World

Israel expands ground efforts, Gaza citizens face worsening circumstances

Further updates on the Israel-Gaza war. Israel has started widening its military operations on the ground, concurrently, Palestinian citizens face increasingly dire conditions as the death toll of innocents rises.

Military operations: Israel deployed more troops further into the Gaza Strip as a means of destroying Hamas. The US has urged Israel to adopt a targeted ground offensive to lower the risk of an enlarged conflict, better distinguish Palestinian civilians from Hamas, and minimize casualties on both sides, according to the Washington Post.

Israel also took responsibility for an airstrike that hit Gaza’s largest refugee camp, wounding and killing hundreds, according to Gaza hospital officials. Israel said the strike killed Ibrahim Biari, a Hamas commander who was one of the leaders of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, and a spokesperson claimed dozens of other militants died in the strike.

Humanitarian crisis: Gaza residents broke into a UN warehouse in the thousands, to grab flour and other “basic survival items,” the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Sunday, highlighting the humanitarian situation in the region. More than 8,000 people, the majority being women and children, have been killed in Israel’s counteroffensive over the last several weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Palestinians reported a second major power outage Wednesday and a group of critically wounded people and foreign nationals are being allowed into Egypt from Gaza.

Billionaire politicians have become increasingly common

If you’ve got all the money in the world, what is there to lose on campaign fees? According to a recent study by Cambridge University, more than 11% of the world’s almost 2,000 billionaires have run for or won an election.

Why not vie for more power and influence when you’ve got the money to do so? At least that’s what billionaires are starting to think. “Billionare politicians are shockingly common,” the study said. In the US, we’ve seen our fair share with Donald Trump and recent GOP candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Doug Burgum. In the 2020 race, Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer made unsuccessful bids for the Democratic candidacy.

Outside of the US, billionaire politicians are even more plentiful. Terry Gou, billionaire and founder of Foxconn, running for president of Taiwan. Other billionaire leaders have included Andrej Babiš of the Czech Republic, the late Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Bidzina Ivanishvili of Georgia, Najib Mikati of Lebanon, Sebastián Piñera of Chile and Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand.

But what about those who don’t want to run for office? They still use their wads of cash to donate to political causes.

• Billionaires donated a record $881 million to US parties alone in the 2022 federal midterms, and that number is expected to rise this year.

Where is the best place to be a billionaire politician?

Billionaires are much more fortunate in authoritarian regimes than in democracies. According to the study, the “rate of political entry” for American billionaires is 3.7%, well below the global average of 11%.

China has the highest rate of billionaire politicians in the world, with 116 billionaires in government, representing a 36% billionaires-in-politics rate. The study said, “This is due to stronger wealth-protection motives for political entry in autocracies and the wide array of ‘stealth’ pathways to informal political influence in democracies.”

Despite where the best place may be to enter politics as a billionaire, the fact remains the ultra-wealthy will continue to assert more influence in politics, whether in the form of donations or actually taking office. Look out for your friendly neighborhood billionaire and see if they’re running anytime soon.

Saudi Arabia is conquering the sports world

If you want anything to do with oil or soccer, Saudi Arabia has got you covered. The most-watched championship in the world is set to return to the Middle East. On Tuesday, the country found out it will almost certainly be hosting the 2034 World Cup since it was the sole bidder after Australia withdrew hours before the deadline.

While it isn’t for another 11 years, it’s still a massive win for a country that has been shelling out cash to dominate sports the last few years (though human rights activists have voiced their criticisms).

Thanks to the billions of dollars in the nation’s Sovereign Wealth Fund:

• Saudi Arabia has hosted an amalgam of major sporting events, including this week’s boxing match with Tyson Fury, and its annual Formula One Grand Prix.

• The controversial LIV Golf Tour and Saudi Pro League have attracted famous athletes from their respective sports, including Brooks Koepka and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Back in 2018, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman promised that the new Europe would be the Middle East, a grand vision that has been sidestepped due to recent events like the Israel-Hamas war. However, the country continues to reach at its goal of becoming a global outlet for investment. Last week, Saudi Arabia hosted the Future Investment Initiative as it tries to diversify itself from just oil.

US Affairs

Homeschooling is the new craze

Is homeschooling the newest trend? A historically high number of parents are homeschooling their kids instead of sending them to public, private, or charter schools.

The number of homeschooled children during the last academic year was up 51% from 2017-2018 in states with available information, according to government data obtained by The Washington Post. Concurrently, public school enrollment dropped 4%.

• WaPo’s analysis puts the total number of American kids being lectured by their parents between 1.9 million and 2.7 million, exceeding the Catholic school student body in the US.

