Good morning, and welcome to Friday the 13th👻 . Today’s pro tip: Probably don’t walk under a ladder.

Over the course of this newsletter you’ll learn:

• 💥 What’s happening in the Israel-Hamas conflict
• 🤔 Why major Hollywood studios are grumpy with Taylor Swift
• 🌥️ How this weekend’s solar eclipse could impact the US power grid

… and more. Have a great weekend.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 5.13-minute read.

P.S. Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free.

"Life is much too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it."

–Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Israel continued to target the Gaza Strip with airstrikes early this morning, as the ongoing war with Palestinian militant group Hamas enters its seventh day.

In a national address late Wednesday, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is committed to capturing or killing all of Hamas’ leaders, destroying the groups' militant units, and making it impossible for Hamas to govern in the Gaza Strip (which it has controlled since the last public elections in 2006).

Israel has stationed thousands of troops near the Gaza border this week, but military officials yesterday said no decision has been made on a potential ground offensive (though overnight, Israel called on the UN to help evacuate roughly 1.1 million residents from northern Gaza).

• The Israeli energy ministry said it would continue to cut off all food, energy, and water supplies to Gaza until all of the ~150 hostages captured in Hamas’ attack last Saturday are returned.
• Officials also confirmed at least 1,300 Israeli residents died and 3,000+ have been injured since the war began, including 27 American deaths.

🇵🇸 In the Gaza Strip: The region’s only operational power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday afternoon after Israel cut off its supply earlier in the week, causing power cuts that have affected nearly all local hospitals, communications systems, and ATMs/banks.

• Gaza has been consistently hit by Israeli airstrikes over the past six days, which have killed at least 1,500 people and wounded 6,600 others, according to its health ministry.
• Israel says its goal with the airstrikes is to target Hamas members located in Gaza, but the area’s dense population, combined with Hamas’ use of civilian sites for military purposes, has resulted in hundreds of reported deaths and injuries among Palestinian civilians.

🇺🇸 US involvement: Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the Middle East this week as part of a diplomatic effort to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spreading to nearby regions, to help secure the release of Israeli hostages, and to find ways to protect civilians from violence.

• In a meeting yesterday with Israeli PM Netanyahu, Blinken pledged US support for the country’s military and said the pair discussed ways to avoid civilian deaths in Gaza.
• Blinken is scheduled to meet with the leaders of several Arab nations over the weekend, including Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): People of all different ages, backgrounds, cultures, and faiths read this newsletter every day. So if anyone feels compelled to share their take on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, please do so below. We’ll share the most thought-provoking and insightful responses on Monday.

Click here to leave a response.

🇯🇵 The Japanese city of Kyoto will begin selling its manhole covers as collector’s items. Kyoto’s manhole covers, which are decorated with a wide variety of designs, have become a symbol of regional pride over the years, and have drawn heavy interest from a group of local enthusiasts and collectors who call themselves “manholers.” The city will begin by selling three manhole covers at $20 apiece, with plans to expand the sales to include a large portion of the 1,500 lids it replaces each year.

🇪🇺 The EU ordered US biotech giant Illumina to unwind its $7.1 billion acquisition of cancer-screening company Grail. The EU initially blocked the deal in September 2022 over concerns Illumina would limit access to its services for Grail’s rivals, who also offer blood-based cancer tests. This week’s ruling comes three months after Illumina received a $475 million fine for moving forward with the Grail deal without EU consent. Illumina has filed a lawsuit challenging the EU’s jurisdiction to block its acquisition, arguing it should be exempt since Grail doesn’t generate any revenue in the bloc.

🇬🇧🧙 The University of Exeter is launching the UK’s first master’s degree in magic and the occult. The new Magic and Occult Sciences postgraduate program, which opens in September 2024, will explore the history and impact of witchcraft and magic on society and science in both Western and Eastern cultures. Students will be able to take modules on dragons in Western literature/art, the legend of King Arthur, the depiction of women in the middle ages, the philosophy of psychedelics, and more.

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Early screenings for Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour concert film began showing in theaters across the country yesterday, kicking off its opening weekend.

And while Swift and her legion of jean jacket-decked-out fans are stoked about the film’s release, there’s one group more upset than Grumpy from Snow White – major Hollywood studios. That’s because Swift and her team decided to finance the film’s production themselves and partner with AMC Theaters for distribution, increasing their earnings and cutting out the role major studios would typically play in a project.

This move by Swift and her team is uncommon, since most projects rely on the traditional Hollywood studio system for money and eyeballs. But most projects aren’t led by someone with Swift’s pull – which, if manifested into a physical form could tow more airplanes than Mr. Incredible.

Case in point:

• Once announced, The Eras Tour concert film took less than 24 hours to shatter AMC’s US record for the highest ticket-sales revenue during a single day.
• The film has already collected $100 million in advance ticket sales, and is projected to earn as much as $150 million in its opening weekend (~5x the previous record opening for a concert film).

👀 Looking ahead… Major Hollywood studios and streamers have owned a near monopoly on film financing and distribution for decades – but the success of The Eras Tour concert film could tempt more projects to also bypass the traditional studio route.

Toss a rock into a pond and you can expect its impact to ripple outward. The same can be said for the ongoing UAW and Hollywood strikes, which are affecting those outside of just the entertainment and automotive industries – including Delta Air Lines.

