This week in the news | 11 Nov 23

News from the past week, and a few other things.

Nov 11, 2023

👋 Hello Reader,

Today, November 11^th, is Veteran’s Day, a day in which we honor military veterans. Originally called Armistice Day, it marked the end of World War I and honored those who died. Then, in 1954, it was renamed Veterans Day to honor all those who serve(d), not just those who died. Memorial Day, on the other hand, honors those who have died while in military service, and Armed Forces Day honors those currently serving in the military.

In the in the British Commonwealth, Veteran’s Day is still known as Armistice Day, and people wear a red poppy in their shirt as a national symbol for remembrance. You can read the full history of how that came to be here, but it goes back to this moving poem by John McCrae:

THE QUICK SHOT 🚀

A lock icon (🔒) indicates articles behind a paywall, and a chart icon (📊) indicates an informative chart/graphic in “Slow Brew.”

Middle East

- The Current Situation -

Mapping the conflict in Israel and Gaza (Reuters)
Israel Agrees To 4-Hour Daily Pauses In Fighting (Forbes🔒)
Israel Says 80,000 People Left Northern Gaza Thursday (WSJ🔒) 📊
The threat of Hizbullah can be seen from space (Economist🔒) 📊
What is Gaza’s Ministry of Health and how does it calculate the war’s death toll? (AP)
The Tunnels of Gaza (NYT🔒)
What we know about Hamas’ 300-mile tunnel system below Gaza (New York Post)
Israel eliminates 130 Hamas tunnels in Gaza as airstrike kills weapons maker (New York Post)
Analysis: How would Israel find, map, take and keep Gaza’s tunnels? (Al Jazeera)

- Looking Forward -

- Regional Impact -

- US Impact & Role -

- Elsewhere in the Middle East -

Pro-Palestinian crowds try to storm air base housing U.S. troops in Turkey (Reuters)
Number of troops injured in Middle East drone attacks now at 46 (Military Times)
USAF Airstrike Hits Iranian-Backed Facility in Syria; MQ-9 Shot Down (Air and Space Forces)
US carries out new strikes against facility used by Iran in Syria (Reuters)

Asia-Pacific

China, Australia agree to turn the page as tensions ease (Reuters)
Foreign Firms Pull Billions in Earnings Out of China (WSJ🔒) 📊
Tracking China’s Control of Overseas Ports (CFR) 📊
China Unleashes Crackdown on ‘Pig Butchering.’ (It Isn’t What You Think.) (WSJ🔒)
Russia says it successfully test fired an ICBM from its new nuclear submarine (The Hill)
Delhi pollution: No school, no play for city's children (BBC) 📊

Space

Ken Mattingly, Apollo and Space Shuttle Astronaut, Dies at 87 (Air and Space Forces)
Star-filled Euclid images spur mission to probe 'dark universe' (Reuters)

Government

Defense

Your New Co-Worker Is a Total Drill Sergeant. Literally. (WSJ🔒)

Economy

Forget the S&P 500. Pay attention to the S&P 493 (Economist🔒) 📊
The New Headache for Bosses: Employees Aren't Quitting (WSJ🔒) 📊
Millions of Retired Americans Aren't Coming Back to Work as Predicted (Bloomberg🔒) 📊

Business

Big Banks Cook Up New Way to Unload Risk (WSJ🔒) 📊

Auto

The Electric-Car Era Needs a Lot of Really Big Trees (WSJ🔒)
Tesla Is Reportedly Planning To Build A Sub-$27,000 Car At Its Berlin Factory (Forbes🔒)
EV Makers Turn to Discounts to Combat Waning Demand (WSJ🔒) 📊

Real Estate

WeWork Goes Bankrupt, Signs Pact With Creditors to Cut Debt (Bloomberg🔒)
Freddie Mac Mortgage rates (Freddie Mac) 📊

Personal Finance

Mint, One of the First Budgeting Apps, Is Shutting Down (NYT🔒)

Technology

Look, Up in the Sky! It’s a Can of Soup! (NYT🔒)
Room-Temperature Superconductor Discovery Is Retracted (NYT🔒)

Cyber

For sale: Data on US servicemembers — and lots of it (Politico)
Big Tech to face tougher rules on targeted political ads in EU (Reuters)
How a Bunch of Lava Lamps Protect Us From Hackers (Wired)

Artificial Intelligence

Elon Musk's AI project is launching. He says it's the 'best that currently exists'. (Mashable)
Chatbots May ‘Hallucinate’ More Often Than Many Realize (NYT🔒)
Can AI Rescue Recycling? (WSJ🔒)

Health

Amazon Prime’s New $9 Primary Care Subscription Undercuts Amazon’s Other Health Services (Forbes🔒)
Eli Lilly Wins FDA Nod for Obesity Drug That Rivals Wegovy, Ozempic (Bloomberg🔒) 📊
Surgeons have performed the world’s first eye transplant (AP)
An Opioid-Like Drink Is Masquerading As a Wholesome Alcohol Alternative (Bloomberg🔒)

Food & Drink

Travel

Your Next Airbnb Host Could Be a Private-Equity Firm (WSJ🔒)

Entertainment

Hollywood actors reach tentative deal with studios to end strike (Reuters)

For Fun

Share Curated Compositions

THE SLOW BREW ☕

A more relaxed approach to news summaries.

WORLD

Statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on United States’ Suspension of the CFE Treaty Alongside NATO Allies (White House)

Today, the Russian Federation withdrew from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). The combination of Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE Treaty and its continuing full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine – another CFE State Party – has fundamentally altered circumstances that were essential to the CFE States Parties’ consent to be bound by the treaty, and radically transformed the obligations under the treaty. In light of this fundamental change of circumstances, the United States will suspend the operation of all CFE Treaty obligations between itself and every other State Party, effective December 7, consistent with our rights under international law.

Latin America

The Country That Is Helping Tens of Thousands of Migrants Head to the U.S. (WSJ🔒)

President Daniel Ortega has opened Nicaragua to flights carrying tens of thousands of migrants from Haiti, Cuba and Africa in recent months, swelling the ranks of people using the Central American country as a landing point on their journey north to the U.S. Ortega’s authoritarian government has allowed several little-known charter airlines and travel agencies to operate flights from Haiti and other Caribbean airports to Nicaragua, according to Haitian and Nicaraguan civil aviation data. Many of the asylum seekers are from Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, and have arrived in Managua, Nicaragua’s capital. Migrants from African nations, such as Senegal and Cameroon, and from former Soviet republics are also making multiple airport stopovers in what are coming to be known as “donkey flights” to reach Managua. The new air bridge provides a direct migrant route for Haitians fleeing their country’s political meltdown. In the past, most Haitian migrants attempting to enter the U.S. came from South American countries like Chile and Brazil where they had previously resided. The latest arrivals join more than 400,000 Cubans who have flown to Managua from Havana in the past two years since Nicaragua dropped visa requirements in 2021.

It Can Now Cost $4 Million to Skip the Queue at the Panama Canal (Bloomberg🔒)

A shipper has paid nearly $4 million to jump to the front of the line at the congested Panama Canal waterway, a record high. The Panama Canal Authority confirmed a new record was set in the Nov. 8 auction but didn’t name the auction winner. The vessel will carry liquefied petroleum gas northbound on Nov. 15, the canal’s managing authority said. A queue of ships waiting to use the canal has been growing in recent months amid a deep drought. To manage the situation, the canal’s authority has announced increasingly drastic restrictions for the depleted thoroughfare. It also lets companies bid on the chance to speed things up. Last month, the Panama Canal Authority held 140 auctions, it said. Three of those came in above $1 million.

