Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🏥 States legalize doctor-assisted suicide
• 🏛️ $1.8B “Anti-Weaponization” fund canceled
• 🧀 The Grate Cheese Robbery

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.28-minute read (873 words).

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“Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own. Imagination is a force that can actually manifest a reality.”

–James Cameron (b. 1954)

Starting this fall, nearly one-third of Americans will live in a state where medical aid in dying, also called “physician-assisted suicide,” is legal for certain patients.

• California's new medical aid in dying (MAID) law is scheduled to take effect in early August, with Illinois set to follow with its own law in September.
• By then, the practice will be allowed in a total of 13 states plus the District of Columbia.

A matter of life and death

MAID allows certain terminally ill adults to request a prescription from a healthcare provider for a lethal medication that will end their lives peacefully. To qualify for physician-assisted suicide, patients have to meet several specific conditions.

They must be:

• Over the age of 18
• Residents of a legal state
• Capable of making their own medical decisions (disqualifying those with dementia)
• Diagnosed with a terminal illness expected to cause death within six months
• Able to ingest the medication without assistance

The process also typically involves oral and written requests to two separate doctors, with mandated waiting periods between requests.

Public opinion remains somewhat divided

A majority of Americans either view physician-assisted death as morally acceptable (34%) or don't consider it a moral issue (29%), while 35% say it’s morally wrong, per a recent Pew Research survey. Supporters argue the practice gives terminally ill patients greater control over their end-of-life care, and reduces unnecessary suffering.

On the flip side: Opponents of MAID include Catholic leaders who’ve long argued that life should be protected from conception until natural death, with Pope Leo XIV personally urging Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to veto the state's bill.

• Some disability rights organizations also oppose expanding access, arguing the laws could create pressure on vulnerable patients.
• Meanwhile, the American Medical Association maintains that "physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer" and warns it poses "serious societal risks."

Bottom line: Despite the headlines and heated debate surrounding MAID, the number of Americans who actually use the option remains very small. Such cases account for 1% or less of annual deaths in states where the practice is legal.

📊 Flash poll: Do you think medical aid in dying (MAID), or physician-assisted suicide, should be legal?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💼 US job openings in April rose to their highest level in two years, with white-collar jobs making up most of the recent surge, per new federal data.
• 🚀 SpaceX is reportedly targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation in its record-breaking IPO next week; the company was valued at $1.25 trillion in February following its acquisition of Elon Musk’s xAI.
• 🤖 Microsoft announces MAI-Code-1-Flash, its inaugural model in the AI coding space; the tech giant aims to compete with proprietary models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📰 White House Correspondents' Association reschedules its annual dinner for July 24, promising "enhanced safety measures" after a gunman tried to storm the group's April event attended by President Trump.
• ✍️ Atlanta Falcons WR Drake London reportedly signs four-yr, $141 million extension including $100 million guaranteed, making him the NFL’s third highest-paid receiver. | Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry signs reported $10-yr, $400 million endorsement deal with Chinese sports apparel company Li-Ning, whose products have been banned in the US for association with forced labor.
• 🙏 Peabo Bryson, a two-time Grammy-winning R&B singer known for his work on Disney hits “Beauty and the Beast” and “A Whole New World,” died at 75.

Modern lip care is shifting toward treatment-level formulas instead of surface-level payoff alone. The PLASMA Lip Compound by U Beauty pairs buildable color with SIREN Capsule Technology™ that helps visibly improves the look of fine lines over time.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🤖 President Trump signs executive order on AI and national security, which asks companies to voluntarily provide their models to the federal gov’t to assess their capabilities ahead of a full release.
• 🚀 Blue Origin says damage from last week's massive rocket explosion at Cape Canaveral was less catastrophic than first expected, with plans to resume flights of its New Glenn rocket later this year.
• 🪐 Astronomers discover strongest evidence yet that planets beyond our solar ​system possess magnetic fields; this characteristic, seen in Earth and five other planets in our solar system, may play a role in whether life can exist.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🗳️ Primary elections were held yesterday in California, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, New Jersey, and South Dakota; see the latest results.
• 🏛️ President Trump names Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to also serve as acting director of national intelligence; Pulte, who has no known background in intelligence, will replace Tulsi Gabbard at the end of this month.
• 💰 Trump admin’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization” fund is officially dead following legal and judicial pushback, per acting AG Todd Blanche; Trump, his family, and his businesses will remain protected from IRS tax audits/enforcement under an out-of-court settlement that spawned the fund, Blanche said.

☝️ You’re looking at some of the winners and finalists from the National Geographic Traveller (UK)’s 13th annual travel photo competition, which were selected from thousands of entries.

🤔 Did you know? Missing Exit 193 for Yeehaw Junction on the Florida Turnpike would require you to make a 98-mile detour, the longest in the entire US highway system

📰 Worth a read: The Grate Cheese Robbery: How organized crime fell in love with cheese.

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Stuck in the dating app burnout cycle? It’s not just you
• Real-life rooms that feel like a glitch in reality
• Could bug spray actually make things worse?

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Can you name the top-rated installments of the following film franchises, according to IMDb user ratings?

1. The Hunger Games
2. Twilight
3. Avatar

(keep scrolling for the answers)

🧪 A Connecticut high schooler found two FDA-approved drugs that may be effective against Alzheimer’s disease. His research earned him eighth place in the national 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search.

+Note: This story previously appeared in Positive DONUT, our weekly newsletter surfacing all the good things you don't hear about in the news.

1. Catching Fire – 2013 (7.5/10)
2. Breaking Dawn: Part 2 – 2012 (5.6/10)
3. Avatar – 2009 (7.9/10)

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