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Anna's Daybreak News

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Wednesday, 5:10 AM

January 1, 2024

Good morning and Happy New Year news friend! Follow the events that shape our time, staying connected to a world in motion. 📰🌟

Mass Shootings Hit Historic Lows

In 2024, the US reached its lowest levels of mass shootings and gun deaths in five years. The Gun Violence Archive shows 491 mass shootings, a 25% drop from 2023's 656 and a 30% decrease from 2021, a peak year with 689 mass shootings.

As of December 18, 500 lives were lost due to mass shootings, with 2,134 injuries reported. In comparison, 722 people died in 2023.

A total of 16,088 people died from gun-related incidents, a 15% decrease since last year. This is the lowest count since 2019, when gun deaths exceeded 15,500.

School shootings numbered 61 this year, with the latest tragedy occurring on December 16 in Madison, Wisconsin. Experts attribute the decline to the 2022 bipartisan gun safety bill, which allocated $750 million for community crisis intervention programs.

Source: Read More

“Creditor-on-Creditor Violence” Under Scrutiny

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a bankruptcy plan for Serta Simmons Bedding. This plan favored one group of lenders and excluded others.

In 2020, Serta Simmons entered a financing deal worth $200 million with lenders Invesco and Eaton Vance. This agreement allowed these lenders to secure priority collateral over the company's $1.3 billion debt.

Meanwhile, lenders like Apollo Global Management and Angelo Gordon were sidelined and subordinated. Following Serta’s Chapter 11 filing, a judge approved this plan.

The Fifth Circuit ruled that the deal violated Serta's credit agreement, which mandates equal treatment for all lenders. The court noted that the prior financing transactions, described as "creditor-on-creditor violence," are likely to face increased scrutiny.

Source: Read More

New Year’s Eve Blackout Strikes Puerto Rico

A blackout plunged Puerto Rico into darkness. The outage began at 5:30 a.m., affecting over 1.2 million people, or 87% of the island's population. Only about 13% had power by midday.

Luma Energy, the private operator, reported that about 44,700 customers, approximately 3%, had power restored by 1 p.m. Officials warned that full restoration could take 24 to 48 hours.

The reason for the blackout was a fault in an underground line, according to preliminary findings from Luma.

This incident added to Puerto Ricans' frustrations over frequent outages since Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Source: Read More

The End of Russian Gas in Europe

The long-standing gas transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia expires today. This change halts decades of gas flow, which totaled 201 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2018. Last year, only 15 bcm were shipped via Ukraine.

The European Union now relies on liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar and the US, alongside piped gas from Norway.

In 2023, Gazprom suffered a $7 billion loss, its first since 1999, due to decreased EU demand. Ukraine anticipates losing about $800 million annually in transit fees, while Gazprom expects to lose nearly $5 billion in sales.

The TurkStream pipeline remains the only active route for Russian gas, still supplying Hungary and Serbia.

Source: Read More

Lead's Impact on Mental Health

A study highlighted the mental health consequences of childhood lead exposure from leaded gasoline. Between 1960 and 1990, many industrialized nations saw high levels of lead exposure.

Researchers combined blood lead data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys with historical lead data. They found that leaded gasoline, phased out in the US by 1996, elevated childhood blood lead levels from 1940 to 2015.

By 2015, the study estimated 151 million cases of mental disorders linked to lead exposure. The effects were especially notable in Generation X, those born between 1966 and 1986.

Source: Read More

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) is a colossal storm, larger than Earth, which reaches wind speeds of nearly 300 miles per hour.

For 90 days, scientists tracked the GRS oscillating like gelatin. The GRS accelerates and decelerates as it interacts with surrounding jet streams, akin to a filling that bulges bread.

Hubble's data shows the GRS is trapped between two opposite-direction jet streams, which affects its stability. Over the last decade, astronomers observed a gradual shrinkage in the storm, with predictions that it will eventually stabilize.

The source of its striking red color remains a mystery, though scientists believe it stems from sunlight interacting with atmospheric chemicals.

Source: Read More

“For the robust, an error is information; for the fragile, an error is an error.”

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Baked with love,

Anna Eisenberg ❤️