‘Extraterrestrials’ return to Mexico’s congress as journalist presses case for ‘non-human beings’ (AP News)

The lower chamber of Mexico’s congress once again turned to spectacle Tuesday, devoting hours of its time to a controversial character who pressed the case for “non-human beings” he said were found in Peru. Less than three weeks after Category 5 Hurricane Otis devastated Acapulco, a port of nearly 1 million people, the Chamber of Deputies spent more than three hours listening to journalist José Jaime Maussan and his group of Peruvian doctors. Maussan and some Mexican lawmakers became the subject of international ridicule in September when he presented two boxes with supposed mummies found in Peru. He along with others claimed they were “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.” In 2017, Maussan made similar claims in Peru, and a report by that country’s prosecutor’s office found the bodies were actually “recently manufactured dolls, which have been covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue to simulate the presence of skin.”

In Uruguay, a Tax Haven With Lots of Beaches and Little Crime (Bloomberg🔒)

At the Atlantic resort of Punta del Este in Uruguay, signs of an influx of wealthy residents are everywhere. The yacht club is now busy year-round, enrollment in private schools has swelled, and Italian developer Cipriani is breaking ground on what it says will be the “largest luxury complex in South America.” Wedged between Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay has long attracted wealthy visitors from both countries, especially during the summer months of December through February. But in recent years, more rich foreigners, including Americans and Europeans, have been putting down stakes.

Europe

Biden Administration Announces New Security Assistance for Ukraine (Department of Defense)

[Friday, 3 Nov], the Department of Defense (DoD) announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs. This includes the drawdown of security assistance from DoD inventories valued at up to $125 million to meet Ukraine's immediate battlefield needs, as well as $300 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds to strengthen Ukraine's air defenses over the long term. This announcement includes the Biden Administration's fiftieth tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021, including additional air defense capabilities, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russia's ongoing war of aggression.

White House says money for Ukraine military aid is running out with Congress divided on whether to provide more (CNN)

The White House made clear Friday that the amount of money the US has available for Ukraine military aid is quickly running out as House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Senate remain at odds over the Biden administration’s multi-billion dollar request for more funding. A $425 million security package announced on Friday pushed the US to the limit on the money available to Kiev. Last month, President Joe Biden requested more than $100 billion for national security, including $61.4 billion for Ukraine and $14.3 billion for Israel, urging Congress to pass the supplemental bill as a “comprehensive, bipartisan agreement.” The administration’s request includes $61.4 billion in aid for Ukraine and $14.3 billion in aid for Israel, $9.15 billion in funding for humanitarian aid, $7.4 billion in funding for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region and $13.6 billion to address security at the US-Mexico border. But the newly elected GOP speaker has yet to outline his plan for Ukraine funding after decoupling the request from Israel aid, which the House passed Thursday. The most recent package included $125 million from a presidential drawdown, which is equipment and weaponry pulled directly from Defense Department stocks and quickly shipped to Ukraine. But it is one of the smallest drawdown packages given to Ukraine since the start of the war more than 18 months ago, as the White House acknowledged it needed to stretch what little funding it had left. The package also included $300 million under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which exhausted the funding for that authority. Under USAI, the government contracts with industry to provide equipment to Ukraine, intending it as a longer-term transfer of supplies to Kyiv.

How Much Aid Has the U.S. Sent Ukraine? Here Are Six Charts. (CFR) 📊

Since the war began, the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress have directed more than $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine, which includes humanitarian, financial, and military support, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research institute. (This figure does not include all war-related U.S. spending, such as aid to allies.) The historic sums are helping a broad set of Ukrainian people and institutions, including refugees, law enforcement, and independent radio broadcasters, though most of the aid has been military-related. Dozens of other countries, including most members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union, are also providing large aid packages to Ukraine.

NOTE: This article was from Sep 21, 2023, so the information is a little dated.

Is Ukraine’s counter-offensive over? (Economist🔒) 📊

THE UKRAINE WAR is at a stalemate. General Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, acknowledged so himself in a recent interview with The Economist. The long-awaited counter-offensive, which began in earnest on June 4th, has fizzled, with few territorial gains or losses on either side. Below are two charts and a map that help explain the latest developments. Our first chart is from The Economist’s war tracker, which uses satellite data to monitor war-related activity. We track fires detected by FIRMS, a system originally set up by NASA to detect wildfires. Our machine-learning model then estimates which of these are caused by the conflict (from explosives, say). The system can be hindered by a range of factors, including weather conditions and incorrect labelling by our model. But over a long period it can systematically trace patterns in the fighting. Our second chart shows how much territory has changed hands. Using regularly updated maps from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think-tank, we can calculate how much of Ukraine has been taken or lost by Russia since the start of the war in 2022. ISW’s maps use open sources, such as footage and satellite imagery to assess areas of control. The data show the massive gains by Russia in the early days of fighting, followed by significant losses as Ukraine mounted its impressive defence. During Ukraine’s counter-offensive last autumn Russia lost 13% of the land it occupied. By comparison, the counter-offensive this year has led to almost no lasting gains by Ukraine since June 4th.

Zelensky says it’s ‘not the right time for elections’ in Ukraine (The Hill)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Monday address that it is “not the right time for elections” in Ukraine as the end of his five-year term approaches. Zelensky argued in his Monday video address that Ukraine should not have to deal with elections as it continues to attempt to fend off Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He previously had not ruled out Ukraine holding a presidential contest next year, though elections are currently suspended in the country under martial law. Presidential elections in Ukraine are scheduled to take place every five years, with the next one slated for next March. Zelensky was sworn into office in May 2019, meaning that his five-year term is set to expire in a few months.

Grenade in birthday gift kills aide to Ukraine’s top commander (WP🔒)

A top aide to the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces was killed Monday when a birthday gift exploded, the military leader announced. In a message published on Telegram, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said that his assistant, Maj. Hennadii Chastiakov, was killed under “tragic circumstances” while celebrating his birthday with relatives when “an unknown explosive device went off in one of the gifts.” His 13-year-old son was also seriously injured, the National Police of Ukraine said. Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram on Monday that the initial investigation showed that Chastiakov “returned home from work with gifts from colleagues, which he started showing to his family.” “He took out a gift box with grenades inside and began demonstrating one of the munitions to his son,” he said. His son began twisting one of the grenade rings. Chastiakov reportedly took the munition back and pulled the ring himself, Klymenko wrote. The outlet reported that the gift was said to include bottles of liquor and glasses shaped like grenades and that the deadly explosion occurred as Chastiakov tried to open it. Photos accompanying the post show debris surrounding gift bags lined up on the floor next to a couch.

New measures to curb migration to Germany agreed by Chancellor Scholz and state governors (AP)

New, stricter measures to curb the high number of migrants coming to Germany were agreed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the 16 state governors in the early hours of Tuesday, reaching a compromise on an issue that has become a huge political problem for the government and a hot-button topic in society. The new measures include speeding up asylum procedures, benefit restrictions for asylum seekers and more financial aid from the federal government for the states and local communities dealing with the influx. Speaking early Tuesday after an overnight meeting that lasted several hours, Scholz called the agreement “a historical moment” — a remark that showed how much of a burden the topic had become for the government.