According to remarks made by company president Glen Hauenstein yesterday, the strikes are having a drag on business travel to and from both LA (entertainment) and Detroit (automotive) – two cities where Delta hosts major operations. The airline has a more than 70% market share at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and a nearly 20% share at Los Angeles International Airport, more than any other carrier, according to data reported by CNBC.

For business travel overall, however – the magic eight-ball says outlook is good. Delta said it’s seen a pickup in business travel since Labor Day, especially from the technology and financial services industries, which posted double-digit growth in the third quarter. Also – a company survey of corporate customers found a majority expect their travel to stay the same or increase in the last three months of this year and into 2024.

Strike update(s): Talks broke down between actors and Hollywood studios this week, while the UAW strike is entering its fifth week and keeps escalating.

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💬 Quoted… “[SBF] thought there was a 5% chance he would become president some day."

Caroline Ellison, the SEC’s star witness in its ongoing fraud trial against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, wrapped up her third day of testimony yesterday. On the stand she said her former boss/boyfriend directed her to commit crimes, which included stealing billions of dollars from the crypto exchange’s customers.

• Some other takeaways from her testimony: SBF viewed his low-effort appearance and hairstyle as "very valuable" in cultivating his image as an eccentric founder, his ambitions once rose as high as the Oval Office, and he was very preoccupied with FTX’s rivalry with Binance.

🌓🌒🌑⚡ Stat of the Day: One-third of all US solar power plants will briefly experience less than 50% Sun coverage on Saturday morning due to the upcoming Ring of Fire solar eclipse, which is projected to eliminate as much as 28,300 gigawatts of solar energy generation (enough to power 28.3 billion LED light bulbs).

🤔 Did You Know?... In 2021, the US Navy sold two obsolete aircraft carriers to scrap dealers for one penny apiece, due to the expenses associated with dismantling and recycling the ships.

📰 Worth a Read: The big business of bachelorette party buses → (The Hustle)

• ☝️ 128 Grazer, a defensive mama bear who spends her time chasing down salmon in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, was crowned the winner of this year’s Fat Bear Week competition.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Meowtel

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -0.6%; Dow: -0.5%; Nasdaq: -0.6%); the S&P snapped its four-day winning streak. | 💸 Inflation rose 0.4% month-over-month in September and 3.7% from a year ago, above respective forecasts for 0.3% and 3.6%.
• ✈️ Airlines are reportedly discovering thousands of fake engine parts in their fleets.
• 💼 Flexport, a supply chain software startup, is laying off about 20% of its workforce.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🛍️🍽️ Uber Eats now lets customers order from two nearby stores or restaurants in the same order at no additional cost.
• 🏌️‍♀️ Lexi Thompson became the seventh female golfer to play a PGA Tour event when she teed off at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas yesterday.
• 🏈 Thursday Night Football: The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos 19-8 behind four field goals from kicker Harrison Butker (including a 60-yarder).

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Scott Kemper Imagery

• 💊 Ozempic, the diabetes/weight-loss drug made by Novo Nordisk, successfully delayed the progression of chronic kidney disease and lowered the risk of death from kidney and heart problems, per data released by the company from a recent clinical trial.
• 🦾 An international team of scientists developed a new bionic hand that provides far more control and comfort than any other available option, per a peer-reviewed study published in Science Robotics.
• 🚀☄️ NASA’s Psyche mission, which aims to explore an asteroid of the same name that scientists believe contains quintillions of dollars worth of iron and nickel, was rescheduled from yesterday to this morning due to inclement weather. (Background)

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🏛 House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R, LA-1) dropped out of the race to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R, CA-20); the immediate future of the position remains up in the air. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• ⚖️ A US federal judge declined to block Arizona Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s law temporarily suspending the right to carry firearms in Albuquerque for 30 days. (Background)
• 🏛️🇪🇬 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is facing new federal charges accusing him of acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 😱👻 Why are we so scared of Friday the 13th?

Runner Sarah Bohan competed in the Chicago Marathon last weekend with one goal in mind: to beat her personal record. 

All was going as planned until mile 21, when Sarah spotted a tiny ball of fluff along the track. Upon closer look, she realized it was a kitten – and as runners raced by, no one else was going to help it.

🏃‍♀️Teeny tiny on the track... "It had to be all of 1 pound," she said. "Fur was matted and something clicked, and I was like, 'This is more important.'" 

🐱 Kitten's lucky day: Not only did Sarah pick up the kitten and continue to walk the race, she was able to find a spectator who assured her they would find the tiny animal a forever home. 

• As for Sarah – she may not have beaten her personal record, but she still finished the race in just over 3 1/2 hours... and possibly saved a life along the way.

The DONUT’s weekly news quiz is back. In just two minutes or less, see how your news superpowers stack up against our team.

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make. Easy peasy! (The rules, at least.)

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Chicken breasts
• Salt & pepper
• Cream cheese
• Mayo
• Cheddar cheese
• Bacon
• Slivered almonds
• Garlic powder
• Green onions

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Neutral oil
• Onion
• Garlic
• Ground beef
• Taco seasoning
• Scallion
• Pinto beans
• Diced tomatoes
• Green chilies
• Chunky salsa
• Salt & pepper
• Fritos

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Calabrian chili paste
• Spinach
• Salt
• Part-skim ricotta cheese
• Italian sausage
• Red onion
• Pound taccole paste
• Marinara sauce
• Mozzarella
• Parmesan cheese

☝️ Recipe #1: Million-dollar chicken

✌️ Recipe #2: Walking taco casserole

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Sheet-pan layerless lasagna

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