- ☝️ The Gemini meteor shower, known for bright, colorful meteors and up to 150 meteors/hour, peaked in night skies across the world this weekend
BUSINESS & MARKETS
in partnership with Quince
- 📊 US markets were mixed last week (S&P: -0.6%; Dow: -1.8%; Nasdaq: +0.3%).
- 💊 McKinsey agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal probe pertaining to its work helping Purdue Pharma increase opioid sales.
- 🍏 Apple is planning to introduce a thinner iPhone next year and its first foldable iPhone as soon as 2026, per a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
- 🏆 Travis Hunter, the University of Colorado's two-way star, won the 2024 Heisman Trophy; Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty came in second in the closest vote since 2009.
- ⚖️ Rapper Jay-Z asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him, along with Sean "Diddy" Combs, of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000, after inconsistencies emerged in her allegation.
- 🍿 Kraven the Hunter generated $11 million at the domestic box office (vs. a budget of ~$110 million); it supplants Madame Web as the worst opening weekend for a Sony-produced Marvel comic book movie; Moana 2 topped the domestic box office for the third straight weekend. | 📺 YouTube TV is raising prices by $10/month starting in January, bringing it up to $82.99/month.
SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH
in partnership with Nuts.com
- 🤖⚖️ OpenAI released emails from 2017 showing that Musk, its co-founder, wanted a for-profit component in which he was CEO and initially had majority board control (read them here); the two parties are embroiled in a lawsuit over OpenAI’s plan to convert to a for-profit business.
- 👣 Neanderthals interbred with humans during a limited period roughly 43,500–50,500 years ago, per new studies published in Nature and Science on Thursday.
- 🧳 Apple is partnering with United Airlines and Air Canada to let AirTag users share a temporary link that tracks the location of lost baggage.
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MISCELLANEOUS
- 🏥 UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty published a NY Times opinion piece regarding the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who led the company’s insurance arm; Witty also acknowledged the US health-care system is “flawed” and in need of reform.
- 🤖 Former OpenAI researcher and whistleblower Suchir Balaji, who said publicly that the company violated US copyright laws, was found dead in his SF apartment around three weeks ago; authorities ruled his death a suicide.
- ⚖️ ABC agreed to pay $15 million plus $1 million in legal fees to settle a defamation suit brought over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate assertion that Trump was found civilly liable for rape; Trump was found liable for sexual assualt, not rape. | 🇰🇷 South Korea’s parliament impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his surprise decision to briefly enact martial law earlier this month; the move comes a week after a failed impeachment vote.
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