Portuguese PM quits over lithium, hydrogen corruption probe (Reuters)

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned on Tuesday, hours after prosecutors detained his chief of staff in an investigation into alleged corruption in his administration's handling of lithium mining and hydrogen projects. Costa, who prosecutors said was the target of a related investigation, announced the decision in a televised statement after meeting President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. He said his conscience was clear, but he would not stand as candidate for a fourth time as premier.

Middle East

NOTE: There’s a lot that goes on each day in Gaza, and reporting is difficult to parse through to determine what is accurate. So, I’m sure I haven’t captured all that you might see across the numerous media outlets—I’m really trying to just provide items that seem factual. I’ve also tried to group the articles around some themes.

Middle East - Israel & Hamas – The Current Situation

Mapping the conflict in Israel and Gaza (Reuters)

Israel’s armed forces have encircled Gaza City — the largest city in the Gaza Strip — in their assault on Hamas, the military said. The city in the north of the Gaza Strip has become the focus of the military campaign by Israel, which has vowed to annihilate the Palestinian Islamist militant group’s command structure.

Israel Agrees To 4-Hour Daily Pauses In Fighting (Forbes🔒)

The White House announced on Thursday that Israel has agreed to implement daily four-hour pauses in fighting in Gaza to allow civilians to leave the area, according to multiple reports. In addition to the pauses, Kirby said Israel agreed to open a second channel for civilians to leave northern Gaza along a coastal road, according to the Washington Post, joining the other way out along the area’s north-south highway.

Israel Says 80,000 People Left Northern Gaza Thursday (WSJ🔒) 📊

Israeli troops advanced toward the heart of Gaza City, while Israeli officials said 80,000 residents traveled south Thursday, the largest movement so far in the five days since the humanitarian corridor was opened. The military said it was closing in on the “heart of intelligence and operational activities” of militant group Hamas in an area of Gaza City near Al-Shifa hospital. The zone, the military said, was home to a war room for directing fighting, a large training ground and munitions factories used to make rockets, antitank missiles, drones and other explosives. Kindergartens and mosques were nearby, the military said. The U.S. and other allies have pressed Israel to allow more humanitarian aid and safe passage for trapped civilians. White House spokesmen said Thursday that Israel had agreed to daily four-hour pauses in its bombardment of northern Gaza. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the plan for humanitarian pauses but said the fighting would continue in other areas at those times. Both the U.S. and Israel have rejected calls for a cease-fire, which could mean either a negotiated end to the fighting or a prolonged, unilateral cessation of combat.

The threat of Hizbullah can be seen from space (Economist🔒) 📊

OVER THE past month there has been a very real threat that, besides Israel’s fierce fighting with Hamas in Gaza, tension on its northern border might escalate into a second front. Dozens of Israeli villages and towns were evacuated near the border with Lebanon where Hizbullah, a powerful militia-cum-political-party and sworn enemy of Israel, operates. On October 27th America’s State Department advised its citizens in Lebanon—some 86,000 people—to leave immediately. But Hizbullah’s rhetoric over recent days has signalled restraint. In a speech on November 3rd Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbullah, appeared to show that he wanted to avoid engaging in an all-out war. Our satellite data show whether this rhetoric matches the reality on the ground (see map).

What is Gaza’s Ministry of Health and how does it calculate the war’s death toll? (AP)

How many Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war between Israel and Hamas started? With Israel besieging and bombing territory at a scale never seen before, arriving at a precise answer isn’t easy. Cell service is spotty. Internet and power are out. Airstrikes have pulverized roads and leveled neighborhoods, slowing rescue work. Doctors scribble on notepads in overflowing morgues and hospital halls, struggling to account for bodies trapped under rubble and tossed in hastily dug mass graves. The chaos has added to the likelihood of errors. Yet the Gaza-based Ministry of Health — an agency in the Hamas-controlled government — continues to tally casualty numbers.

The Tunnels of Gaza (NYT🔒)

The Gaza Strip has all the harrowing pitfalls soldiers have learned to expect from urban warfare: high-rise ambushes, truncated lines of sight and, everywhere, vulnerable civilians with nowhere to hide. But as Israeli ground forces inch their way forward in Gaza, the bigger danger may prove to be underfoot. The Hamas militants who launched a bloody attack on Israel last month have built a maze of hidden tunnels some believe extend across most if not all of Gaza, the territory they control. And they are not mere tunnels. Snaking beneath dense residential areas, the passageways allow fighters to move around free from the eye of the enemy. There are also bunkers for stockpiling weapons, food and water, and even command centers and tunnels wide enough for vehicles, researchers believe.

What we know about Hamas’ 300-mile tunnel system below Gaza (New York Post)

As Israel continues its advancements in northern Gaza, its Defense Forces have vowed to destroy Hamas’ 300-mile tunnel system — the key transport route for the terrorist group. Known as the Gaza Metro, the tunnel system lies beneath the Palestinian enclave with myriad entrances and exits in schools, hospitals, mosques and civilian homes. Several gateways are even believed to be in al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s main medical center that is also serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, a claim Hamas has denied. The tunnels are an extensive blind spot for Israel, where Hamas fighters can engage in guerrilla warfare and avoid Israeli airstrikes in shafts that go as deep as 130 feet. The tunnels are also the ideal route to transport weapons and hostages.

Israel eliminates 130 Hamas tunnels in Gaza as airstrike kills weapons maker (New York Post)

The Israeli military on Wednesday said it destroyed an infamous Hamas tunnel network that spans hundreds of miles below the Gaza Strip — as air strikes reportedly took out a key weapon maker for the terror organization. More than 130 tunnel shafts underneath Gaza were blown up by combat engineers who are “destroying the enemy’s weapons and are locating, exposing and detonating tunnel shafts,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Analysis: How would Israel find, map, take and keep Gaza’s tunnels? (Al Jazeera)

To enter the tunnels, Israeli forces will have to resort to military practices decades old and long forgotten to get around the challenges of fighting underground.

Middle East - Israel & Hamas – Looking Forward

Netanyahu Says Israel Will Control Gaza Security Indefinitely (WSJ🔒)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would seek to assume overall responsibility for security in Gaza, in an early indication that Israel plans to occupy the strip after the war, raising more questions about its exit strategy.

Blinken urges united future Palestinian government for Gaza and West Bank, widening gulf with Israel (AP News)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Wednesday for a united and Palestinian-led government for Gaza and the West Bank after the war ends, as a step toward Palestinian statehood. That vision sharpens U.S. differences with ally Israel on what the future should look like for the Palestinian territories once Israel’s military campaign against Hamas winds down. Blinken’s outline of what Americans think should come next for Gaza also serves as a check on the postwar scenarios floated by officials of Israel’s hard-right government and its supporters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement Monday that Israel’s military would likely maintain security control of Gaza for an “indefinite period” appears to have heightened U.S. concerns. Any postwar governing plan for Gaza “must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority,” Blinken told reporters in Japan.

Israel open to 'little pauses' in Gaza fighting, Netanyahu says (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel would consider "tactical little pauses" in Gaza fighting to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid or allow the exit of hostages held by Hamas militants. But the Israeli leader reiterated his country's rejection of a ceasefire without the release of all people being held captive in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave. Netanyahu made the comments in a U.S. television interview during which he was asked who should govern Gaza after fighting is over.

