International

Houthi rebels hijack cargo ship in the Red Sea

A Japanese-operated cargo ship, the Galaxy Leader, was hijacked using a helicopter. In the early afternoon on Sunday, 25 crew members aboard a cargo ship were taken hostage by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, sparking fears that this may be the start of escalated regional tensions from the Israel-Hamas war.

The attack off the coast of Yemen comes just days after the Houthis published a graphic (which depicted an Israeli ship on fire) with captions in Hebrew, Arabic, and English that said, “We will sink your ships.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Houthis for the attack on the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. He stated no Israelis were on board, nor was any cargo.

Who are the Houthis?

The Houthis are a well-equipped group that controls northern Yemen and forms part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” around Israel, which also includes Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

The Houthis’ official tagline is even more shocking than raiding a cargo ship by helicopter: “God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel. Curse the Jews, victory to Islam.”

Last Tuesday, the Houthis warned that they would target Israeli ships, raising alarms in the shipping and cargo industry. The International Maritime Security Construct recommended that vessels sailing through the busy Bab el-Mandeb Strait transit at night and stay as far away from Yemeni waters as possible.

Argentina has elected a new president… who likes chainsaws

Argentines have elected their new president in a drastic shift from their typical preferences. An economy battling inflation soaring above 140%, a nearing recession, and rising poverty has the citizenry turning to political outsider and eccentric economist Javier Milei.

Milei won by a wider-than-expected margin on Sunday, landing around 56% of the vote compared to just over 44% for his rival, Peronist Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who conceded.

• Despite being neck and neck in the polls for the past few months, Milei pulled ahead in the final days to secure the presidency.

The vote symbolizes a change in the country, and possibly a rebuke to the Peronist government, which had been in control since 1991.

Many voters have been left defeated after the most recent economic decline and a string of corruption scandals, and were desperate for any change, despite whatever misgivings they had about Milei’s eccentric personality.

• Milei's election comes at an uncertain time for the South American country facing its worst economic crisis in two decades.

He wants to dollarize the economy and cut the size of government, which could prove painful for a population already grappling with over 40% poverty. Argentines are hopeful this may be the change they need going forward, but it will not be an easy road ahead.

The most powerful rocket ever made just exploded

SpaceX tested its latest venture, and it ended with a bang. The company launched its Starship rocket from the coast of South Texas on Saturday, showcasing the behemoth of a rocket that could change the trajectory of space transportation and help NASA return astronauts to the moon.

The Starship is the world’s largest and tallest launch system, and its second test flight this past weekend was (mostly) a success, despite some unscheduled explosions. However, the test flight showed that the company had fixed key issues that arose during the earlier test in April.

• All 33 engines in the vehicle’s lower booster stage fired, and the rocket made it through stage separation (when the booster falls away and the six engines of the upper stage light up to carry the vehicle to space).

• The first test flight badly damaged the launch site, several engines on the booster failed, and the flight termination system took too long to explode.

The Starship traveled farther than it ever had before and was operational twice as long as the previous attempt. Eventually, the giant rocket was 92 miles in the air when SpaceX lost contact with it after its flight termination system detonated. SpaceX called it “an extremely successful day,” as they were able to gather a plethora of data to improve its next flight.

For a video of the launch, click here.

Miscellaneous

Are we really that surprised?

Rep. George Santos is the latest politician to be exposed for being greedy. After deflecting multiple attempts to remove him from office, George Santos may have finally found himself in a corner.

The House Ethics Committee said yesterday it found evidence that Santos (R-NY) stole campaign money and used it for wild personal expenses.

Here are a few purchases Santos reportedly made with his constituents’ money:

• $2,000 on a fancy trip to Atlantic City with his husband.

• $1,500 on Botox.

• $20,000 of campaign funds to his personal business, which he spent on rent and casinos.

• A $4,127.80 Hermes purchase and smaller Sephora and OnlyFans charges.

So, will he actually be held accountable?

Of course, Santos denied all wrongdoing. He did say he would not pursue reelection in 2024… if he isn’t expelled from Congress before then.

Rep. Michael Guest introduced a resolution to oust the New York representative one day after the committee released a report highlighting Santos’s use of campaign funds for things that clearly aren’t campaigns (like we mentioned above).

