Good morning. On today’s docket:

• 💥 The Israel-Hamas war is causing controversy on US college campuses
• 🗣️ The House finally has a speaker
• 📈 Word of the day = “efficiency”

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.43-minute read.

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🚨 Breaking news: A mass shooting at multiple locations in Lewiston, Maine, has left at least 20 people dead and dozens more injured. As of this writing this morning, the suspect was still at large.

"You are now, and you do become, what you think about."

–Earl Nightingale (1921-1989)

Universities across the country are struggling with how to approach the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in a way that’s inclusive to those with strong views on the situation.

• Many Jewish students and their allies have sought for schools to issue a forceful condemnation of Hamas and to support Israel after the surprise attack launched by Hamas militants on October 7.
• On the other side, many Muslim and Palestinian students have joined with allies in calling for schools to recognize decades of suffering by Palestinians in Gaza, and to strongly condemn Israel-caused civilian casualties.

Dozens of colleges have put out statements this month about the ongoing war – but many have faced criticism from students on both sides of the issue for either: 1) not going far enough in condemning Hamas' attack, 2) failing to condemn civilian deaths in Gaza, or 3) leaving out context and history from the region.

Non-student groups are also weighing in. Students at Harvard, Columbia, and NYU have lost job offers over their connection to controversial pro-Palestinian letters, top donors at UPenn and Harvard have canceled financial support over accusations the schools don’t do enough to fight antisemitism, and Florida yesterday banned the group Students for Justice in Palestine from state public universities for providing "harmful support for terrorist groups."

💥 In other Israel-Hamas news: Israel has agreed to delay its expected ground invasion of Gaza for an undisclosed amount of time to allow the Pentagon to deploy air defenses to the Middle East to protect US troops already stationed there, per a new WSJ report. This morning, however, The Guardian reported (citing the Israeli military) that Israeli troops backed by tanks attacked Hamas targets in a brief ground raid in the Gaza Strip.

• Hamas officials yesterday said the death toll from Israel’s ongoing airstrikes targeting the Gaza Strip rose above 6,500, including more than 2,700 children (figures which couldn’t be independently verified).

🇲🇽🌀 Hurricane Otis made landfall in southern Mexico as a Category 5 storm. Otis rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane over a 12-hour period overnight Tuesday, before hitting Mexico’s Acapulco region yesterday morning. The storm, which featured sustained winds of 165 MPH and knocked out all communications in Acapulco, marked the strongest hurricane to hit the region in recorded history. Otis was downgraded to a tropical storm by yesterday evening, after its power weakened as it moved north into Mexico.

🌍🫘 An international organization invented new bean species to combat Africa’s hunger crisis. Up to 60% of areas that grow beans in sub-Saharan Africa might not be suitable by the end of this century, per a 2016 study. To future-proof beans, an international group called the Pan-African Bean Research Alliance created and distributed over 650 new bean varieties across 32 African countries. And the new beans are, in fact, a magical fruit – they use less water, are more resilient to increasingly irregular weather patterns, and can better withstand prolonged dry and wet periods compared to previous species, allowing some African nations to more than double their bean productivity.

🇯🇵 Japan's Supreme Court nullified a law requiring transgender residents to be sterilized to officially change their gender. In Japan, transgender individuals who want an official gender change must be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, be at least 18 and unmarried, not have underage children, and have genital organs resembling the opposite gender. Yesterday’s Supreme Court’s decision reversed a previous ruling from 2019 that found the country’s sterilization clause for trans individuals was constitutional.

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For Republicans, the fourth time was the charm. The House now has a speaker, Mike Johnson (R-LA), who was approved by a 220-to-209 party-line vote yesterday.

Who is Mike Johnson?... Some past actions:

• He served on Trump’s impeachment defense team, and led an effort to collect signatures for an amicus brief in support of an unsuccessful Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election by voiding 20 million votes in four other states.
• Johnson is strongly opposed to abortion access, and previously proposed legislation that would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion.
• Before being elected to Congress in 2016, Johnson was an attorney with a focus on social conservative issues, including defending the state’s same-sex marriage ban to the Louisiana Supreme Court. He’s also called for restrictions on medical interventions, such as surgery, for transgender youth.

📝 More data: According to the 2021 bipartisan index kept by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University – which scores how well members of opposite parties work together using bill sponsorship data – Johnson was ranked 429th out of 435 lawmakers. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, gives Johnson a lifetime score of 90% for his voting record.

👀 Looking ahead… The House will now turn its focus to time-sensitive pieces of legislation, including a bill to fund the government that needs to be passed by November 17 to avert a shutdown.

💬 Quoted… “We’re finding evidence that Mars was likely a planet of rivers.”

• In a peer-reviewed study published yesterday, Penn State scientists revealed new evidence that Mars was once comparable to a wet, hot American summer filled with more rivers than previously thought. And, since rivers on Earth play an important role in the chemical, nutrient, and sediment cycles that all have a positive impact on life, the new discovery suggests – but doesn’t prove – Mars once had the proper conditions to support life.