Middle East - Israel & Hamas –Regional Impact

What the War in Gaza Means for Saudi Arabia (Foreign Affairs)

Hamas is going to be able to claim very few victories in its war with Israel, but one that it has already notched is an abrupt halt in the momentum toward a U.S.-brokered deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli-Saudi agreement would have broken historic ground, normalizing relations between the two countries, bringing Saudi Arabia more firmly into the U.S. security fold, and eliciting Israeli commitments on the Palestinian issue. In fact, fears of an Israeli-Saudi rapprochement may have been one of the key drivers of Hamas’s October 7 attack. The war leaves Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, in a difficult position, at least in the short term. He craves regional stability, which would make it easier for him to pursue his goal of diversifying Saudi Arabia’s economy and reducing its reliance on oil exports. The horrific violence and threat of a wider escalation threaten his progress on this front. MBS is now also facing competing pressures at home and abroad, with U.S. and European leaders calling for Saudi Arabia to take a leading role in a post-Hamas Gaza and with regional and domestic groups urging Riyadh to more actively support the Palestinians in their hour of need.

Saudi Arabia says will host Arab and Islamic summits to discuss Gaza conflict (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia will host summits of Arab and Islamic nations in coming days to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Saudi Arabia's investment minister said on Wednesday. "We will see, this week, in the next few days Saudi Arabia convening an emergency Arab summit in Riyadh," said Saudi investment minister Khalid Al-Falih, at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore. "In a few days you will see Saudi Arabia convening an Islamic summit," he said.

How Lebanon’s Hezbollah group became a critical player in the Israel-Hamas war (AP)

When the Lebanese militia Hezbollah announced last week that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, would deliver his first public speech since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, much of the region held its breath. Would Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the Arab world’s most powerful paramilitary force, continue its limited exchanges of fire with Israel or throw itself wholeheartedly into the war? In Lebanon, streets emptied as people sat glued to their screens to watch, ready to parse his words along with decision-makers in Israel and across the Mideast. Hezbollah has traded fire with Israeli troops along the border since the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel sparked war in the Gaza Strip. Both sides have suffered casualties, but the fear is that the conflict will escalate and spiral into a regional fight. Nasrallah nodded to those concerns in his speech Friday. “Some say I’m going to announce that we have entered the battle,” he said. “We already entered the battle on Oct. 8.”

Middle East - Israel & Hamas – US Impact & Role

In rare announcement, US says guided missile sub has arrived in Middle East, a message of deterrence to adversaries (CNN)

In a rare announcement, the US military said a guided missile submarine has arrived in the Middle East, a message of deterrence clearly directed at regional adversaries as the Biden administration tries to avoid a broader conflict amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Blinken and Abbas discussed efforts to restore calm in the West Bank, the State Department says. (NYT🔒)

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made an unannounced visit on Sunday to the Israeli-occupied West Bank to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, and other Palestinian leaders. The top American diplomat’s visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah followed talks with Israeli and Arab leaders in Tel Aviv and Amman, Jordan, that have focused on preventing Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip from spreading, and on convincing the Israeli government to do more to limit civilian casualties in the enclave.

Blinken Assures Palestinians of Aid Amid Israel-Hamas War (WSJ🔒)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken worked to assure Palestinian leaders that the U.S. is committed to helping Palestinian civilians, as the death toll of children from the conflict passed 4,000, according to local health authorities. Blinken is pushing for what he calls a humanitarian pause in the Israeli operation in Gaza, to allow aid trucks to enter the besieged enclave. Israel has rejected any pause unless more than 200 hostages held by Hamas since its Oct. seven attack on Israel are freed. Israel has allowed a small amount of food, water and medical supplies to enter Gaza. Blinken on Sunday in the West Bank reiterated Washington’s position that Israel maintains the right to defend itself against militant attacks. Abbas called for an immediate cease-fire in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which it launched in response to the Hamas attack last month that Israeli authorities say killed at least 1,400 people.

Thousands Descend On Washington For Gaza Cease-Fire Rally (Photos) (Forbes🔒)

Thousands of demonstrators converged in Washington, D.C., on Saturday for a rally demanding a cease-fire in the war-torn Gaza Strip, which has faced a humanitarian crisis amid strikes from Israeli forces following Hamas’ attack on Israel last month.

Elsewhere in the Middle East

Pro-Palestinian crowds try to storm air base housing U.S. troops in Turkey (Reuters)

Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon as hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday tried to storm an air base that houses U.S. troops, hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in Ankara for talks on Gaza.

Number of troops injured in Middle East drone attacks now at 46 (Military Times)

Dozens of American troops sustained injuries following drone attacks on bases in Iraq and Syria on Oct. 17 and 18, a Pentagon spokesperson told reporters Monday. The total number of injuries is now 46, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said, more than double the 21 the Pentagon initially reported on Oct. 25.

USAF Airstrike Hits Iranian-Backed Facility in Syria; MQ-9 Shot Down (Air and Space Forces)

Two U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles conducted an airstrike in eastern Syria in response to escalating attacks against U.S. forces by Iranian-backed groups, the Defense Department said Nov. 8. The target was a weapons storage facility used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups, the Pentagon said. The location housed “weapons that we believe are likely used in many of the strikes that have taken place against our forces,” a senior military official told reporters Nov. 8. The strike was ordered by President Joe Biden and follows at least 40 attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militias since Oct. 17. The most recent U.S. airstrike occurred the same day a U.S. military drone was shot down by the Iranian-backed Houthis, the DOD said Nov. 8. The MQ-9 Reaper was lost off the coast of Yemen over the Red Sea, U.S. officials said.

US carries out new strikes against facility used by Iran in Syria (Reuters)

The United States, for the second time in recent weeks, carried out strikes on Wednesday against a weapon storage facility in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said was used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups. As tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas conflict, U.S. and coalition troops have been attacked at least 40 times in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed forces since the start of October. Forty-five U.S. troops have suffered traumatic brain injuries or minor wounds.

Asia-Pacific

China, Australia agree to turn the page as tensions ease (Reuters)

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that a "healthy and stable" relationship with Australia served each country's interests, and that it was important to move forward with strategic ties. Mutual benefit is what China wants, Xi told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the first Australian leader to visit Beijing since 2016, as both men met at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital. A strong relationship between China and Australia "will be beneficial into the future," Albanese told Xi in their second face-to-face talks in a year. On his visit, Albanese is seeking to mend relations between the trading partners after disputes in recent years - over issues ranging from security concerns to the origin of COVID-19 - triggered Chinese blocks on Australian products including wine, barley and beef.

Foreign Firms Pull Billions in Earnings Out of China (WSJ🔒) 📊

For years, foreign companies plowed the profits they made in China back into China, using the cash to finance new hiring and investment as its giant economy expanded rapidly. Now, as growth slows and tensions between Beijing and Washington rise, they are pulling those profits out. Foreign firms yanked more than $160 billion in total earnings from China during six successive quarters through the end of September, according to an analysis of Chinese data, an unusually sustained run of profit outflows that shows how much the country’s appeal is waning for foreign capital. The torrent of earnings leaving China pushed overall foreign direct investment in the world’s second-largest economy into the red in the third quarter for the first time in a quarter of a century. The outflows add to pressure on China’s currency, the yuan, when the country’s central bank is already battling to slow its decline as investors sour on Chinese stocks and bonds and new investment in China is scarce. The yuan has depreciated 5.7% against the U.S. dollar this year and touched its lowest level in more than a decade in September.

