)
The Supreme Court maintained a lower court hold on a Florida law that places restrictions on drag performances, citing First Amendment concerns; conservative justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh formed a 6-3 majority with liberal justices (More)
A mistrial was declared in the civil rights trial of a former Louisville police officer charged in the fatal 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor; federal prosecutors face a decision on whether to retry Brett Hankison after the jury deadlocked (More)

World News

Israel published a photo and video of a tunnel it said Hamas used under Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital; U.S. officials continued to support the claims (More)
China President Xi Jinping suggested his country is open to loaning more pandas to U.S. zoos; only four remain at Zoo Atlanta after three left the National Zoo in Washington earlier this month (More)
France’s Louvre Museum is soliciting donations as it attempts to prevent the sale of a $26M painting to a Texas museum; the gallery must match the auction price before an export ban ends in February (More)

Entertainment & Sports

Disney CEO Bob Iger said Frozen 3 is in the works and intimated a fourth installment will also follow in the future; the first two animated films generated a combined $2.6B in global box office sales (More)
Major League Baseball owners approved the Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas; the team’s new stadium is not set to open until 2028 and it is not clear where it will play after its current Bay Area lease ends in 2024 (More)
Sean "Diddy" Combs was accused of rape in a lawsuit filed by a former partner; the music producer's attorney denied the claims (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed mixed yesterday with the Dow falling after a four-day win streak (Dow -0.13%, Nasdaq +0.07%, S&P 500 +0.12%)
Toyota announced it will only make the Camry as a hybrid vehicle with a gasoline engine and electric motors starting in 2025; the midsize sedan is the most-purchased car in America this year (More)
U.S. unemployment filings saw the biggest increase in three months last week; jobless claims are at their highest in two years as the labor market softens following flat inflation numbers earlier this week (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: A teenager was volunteering at her local food pantry when it struck her that while there were plenty of boxed and canned foods available to those in need, there were no vegetables; Lauren Schroeder then convinced her parents to let her use some of their farmland and she has grown over 7,000 pounds of produce to donate to the hungry
Pencil Pusher: We mean that in a good way, too – a teacher named Aaron Bartholmey was just certified by the Guinness Book of World Records for owning the globe’s largest pencil collection; Bartholmey, 36, has been collecting since he was in first grade and has almost 70,000 pencils
Go Green: There are just some things that are plentiful in everyday life, but incredibly difficult to recycle or reuse; that is why circular startups in Europe have begun innovating with ideas like using cigarette butts to line jackets and turning fungus into packaging
Think Piece: Natural wear and tear withstanding, money can theoretically last forever, but what if it didn’t? A German economist named Silvio Gesell made a fascinating suggestion over 100 years ago – the world would be a better place if money was only good for so long, like food or newspapers
Sneak Peek: John Goodman gets caught in the middle of a fight between two gigantic bugs and then throws a mysterious package into the sea in Apple TV’s new trailer for the first episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters; the series will deal with the origins of Godzilla and other titans
Be Safe: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recalled another wave of eye-drop products due to sanitary issues; the drops are sold at major pharmacies including CVS and can cause eye infections
Life Hack: The holidays could be a good time to put your phone down, stop scrolling X and turn off the TikToks; if you feel like you are ready for a period of digital detox, experts say there are some importants steps you can take to get the most out of your tech break

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Tip-Offs

Iceland is waiting for the volcano eruption with free pizza.

Silicon Valley’s Christmas stockings will be overflowing.

A $1B counterfeit luxury goods scam was busted in NYC.

Florida has been declared the infidelity capital of America.

… while Bumble says age will just be a number in 2024.

Time travel may not be everything it is cracked up to be.

See what show your state has been binging on Netflix.

A Los Angeles book club took 28 years to read a classic.

Looking Back …

On November 17th: The U.S. Congress held its first session in Washington after moving from Philadelphia (1800); President Richard Nixon says “I am not a crook” (1973); Arnold Schwarzenegger is inaugurated as California’s governor (2003); Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels is born (1944).

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