🌊 Purging the Sextortionists

“What’s up, doc?”

84 years ago this week, an unnamed bunny debuted on the big screen with these opening words. We have since come to know that inquisitive fluffster as Bugs Bunny, the cartoon character with the most movie appearances ever. Although, it’s too bad we never got the Star Trek crossover. We would’ve loved to one time hear, “What’s up, Spock?” Also, a bunny in space… funny!

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Biden Speaks

In his first address since dropping out of the presidential race, President Biden said that although his achievements “merited” a second term, he decided he had to “pass the torch” to keep his party united

• Biden touted his accomplishments, endorsed Harris, and vowed to finish his term by “defending our personal freedoms and civil rights”

• He ended the speech on a sentimental note, saying, “Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton… one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as the president of the United States, but here I am”

Dig Deeper

• Biden’s decision to step aside blindsided many of his staff. On Saturday, Biden reaffirmed his intention to stay in the race to his senior staff. On Sunday, they found out about his decision one minute before the public did

• The last one-term president to drop a reelection bid was LBJ in 1968, who made his decision on March 31, over seven months before the election

KEY STORY

Netanyahu & New US Reality

Kamala Harris and nearly half the Congressional Democrats skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress

• The address was Netanyahu’s first in nine years. As VP, Harris would have overseen it, but her team claimed she had to attend a campaign event instead. Roughly half of the Congressional democrats skipped the speech, during which thousands of people protested outside the Capitol, holding speeches and flying Palestinian flags

• In his speech, Netanyahu called the protesters “Iran’s useful idiots” and said, “Our enemies are your enemies. Our fight is your fight. And our victory will be your victory… As we defend ourselves on all fronts, I know that America has our back”

Dig Deeper

• Harris has been less supportive of Israel than President Biden. In March, she issued what was then the administration’s bluntest criticism of Israel when speaking at a civil rights anniversary event: “Before I begin today, I must address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” she said

• “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration”

• “As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed…Our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy and for all the innocent people in Gaza who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe. People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act”

• J.D. Vance also skipped Netanyahu’s address for prior commitments, although less attention was given to that as he’s been seen as pro-Israel

ROCA’S PARTNERS

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KEY STORY

Big Tech Slowdown

The stock market dropped amid poor earnings reports by Tesla, Alphabet, and other tech companies

• The Nasdaq fell 3.6%, its worst day since 2022. The drop comes as analysts warn that the stock market is overly reliant on a handful of massive tech companies and vulnerable to a downturn

• In a note to clients, JPMorgan analysts expressed concern about a perfect storm of poor tech earnings, a “crumbling” housing market, and weak investment

• They added that the number of Americans on unemployment hit its highest level since 2021 and that “the macro picture appears to be cracking”

Dig Deeper

• Alphabet’s drop came after it reported lower-than-expected revenue and announced that YouTube advertising revenue came in well below analyst estimates

• Meanwhile, Tesla reported a 7% year-over-year drop in auto sales. Tesla’s stock drop wiped nearly $100B in value off its market cap

KEY STORY

Sextortion Purge

Facebook and Instagram deleted 63,000+ accounts linked to Nigerian “sextortionists”

• Sextortionists impersonate a woman, contact a man or boy on social media, trick him into sending nudes, and then blackmail him about leaking them until he pays

• The FBI has recorded 12,600+ cases of online sextortion – linked to 20 suicides – and a recent UK study found an eight-fold increase in sextortion cases between 2022 and 2023

• On Wednesday, Meta announced that it was taking 63,000 sextortion-linked accounts off Facebook and Instagram

• It said that it had linked thousands of the accounts to a group of just 20 Nigerians

Dig Deeper

• The scammers are a new variation of “Yahoo Boys,” a tradition of internet scamming among a subset of Nigerian men. The Boys – who got their nickname from Yahoo.com – have traditionally done online impersonations to trick people in developed countries into sending them money

• Meta’s purge comes after the company has introduced other changes to prevent sextortion, such as blurring photos, making it harder to direct message strangers, and putting up warnings when messages are received from strangers

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🏅 The IOC formally awarded the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, Utah, marking the fifth time the US hosts the Winter Olympics and the first since Salt Lake City hosted in 2002. The IOC also conditionally awarded the 2030 Winter Games to the French Alps