Tracking China’s Control of Overseas Ports (CFR) 📊

The China Overseas Ports interactive visualizes degrees of China’s overseas port ownership by types of investment across regions and time. It also evaluates the dual-use (commercial and military) potential of ports owned, constructed, or operated by Chinese entities. The database supporting this interactive includes 101 port projects of which Chinese entities have acquired varied equity ownership or operational stakes. China operates or has ownership in at least one port in every continent except Antarctica. Of the 101 projects, 92 are active, whereas the remaining 9 port projects have become inactive due to cancellation or suspension by the end of September 2023.

China Unleashes Crackdown on ‘Pig Butchering.’ (It Isn’t What You Think.) (WSJ🔒)

It’s called “pig butchering.” Armies of scammers operating from lawless corners of Southeast Asia—often controlled by Chinese crime bosses—connect with people all over the world through online messages. They foster elaborate, sometimes romantic, relationships, and then coax their targets into making bogus investments. Over time, they make it appear that the investments are growing to get victims to send more money. Then, they disappear. In recent months, China has unleashed its most aggressive effort to crack down on the proliferation of the scam mills, reaching beyond its territory and netting thousands of people in mass arrests. Its main target is a notorious stretch of its border with Myanmar controlled by narcotics traffickers and warlords. For decades, frontier fiefdoms such as those in Myanmar have been havens for gambling and trafficking of everything from drugs to wildlife to people. Now, they are dens for pig-butchering operations. In addition to remote hillside towns in Myanmar, these heavily guarded enclaves are also found in gambling hubs such as Cambodia’s Sihanoukville and Poipet. Cambodian authorities have carried out sporadic raids with China’s help, but the problem has persisted.

Russia says it successfully test fired an ICBM from its new nuclear submarine (The Hill)

The Russian military announced Sunday it has successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from its new nuclear submarine. Military officials said that the missile, also known as a Bulava missile, was launched from an underwater position off the country’s northern White Sea coast, according to Axios. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the missile is designed to carry up to six nuclear warheads. The launched missile struck a target in Kamchatka, a Peninsula in the far-eastern region of the country, Axios reported.

Delhi pollution: No school, no play for city's children (BBC) 📊

Over the past few days, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) - which measures the level of PM 2.5 or fine particulate matter in the air - has consistently crossed the 450 mark, nearly 10 times the acceptable limit. Breathing this toxic air is akin to smoking 25-30 cigarettes a day, according to lung specialists. Things are so bad that Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai has asked all schools to remain shut until Friday, with offline classes only for high schoolers. This isn't the first time that air pollution has disrupted learning in Delhi - it has been happening every winter over the past four-five years. Parents and experts are concerned about the effect of these abrupt breaks in learning and daily routines on children, especially when schedules had just got back to normal after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Space

Ken Mattingly, Apollo and Space Shuttle Astronaut, Dies at 87 (Air and Space Forces)

Thomas Kenneth Mattingly, II, the command module pilot of Apollo 16, commander of two Space Shuttle missions, and an aerospace industry executive died in Arlington, Va. on Oct. 31 at 87. He was one of only two astronauts to fly both an Apollo and Shuttle in space. Enroute to the moon, Apollo 13 suffered an oxygen tank explosion in its service module, which decimated the command and service module’s power supply. Mattingly helped develop power transfer workarounds between the command and lunar modules that allowed the latter to be used as a lifeboat and revive the command module’s systems in time for re-entry. Despite his exposure, Mattingly did not become sick with Rubella. Mattingly’s contributions to the ill-fated mission were recounted in the 1995 film, “Apollo 13,” which was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Picture, and in which he was played by actor Gary Sinise.

Star-filled Euclid images spur mission to probe 'dark universe' (Reuters)

European astronomers on Tuesday released the first images from the newly launched Euclid space telescope, designed to unlock the secrets of dark matter and dark energy - hidden forces thought to make up 95% of the universe. The European Space Agency, which leads the six-year mission with NASA as a partner, said the images were the sharpest of their kind, showcasing the telescope's ability to monitor billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light years away. The images spanned four areas of the relatively nearby universe, including 1,000 galaxies belonging to the massive Perseus cluster just 240 million light years away, and more than 100,000 galaxies spread out in the background, ESA said.

Government

Takeaways from the third 2024 Republican presidential debate (Reuters)

Five candidates seeking to halt Donald Trump’s march toward the 2024 Republican presidential nomination gathered in Miami on Wednesday for the party’s third debate while the former president held a separate campaign rally across town. Here are some takeaways from the debate.

Why Third-Party Candidates Threaten Biden in 2024 (WSJ)

President Biden and Donald Trump, the likely contenders for the White House next year, are about evenly divided in polling. In a head-to-head race, many polls find an outright tie, with few voters undecided. Most voters, however, will have several choices beyond Trump and Biden—a fact that isn’t reflected in many public-opinion polls. When polls do offer a larger slate of options, Biden often loses the most support to those additional candidates or to “undecided” status, giving Trump an edge. That is why many Democrats fear the effect that third parties and independent candidates could have on the president.

Morning Report — What message did Tuesday’s voters send? (The Hill)

Tuesday’s off-year elections produced victories for Democrats, encouraging leaders in both parties to size up the political landscape in 2024. In Kentucky, the Democratic governor won reelection. Voters in Ohio decisively backed abortion rights by putting protections in the state constitution. And in Virginia, Democrats maintained control of the state Senate, thwarting the ambition of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to consolidate conservative sway over the legislature. Tuesday’s political reckoning nationwide included GOP victories, most prominently in Republican-dominated Mississippi, where voters reelected Gov. Tate Reeves over Democratic challenger Brandon Presley.

Rashida Tlaib censured over Israel-Gaza comments (BBC)

The US Congress has voted to censure its only Palestinian-American member over comments she made on the Israel-Gaza war. Michigan Democrat Rahida Tlaib was rebuked for her defence of the chant "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". The resolution formally condemned her for "calling for the destruction of the state of Israel". The measure passed by 234 to 188 votes. Twenty-two Democrats voted to censure.

Defense

Your New Co-Worker Is a Total Drill Sergeant. Literally. (WSJ🔒)

Businesses’ interest in a Pentagon program that connects service members to companies grew so intense over the summer that the Department of Defense temporarily stopped taking applications from companies to join the ranks of private-sector partners. The SkillBridge program, as it’s known, had 150 participating employers in 2019. Today there are more than 3,800—including Bank of America, Lowe’s and Deloitte—and applications recently reopened, following a review of how to handle the staggering demand. Veterans and companies that recruit from the armed forces say vets’ appeal is rooted in hard work, humility and attention to detail. Many a manager has complained to me that such qualities are hard to find in the age of quiet quitting and coffee badging.

