Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🌎 Goodbye NATO?
• 🏛️ Trump fires AG
• 🎲 Origin of gambling

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.93-minute read (1,045 words).

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"Decisions are made by those who show up."

–President Jed Bartlett, The West Wing

This week, President Trump once again raised the possibility of withdrawing the US from NATO, expressing displeasure at the alliance’s European members for not supporting ongoing military efforts in Iran.

At the center of that debate is NATO itself, a decades-old military alliance that shapes how member countries come to each other’s defense.

Quick background: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed in 1949 by the US, Canada, and 10 European nations in the aftermath of World War II. Today, the alliance spans 32 countries across Europe and North America, built around a core principle of collective defense: if one member is attacked, the others are required to respond under a NATO clause known as Article 5, with each country deciding what that response looks like.

The arguments

Trump and his administration say NATO allies aren’t doing enough to support the US military, particularly as it presses for help securing the Strait of Hormuz and seeks broader backing in the ongoing conflict with Iran.

The standoff also reflects a longer-running dispute. Trump has repeatedly criticized European countries for relying too heavily on US military power while falling short of defense spending targets. What began as a pressure campaign has now evolved into a broader challenge to the alliance itself.

On the flip side: Other lawmakers and foreign policy experts have pushed back on the idea of the US leaving NATO, warning that such an exit would undercut America’s national security and weaken the country’s standing abroad.

• They note that NATO members are under no obligation to support America’s conflict with Iran, since the alliance is designed only as a defensive pact.
• They also cite the alliance’s track record of helping US interests, including NATO invoking its collective defense clause for the first and only time in history following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Looking ahead…If Trump moves forward with his threat to withdraw the US from NATO, experts say it’s unclear whether he could do so unilaterally, or whether such a move would need a two-thirds majority approval in the Senate.

📊 Flash poll: In general, would you support or oppose the US leaving the NATO military alliance?

• Support
• Oppose
• Unsure/other

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Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

🏛️ 13 senators and 56 House members say they won’t seek reelection this year, setting a new modern record for a midterm election.

🇨🇳💊 China was responsible for 32.3% of the world’s drug development in 2024, up sharply from just 8% in 2015. In the US, that figure fell from 48.2% to 37.4% over the same period.

🎓🤖 Nearly half of US college students (47%) say they've thought at least a fair amount about changing their major or studies because of AI.

🤖🚕 Google-owned Waymo is now providing a combined ~500,000 paid robotaxi rides every single week across 10 US cities.

👟 Allbirds, the wool shoe company valued at $4 billion shortly after its IPO in 2021, agreed to sell all of its assets for $39 million.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💊 Trump admin preparing new tariffs of up to 100% on branded drugs from pharma companies that haven’t struck landmark deals with the US gov’t to lower their prices.
• 🤝 OpenAI acquires technology news podcast TBPN in a deal with undisclosed terms; OpenAI says TBPN will be housed within its strategy organization.
• ☕ Starbucks expanding options to tip US baristas when customers use debit or credit cards on mobile orders; Seattle-based company is also offering bonuses to baristas whose stores meet performance targets.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀 Women’s Final Four tips off later today, featuring all four #1 seeds: UConn v. S. Carolina, and Texas v. UCLA; men’s Final Four tips off Saturday, featuring #3 Illinois v. #2 UConn and #1 Arizona v. #1 Michigan.
• 🎥 Super Mario Galaxy Movie delivers biggest opening day of the year, earning $34.5 million in domestic ticket sales over its first 24 hours.
• 🍼 Actress Hailee Steinfeld and Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen welcome their first baby together. | 🚨 Gucci Mane allegedly kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint by group including fellow rappers Pooh Sheisty and Big30.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🚀 Artemis II flight tracker: See live updates of where the four astronauts are at in their ~10-day journey around the Moon.
• 🎲 Native Americans played dice and games of chance ~12,000 years ago, or thousands of years earlier than experts previously thought gambling existed, new study reveals.
• 🦝 Raccoons excel at solving puzzles and enjoy doing so, which likely helps them thrive in in human-centric environments, per new research.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🏛️ President Trump fires Attorney General Pam Bondi, ending her yearlong tenure leading the Justice Department; Deputy AG Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump, is now acting AG.
• 💥 US military attacks major civilian infrastructure in Iran for the first time; move comes hours after President Trump’s speech threatening to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Ages."
• 🚫💻 Maine is poised to become the first US state to temporarily halt construction of new large data centers, following new House-approved bill.

👆 You’re looking at the winners of All About Photo’s Magazine 55: Women, a special issue highlighting female photographers across the globe.

🤔 Did you know? Giraffes have the ability to hum. The gentle giants have been recorded making low-frequency “humming” sounds at night, which scientists think could be a form of ‘contact call’ helping individuals find each other in the dark.

📰 Worth a read: Romantasy readers, this one’s for you: the centuries-old origins of fairy fiction.

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• What party life really looked like in the 1980s
• The AI users whose lives were wrecked by delusion
• Can plants count?

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How well did you pay attention this week? Find out here.

1. What is the least common multiple (LCM) of 9 and 12?
2. A recipe calls for 2/3 cup of milk per batch. If you make 5 batches, how many cups of milk do you need?
3. A group of 6 friends buys a gift that costs $78. They split the cost equally. How much does each person pay?

🧥 A 27-year-old UK woman launched the “stim hoodie,” a sweatshirt designed for neurodivergent people. It contains six hidden features to help people calm their nervous systems in a public setting—plus a pretty cool origin story.

1. 36
2. 3 and 1/3 cups
3. $13

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