🚨 The DOJ is investigating the fatal police shooting of 36-year-old Sonya Massey in Illinois. Body camera video shows a sheriff’s deputy yelling at Massey to set down a pot of hot water, threatening to shoot her, and then firing his pistol, hitting Massey three times. The deputy was fired and has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct charges  

👑 King Charles III and other members of Britain’s royal family will receive a $60M pay raise from the UK government. The increase stems from higher profits from the Crown Estate, a vast portfolio with over 191,000 acres of land, retail and leisure business, and high-end London properties

🖥️ A week before shooting Donald Trump, Thomas Crooks googled, “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy.” The FBI director noted, “He was interested in public figures more broadly, and, I think this is important, starting somewhere, around July 6 or so, he became very focused on former President Trump and this rally”

📊 A PBS/NPR/Marist poll has Trump leading Harris 46%-45%, with 9% undecided. A YouGov/Economist poll shows Trump leading Harris 44%-41%. A series of Ipsos/Reuters polls found that Harris leads Trump 44%-42%, 37%-34%, or are tied. Meanwhile, a series of polls found that significantly fewer voters are undecided with Harris in the race

COMMUNITY

🧠 Yesterday’s question: What’s a conspiracy theory that you think is dumb?

🤔 Today’s Question: What’s your go-to movie / TV show when you’re sick?

Reply to this email to let us know what you think!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

👀 Can’t imagine why! Authorities have launched a search for a 34-year-old New Zealand man with the word “evil” tattooed across his face

🇺🇸 You go, Coco: Tennis star Coco Gauff, 20, will be the female flag bearer for the United States at the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony, becoming the youngest flag bearer in US Olympic history

🍿 Hottest day on Earth… again! Monday was potentially the hottest day ever globally, beating a record set the day before. Monday’s global average temperature was 62.87°F

😭 Flush this idea: Variety reported that “Transformers” director Michael Bay plans to develop a potential “Skibidi Toilet” film or TV series. “Skibidi Toilet” is a popular internet meme based on a YouTube series

🎟 Powerburglar: A Tennessee gas station clerk allegedly stole a customer’s $1M-winning lottery ticket after falsely telling the winner they had lost

ROCA WRAP

Fly at Your Own Risk

Why is Nepal the world’s deadliest country to fly in?

On Wednesday, a Saurya Airlines flight carrying 19 people took off from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, to the nation’s second-largest city, Pokhara. It was going for a maintenance trip, and most of the people on board were engineers and mechanics. 

As it took off, though, it crashed and caught fire. 18 people died, and only the pilot survived.

Unfortunately for Nepal, this wasn’t that rare of an occurrence and cemented the country’s reputation as one of the world’s most dangerous places to fly.

Nepal – a country of 31M sandwiched between India and China – is among Asia’s poorest nations, with a per-capita income of ~$1,300. It straddles the Himalayas and is home to many of the world’s tallest mountains, which present unique hazards for airline pilots who must navigate both the peaks and rapidly changing weather. 

Many of Nepal’s airports are either located in inaccessible places or densely populated areas. The nation’s busiest airport, in Kathmandu, is situated in a valley that often has low visibility and is surrounded by houses in a densely populated neighborhood. Meanwhile, the airport that provides access to the Everest region has a runway just 1,729 feet long that ends abruptly at a brick wall. That airport is often dubbed the world’s most dangerous.

Nepal averages about one flight disaster per year, having experienced 19 fatal aviation incidents resulting in 259 fatalities since 2000. And the situation isn’t necessarily improving: The country’s deadliest accident in 30 years occurred in January 2023 and killed 72.

The cause is a mix of bad weather, tall mountains, and poor standards: One 2022 UN audit found that Nepal’s implementation of safety standards remained below the global average, and European airspace has banned all Nepalese airlines since 2013.

Other studies have found that the landscape and weather make flying conditions worse than in almost any other country: Few places have weather that routinely changes so quickly and visibility that is so often poor.

The cause of Wednesday’s crash remains unclear, though footage shows the plane tilting shortly after takeoff. In Nepal, reaching new heights comes with sky-high risks.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Apparently, our newsletter ended abruptly yesterday, and we would just like to say

–Max and Max

(In all seriousness, our apologies for the glitch. Some of our edits did not save).