Good morning. The phrase “when in Rome, do as the Romans do,” means to adopt the practices of the place you’re visiting. Great phrase, 10/10, except, of course, for use by Romans.

What are they gonna say? “When… here?” No. 

But fear not, ancient Romans, we’ve got a replacement phrase: “When not in Rome, do not do as the Romans do.”

Bit more of a mouthful, but hey, that’s what happens when your home becomes part of an iconic phrase.

Hey, speaking of Romans – did you know Julius Caesar created the first form of a newspaper in 59 BC? Originally, he wanted to do a daily newsletter delivered by e-mail but everyone was like, “the heck is e-mail” so he nixed it.

LET'S NEWS!

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.49 minutes to read.

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Yesterday afternoon, a Japanese space company’s attempt at the first commercial Moon landing in history was presumed to have failed when flight controllers on the ground lost contact with the lunar lander before it could touch down.

The unsuccessful mission, partially sponsored by the UAE Space Agency, marks the latest venture by organizations on Earth seeking to establish a foothold on the Moon.

• NASA recently concluded the first mission of its Artemis program, which will eventually see the US government build a space station orbiting the Moon (est. 2025), as well as a series of bases at the lunar south pole (est. 2028).
• China and Russia have announced a joint partnership to build a series of bases that will also be located at the Moon’s south pole. The two countries have said they expect the bases to begin hosting crews of astronauts by the mid-2030s.

🌌 Zoom out: After decades of cooperation, the world’s space agencies are starting to forge their own paths for the future. The International Space Station – which is jointly run by the US, Russia, Canada, and 12 other nations – is currently set to retire in 2031, with no replacement planned. China will be the only country with an operational space station in Earth’s orbit at that point, meaning all other governments will have to rent space either from Beijing or privately-built stations.

And speaking of China – a recent study by the US Defense Innovation Unit, Space Force, and Air Force warned that Beijing is on track to outpace Washington and become the world’s dominant space power “economically, diplomatically, and militarily” by 2045.

📊 Flash poll: Given the recent breakdown in cooperation among space agencies, the creation of new space-focused military agencies, and plans for future Moon bases to be located in the same vicinity: Do you think a military conflict will occur in space – or on the Moon/Mars – within the next three decades?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

🇬🇧🤖 The UK government announced a $125 million program to develop a “sovereign” AI model. The new Foundation Model Taskforce will be asked to create an AI that makes the UK “globally competitive” with other models like ChatGPT or DALL-E. UK officials say the new AI will be designed with an emphasis on safety and accuracy, as part of the government’s strategy to encourage public trust and drive adoption.

🇯🇵 Japan is preparing a law that would classify some forced participation in religious activities as child abuse. Per Japanese news org Yomiuri Shimbun, the new guidelines are intended to deal with issues that have emerged in connection with the Unification Church, which critics have accused of cult-like behavior. Under the proposed law, banned activities include telling children they will go to hell if they don’t participate in religious activities, preventing children from making career decisions due to religion, and blocking their interaction with friends due to religious differences.

🇮🇹 Italy’s government is stripping some same-sex couples of parental recognition, per the WSJ. There’s no nationwide law governing whether same-sex parents in Italy should be recognized on a child’s birth certificate; instead, it’s historically been left up to the mayors of each local region to decide. But in recent months, the right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has reportedly told local mayors they can no longer choose. PM Meloni’s government has also reportedly been pushing to retroactively strike non-biological gay parents from their children’s birth documents, arguing it would be “contrary to public order” for them to remain.

Like, why wouldn’t you? Want to experience beautiful weather and refreshing beverages in a tropical paradise with a plus one, that is. 

📢 There's no purchase necessary. Just click this link, enter your deets, and bam. You’re entered to win an unforgettable getaway for two featuring:

• Mexico’s first and only LandShark Brewery
• Weekly events like TropRock-style musical performances, pop-up pickleball contests, pool parties, and more
• 3 free-form swimming pools for refreshing dips in between activities
• 24-hour room service to satisfy your cravings around the clock

And that's not all. You’ll also get hooked up with the other brands that are helping us put the contest on (they are cool and kind and we like them very much).

Enter to win here. It's free, and your odds are better than you might think.

Soon, there will be one less Chevy available to drive to the levee. GM said yesterday it plans to halt production of all Chevrolet Bolt models by the end of this year. And while not completely unexpected, the announcement marks the end of the road (heh) for America’s very first relatively affordable mass-market EV.

🚗⚡️ Background: The Bolt originally went on sale in 2016, beating Tesla’s Model 3 to market by a few months. The Bolt starts at just under $27,000 before federal and state incentives, making it the cheapest new EV on sale in the US. It’s also quite popular with consumers:

• The Bolt was the best US selling non-Tesla EV in the first quarter, with almost 20,000 sold.
• GM said that 75% of Bolt owners were new to GM, the highest conquest rate for any of its vehicles. Bolt owners are also among the happiest, with 80% saying they would buy another Chevy.

But the Bolt has also caused headaches for GM. Its battery cells are of an older design and chemistry than automaker’s newer EVs, and, in 2021, GM was forced to recall every single one of the ~142,000 Bolts it had sold following reports of their lithium-ion battery packs catching on fire. This cost the company ~$1.8 billion.

👀 Looking ahead… Overall, GM has set a target to reach production capacity of 1 million EVs annually in the US and in China. The factory currently used to produce the Bolt will be repurposed to make electric pickup trucks that run on the automaker’s new Ultium battery technology.

💬 Quoted… “We don't allow dancing.”

What a federal judge told her courtroom yesterday, before kicking off a trial in which British pop star Ed Sheeran stands accused of copying the 1973 Marvin Gaye song “Let’s Get It On” with his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.”

