• ☝️ An ongoing heat wave is poised to expand from the Central US to both coasts over the next week, with ~180 million Americans under heat warnings and advisories yesterday.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Spoak

• 💰 US markets fell across the board (S&P: -1.4%; Dow: -1.2%; Nasdaq: -2.3%) | 💼 US jobless claims hit an 11-month high last week, per new government data.| ✌️ Pershing Square USA withdrew its planned IPO; the Bill Ackman-ran investment fund initially aimed to raise $25 billion but faced tepid demand.
• 💻 Meta shares rose ~5% following a better-than-expected earnings report and rosy revenue forecast. | 📦 Amazon reported weaker-than-expected revenue for Q2, though its cloud business exceeded analyst estimates; shares fell ~7% in early after-hours trading. | ✂️ Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, or 15% of its workforce, and suspending its dividend payments in a bid to cut costs. | ⚖️ CrowdStrike is being sued by shareholders over its recent global outage.
• 🏢 A 23-floor office building in Manhattan just sold at a 97.5% discount; in 2006, it was purchased for $332 million; on Wednesday, it was purchased for $8.5 million.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🥇 The Olympics: Simone Biles won gold in the women's gymnastics all-around final; the victory marks the 27-year-old athlete’s sixth Olympic gold medal and ninth overall; fellow Team USA gymnast Suni Lee took home bronze. | The US won its first rowing gold medal in the men’s four class since 1960. | Do you know the Chocolate Muffin Man? | Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa really likes cheese. | See the overall medal count.
• 🏈 A federal judge overturned a jury's $4.7 billion verdict against the NFL in the class-action lawsuit filed by "Sunday Ticket" subscribers, handing the league a legal victory. | 🏈 The NFL preseason officially kicked off last night with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between the Bears and Texans.
• 🦑 Netflix’s Squid Game Season 2 will be released on December 26, with the third and final season premiering in 2025. | 🎤 Carrie Underwood is returning to American Idol as its newest judge, replacing Katy Perry. | 📲 Don Lemon is suing Elon Musk and X for breach of contract.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Game Show Network

• 💉 Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, Zepbound, showed benefits in patients with obesity and a common type of heart failure, according to new late-stage company trial data. | 💉 An older diabetes drug from Novo Nordisk, called liraglutide, shows evidence of slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by protecting patients’ brains, per new mid-stage trial data.
• 🛢️ US oil and gas fields are emitting ~4x more methane – a potent greenhouse gas – than ​​federal regulators have estimated, per new aerial survey data from the Environmental Defense Fund.
• 🎓 US workers without a college degree have boosted their earnings and wealth at a faster pace than college graduates since the start of the Covid pandemic, per a new study.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• ⚖️ Three al-Qaeda members accused of plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, reached plea deals that reportedly involve life sentences and avoid death-penalty trials.
• ✈️ The Department of Transportation proposed a new rule that would ban airlines from charging families extra to be seated together.
• 🏛️ Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA) has reportedly canceled a trip to the Hamptons this weekend; Shapiro is on the shortlist for VP Kamala Harris’ 2024 running mate, with Harris’ decision expected by Tuesday.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔🥇 What Olympic sport would you play? Take this quiz.