Welcome to the 55th edition of The Daily Zap — A Daily Newspaper (Kind of 🙏). Here, you'll get links to all of the latest news and updates mostly from the last 24 hours, divided in Sections (much similar to pages on a newspaper).
Let's unfold!
~Bitcoin News of the Day
- Evidence presented at trial revealed that from 2011 to 2021, Bitcoin Fog was a popular destination for criminals looking to obscure illicit proceeds, with the platform handling over 1.2 million bitcoin transactions, valued at over $400 million at the time. The majority of this activity came from darknet marketplaces, supporting crimes such as narcotics trafficking, identity theft, and child exploitation.
Global Trade & ~Econ
- The report found a gradual upward trend in the cost of extreme weather events between 2014 and 2023, with a spike in 2017 when an active hurricane season battered North America. The US suffered the greatest economic losses over the 10-year period, at $935bn, followed by China at $268bn and India at $112bn. Germany, Australia, France and Brazil all made the top 10.
~Politics_and_Law
- Josh Shapiro is already fielding calls from Democratic Party leaders in Pennsylvania urging him to run for president. Gavin Newsom held a Friday call with about 50,000 people in his small-donor network and called a special legislative session designed to Trump-proof California. And Pete Buttigieg is set to tout his Cabinet accomplishments in a series of events as he winds down his official role.
~Stacker_Sports News
- It is too simplistic to attribute all of City's problems to the loss of defensive midfielder Rodri, after he suffered season-ending cruciate ligament injury against Arsenal in September. But the 28-year-old, who was recently crowned the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner, is a hugely important figure for City and the stats back that up.
~Tech & ~Science
- A research team from Lund University in Sweden has created an AI tool capable of tracking the most recent locations you’ve visited. Unlike a traditional navigation system that helps you reach a destination, this tool pinpoints the geographical origin of microorganisms. This innovation allows bacteria to reveal whether someone recently visited the beach, disembarked at a city center train station, or took a walk through the woods. This opens up new possibilities within medicine, epidemiology, and forensics.
~History with Mystery
- In the decades since Adolf Hitler’s death, the Nazi leader’s ancestry has been a subject of rampant speculation and intense controversy. Some have suggested that his father, Alois, born to an unwed woman named Maria Schickelgruber, was the illegitimate child of Leopold Frankenberger, a young Jewish man whose family employed her as a maid. (She subsequently married Johann Georg Hiedler–later spelled “Hitler”–whose surname her son adopted.) Others have claimed that Alois’ biological father was also the grandfather of Hitler’s mother, Klara Pözl, making Adolf the product of an incestuous marriage.
~Entertainment World
- Swift won in the categories of best video with “Fortnight” (feat. Post Malone), best artist, best live and best U.S. act. Tyla followed with her first-ever MTV EMA wins, for best Afrobeats, best R&B and best African act.
Thanks for reading 🙏