Hello everyone, and happy holidays!!! We hope you’re having a good break (if you’re on it already), and can relax and enjoy this mild winter. We wanted to let you know there won’t be any editions posted next week, so you’re going to be without the news for a wee bit. Sorry not sorry. — Chase

International

Shipping attacks in the Red Sea are disrupting global trade

As Houthi rebels continue to attack shipping lanes in the Red Sea, companies are steering clear… despite the costs. The Houthi militants have been attacking commercial vessels passing through the southern part of the sea (see map) ever since the Israel-Hamas war started in October.

British Petroleum became the latest company to pause shipping through the Red Sea on Monday, citing the violent threat of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. At least nine other carriers, including the Danish cargo giant Maersk, have recently said they’ll temporarily avoid the dangerous waters.

• The attacks are creating an international problem: The Red Sea flows into the Suez Canal, the fastest maritime link between Europe and Asia, which about 12% of world trade passes through.

Houthi rebels stated Tuesday they plan to continue attacks on ships linked to Israel and their Western allies, prompting shipping giants to reroute.

What’s the solution?

Many shipping companies are deciding safety is their best bet, rerouting their ships around the southern tip of Africa. According to Ryan Petersen, the CEO of logistics company Flexport, almost 25% of all containers shipped worldwide were being affected by the situation in the Red Sea as of Tuesday afternoon.

• For those opting to continue through the Red Sea, the US and some allies have vowed their support. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday plans to set up a multinational coalition to safeguard Red Sea shipping

How will it affect trade?

The attacks have risen the price of moving cargo, and time delays from rerouting around Africa aren’t helping. Maritime journalist John Konrad stated that changing the course of energy shipments will likely cause even bigger issues since there are fewer spare oil tankers than container ships, and they can’t gain back a lot of time by speeding up.

Though most oil carriers aren’t rerouting, oil futures prices went up 3.2% in the past five days (as of Thursday night), along with a rise in the cost of insuring ships against their risky travels in the Red Sea.

China just overtook the US as the #1 nation to sell coffee

The nation that historically drinks a lot of tea is ditching it for coffee. How China overtook the country that invented 64 oz. giant coffee jugs, I’m not sure.

China now has the most branded coffee shops of any country in the world, pushing the US to second place for the first time in at least two decades, since the World Coffee Portal started tracking.

• The number of chain coffee shops in China grew by 58% in the past year to overtake US outlets by more than 9,000 storefronts, the industry platform found.

Earlier this year, Starbucks poured $200 million on a new Chinese campus, which the company said was its largest investment in a coffee manufacturing and distribution center outside the US. The chain currently has about 6,500 stores in China and its goal is to reach 9,000 locations by 2025.

However, they do have a competitor: Luckin Coffee, a Chinese company that dodged a fraud scandal (and bankruptcy) to become a major coffee contender in the region, is the largest coffee chain in China.

After it leveraged franchising, low-cost scalability, and localized recipes, it usurped Starbucks, which counts China as its second-largest market. Luckin Coffee currently has around 11,000 stores in China, in comparison, McDonalds has 13,541 locations in the US… that’s a lot of coffee.

Nicaragua’s president is really upset over Miss Universe

In this week's weird headline, Nicaragua’s authoritarian leader Daniel Ortega seems to be pretty irate over the results of an international beauty pageant. Sheynnis Palacios (aka Miss Nicaragua) recently became the first woman from the country to be titled Miss Universe, the Nicaraguan government expressed “legitimate joy and pride.”

Things flipped on its head when the government later claimed that Palacios’s win was part of a conspiracy against Nicaragua. Photos surfaced of Palacios at a mass protest against President Ortega’s regime in 2018, probably enticing their change in response.

But, things didn’t end there. Karen Celebertti, the head of the Miss Nicaragua pageant (which helped Palacios secure her win), was charged with treason, and subsequently resigned last week. Celebertti is not allowed to reenter the country and is staying abroad, but her husband and son, who were reportedly involved in the family business, have been detained on accusations of conspiring with her to rig the beauty contest and aid a foreign-sponsored coup.

Why is he so upset?

The 78-year-old current president and former left-wing revolutionary has been clawing for more power since he was elected in 2007. But Ortega’s fears of dissent went into overtime after the 2018 protests over social security reforms he initiated. The rallies were crushed, leaving over 320 people dead.

What about the connection to Palacios? The then-teenaged Palacios was in a crowd of citizens angered with Ortega’s incumbency. Since-deleted protest photos posted on her Facebook proliferated on social media last month after she became Nicaragua’s first Miss Universe.

