🗞️ 10 Things You Need to Know - 10/24/2023

Episode
Written By Tracy Kaplan

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The Ten News: Season 4, Episode 16

🗞️ 10 Things to Know with The Ten News

1. 🏛️ Speaker of the House Update

2. 🇮🇱 President Biden Visits Israel

3. 🎮 Minecraft Hits $300M in Sales

4. 🎈 Astrogazers Club Atmospheric Launch

5. 🐕 A Totally Paw-some Rescue Story

6. 🛢️ Greta Thunberg Arrested for Protesting

7. 🍫 Top 10 Halloween Candies

8. ⚾ Bryce Harper's Birthday Homerun

9. 🍿 Swift Shatters Box Office Records

10. 📸 Nikon Small World Photo Winner

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TRANSCRIPT:

INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO

RYAN: PAAAAMELAAAA, it’s almost Halloween. HALLOWEEN! Can we start celebrating now?

PAM: Not quite yet, Ry…

RYAN: Okay. (beat) How about now?

PAM: Still no. But maybe at the end, we can start.

RYAN: That’s all I needed to hear. I’m Ryan Willard.

PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland. It’s Tuesday, October 24th.

RYAN: This is Ten Things You Need to Know! 

RYAN: Today’s Word of the Week is Speakership! Speakership is defined as, well… the position of being a speaker. And since 1789, the United States House of Representatives have elected a speaker as the body’s presiding officer and leader of the House. But, what’s happened since Kevin McCarthy was fired from his role as U.S. speaker? Last week, Democrats and Republicans were busy voting to elect GOP Rep. Jim Jordan as the new speaker of the house. And, after two failed attempts to win the gavel, the house is leaning toward expanding interim Speaker Patrick McHenry’s powers in an effort to unfreeze the house.

PAM: In other political news, President Joe Biden traveled to Israel on Wednesday, October 18th to display support and work toward a deal to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. President Biden was able to work out an agreement between Israel and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who agreed to reopen Egypt’s border crossing allowing up to 20 trucks to carry humanitarian aid supplies to people in Gaza. In addition to the deal, the president provided reassurance and support from the U.S. in an effort to ease growing tensions and avoid a wider war. 

RYAN: Now for some good, gaming news. Minecraft became the first video game to hit 300M sales worldwide! The head of Minecraft Studios, Helen Chiang said that the 300 million figure was a ‘milestone no one could have dreamed of when we were all placing our first blocks’. Minecrafts closest rival, Grand Theft Auto V has only sold 185 million copies, and while that’s A LOT of video games, neither come close to Super Mario as the best-selling franchise who has sold over 800 million games across its entire multi-game series. That is out of this world!

PAM: Speaking of which, did you hear about the U.K. high school students that set the record for a stratospheric balloon launch and recovery!? The Astrogazers Club, a team at the Corydon High School for Girls, is now the first U.K. school group to successfully launch and recover two weather balloons into Earth’s atmosphere. Despite a failed attempt in June due to a technical failure, the club was able to launch the balloons just above 32,000 feet into the stratosphere to collect atmospheric data and capture photos of Planet Earth! The mission, called ‘Mission Aspiration’ is a huge achievement for STEM students in the U.K.

RYAN: Back in the states, in Spring, Texas, a 1-year-old border collie named Axel saved the life of his owner, Gabriel. Last Saturday morning, the high school senior was having a stroke and Axel knew that something was wrong. Axel went to the rescue by waking up Gabriel’s parents and leading them to the teen’s bedroom door. Thanks to Axel's alertness, the family was able to rush Gabriel to the hospital and Axel's timely intervention significantly improved Gabriel's chances of recovery. Today, Gabriel is making great progress, and the family is immensely grateful to Axel, who now keeps a close watch on the teen! Time for a quick break, and then we’ll be back with Halloween candy and a birthday home run.

RYAN: Climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested in London after joining a protest against a big energy conference. The protest, called "Oily Money Out," was organized by Fossil Free London and Greenpeace to show disagreement with the decisions made by big oil companies. And, Greta, as well as many others believe that these companies need to do more to protect our planet. You go, Greta, keep speaking up for what you believe in!

PAM: At The Ten News, we believe that it’s very important to stand up for what is right. Which is why I’m starting a petition to get Circus Peanuts at the top of Instacart's Top 10 most popular Halloween Candy list. Instacart collected data to reveal the most popular Halloween candies in each state and found that the top three candies consistently purchased are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, peanut M&M's, and regular M&M's. The data is collected through a "Scare Score" tool that shows the Halloween spirit of different areas based on candy, costume, and decor purchases, with Lehi, Utah, having the highest score. Which probably makes it the spookiest city this Halloween season!

RYAN: What’s better than eating candy on Halloween? Major leaguer Bryce Harper would probably say hitting a homerun on his birthday. Harper celebrated his 31st birthday in style by hitting a home run, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. The NLCS playoffs will come to a close after Game 7 this evening where we will find out exactly which teams will face off in the 2023 World Series!

PAM: And, once again, Taylor Swift is proving to be ‘untouchable’ after the superstar's “Eras Tour’ concert movie shattered box office records. ‘Long story short’, the film earned an estimated $96 million domestically on its opening weekend, smashing the previous record for concert films, that was held by Justin Bieber's 2010 concert movie, and broke AMC’s U.S. record for highest ticket sales revenue in a single day under 24 hours. The success from Swift’s film could be a sign of relief for the movie theater industry, and with the ongoing actor’s strike, a new alternative for music & move industry executives to fill the void of halted production.

RYAN: While Swifties had their eyes set on the big screen, Nikon was busy selecting the winner of the 2023 Nikon Small World photomicrography, which was the inside of a rat’s eye. That’s right, the glimpse of the back of a rat’s eye and the immune cells that keep it healthy showcases the beauty that exists in even the smallest parts of nature. In addition to looking totally awesome, the image is also a part of research that aims to uncover how diabetic retinopathy - a disease where high blood sugar damages retinal blood vessels - can alter the function and structure of a person’s retina in their eye. You can check out the photo, and others that were recognized in this year’s competition, at the link in our show notes!

RYAN: That was 10 things you need to know! Now can we start celebrating Halloween, Pam?

PAM: YES! You can start by checking out our Halloween re-airs happening all week!

RYAN: And then on Thursday, it’s our Halloween Special and we’re having a Trick or Treat Off! I’m dressing up as–

PAM: Don’t tell me just yet, I wanna be surprised! I’m Pamela Kirkland. 

RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard. Thanks for listening to The Ten News.

Tracy Kaplan
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