Economy

Forget the S&P 500. Pay attention to the S&P 493 (Economist🔒) 📊

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla are Wall Street’s superstars, and deservedly so. Each was established in the past 50 years, and five of them in the past 30. Each has seen its market value exceed $1trn (although those of Meta and Tesla have since fallen, to $800bn and $700bn respectively). Thanks to this dynamism, it is little wonder that America’s stockmarket has raced ahead of others. Those in Europe have never produced a $1trn company and—in the past three decades—have failed to spawn one worth even a tenth as much. Hardly surprising that the average annual return on America’s benchmark S&P 500 index in the past decade has been one-and-a-half times that on Europe’s Stoxx 600. There is just one problem with this story. It is the hand-waving with which your columnist cast the magnificent seven as being somehow emblematic of America’s entire stockmarket. This conflation is made easily and often. It is partly justified by the huge chunk of the S&P 500 that the magnificent seven now comprise: measured by market value, they account for 29% of the index, and hence of its performance. Yet they are still just seven firms out of 500. And the remaining 98.6% of companies, it turns out, are not well characterised by seven tech prodigies that have moved fast, broken things and conquered the world in a matter of decades. Here, then, is your guide to the S&P 493. As a result of this maturity, the S&P 493 is less susceptible to the market’s changing mood (see chart). This is a double-edged sword. On the plus side, it offered protection during the crash of 2022. The more established business models of S&P 493 companies started the year with less hype than those of the magnificent seven, leaving them less vulnerable when the hype duly evaporated. Meanwhile, a smaller proportion of their value came from the promise of distant future earnings—the present value of which fell dramatically as interest-rate expectations soared. The net effect was that, while the magnificent seven together lost 41% of their value, the S&P 493 lost just 12%. This year, however, the tables have turned. On the face of it, the old-timers ought to have done well, since the American economy has remained remarkably buoyant. This, combined with enthusiasm concerning the potential of artificial intelligence to juice their profits, led to a stellar recovery for the magnificent seven. In the first ten months of the year their share prices rose by 52%, nearly erasing the losses of 2022. By contrast, the value of the S&P 493 fell by 2%.

The New Headache for Bosses: Employees Aren't Quitting (WSJ🔒) 📊

The white-collar labor market is softening to a point that companies are encountering an issue that would have been unthinkable in the era known as the Great Resignation. These days, too few people are voluntarily leaving their jobs. Turnover has declined so steeply at some large employers that companies now find themselves over budget on certain teams, requiring leaders to weigh whether to postpone projects or to cut additional staff as the end of year approaches. Other bosses worry about how to keep star employees engaged when there are far fewer vacant positions internally, making it harder to move people into new roles.

Millions of Retired Americans Aren't Coming Back to Work as Predicted (Bloomberg🔒) 📊

More than three-and-a-half years after Covid struck, the US still has around 2 million more retirees than predicted, in one of the most striking and enduring changes to the nation’s labor force. The so-called Great Retirement induced by Covid-19 is evident in the divergence between the actual number of retirees and that predicted by a Federal Reserve economic model. While down from a 2.8 million gap late last year, it remains elevated today and has even risen from 1.7 million in June.

NOTE: The chart above only applies to those 65+. Below is a chart for total labor participation rate. Note the large difference between the late 1990s and now.

Business

Big Banks Cook Up New Way to Unload Risk (WSJ🔒) 📊

U.S. banks have found a new way to unload risk as they scramble to adapt to tighter regulations and rising interest rates. JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bank and others are selling complex debt instruments to private-fund managers as a way to reduce regulatory capital charges on the loans they make, people familiar with the transactions said. These so-called synthetic risk transfers are expensive for banks but less costly than taking the full capital charges on the underlying assets. They are lucrative for the investors, who can typically get returns of around 15% or more, according to the people familiar with the transactions. U.S. banks mostly stayed out of the market until this autumn, when they issued a record quantity as a way to ease their mounting regulatory burden. “We simply have to take it because they’re judge, jury and hangman,” JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said when asked about new capital regulations at an investor conference in September. Regulators have been raising capital requirements for years, and they proposed even tougher measures after the banking panic that began in March. Higher interest rates are eroding the value of banks’ investment portfolios, which can also eat into regulatory capital levels. In most of these risk transfers, investors pay cash for credit-linked notes or credit derivatives issued by the banks. The notes and derivatives amount to roughly 10% of the loan portfolios being de-risked. Investors collect interest in exchange for shouldering losses if borrowers of up to about 10% of the pooled loans default. JPMorgan has been working on $2.5 billion worth of deals in recent months to cut capital charges on about $25 billion of its corporate and consumer loans, the people familiar with the transactions said. The deals function somewhat like an insurance policy, with the banks paying interest instead of premiums. By lowering potential loss exposure, the transfers reduce the amount of capital banks are required to hold against their loans.

Auto

The Electric-Car Era Needs a Lot of Really Big Trees (WSJ🔒)

Electric cars. The solar build-out. Washington’s rural-broadband initiative. Utilities bracing the grid for stronger storms. They all depend on the same thing: big trees. The utility-pole business is booming, thanks to a flood of public and private infrastructure spending. So the hunt is on for the tallest, straightest, knot-free conifers, which are peeled, dried and pressure-treated at facilities such as Koppers Holdings’ pole plant in southeastern Georgia’s pinelands. For landowners, especially the families and individuals who grow much of the South’s pine, the pole boom means higher prices for standout trees than what sawmills pay. Shareholders of the two firms that dominate the American pole business—as well as railroad ties—have also been winners. Over the past year, Pittsburgh’s Koppers and Montreal’s Stella-Jones are up 38% and 91%, respectively, compared with a 14% rise in the S&P 500 stock index.

Tesla Is Reportedly Planning To Build A Sub-$27,000 Car At Its Berlin Factory (Forbes🔒)

Tesla is planning to build a new electric car model that will be priced at around $25,000 from its factory near Berlin, Reuters reported Monday, making it the company’s cheapest offering that could allow it to compete against budget EV makers from Europe and China. The company believes it is close to achieving a manufacturing breakthrough that would allow it to cast the underbody of its cars as a single piece, resulting in lower costs, the report added. Tesla’s current cheapest car in the EU is its Model 3, starting at $46,200 (€42,990).

EV Makers Turn to Discounts to Combat Waning Demand (WSJ🔒) 📊

Buyers looking to get a bargain on a new car might want to consider an electric vehicle. As sales growth has slowed for battery-powered models, automakers and dealers are slashing prices and piling on discounts to clear out unsold inventory. Some automakers, such as Hyundai Motor and Ford Motor, are this month offering cash rebates as high as $7,500 on some models. Others are resorting to aggressive lease deals that offer cheaper monthly payments or shorter contract lengths to attract buyers. Many car companies are offering low-interest rate promotions in an attempt to make pricey EVs more affordable.

Real Estate

WeWork Goes Bankrupt, Signs Pact With Creditors to Cut Debt (Bloomberg🔒)

WeWork Inc. filed for bankruptcy, capping a tumultuous period that saw the once high-flying startup navigate a failed initial public offering, Covid-19 lockdowns, a blank-check merger and slow return-to-office trends. The company — which at its 2019 peak commanded a $47 billion valuation — listed $19 billion of liabilities and $15 billion of assets in its bankruptcy petition in New Jersey on Monday. The Chapter 11 filing allows WeWork to continue operating while working out creditor repayment terms. WeWork’s real estate footprint sprawled across 777 locations in 39 countries as of June 30, with occupancy near 2019 levels. But the enterprise remains unprofitable.

As Treasury Yields Decline, Mortgage Rates Move Down (Freddie Mac) 📊

As Treasury yields decline, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped a quarter of a percent, the largest one-week decrease since last November. Incoming data show that household debt continues to rise, primarily due to mortgage, credit card and student loan balances. Many consumers are feeling strained by the high cost of living, so unless mortgage rates decrease significantly, the housing market will remain stagnant.

