INBOXIFY ORIGINAL's [13/October/2023]

Welcome, Friday! Embrace the End of the Week with Open Arms and an Exciting Spirit! Let's make this day filled with positivity, joy, and anticipation for a wonderful weekend ahead!

INTERNATIONAL

Israel forms unity government, Gaza crisis worsens

The aftermath of Israeli shelling in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images

Here are the latest updates from the Israel–Hamas war:

Israel formed an emergency government. Stressing unity during a national emergency, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked with the opposition party to create an emergency government and a “war management cabinet” that will last until its war against Hamas is over—and only consider legislation related to the conflict. The establishment of the unity government suggests that Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul, which has deeply divided Israeli society, will be paused for now.

Gaza’s humanitarian situation sharply worsened. With Israel battering the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and forming a “complete siege” around the territory, the already impoverished enclave is heading toward a humanitarian crisis. More than 260,000 Gazan residents have fled their homes to shelter in hotels or UN schools. Water and other critical supplies are running short after Israel’s military cut off access, and Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel. The US talked with Israel and Egypt about allowing civilians to leave Gaza and lifesaving aid to enter, but Egypt reportedly rejected a deal that would establish safe corridors into its country.

Hostage worries span the globe. “There is no recent precedent for the scale of the hostage situation in the Gaza Strip,” the NYT said about Hamas’s abduction of 150 people back to Gaza. One relative of a hostage told The Guardian it’s “like a nightmare,” and families all over the world are awaiting news of loved ones. Fourteen Thai citizens were kidnapped by Hamas militants—30,000 Thai people account for the majority of Israel’s agricultural workers.

Harvard letter sparks backlash. Hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman asked for the names of the Harvard students who signed off on a letter exclusively blaming Israel for the violence so that he doesn’t “inadvertently hire them.” The letter, which was criticized by prominent alums such as Harvard’s former President Larry Summers, was signed by 34 student groups, at least five of which have since withdrawn their endorsements, according to the Harvard Crimson. Summers said Ackman is “getting a bit carried away” with his call for a blacklist, and lists have been posted online containing the personal information of individuals associated with clubs that signed the letter.

The EU gave Zuck a warning. The European Union told Meta it had 24 hours to tackle misinformation around the war on its social media platforms since allowing content associated with the terrorist group Hamas to circulate violates its content moderation law. The EU issued a similar warning to Elon Musk’s X the previous day.

TECH

All the young kids love Apple

Francis Scialabba

Gen Zers aren’t interested in phones that fold—they just don’t want to get clowned on in the group chat. Investment bank Piper Sandler surveyed 9,193 teens and found that 87% of them had iPhones in their pockets.

And 88% of teens said their next phone would be an iPhone, cementing the tech giant’s dominance.

Apple also crushed other tech categories in the survey:

• It was the top watch brand for teens from wealthier households (with an average yearly income of $109,670), climbing past classic names like Casio and Rolex.

• Looking beyond hardware, Apple Pay was the favored payment app of the survey, with 42% of teens using it within the last month compared to just 27% using Cash App.

But if the Apple ecosystem is an overflowing garden of adored products, there’s a corner in the back where Apple Music’s dried-up vines never seem to get enough water. Instead, Spotify is the most popular music streamer: 70% of the survey’s respondents used the platform in the last six months.

What else do the kids like? Chick-fil-A is their favorite restaurant, and Nike is their top footwear and clothing brand. Over half of the respondents said Amazon was their favorite e-commerce site.

LABOR

Gender gap research won Claudia Goldin a Nobel Prize

Carlin Stiehl/Getty Images

For the third time in 54 years, a woman has won the Nobel Prize in Economics. The prestigious award went to Claudia Goldin yesterday for her research on the causes of the gender pay gap and “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes,” according to the prize committee.

Goldin, an economics professor at Harvard University, is the first woman to receive the award on her own rather than share it with men. She’s no stranger to being first: Goldin was also the first woman to receive tenure in the economics department at Harvard.

Uncovering the gender pay gap: Goldin’s groundbreaking research found that the gender pay gap largely coincides with the birth of a first child. A 15-year study of MBA students at the University of Chicago conducted by Goldin revealed that the pay gap began to widen within the first two years after a woman had her first child, since women take on the majority of childcare duties, leaving less time for work. “We’re never going to have gender equality until we also have couple equity,” Goldin said in an interview with the New York Times after winning the prize.

Coincidentally, Goldin won the Nobel prize within days of publishing her latest paper, “Why Women Won,” about the women’s movements of the 1970s and why progress has slowed since

CALENDAR

The week ahead

Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images

Earnings season is back: PepsiCo, Delta, Dominos, and big banks headline the start of earnings season, one that will have investors looking at how slowing inflation has affected the ability of companies to pad their profit margins. Pepsi’s report will be closely watched as its snack division, Frito-Lay, could be tested by the increasing popularity of weight-loss drugs like Wegovy. Major banks like JPMorgan are expected to post strong results.

The Eras Tour movie arrives: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour hits theaters around the world on Friday the 13th after selling a staggering $100+ million in advance tickets globally. Should Swift’s movie break the $100 million mark in North America this weekend, it would be just the sixth movie to do so in 2023, and it would surpass Miley Cyrus’s Best of Both Worlds as the highest-grossing concert film ever.

Ellison to testify in SBF trial: Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal fraud trial enters its second week. Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of SBF’s hedge fund, Alameda Research, and his former girlfriend, is expected to testify as the star witness as soon as tomorrow.

Everything else…

• Sports fans really can have it all this week. The feast includes MLB playoffs, the WNBA finals, the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World Cup, and the start of the NHL regular season.

• Birkenstock is planning to start trading publicly on Wednesday.

• Syzygy alert: A “ring of fire” solar eclipse will be visible on Saturday in parts of the Western US.

• Saturday Night Live returns for its first show since the writers strike began. Pete Davidson will host with musical guest Ice Spice.

✅Travel tip: A villa on Lake Como was just named No. 1 on the list of the 50 best hotels in the world.

✅Look: Take a moment to marvel at the design that goes into those fruit stickers you chuck in the trash before you bite an apple

✅(Bird)watch: Peep birds all over the world from home with Bird Buddy’s new feature.

✅Money tip: These apps will cancel your unnecessary subscriptions.

✅Learn: The history of vanilla, the most misunderstood spice in America.