Many Nicaraguans living in the country and in exile took her title as the global beauty queen status as validation to propagate a resurgence of anti-Ortega protests. In a region where beauty contests are typically a public infatuation, it’s customary for pageant fans to celebrate a Miss Universe crowning with fanfare in the streets. But in Nicaragua, the festivities were infused with political strife.

• Crowds displayed the forbidden blue-and-white national flag that typically serves as a protest of Ortega’s party banner.

• Some pageant observers believed that Palacios made a reference to that flag when she wore a white dress with a blue cape at the Miss Universe ceremony held in El Salvador.

Nicaragua’s First Lady Rosario Murillo called the social media mania about Palacios’s victory being an anti-government victory “destructive coup-mongering” by “evil, terrorist commentators.”

This isn’t a first… Nicaraguan journalist Arturo McFields explained how, in 1979, Nicaraguan Miss Universe contestant Patricia Pineda was forced to return home without competing after her family received death threats from the government.

Business

Fast fashion rivals Shein and Temu are battling it out

We’ve got yet another corporate battle on our hands. But this time, they’re across the pacific. Chinese e-commerce retailers Temu and Shein have both won over the US market with their low-cost goods, now, they find themselves butting heads.

Temu was this year’s most downloaded free app on App Store, and Shein is gearing up for a massive IPO in 2024. But they each see a major wall keeping them from complete and utter success: each other.

Legal Strifes

In their feud’s latest development, Temu filed a 100-page lawsuit last Wednesday claiming Shein has been using “mafia-style” tactics to intimidate suppliers and has brought unfounded copyright claims to curb Temu’s growth in the US.

This déjà vu for these two. This summer, Temu filed an antitrust lawsuit against Shein, claiming the company strong armed 8,338 suppliers in China into signing loyalty agreements that barred them from making Temu products. Shein countersued, and then both companies dropped the suits later in October.

The first legal battle between the two was in December of last year, when Shein sued Temu for allegedly hiring influencers to talk about the company unfavorably.

• The most recent lawsuit claims Shein was still coercing suppliers with tactics like keeping them locked in meetings for hours and confiscating their phones.

Temu has come a long way

Temu, which became available in the US in September of last year, is currently winning the battle between the two to become the US’ destination for lighting fast fashion and goods.

In November, Temu had triple the sales Shein did in the US. Data from Q2 shows users spent a daily average of almost 20 minutes on Temu’s app, close to double the time spent on US-based rivals like eBay and Amazon.

However, they do have other problems to look out for: With their growth in the US, scrutiny has come based on how they keep their prices so low, and both Shein and Temu have faced accusations of forced labor.

Sony was hacked for yet another time

Hackers have targeted Sony again, and this time, video game enthusiasts will probably find the results interesting. Rhysida, a ransomware group (which has hacked the British Library), released over 1.3 million files regarding Sony’s game developer Insomniac Games yesterday.

The huge leak reportedly included internal presentations, Slack screenshots, and employees' personal information, which were released after the company failed to pay the $2 million demanded by Rhysida.

If what’s in the 1.67 terabytes of stolen data is true, we’ve learned some details about new games:

• Sony Interactive has an agreement with Marvel for a trilogy of X-Men games, according to Cyber Daily. Alleged footage from the first game, Wolverine, was released in the hack and is already proliferating social media.

• The files included a discussion of a Spider-Man 3 game, a game based on Venom, and a new Ratchet & Clank, according to The Verge.

Sony is having some internal battles too… some internal documents released in the hack show executives were concerned about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard after the deal was made in October.

• In one slide, Sony said it was worried that the acquisition could “disrupt and threaten” the console and game subscription markets in 2027.

Sony’s PlayStation sells the majority of consoles in the industry (although the gap has shortened with the newest generation), but the internal discussions highlight how Sony thinks that could change once Microsoft gains control of Activision’s extremely popular Call of Duty franchise, which is only guaranteed to remain on PlayStation through 2027.

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Grab Bag

Blue Origin is trying not to get left behind

After finally launching a rocket for the first time in forever, Blue Origin finds itself lagging behind. Blue Origin launched a spacecraft Tuesday for the first time since September 2022, when a tech failure turned the mission sideways. The unmanned New Shepard rocket had 33 research payloads and 38,000 postcards from Blue Origin’s youth STEM club on a space cruise.

The day before, Monday, another test flight was supposed to be Blue Origins first planned rocket launch in more than 15 months, and was called off at the last minute due to what it cited as “a ground system issue.” However, after Tuesdays successful flight, things might be turning around for the company… even if they’re in dead last in the space race.