Personal Finance

Mint, One of the First Budgeting Apps, Is Shutting Down (NYT🔒)

Mint, one of the earliest and most popular personal finance apps, is shutting down, and its owner, Intuit, is encouraging users to switch to Credit Karma, its platform that offers free credit scores and helps users track their money. Intuit said on Tuesday that it was “reimagining” Mint as part of Credit Karma and that Mint users would be able to transition to Credit Karma. Credit Karma will absorb Mint by Jan. 1, Intuit said in a statement on Friday. Mint has been one of the top online budgeting tools for years, with 3.6 million active users in 2021, according to Bloomberg. Introduced in 2007, it was a game-changer in the world of personal finance, surging in popularity as more people turned to free online services to create budgets and track their income and spending. The news that Mint would be closing caused an outcry from loyal Mint users, some of whom said they were especially upset that Credit Karma would not offer the same budget tools.

Technology

Look, Up in the Sky! It’s a Can of Soup! (NYT🔒)

Exactly a decade ago, Amazon revealed a program that aimed to revolutionize shopping and shipping. Drones launched from a central hub would waft through the skies delivering just about everything anyone could need. They would be fast, innovative, ubiquitous — all the Amazon hallmarks. Eight additional years later, drone delivery is a reality — kind of — on the outskirts of College Station, Texas, northwest of Houston. That is a major achievement for a program that has waxed and waned over the years and lost many of its early leaders to newer and more urgent projects. Yet the venture as it currently exists is so underwhelming that Amazon can keep the drones in the air only by giving stuff away. Years of toil by top scientists and aviation specialists have yielded a program that flies Listerine Cool Mint Breath Strips or a can of Campbell’s Chunky Minestrone With Italian Sausage — but not both at once — to customers as gifts. If this is science fiction, it’s being played for laughs.

Room-Temperature Superconductor Discovery Is Retracted (NYT🔒)

Nature, one of the most prestigious journals in scientific publishing, on Tuesday retracted a high-profile paper it had published in March that claimed the discovery of a superconductor that worked at everyday temperatures. It was the second superconductor paper involving Ranga P. Dias, a professor of mechanical engineering and physics at the University of Rochester in New York State, to be retracted by the journal in just over a year. It joined an unrelated paper retracted by another journal in which Dr. Dias was a key author. Dr. Dias and his colleagues’ research is the latest in a long list of claims of room-temperature superconductors that have failed to pan out. But the retraction raised uncomfortable questions for Nature about why the journal’s editors publicized the research after they had already scrutinized and retracted an earlier paper from the same group.

Cyber

For sale: Data on US servicemembers — and lots of it (Politico)

Active-duty members of the U.S. military are vulnerable to having their personal information collected, packaged and sold to overseas companies without any vetting, according to a new report funded by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The report highlights a significant American security risk, according to military officials, lawmakers and the experts who conducted the research, and who say the data available on servicemembers exposes them to blackmail based on their jobs and habits. Posing as buyers in the U.S. and Singapore, Duke researchers contacted multiple data-broker firms who listed datasets about active-duty servicemembers for sale. Three agreed and sold datasets to the researchers while two declined, saying the requests came from companies that didn’t meet their verification standards. In total, the datasets contained information on nearly 30,000 active-duty military personnel. They also purchased a dataset on an additional 5,000 friends and family members of military personnel. The datasets included information such as a servicemember’s marital status, number and ages of their children, health conditions, credit rating, net worth, their homeowner status and their interests in gambling. The information, which costs between 12 cents to 32 cents per person, also includes personal contact information, allowing foreign adversaries to easily reach out to potential targets.

Big Tech to face tougher rules on targeted political ads in EU (Reuters)

Big Tech firms will face new European Union rules to clearly label political advertising on their platforms, who paid for it and how much and which elections are being targeted, ahead of important votes in the bloc next year. The new political advertising rules, which were agreed by EU countries and European Parliament lawmakers late on Monday, will force social media groups such as Alphabet's Google, Meta Platforms to be more transparent and accountable.

How a Bunch of Lava Lamps Protect Us From Hackers (Wired)

Here’s how it works. Every time you log in to any website, you’re assigned a unique identification number. It should be random, because if hackers can predict the number, they’ll impersonate you. Computers, relying as they do on human-coded patterns, can’t generate true randomness—but nobody can predict the goopy mesmeric swirlings of oil, water, and wax. Cloudflare films the lamps 24/7 and uses the ever-changing arrangement of pixels to help create a superpowered cryptographic key. “Anything that the camera captures gets incorporated into the randomness,” says Nick Sullivan, the company’s head of cryptography, and that includes visitors milling about and light streaming through the windows. (Any change in heat subtly affects the undulations of those glistening globules.) Sure, theoretically, bad guys could sneak their own camera into Cloudflare’s lobby to capture the same scene, but the company’s prepared for such trickery. It films the movements of a pendulum in its London office and records the measurements of a Geiger counter in Singapore to add more chaos to the equation. Crack that, Russians.

NOTE: Article is from 2018

Artificial Intelligence

Elon Musk's AI project is launching. He says it's the 'best that currently exists'. (Mashable)

Musk shared the news on X/Twitter on Friday, saying that xAI will release its "first AI" to a select group of users. "In some important respects, it is the best that currently exists," he tweeted. Led by Musk, xAI is an artificial intelligence company consisting of AI experts that have previously worked at companies such as DeepMind, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Tesla, as well as the University of Toronto. The company was launched in July 2023, with the self-proclaimed goal to "understand the true nature of the universe." On its website, xAI says it's a "separate company from X Corp, but will work closely with X (Twitter), Tesla, and other companies to make progress towards our mission."

Chatbots May ‘Hallucinate’ More Often Than Many Realize (NYT🔒)

When the San Francisco start-up OpenAI unveiled its ChatGPT online chatbot late last year, millions were wowed by the humanlike way it answered questions, wrote poetry and discussed almost any topic. But most people were slow to realize that this new kind of chatbot often makes things up. When Google introduced a similar chatbot several weeks later, it spewed nonsense about the James Webb telescope. The next day, Microsoft’s new Bing chatbot offered up all sorts of bogus information about the Gap, Mexican nightlife and the singer Billie Eilish. Then, in March, ChatGPT cited a half dozen fake court cases while writing a 10-page legal brief that a lawyer submitted to a federal judge in Manhattan. Now a new start-up called Vectara, founded by former Google employees, is trying to figure out how often chatbots veer from the truth. The company’s research estimates that even in situations designed to prevent it from happening, chatbots invent information at least 3 percent of the time — and as high as 27 percent.

Can AI Rescue Recycling? (WSJ🔒)

Recyclers across the U.S. are struggling, hurt by a shortage of workers and rising costs that too often make recycling uneconomic. They are hoping artificial intelligence can help turn things around and boost recycling rates. Recycling of municipal solid waste declined from nearly 35% in 2015 to around 32% in 2018, according to the latest figures from the Environmental Protection Agency. How can AI help? By doing the sorting work in recycling facilities that a dwindling number of people want to do—and doing it better. AI-driven robots pick up recyclable trash at around 80 pieces a minute; people can sort around 50 to 80 pieces a minute. Optical sorters, a more established technology that’s growing more efficient thanks to improved AI, are much faster, sorting up to 1,000 pieces a minute.

Education

My prediction: With the politicization of school boards, we’re going to see even more parents opting to choose schools (be it charter, home, or other) that best aligns with their educational preferences for their children. This may either cause more divisiveness, or may create a more competitive environment for education…which ideally would make the educational institutions better.

