Lithium, the new gold

Happy Thanksgiving! Today we are going to cover:

👉 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire

👉 Discovery of $540B worth of lithium in California

👉 Apple ID phishing scam

and many more!

Today’s issue is a 5.2-minute read.

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Quote of the day

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started”

Mark Twain (American writer)

Must Know

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect

A 🕊 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has begun, bringing hope after nearly 14 months of fighting. Many Lebanese people are returning to their homes in southern Lebanon, despite warnings from both the Israeli and Lebanese military to stay away from certain areas.

This ceasefire, brokered by the U.S. and France, is set for 2 months and requires Hezbollah to withdraw its forces from the border region while Israeli troops will return to their side.

The ⚔ conflict has caused significant suffering, with over 3,800 people killed in Lebanon and many displaced. While some Lebanese celebrate the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah, many Israelis remain concerned about their safety and the ongoing war in Gaza.

Starbucks under attack in US and UK

🥤 Starbucks has been affected by a cyber attack on Blue Yonder, a company that provides software for managing supply chains. This attack, which happened on November 21, has disrupted Starbucks' ability to manage 📅 employee schedules and payroll, forcing the coffee chain to revert to manual tracking methods.

However, Starbucks assures customers that service remains normal and that all employees will be paid for their hours worked. Blue Yonder is working hard to fix the issues caused by the attack, but they ⏲ have not yet provided a timeline for when everything will be back to normal.

The incident highlights how vulnerable companies can be to cyber threats, especially those that rely on technology for daily operations. Other retailers in the U.K. have also reported disruptions due to this attack.

The game-changing discovery

🔍 A recent discovery in California's Salton Sea could change the global economy by revealing 18 million tons of lithium, valued at $540 billion 🤯. This lithium, often called "white gold," is essential for powering 📱 mobile devices and electric cars.

Scientists initially estimated only 4 million tons, but this new finding suggests enough lithium to produce batteries for 382 million electric vehicles, which is 100 million more than the number of 🚗 cars currently on U.S. roads.

If the U.S. can extract this lithium, it could become self-sufficient and reduce its reliance on imports from China, which is a major player in the electric vehicle market. Currently, the U.S. exports only a small percentage of electric vehicles compared to China.

The extraction process has already begun with plans for a $1.85 billion facility to harvest lithium from the lake. This shift could boost the U.S. economy and establish it as a leader in electric vehicle production, benefiting companies like Tesla and potentially 📉 reducing China's influence in the market.

⚡Speed-Round: The Most Impactful Stories

🛰 NASA's Artemis program is set to send a Toyota Lunar Cruiser to the moon, with 🚀 SpaceX responsible for its transport. This hydrogen-powered rover, developed in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is designed for extreme lunar conditions and can carry two astronauts and over 1,000 pounds of equipment. Unlike Tesla, Toyota's focus on ruggedness and fuel-cell technology makes the Lunar Cruiser suitable for the harsh environment, including 🌡 temperature extremes and ☢ radiation.

A new phishing scam is targeting Apple users with emails falsely claiming that their Apple ID has been suspended due to unusual activity. These emails, which appear to be from Apple Support, contain a sense of urgency, urging recipients to click a link to verify their identity or risk losing access to their accounts. However, the emails come from suspicious domains like: @uaepass.ae instead of the legitimate @email.apple.com, and often include poor grammar and awkward phrasing. To protect yourself against such scams:

• 🔍 verify the sender's email address

• 🚫 avoid clicking on unknown links

• 🔑 enable multi-factor authentication

• 🗨 report any suspicious emails directly to Apple.

Texas has reported its first locally acquired dengue virus case of 2024 in Cameron County, part of a total of 106 travel-associated cases this year, the highest since 2002, including 1 death. Dengue, a mosquito-borne illness, can cause fever and joint pain, with symptoms appearing within two weeks of infection. Health officials stress the need for mosquito bite prevention, as mosquito activity remains high in the state through November and December.

Top-levels

Markets & Business

• 💰📉 Bitcoin's price has declined to $92K, after rubbing shoulders with $100K last week. The broader crypto market has lost about $200 billion in value since last Friday. Despite this pullback, traders remain optimistic about growth heading into 2025, especially with supportive regulatory promises in the upcoming administration.

• 💻 🖨 Microsoft, HP and Dell are in a race to prepare as many electronics components as possible before January in expectation that Donald Trump will impose tariffs on Chinese imports.

• California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to revive the state's EV rebate program if the federal tax credit is eliminated, but Tesla may be excluded! 🚀 Elon Musk criticized the potential exclusion, calling it "insane" given that Tesla manufactures its vehicles in California.

• 🦋 Bluesky, the new X social network alternative, is trying to 4x its moderation team due to 📈 surge in the number of users. | Disney agrees to pay $43 million to settle lawsuit regarding it paid men more than women.

Media & Entertainment

• 🔪The second season of the Squid Game, South Korean survival thriller horror show, is going to be released on Dec 26 and a new trailer just dropped of teasing the fans.

• 📽 Wicked fans are recording the scenes on their phones in theaters, but Hollywood doesn’t seem to care.

• 🐱 ‘Flow’, overshadowed by the success of Wicked, seems to be a brilliant & breathtaking animated movie that is about a cat. (Watch the trailer)

Science & Tech News

• 🎵🎹 Nvidia’s new music generation model Fugatto, is able to modify human voices and create “novel sounds” that no one ever heard before. It can listen to a piece played by piano and transform it to violin or a human singing! (Watch demo on YouTube).

• 👨‍💻 Romcom, a Russian-linked cybercrime hacking group, targets 🦊 Firefox browser users and Windows device owners across Europe and North America.

• Lithuanian researcher have created a new 🧬 gene editing technique that is able to ⏸ pauses genes, rather than turning them off permanently.

Did You Know?

🙎‍♂️ People who eat whatever they want and stay slim have a 🐌 slow metabolism, not fast.

⚡ A lightning bolt is 5 times hotter than the surface of the ☀ Sun.

🦠 There are more bacterial cells in your body than human cells.

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