Even after the company gets its rocket off the ground again, Blue Origin has some catching up to do: The company employs the same number of people as Elon Musk’s SpaceX (11,000), but it has launched zero rockets this year, while SpaceX has sent almost 100 rockets and thousands of satellites into space over the same period, per Ars Technica.

Time to catch up

Bezos, at least, knows the situation he is in. The Amazon founder recently told podcaster Lex Fridman that Blue Origin needs to get it together. He plans to quickly and effectively turn the company around by making it, in his words, “the world’s most decisive company.”

• The Amazon founder believes that many of its technology choices can be made much easier by “small teams deep in the company.”

• Bezos also shared that he ditched his Amazon CEO role specifically to focus on pushing forward progress at Blue Origin.

Things still aren’t looking good. Amazon is trying to challenge Elon Musk’s satellite business, Starlink, with its Project Kuiper subsidiary. But here, their lackluster status is even more apparent:

• Project Kuiper launched its first two test satellites this fall, while Starlink already has 5,000 delivering internet to 2 million customers.

Blue Origin also employs the same number of people as Musk’s SpaceX (around 11,000), but it has launched zero rockets this year, while SpaceX has sent almost 100 rockets and thousands of satellites into space over the same period, per Ars Technica.

Despite all of this, they’re still optimistic… Blue Origin’s next-generation rocket, New Glenn, will debut sometime next year, which NASA will use to launch an exploration robot to Mars. Blue Origin also recently snagged a deal to build a human moon landing system for the space agency after losing out to SpaceX on a similar contract two years ago. So, there may be some hope after all.

Your favorite performers may be worse than you thought

Apparently, Hollywood stars get ranked in the same way you and I do… based on performance. In nearly every field of work, job performance is measured, judged, and quantified. The same is true with those who work in Hollywood… and the newsletter business (please refer us).

Stars who adorn the big screen typically either have to be popular with fans (measured by box office revenue) or a hit with critics (measured by positive reviews). Some actors excel in both categories.

Others success is based almost entirely on one of these two factors, and some fall flat in both ways. The Hustle obtained two giant sets of data:

• Average Metacritic scores across all films for over 35,000 actors.

• Average domestic box office data across all films an actor has played a prominent role in over their career.

So, what are the results?

First lets go through those based on critical ratings: The scores range from 0 (absolutely terrible) to 100 (universal applause), with the average actor scoring about a 54. And while the ratings may give some insight into what roles an actor tends to take on, they are not an all-encompassing gauge for an actors performances.

• Daniel Day-Lewis ranked number one in critical reviews, scoring a 77.6, the clear winner.

• Some other notable actors feature Florence Pugh at no. 5, Andrew Garfield at 10, Emma Watson at 13, and good ole’ Leo Dicaprio at 21.

• In regards to the not so good ratings, Katt Williams holds the esteemed title of lowest score, with a solid 27.9.

• Some others are George Lopez at no. 8, David Spade at 11, Megan Fox at 18, and Johnny Knoxville at 23.

As we can see, actors who focus more heavily on dramatic roles, like DDL and Leonardo Dicaprio seem to score higher. Those who typically star in comedies are almost exclusively ranked at the bottom, like George Lopez, David Spade, and Katt Williams.

Now let’s look at box office numbers: The data isn’t adjusted for inflation, so keep that in mind. Plus, the data set is also heavily focused on domestic data (meaning the US).

• Obviously, franchises rule this category. Actors that starred in Marvel films (like Elizabeth Olsen, Scarlett Johansson, Zoe Saldana, and Chris Evans) ranked pretty high.

• Other favorites like Harry Potter and The Fast and Furious are also represented with Emma Roberts, Rupert Grint (both in the top 10), and Vin Diesel (who ranked 25th).

This info likely filled your brain with something you could probably go without knowing today, so I’m glad I could fill that void instead of TikTok. You’re welcome.

Fast Facts

Vivacious Video: Check out the best GoPro footage from 2023, compiled personally by their team.

It’s All Adding Up: The Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had 375 ad appearances during the NFL season. Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahomes was in second place (341), followed by Kevin Miles, or better known as Jake from State Farm (247).

Fish Influx: More than 1,300 tons of fish washed ashore in Japan, and officials have no idea why.

Living Wall: A study found that a “living skin,” or biocrust, is protecting the Great Wall of China from wind, rain, and other conditions that could damage it. I want one of those. Wait.

Audacious Auctions: Need a brain break? Here’s the weirdest auctions from 2023.

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