Health

Amazon Prime’s New $9 Primary Care Subscription Undercuts Amazon’s Other Health Services (Forbes🔒)

Amazon unveiled its latest healthcare play on Wednesday: offering steeply discounted memberships to One Medical, the primary care company it acquired this year for $3.5 billion, to its tens of millions of Amazon Prime U.S. customers. It’s another in a series of experiments by the retail behemoth to carve off a slice of the $4.3 trillion U.S. healthcare market. The current list price for a One Medical membership is $199, which gets a person access to unlimited 24/7 virtual visits. The new Prime benefit is around half off with One Medical memberships for $99 a year or $9 a month for the primary user – additional family members are $66 extra each per year or $6 per month. In-person visits to One Medical’s hundreds of clinic locations are charged through insurance or out-of-pocket.

Eli Lilly Wins FDA Nod for Obesity Drug That Rivals Wegovy, Ozempic (Bloomberg🔒) 📊

Eli Lilly & Co. won US approval for its diabetes drug to treat obesity, unlocking blockbuster sales potential and sparking a battle for dominance of a market that’s expected to hit $100 billion by 2030. The weight-loss drug, branded Zepbound, contains exactly the same active ingredient as the company’s diabetes drug Mounjaro, and will cost $1,059.87 for a month’s supply. That’s cheaper than Wegovy, a similar weight-loss drug made by Novo Nordisk A/S, which is $1,349 for a month’s supply. Zepbound will be available soon after Thanksgiving, the company said. Also late Wednesday, regulators in the UK approved Mounjaro for treating weight loss in adults.

Surgeons have performed the world’s first eye transplant (AP)

Surgeons have performed the world’s first transplant of an entire human eye, an extraordinary addition to a face transplant — although it’s far too soon to know if the man will ever see through his new left eye. Today, transplants of the cornea — the clear tissue in front of the eye — are common to treat certain types of vision loss. But transplanting the whole eye — the eyeball, its blood supply and the critical optic nerve that must connect it to the brain — is considered a moonshot in the quest to cure blindness. Whatever happens next, James’ surgery offers scientists an unprecedented window into how the human eye tries to heal.

An Opioid-Like Drink Is Masquerading As a Wholesome Alcohol Alternative (Bloomberg🔒)

Kratom is a drink extracted from a plant native to Southeast Asia that’s become increasingly popular in the US for its pleasant, alcohol-free buzz. It’s known to be an energy booster, mood enhancer and pain reliever. The product is sold online, in smoke shops, convenience stores and, perhaps most notably, at bars popping up around the country that sell a different plant-based beverage, kava. While kava doesn’t have the same addictive properties, the bars that sell it have become a common entry point to kratom for consumers. And while kratom has gained a reputation for producing an innocent buzz, it can have addictive, opioid-like properties, according to the National Institutes of Health — and in some extreme cases, it has even led to fatal overdoses.

Food & Drink

The Salty, Soothing Twist of Pretzels (WSJ🔒)

If you asked most people whether they would like to eat dough which has been dipped in caustic soda—the stuff you use to unblock drains—I don’t imagine they would be too keen. Yet that is exactly what a pretzel is, a snack whose deep brown shininess is usually achieved by a brief dip in water mixed with lye, aka sodium hydroxide. The lye doesn’t seem to put consumers off, judging from the fact that the U.S. market for hard and soft pretzels combined was worth $1.6 billion in 2022, up 16% from the year before.

Tyson Recalls Nearly 30,000 Pounds of Chicken Nuggets Over Metal Pieces (NYT)

Tyson Foods is recalling nearly 30,000 pounds of its dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets after some consumers said they found small metal pieces in them, federal officials said. The recall, which was announced on Saturday, involves 29-ounce plastic bags of the product, which is called “Fully Cooked Fun Nuggets Breaded Shaped Chicken Patties,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement. The recall affects approximately 29,819 pounds of the dinosaur-shaped nuggets, which were produced on Sept. 5 by the Arkansas-based food processing company. The bags affected have a “best if used by” date of Sept. 4, 2024, and lot codes 2483BRV0207, 2483BRV0208, 2483BRV0209 and 2483BRV0210, the statement said. The packaging features cartoon dinosaurs, one green and one red, looking over a plate of the breaded nuggets.

More fruit pouches for kids are being recalled because of illnesses that are linked to lead (AP)

Federal health officials are expanding an investigation into potentially lead-tainted pouches of apple cinnamon fruit puree marketed for children amid reports of more illnesses and additional product recalls. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday it has received reports of seven illnesses in at least five states possibly linked to contaminated puree.

As price of olive oil soars, chainsaw-wielding thieves target Mediterranean’s century-old trees (AP)

Surging olive oil prices, driven in part by two years of drought in Spain, has meant opportunity for criminals across the Mediterranean. Warehouse break-ins, dilution of premium oil with inferior product, and falsification of shipping data are on the rise in olive-growing heartlands of Greece, Spain and Italy. And perhaps worst of all: Gangs using chainsaws to steal heavily laden branches and even entire trees from unguarded groves.

Travel

Your Next Airbnb Host Could Be a Private-Equity Firm (WSJ🔒)

Private-equity giant TPG has started buying single-family homes in Florida vacation markets, where it is renting them out nightly as alternatives to hotels and short-term rentals on websites like Airbnb. Other private-equity firms, publicly traded companies like Invitation Homes

and many institutional investors have been active buyers of single-family homes for years, leasing their properties for a year or longer. A representative for TPG said that the Florida home-buying project is a “pilot program” and wouldn’t necessarily scale to large numbers if results fall below expectations. But the firm also said that Florida was the test ground, and if the program proved successful it would look to expand to other vacation markets.

Entertainment

Hollywood actors reach tentative deal with studios to end strike (Reuters)

Hollywood actors reached a tentative agreement with major studios on Wednesday to resolve the second of two strikes that rocked the entertainment industry as writers and performers demanded higher pay in the streaming TV era. The 118-day work stoppage ended just after midnight, the SAG-AFTRA union said in a statement after its negotiating committee unanimously backed the deal with Walt Disney (DIS.N), Netflix (NFLX.O) and other companies.

For Fun

Inside the Tech Creating the Las Vegas Sphere's Groundbreaking Visuals (WSJ🔒)

The brains behind the visuals of the Las Vegas Sphere, including camera architect Deanan DaSilva and ‘Postcard From Earth’ director Darren Aronofsky, give an inside look at what it takes to bring the experience to life.

The Rise and Fall of New York City's Private Social Clubs (Curbed)

Modern private social clubs (which are usually seen as distinct from fraternal organizations such as the Masons or the Revolutionary War-era Society of Cincinnati) trace their origins back to the coffeehouses of 17th-century London. Coffee was introduced to London society in 1652 and took the city by storm. Coffeehouses became the place to meet and discuss current events. Soon, coffeehouses took on distinct political affiliations (and branched out to serve more than coffee); Mrs. White's Chocolate House on Chesterfield Street became both a Tory bastion and—in a move to limit who could take part in the conversation—instituted a members-only policy. While coffeehouses continued to thrive in the 18th century (and were exported to New York, where Tontine's on Wall Street was central to city life and an early home of the New York Stock Exchange), establishments such as Mrs. White's—by the early 1700s shortened just to White's—began to dominate the social scene. Club life took off in London after the Napoleonic Wars and it wasn't long until New Yorkers began to see the appeal of a private club's exclusivity.

NOTE: Article is from 2015.

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Two resources to help you be a more discerning reader:

AllSides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

Media Bias Chart - https://www.adfontesmedia.com/

Caveat: Even these resources/charts are biased. Who says that the system they use to describe news sources is accurate? Still, hopefully you find them useful as a basic guide or for comparison.