THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2023

Good morning! Today is the anniversary of baseball’s first All-Star game, played in 1933. The American League won that first match 4-2, powered by a Babe Ruth homer, and it leads the National League 47-43 over 90 years of play.

In today’s edition, we discuss the US Navy’s success in stopping an Iranian attack, the growing irritation Americans feel about tipping, and one of the world’s most toxic plants being locked up in a special “poison garden.”

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Navy Destroyer Stops Iranian Gunship Attacks

The U.S. Navy prevented Iranian gunboats from seizing two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman Wednesday. Iran has been attacking ships in those international waters since 2019.

In both cases, the Iranian naval vessels retreated when the missile destroyer USS McFaul arrived. In the second incident, the Iranians were actively firing at an oil tanker with small arms, but they left when the McFaul arrived. (Military Video)

Iranian authorities had no comment. Pentagon officials cited the McFaul for its “exceptional effort.”

Diversity Execs Exit Hollywood

Three movie studios and the Motion Picture Academy laid off or lost their top diversity executives in the past two weeks, leading some to question the value of the role.

The studios affected were Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, and the Motion Picture Academy itself. The departed executives oversaw their company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

The reasons for the departures vary, but so many coming in so short a time has sparked discussion in Hollywood about whether the studio diversity job is even meaningful.

Survey: Tipping Culture is Out of Control

Tipping has become a modern nightmare, according to a new survey that shows two-thirds of Americans have a negative view of the practice, and one-third say it’s out of control.

New tip-screen technologies have forced people to tip even at fast-food joints with the cashier watching, and often for higher-than-expected amounts, known as “tipflation.”

There’s no simple answer to the problem, but tipping etiquette experts are weighing in. Here are five situations where you shouldn’t tip, and here are general rules for how much to tip when you do.

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➤ Donald Trump brought in more than $35 million in contributions in the 2nd quarter, nearly double what he raised in the 1st quarter. It indicates his indictment gave him a big boost in fundraising. (More)

➤ The Senate majority, up for grabs next year, will largely turn on whether Democrats can hold their current seats. Experts say the five states most likely to flip are West Virginia, Montana, Ohio, Arizona, and Wisconsin. (More)

➤ GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy launched a $250,000 patriotism scholarship to foster “national pride” among young people. The money will go to 10 high school students with each getting $25,000. (More)

➤ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives in China today for talks on normalizing relations, just as China announced restrictions on key industrial mineral exports to the U.S. No major breakthroughs are expected. (More)

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➤ An elite Ethiopian runner was a few hundred yards from winning the world’s largest 10K race when she veered off the course, following a police motorcycle she thought was leading to the finish line. (See Video)

➤ Just Stop Oil protestors disrupted play at Wimbledon twice Wednesday, first by dumping thousands of jigsaw puzzle pieces on the court and later by releasing orange ticker tape. Police took the protestors into custody. (More)

➤ The NBA will test new in-game penalties for players who “flop,” pretending to be knocked down to draw a foul. For the test, a flopping foul call will give the opposing team a free throw. (More)

Market Report 7/5/23

▼	Nasdaq Natl. Assoc. of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations	13,791.65	–0.18%
▼	SPX S&P 500	4,446.82	–0.20%
▼	DJI Dow Jones Industrial Average	34,289.43	–0.36%
▲	BTC Bitcoin	30,721.0	+0.62%
▲	PEGA Pegasystems Inc	55.90	+14.13%

➤ Big Stock Move: Pegasystems stock was up 14 percent Wednesday, thanks to an analyst’s report upgrading the value of the cloud-based services company. (More)

➤ Mars Inc, the candy maker, agreed to buy Kevin’s Natural Foods, known for its healthy sous-vide frozen meals, for $800 million. Kevin’s will operate as a stand-alone brand after the purchase. (More)

➤ Negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters union fell apart Wednesday, increasing the likelihood of one of the largest strikes in U.S. history. The contract expires July 31. (More)

➤ The UN will showcase dozens of robots at a Swiss technology conference agency this week. Among the robots is “Nadine,” (See Video) a social robot who has worked with Chinese retirement home residents. (More)

➤ The Grammy Awards set new rules allowing music with AI-created elements to be eligible for its awards, but only if a human is involved. For example, it would allow music composed by an AI as long as it a human did the singing. (More)

➤ Major League Baseball will debut a new “virtual ballpark” this weekend. The digital field contains a giant screen where games will be livestreamed and fans can interact with each other. (More)

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➤Vietnam has banned the new “Barbie” movie — and the Philippines may follow suit — because it shows a map accepting China’s position on disputed territorial claims in South China Sea. (More)

➤ McDonald’s is offering a wedding package in Indonesia: For $233, you can get 100 chicken burgers and 100 four-packs of nuggets. This doesn’t include holding the wedding at McD’s; for that, you have to go to Hong Kong. (More)

➤ One of the world’s most venomous plants is now locked up at the Alnwick Garden’s Poison Garden. The gympie-gympie plant is so toxic that just brushing one feels like “being electrocuted and set on fire at the same time.” (Photos)