• The increase isn’t necessarily due to worsening education in traditional schools, as the homeschool rate is the same in districts that are academically high-performing.

Why the increase?

Parents cite a plethora of reasons why the traditional school system isn’t doing it for them, but these are the top three: schools failing to meet kids’ unique needs, bullying, and fears that curricula don’t align with their values.

• There is also an economic incentive as well. Parents can get thousands of dollars in homeschooling support from government programs and nonprofits in many states.

The huge increase in homeschooling has an entire industry forming around it, as companies are trying to cater to parents turned teachers.

• OutSchool, a platform that allows parents to create their own custom curriculum, has garnered $255 million in VC funding since 2015.

• Other companies, such as Prenda, act as an “Airbnb for education,” helping parents set up micro-schools where a small group of students learn from a supervisor.

Seeing the growing number of homeschooled children, many education experts voiced their doubts on whether it’s an adequate form of teaching your children, as parents often lack the same skills as trained teachers. The ramifications of not socializing with children their age and the lack of education quality were also raised.

The American economy is good, but Americans aren’t

The economy is doing great, but why aren’t the people? The numbers show the economy is performing well, which typically means the American consumer is too… except in this case.

• The economy is growing — fast. Last quarter’s almost 5% GDP expansion rate was more than double the previous quarter.

• Median household wealth is way up, with the average family net worth surpassing $1 million for the first time in history.

• Unemployment is sitting steady, with layoffs down and hirings up.

• Inflation fell by a great amount, so the Fed decided not to raise interest rates (for now).

If everything is so good, why do people feel so bad about it? According to The WSJ’s Greg Ip, here are a few theories:

• The negative feelings are tied to inflation; even as wages catch up to prices, people still run into sticker shock at grocery stores and gas stations.

• Collective pessimism about the economy may just “reflect dissatisfaction with the country as a whole,” lumped in with other sources of tension like crime and foreign wars.

Although these are good reasons, they don’t encompass everything that’s going on. According to CNBC, 62% of people are living paycheck to paycheck, and young people feel exacerbated over housing, college, and healthcare costs.

While Americans may be spending a lot of money, indicators (like the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index) stand at “recession-like levels”, showing we don’t feel so great about the state of things.

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Grab Bag

The breakfast sandwich will always reign supreme

Who doesn’t love a good breakfast sandwich? No one, apparently. According to The Washington Post, the bundles of goodness between two slices of bread are getting even more popular than they are already.

Maybe it’s because cereal sales are wavering, but whatever the case, breakfast fanatics don’t seem to mind.

• Breakfast sandwich sales in convenience and grocery stores are up.

• Americans bought $2.4B+ worth of them this year through September, up from around $1.5B in 2019, according to NielsenIQ.

Recent data from Circana showed that breakfast sandwiches were the fastest-growing food item this year in convenience stores and fast food places, beating out fan favorites like burgers and chicken nuggets.

To attract more foodies, food chains have started pouncing on the opportunity:

• Dunkin launched new breakfast tacos.

• McDonalds is partnering with Krispy Kreme to expand its menu.

• Wendy’s added new English muffin sandwiches to its already reworked breakfast menu.

With 80% of fast food orders coming through the drive-through and only 10% coming from dine-in, look to see an even bigger demand for breakfast items in the near future.

Offshore wind energy isn’t doing well

Offshore energy may be getting the boot. Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind farm developer, announced this week that it’s abandoning two big projects in New Jersey, leaving the Biden Administration’s clean energy ambitions wavering.

The Danish company claimed financing the operation has become unsustainable due to higher interest rates and supply chain delays, forcing them to disregard $4 billion.

Orsted CEO Mads Nipper told the NYT that while the renewable energy industry has also struggled in Europe, its problems are “more acute” in the US. Finance is not the only issue, public opposition and lack of supplies also harm the industry

• Orsted warned in August that NJ’s tax break wasn’t enough for the projects to continue amid rising costs.

• Republican lawmakers and Jersey Shore residents challenged the projects in court, leading to costly delays.

The project has become “politically charged,” with many residents worried about tourism revenue, and fishermen concerned about the impact on their livelihood. Time will tell whether it’s enough to expel their energy ambitions.

Snippets

Panel Pockets: Someone broke the record for the highest price ever price ever paid for a comic book panel.

Trivia Time: Test yourself with a quick round of trivia.

Chromosome Connection: 23andMe is rolling out a $1,188-per-year tool to identify users’ genetic vulnerabilities as part of its broader transition from a DNA-testing service into a healthcare company.

Cheese King: A blue cheese from Norway was crowned the world’s best cheese.

Space Toilet: Check out the view from this toilet.

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