🎶🗣️ Stat of the Day: Spotify executives used the word “efficiency” more than 30 times over the course of the company’s 50-minute quarterly earnings call, in which it reported an operating profit for the first time in a year. The company attributed its recent success to a $1/month price increase combined with the downsizing of its podcast operation. Moving forward, Spotify said it will focus more on tools to scale the business rather than content to attract listeners.

🤔 Did You Know?... Placebo treatments can actually work – even when the patient knows they’re taking a placebo instead of actual medicine. Now, if only we could apply this to broken-down cars (you don’t need a new transmission, silly, you’re fine).

📰 Worth a Read: The frightening economics of haunted houses → (The Hustle)

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• ☝️ The Mangrove Action Project recently announced the winners of its ninth annual Mangrove Photography Awards, which drew more than 2,000 entries from 72 countries.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with INVRS

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -1.4%; Dow: -0.3%; Nasdaq: -2.4%); the Nasdaq had its worst day since February 21 and the S&P fell below 4,200 for the first time since May.
• 📈 Meta reported Q3 earnings yesterday, beating estimates on both top and bottom lines; revenue increased 23% YOY. | 📉 Alphabet stock closed down 9.5%, driven by its cloud revenue miss; it was the worst performing day for the company since March 2020.
• 🤝 The UAW and Ford have reached a tentative labor agreement.

*From our partners: 📈🎉 Your path to financial literacy – gamified!... build a foundation of good investing habits and mindsets with INVRS. Learn with skill-testing trivia and contests in a live-research environment used by thousands of investors. Try INVRS for free here.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍎📈 Apple is raising the prices for several of its subscription offerings, including a $3 hike for Apple TV+ (now $9.99/month); other affected services include Apple One, Arcade, and News+.
• ⚾ Astros manager Dusty Baker – who many say helped invent the high five as a player in 1977 – announced his retirement from baseball yesterday.
• 🏀 The NBA All-Star Game is going back to its original East-West format and will no longer feature a player draft, commissioner Adam Silver said yesterday.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Scott Kemper Imagery

• 🪐 Mars contains a previously unknown layer of molten rock surrounding the planet’s liquid metallic core, per a pair of peer-reviewed studies published yesterday in Nature.
• 🧑‍🔬 Heman Bekele, a 14-year-old Virginia resident who invented a soap that treats skin cancer, was named “America's Top Young Scientist” after winning a middle-school competition run by 3M and Discovery Education.
• 🧘 Tai chi, a traditional Chinese exercise which combines slow and gentle movements with deep breathing, may help slow down the symptoms of Parkinson's disease for several years, per a new peer-reviewed study.

*From our partners: 🏞️ Adorn your living space with nature’s beauty… soaring mountains, serene forests, and tranquil lakes; Scott Kemper has captured it all in his 40 years of brilliance. DONUT Readers can save 20% on prints from Scott Kemper Imagery with code DONUT20.

MISCELLANEOUS

• ✈️💥 Two jets collided in midair at a Houston international airport yesterday after a private jet took off without permission and entered the path of another plane coming in to land; the FAA said no one was hurt in the incident, which is currently under investigation.
• 🍫 One-third of all US chocolate products tested as part of a recent Consumer Reports investigation contain "concerning" levels of lead or cadmium, including many products sold by Hershey’s.
• ⚖️ Former President Trump was fined $10,000 yesterday for his second violation of a partial gag order in his ongoing NY civil fraud trial. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 💡 Time's 200 best inventions of 2023.

Yesterday, we covered how US lawmakers across the political spectrum are asking the Supreme Court to overturn recent court decisions limiting the ability of local governments to enforce camping bans on homeless residents.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, should local governments be allowed to clear homeless camps without also offering alternative housing to all homeless residents?

• 👍 Yes: 39%
• 👎 No: 45%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 16%

Click here to read some of the best responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 8,677 votes and 842 longform responses.

We bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week.

• Man arrested for faking heart attack 20 times at restaurants to avoid paying bill, reports say → (FOX5 Atlanta)
• Swifties swarmed a restaurant to catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, but it turned out to be scarecrows dressed like them → (Business Insider)
• Man pretends to be mannequin to steal jewellery after shop closes → (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Stranded on the Eiffel Tower, a couple decide to wed → (Associated Press)

👆 Dorris Kirks and Carl Kruse are celebrating wedded bliss.

The happy couple met two years ago at Cedar Lakes Village, a senior living home in Olathe, Kansas. 

• Dorris and Carl originally bonded over their love of playing pool. Now, at 96 years old each, the newlyweds are looking forward to the rest of their lives together. 
• “We do a lot of things together, and things just fit,” Dorris said. “He’s so patient and he wants me to be happy. Like I told him my feet are cold in my room and he bought me a heater – it’s the little things.”

Which Russian river, pictured above, is the longest in Europe?

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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The Volga.