9.18.2024

Facts, without motives.
 

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Good morning. It's Wednesday, Sept. 18, and we're covering a wave of exploding pagers on Hezbollah militants, federal sex trafficking charges against a hip-hop mogul, and much more. First time reading? Join over 3.8 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.

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Need To Know
 

Pagers Explode in Lebanon

At least 11 people were killed and close to 4,000 were injured yesterday after hundreds of communication devices simultaneously detonated across Lebanon. Hezbollah officials claimed the incident was a coordinated Israeli attack on the militant group's members, with Lebanon's foreign minister promising retaliation. 

 

The hourlong incident primarily involved recently issued pagers, low-tech electronic devices used by Hezbollah to circumvent Israeli surveillance. Israel reportedly planted explosives in the devices before they were imported to Lebanon, according to US and other officials. Videos showed the devices exploding in public places, with reports the pagers would beep several times before detonating (see video, warning—sensitive content). Hospital workers reported dozens of injuries to the eyes, hands, and waist. An eight-year-old girl and the son of a Lebanese lawmaker were among those killed, while Iran's ambassador to Lebanon was reportedly injured.

 

The attack comes amid an 11-month conflict between Lebanon and Israel since Hamas—a Hezbollah ally—attacked Israel (see background). On Monday, Israel made returning its civilians to its northern border area near Lebanon an official war objective amid months of rocket attacks there.

 

Diddy Indictment Unsealed

Hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was indicted yesterday on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution following his arrest in Manhattan Monday night. The 54-year-old music executive has pleaded not guilty and was ordered to stay in jail while awaiting trial. See the indictment here.

 

Prosecutors allege Combs used his business empire—spanning music, alcohol, and fashion—and his employees to facilitate and conceal criminal activities. Combs has faced multiple lawsuits this year, including one filed in November by his former partner, R&B artist Cassie, who accused him of years of physical assault and rape. The indictment includes several allegations that date back 15 years. Federal agents raided Combs' California and Florida homes in March, where they allegedly found narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of oil and lubricant.

 

The charges make Combs the highest-profile figure in the music industry to face federal sexual misconduct charges since R. Kelly, who is currently serving a 30-year term.

 

Instagram's Teen Overhaul

Instagram began introducing new restrictive accounts yesterday for users under the age of 18 to address growing concerns about social media's impact on youth. The overhaul is estimated to affect over 100 million accounts worldwide and comes as parent company Meta faces a lawsuit from 33 states alleging its platforms harm children's mental health. 

 

New accounts for minors in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia will be set to private automatically while existing accounts will transition to private over the next 60 days. Default settings will limit who can contact minors and what content minors can see. Upcoming features (see here) include silencing notifications from 10 pm to 7 am and prompting users to close the app after 60 minutes. Users aged 16 and above can adjust their settings manually. Meta will introduce these accounts in the European Union later this year and in other countries in 2025. 

 

Meta is also testing age verification processes, including using AI to prevent minors from misrepresenting their age. See stats on social media use among teens here.

In partnership with Sky Quarry

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In The Know
 

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> The 2024 Primetime Emmys bring in 6.9 million viewers, a 54% jump over the previous broadcast (More) | California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signs law aimed at protecting actors from AI digital clones being used without their consent (More)

> Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles files appeal with Swiss court in effort to overturn decision to take away an individual bronze medal she won at the Paris Olympics (More

> Shortlist of six novels selected for prestigious Booker Prize for fiction, including a record five female authors; winner set to be announced Nov. 12 (More

 

Science & Technology

> New estimates project deaths from drug-resistant infections to rise by 70% by 2050, claiming roughly 2 million lives per year (More) | What are superbugs, and where do they come from? (More)

> Astronomers propose measuring the wobble of Mars along its rotational axis to test whether dark matter—an unknown substance making up about 26% of the universe's matter—could be made of tiny black holes (More) | Black holes 101 (More, w/video)

> Social messaging platform Snap unveils new operating system for its fifth generation smart glasses; debut signals a renewed push by the company into augmented reality (More

 

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow -0.0%, Nasdaq +0.2%) ahead of anticipated Federal Reserve decision to lower benchmark interest rates at end of two-day policy meeting today (More) | What is the Fed, anyway? (More, w/video)

> BlackRock and Microsoft to launch $30B investment fund to build data centers and secure energy sources to power resource-heavy AI systems (More) | Why does AI require so much energy? (More)

> AT&T to pay $13M to settle Federal Communications Commission investigation tied to 2023 cloud data hack; issue is separate from hack revealed this year to have compromised 73 million customers' Social Security numbers and passwords (More)

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Politics & World Affairs

> House Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-4) to hold vote today on stopgap bill ahead of Sept. 30 government shutdown deadline; bill includes provision requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote (More) | Democratic-led bill to establish nationwide right to in-vitro fertilization falls short of 60 votes needed to advance in Senate (More)

> Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to launch investigation into assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, parallel to FBI investigation (More) | See updates (More)

> Canada's ruling Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, loses Montreal parliamentary seat in special election; defeat is the second recent upset for Liberals following loss of long-held Toronto seat in June (More)

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Turning Trash into Treasure

 

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shingles into valuable products like oil. With 211% revenue growth last year, Sky Quarry has only begun to lead the way toward a potential $4.4B market. 

 

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Etcetera
 

New grumpy fish discovered.

 

Scientists invent nutrient-packed "Golden Lettuce."

 

Ranking the US' rudest cities.

 

Exploring the life span of a baseball. (via YouTube)

 

See the finalist images for the Drone Photo Awards.

 

How listening to soil can reveal whether it's healthy.

 

Some libraries are handing out ghost-hunting kits.

 

Did a man named Biffy inspire James Bond?

 

Clickbait: Explaining trauma candy salad.

 

Historybook: George Washington lays first cornerstone for the US Capitol (1793); New York Times founded (1851); Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg born (1959); Jimi Hendrix dies (1970); Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies (2020). 

"One lives not just for oneself but for one’s community."

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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*Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Sky Quarry’s Regulation A Offering. Additional information on the company and risk factors related to the offering can be found in the offering circular at investor.skyquarry.com

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