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NATO Breach, Charlie Kirk, & $1M Treasure Hunt

News without the noise

Good Morning! Today’s edition is 936 words, a 4-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

  • UFO hearing video

  • Fake nurse in Florida

  • New Girl Scout cookie

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Big Stories

NATO Territory Breached

  • Russian drones entered Polish territory on Wednesday for the first time since Moscow's invasion began. Poland and NATO allies shot down four of 19 aircraft. Many drones came from Belarus during a larger Ukraine attack. Prime Minister Tusk called it the 'closest we have been to open conflict since World War II.

  • Poland invoked NATO Article 4 consultations, only the eighth time since 1949, calling the breaches an intentional attack on the alliance. NATO assets actively engaged in the response alongside Dutch F-35 fighters. Drone debris was found in several Polish cities, but caused no casualties. Poland closed three airports out of precaution.

  • European leaders condemned the incident as an intentional escalation requiring a strong response. The EU called it the most serious violation since Ukraine’s 2022 invasion. Russia denied targeting Poland and labeled accusations 'groundless,' offering consultations with Polish defense officials.

UFO Video Released

  • Video released at a House Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena hearing shows a Hellfire missile bouncing off an unidentified object off Yemen's coast on October 30, 2024. Rep. Eric Burlison played footage he claimed came from an MQ-9 Reaper drone, showing a fast-moving object that continued its trajectory after an apparent missile impact.

  • The incident occurred while US forces were protecting shipping from Houthi attacks in Yemen's waters. Burlison didn't explain how he obtained the footage, but questioned why the public is consistently blocked from such information.

  • Pentagon officials declined to authenticate the video, with spokespeople saying they had 'nothing to provide.' The footage resembles the 2015 'Go Fast' video that showed a fast-moving object over California waters, which Pentagon investigators later determined was a weather balloon captured at an optical illusion angle.

Charlie Kirk Assasination

  • Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on Wednesday during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. The gunman fired from a campus building 200 yards away, hitting Kirk once in the neck as he sat at his 'Prove Me Wrong' debate table. Kirk, 31, died after surgery at a nearby hospital.

  • The suspect is now in custody, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Wednesday evening after an hours-long manhunt. The event had drawn controversy with nearly 1,000 people signing a petition to bar Kirk from speaking. The shooting was the first stop on Turning Point's 'American Comeback Tour' aimed at young conservatives.

  • Trump ordered flags to half-staff and announced Kirk's death, calling him 'Great, and even Legendary.' Democrats, including Governor Gavin Newsom, condemned the 'disgusting' attack.

Quick Stories

US News

  • Florida man Joseph Kinney was arrested for using fake nursing credentials to get jobs after his license was revoked in 2022 for stealing drugs from employers. (More)

  • Kamala Harris called letting Biden decide on re-election "recklessness" in her memoir, saying his team undermined her and she should have told him not to run. (More)

  • Three former FBI officials sued Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, claiming they were fired because the White House ordered it to punish agents who investigated Trump. (More)

World

  • Cuba lost all power Wednesday when its electrical grid collapsed, leaving millions in the dark and worried about food spoiling during the country's deepening economic crisis. (More)

  • French police arrested 473 people on Wednesday as 200,000 "Block Everything" protesters tried to shut down the country after the government collapsed over austerity cuts. (More)

  • A 79-year-old South Korean woman was cleared of biting off her rapist's tongue. She had fought for decades to overturn her wrongful 1960s conviction. (More)

Business & Economy

  • US stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday (S&P +0.30%, Nasdaq +0.03%, Dow -0.48%). The S&P 500 hit fresh highs after wholesale prices unexpectedly dropped, boosting hopes for a rate cut next week. (More)

  • Larry Ellison passed Elon Musk as the world's richest person on Wednesday, reaching nearly $400 billion as Oracle stock jumped 40% on massive AI contracts. (More)

  • Klarna shares jumped 30% in their NYSE debut on Wednesday, opening at $52, valuing the Swedish buy-now-pay-later company at $15 billion. (More)

Sports & Entertainment

  • Three college basketball players from Fresno State and San Jose State were banned for life after betting on games and deliberately playing poorly to win bets. (More)

  • David Bowie's massive archive opened at London's V&A Museum this week, featuring unfinished projects like a Major Tom movie and a musical he worked on before his death. (More)

  • Germany beat Slovenia 99-91 despite Luka Dončić's 39 points, while Finland made EuroBasket history by reaching their first semifinal with a 93-79 win over Georgia. (More)

Science, Health, & Tech

  • US death rates fell 3.8% in 2024 to the lowest rate since 2020, with COVID dropping out of the top 10 causes. (More)

  • NASA's Mars rover found minerals in ancient rocks that usually form when microbes eat organic matter, offering the best evidence yet of past life. (More)

  • Spotify rolled out lossless audio to Premium subscribers in 50 countries, providing CD-quality streaming without price increases or new subscription tiers. (More)

Extra Credit

Clue to a $1M treasure hunt hidden in a 13-stanza poem. 

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