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Elon Musk's Big 'Catch'

Elon Musk's Big 'Catch'

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
October 14, 2024

Good Monday morning. Here are the most popular Halloween costumes this year, a little over two weeks until the big day. Have a great start to your week!

In Today’s Brief

Florida: Electric funds
Iceland: Snap elections
Harris: Health records
Boeing: Major layoffs
Chicago Marathon: World record

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Bring it back

SpaceX pulled off a major achievement after launching its fifth Starship rocket.

What happened: The Elon Musk-owned private spacecraft manufacturer successfully caught the returning rocket booster for the first time, rather than allowing it to explode or be ditched in the Gulf of Mexico.
How it worked: The rocket was brought back to land at the launch pad in New Mexico. The launch tower had massive robotic arms -- called "chopsticks" -- that caught the booster while the spacecraft continued to a targeted splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Big picture: The booster return is a major engineering feat. It also saves SpaceX and clients like NASA millions (and billions) if it can be consistently replicated and make future missions to the moon and, potentially, Mars more feasible.

2) Good walk spoiled

Former President Donald Trump must take a break from his favorite pastime.

The news: Trump has not played golf since the second assassination attempt against him on Sept. 15 in Florida and is not expected to hit the course anytime soon. He will not play until a new security plan for him is in place, according to ABC, and that is unlikely to happen before Election Day as the Secret Service struggles to address the safety concerns surrounding Trump.
New requests: Trump's campaign has asked the federal government for even more security enhancements, including a military plane for all travel. And President Joe Biden indicated the Republican candidate will have his requests met. The unprecedented asks came after two attempts on Trump's life and continued reports that Iran is actively trying to kill him and other former officials in his administration.
Hack attack: A think tank with close ties to Trump's presidential transition team was hit with a cyberattack, and law enforcement reportedly believes Chinese hackers are responsible. The America First Policy Institute is a nonprofit where many Trump loyalists have landed; Iranian actors previously hacked the former president's campaign and surrogates.

3) Middle East conflict

Israel suffered one of its most significant blows since the start of the Gaza war.

The news: A Hezbollah drone strike launched from Lebanon wounded dozens near a military training site in Binyamina, about 40 miles from the Israeli-Lebanese border. At least 67 people were injured, several critically. The Iranian-backed militia said the attack was in retaliation for an Israeli air strike last week.
UN claim: Israel was accused of breaching the position of United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon. UNIFIL claimed Israeli forces entered its camp with tanks and demanded the peacekeepers leave to assist the assault on Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN forces to pull out, alleging the terrorist group is using them as a shield.
Special delivery: The Pentagon has agreed to send an advanced missile defense system to Israel and U.S. military personnel to operate it. The move comes after Iran's failed missile attacks in recent months. Israel remains coy on how and when it will retaliate against Tehran's most recent attack.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

President Biden toured Hurricane Milton damage in Florida. He announced over $600M in federal support for projects to strengthen electric grid resiliency with over 1M still without power in the state (More)
Twenty-three people were rescued after an underground elevator failed at a Colorado gold mine. A mine tour guide was killed in the accident; the site is now closed indefinitely (More)
A mass shooting at a Tennessee State homecoming celebration left one person dead and nine wounded. A person died and 14 were injured in a mass shooting at an Oklahoma City event center (More | More)

World News

Iceland will have snap elections next month. Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson will dissolve parliament after the country's governing coalition collapsed; recent volcanic eruptions have hampered the country's economy in addition to other political divisions (More)
A man allegedly tied to a U.S. Election Day terror plot was arrested in France. He is reportedly the brother of the Afghani national arrested in Oklahoma last week on terror charges; both men are accused of supporting the Islamic State (More)
At least 20 people were injured in a train crash in Egypt. At least one person died in the collision about 170 miles outside of Cairo; it was the second railway accident in the nation this month as crashes and derailments have become increasingly common due to aging infrastructure and mismanagement (More)

Campaign News

Vice President Kamala Harris "is in excellent health," according to an Army doctor. Her medical records were released by the White House; former President Trump has not provided similar disclosures, but his campaign said he is in "perfect and excellent health" (More)
The top Senate Republican super PAC will spend close to $7M in Wisconsin. Recent polls have shown GOP candidate Eric Hovde closing in on incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin as Trump also gains ground in the state (More)
Over 70% of Americans are experiencing some form of election-related anxiety, according to a new survey. Over 50% of respondents said campaign season has had a negative impact on their mental health and 33% are concerned about post-election issues regardless of the results (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed higher on Friday. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 hit all-time highs to wrap up the week (Dow +0.97%, Nasdaq +0.33%, S&P 500 +0.61%).
Boeing will cut about 17K jobs as losses mount amid a factor worker strike. The aerospace giant plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce and will also delay the rollout of its new 777X wide-body planes to 2026 (More)
Over 400 7-Elevens will close in North America due to underperformance issues. That is about 3% of the roughly 13K locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico; the convenience store chain's Japanese parent company has received takeover bids in recent weeks (More)

Entertainment & Sports

Ruth Chepngetich won the Chicago Marathon at a new world-record pace. The Kenyan long-distance runner finished the event at 2:09:56, besting the previous record set by Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa at last year's Berlin Marathon (More)
Tom Brady will become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders tomorrow. The NFL owners are expected to approve the future Hall of Famer's bid to buy 10% of the team with businessman Tom Wagner at a meeting in Atlanta; Brady will become the third former player in league history to become a franchise owner (More)
Actor John Lasell died at 95. He was known for character roles on Dark Shadows and The Twilight Zone; he also appeared on other shows such as Dallas and Flipper before retiring from Hollywood acting in 1985 (More)

Quick Hitters

Big Relief: A swarm of asteroids is unlikely to end the world, according to a new study. Researchers have determined there are fewer large, dangerous space rocks near Earth than previously believed.
Hollow Victory: Earning a Michelin star is a major honor for a restaurant. But, surprisingly, the chances of failure increase along with the added prestige.
Go Deep: Is cleaning with baking soda actually effective? And better for the environment? A thorough project determined some clear results.
Take Note: Some people are light sleepers. But there are ways to change that and train your body to better snooze through light and sound exposure.
Pet Hack: Dogs should have regular bathing schedules like humans. Here are some tips on how to keep your pooch clean.

Watch This

Answering a divisive generational debate …