• Sheeran, on the other hand, is arguing that pop songs throughout history have typically used the same three or four chord progressions. “You could go from 'Let it Be' to 'No Woman, No Cry' and switch back," he testified yesterday, referring to the Beatles and Bob Marley classics. "If I had done what you're accusing me of doing, I'd be quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that."

Dive deeper.

💰 Stat of the Day: French luxury-goods maker Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) – led by CEO Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest person – became the first European company to ever reach a $500 billion market capitalization on Monday.

🤯 Did You Know?... The state of New Mexico received its name about 250 years before the country of Mexico; both names are based on the Valley of Mexico, where rulers of the Aztec Empire used to live.

📖 Worth a Read: The Gambler Who Beat Roulette → (Bloomberg)

🌊 onewith swimwear is a company founded not out of love… but hate! 

You heard that right. Hate of swimwear that digs into the skin. Hate of restricting seams make everything fit terribly. Hate of unflattering swimsuits that just never look or feel right!

So onewith decided to change swimwear, because they don’t want women to feel like they need to change themselves. How, you ask? By making swimsuits that go beyond seamless swimwear. They're totally edgeless, like your fave no-show undies, and the result is just as comfortable.

• Dig-free & elastic-free
• Ultra-flattering
• Size inclusive (XS-4XL)
• Secure, thanks to soft inner grip

🙌 Female founded & invented, onewith uses eco-conscious packaging and offers free exchanges to make sure you’re happy and feel/look great in your purchase.

Shop onewith today and feel great in your swimwear at last.

• ☝️ This “unprecedented” composite image – which shows Deimos, the smaller of Mars’ two moons – was recently captured by the United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe, which has been orbiting the red planet for the past two years.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board yesterday (S&P: -1.6%; Dow: -1.0%; Nasdaq: -2.0%). | 📉 Shares of First Republic Bank dropped 49% following Monday's earnings report.
• 📈🖥️ Microsoft reported quarterly earnings yesterday evening, beating Wall Street expectations for revenue and profit on strong cloud performance; the tech giant’s stock rose over 8% in after-market trading. | Alphabet also beat revenue and earnings expectations; the company's shares rose as much as 5% in after-hours trading.
• 😟🛒 US consumer confidence dropped ~2.6% from March to April; it’s now at its lowest level since June 2022.

*From our partners: 🏆🦴 Featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, and EllenShop, BetterBone uses 2 natural ingredients to create a dog-beloved texture that promotes dental hygiene – and they plant a tree for every bone sold. Save 35% for a limited time with code DONUT35.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎵🙏 Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor, producer, and civil rights activist, died yesterday at 96 years old. | 🎤😂 John Mulaney released Baby J, his third comedy special, on Netflix yesterday; the 80-minute show focuses on the comedian’s experiences with addiction and rehab.
• 🍎👩‍⚕️ Apple is reportedly developing an AI-powered health coaching service codenamed Quartz; the service will motivate users to exercise, eat well, and sleep better.
• 🇰🇷📈 Netflix will invest $2.5 billion over the next four years to develop South Korean content; ~60% of Netflix subscribers watched Korean shows or films last year.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🪐 The core of Mars is made up of a liquid iron alloy that contains surprisingly large amounts of sulfur and oxygen, per a new first-of-its-kind study based on four years of seismic data captured by NASA’s Mars Insight rover.
• 🧬 British chemist Rosalind Franklin discovered that DNA was in the shape of a double-helix before Nobel Prize-winners James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins, per a new peer-reviewed study published in Nature; Franklin was ineligible for the Nobel Prize since she was deceased at the time it was awarded.
• 🍬😴 Melatonin gummies, which are not regulated by the FDA, are often mislabeled, per a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association yesterday; researchers found 22 of the 25 products they tested contained a different amount of melatonin than advertised; these levels clocked in at 74% of the stated amount on the low-end, and 347% of the labeled amount on the high-end.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 👱🏼‍♀️ Mattel launched its first Barbie doll with Down syndrome yesterday.
• 🗣️🗳️ President Biden formally announced plans to run for reelection in 2024 on the Democratic ticket. (Background | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• ⚖️ Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sold a property that he co-owned to the CEO of a major law firm that, following the 2017 sale, was involved in nearly two dozen cases before the Supreme Court, per a Politico report published yesterday; Gorsuch had previously failed to mention who the buyer was on his financial disclosure forms. (Background | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🏫➡️🏢 We spent $100,000 on an abandoned high school, and $3.3 million to convert it into apartments – take a look inside.

*Sponsored post

A group of students from Oldham County Middle School In La Grange, KY, recently won the local "Canstruction" contest. Which is exactly what it sounds like; teams from around the state built an impressive range of sculptures made of canned and packaged goods.

🐟 Tuna-tastic... The Oldham middle-school team nearly took home a clean sweep, winning the awards for Most Cans, Best Original Design, Peoples Choice, Structural Ingenuity, and Best Use of Labels.

• Their shark sculpture, pictured above, was made of 2,090 tuna cans, 172 Chef Boyardee pasta cans, and 400 bottles of water.

🙌 The best part?... All of the canned goods were donated to local food banks after the competition. 

Below you'll find the titles of five movies, written solely with emojis. How many can you guess correctly?

1. 🐍🐻🐅👦📖 
2. 👻🔫 
3. 📞💀🔪 
4. 👧🍄🎩🐇♟️ 
5. 🚀🤠 

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize. (Pro tip: there's no need to ration points, you're entitled to a prize at each tier.)

Start referring.👇

1. The Jungle Book (1967)
2. Ghostbusters (1984)
3. Scream (1996)
4. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
5. Space Cowboys (2000)