Congress will take a vote after Thanksgiving to determine if there’s a two-thirds majority in favor of his expulsion. The Republican Party tried and failed to remove Santos from office earlier this month, but now there are even more lawmakers calling for his removal.

If this vote does send Santos packing, he’ll be the sixth representative in history to be kicked out of Congress.

Top AI CEO removed from position… then reinstated?

A big fall, but a bigger comeback. On Friday, Sam Altman (the former CEO of OpenAI), was abruptly forced out of the company, one of the world’s leading AI companies and creators of the popular ChatGPT. But four days later, he found himself hired by OpenAI’s biggest investor, Microsoft.

Early Monday morning Microsoft made the announcement it would be hiring Sam Altman to come aboard its advanced research lab along with Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s previous president.

The hires are seen as a business masterclass by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who was given lemons and made the best possible lemonade you could.

• After Altman’s dismissal, the tech community rallied behind him and Brockman and bashed the board’s decision, which some said was as “irresponsible” as Steve Jobs getting fired by Apple in 1985.

• Top OpenAI investors (like Microsoft) were irate about what happened, and over the weekend tried to get Altman and Brockman to return, which didn’t work out.

• To replace Altman in the meantime, OpenAI hired the former CEO of Twitch, Emmett Shear.

Why fire him in the first place? While we don’t know the exact nature of the beef between Altman and the board, they cited “a breakdown in communications” as the main contributor to his departure. Reports suggest there was a rift over Altman’s aggressive growth plans for AI and the company.

Members of the board who believe AI could have catastrophic effects were alarmed by Altman’s fast-paced push to commercialize the company’s powerful ChatGPT chatbot.

Where do we go from here? Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI probably isn’t the best at the moment, but by bringing leading AI thinkers Altman and Brockman in-house, Nadella preserved, and even strengthened, the company’s lead in what may be the most disruptive technology in a generation. At the end of all this, a $2.7 trillion company got even richer.

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NASA found a planet that rains sand

This planet’s clouds are made of… sand? On the planet WASP-107b, nicknamed “candy floss” because of its low density, it rains sand.

Similar to Earth’s water cycle, on WASP-107b, silicate vapor rises up from the lower atmosphere, cools, and then forms tiny grains of sand that rain back down.

Scientists also used the James Webb Space Telescope to identify that water vapor and sulfur dioxide are present on the planet, giving its atmosphere the scent of burnt matches. Yummy.

The discovery marks the first time that scientists have been able to identify the chemical composition of another planet’s clouds, but likely not the last. Astronomers are now working to confirm if another planet’s rain is made of precious gems.

Scientists studying the planet said that while it doesn’t seem likely to be a candidate for life, we’ll “have to broaden our imaginations,” and that it’s possible for “various alternative ways for life to form on another planet.” Pretty exciting times to be a planet with fluffy clouds.

Your favorite bamboo munchers are coming back to a zoo near you

Pandas are back, and better than ever. After a brief call-back to their homeland, our favorite black and white bears are coming back. If you remember back to a couple of our previous editions, we had discussed how the pandas were a form of soft diplomacy between the US and China, as well as how China recalled them.

The panda loaning is a U.S.-China diplomatic tradition dating back to the Nixon administration. The giant panda is China’s national symbol and a diplomatic tool since the bamboo munchers have been loaned to foreign zoos as a gesture of goodwill.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the furry creatures would be sent back to the US from his country, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”

The gesture came at the end of the day in which Xi met with Biden in their first meeting in a year, each committing to reduce hostilities between their respective countries.

Xi didn’t share extra information on when or where pandas may be sent but appeared to suggest the next pair of pandas are most likely to come to California, probably San Diego. He added that he learned the San Diego Zoo and people in California “very much look forward to welcoming pandas back.” I know I’ll be looking forward to it.

Snippets

Best Bird: The pūteketeke, a species described as “weird puking birds with colorful mullets”, was crowned New Zealand’s Bird of the Century last week.

Best of the Best: National Geographic editors looked at over 2 million photos and picked their best photos of the year.

Car Delivery: Amazon will soon let you buy cars on the platform, starting with Hyundai in 2024.

Community Cop: A cop in Australia was given 100 hours of community service for pulling a gun on a fellow cop who threatened to spoil Top Gun Maverick.

Counterfeit Craze: The US announced its largest counterfeit bust in history, seizing more than $1 billion worth of fake handbags, wallets, and sunglasses from Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and other luxury brands.

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