Good morning. Here’s a juicy behind-the-scenes DONUT fun fact for ya: our staff of writers don’t work on a normal Monday to Friday schedule.

Instead, we work Sunday through Thursday, diligently clacking away on our keyboards to get the news ready and in your inbox every morning, Monday to Friday.

In other words, we experience the weekend one day early, like time-travelers. Good news: it’s great! You’re gonna have a good time once you get here and, as always, bring sunscreen.

But for now, in your present-day reality, NEWS.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 5.09 minutes to read.

“Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.”

–Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

We have two to report from Wednesday's newsletter (rough week at DONUT HQ):

1. We wrote that Barbie and Oppenheimer will both be released on June 21 – they’re actually out on July 21.
2. We also referred to Oppenheimer as the "father of the nuclear bomb,” when he’s actually known as the "father of the atomic bomb.” The two titles, as reader Darren M. pointed out, are different in a few ways: process of fission vs. fusion, timeline for development, and actual usage in war.

These are the 42nd and 43rd corrections out of the 386 newsletters we’ve published since January 2022.

Alex Mahinsky, founder and ex-CEO of failed crypto lending platform Celsius Network, was arrested yesterday and released on a $40 million bond after pleading not guilty to federal charges of securities, commodities, and wire fraud.

In addition, three federal agencies – the SEC, FTC, and CFTC – filed civil lawsuits yesterday alleging that Celsius and Mahinsky defrauded hundreds of thousands of customers by misrepresenting how the company profited from lending out their tokens.

🏦 A deeper dive… Mahinsky is accused of falsely advertising Celsius as a stable, modern-day bank where customers could deposit their crypto assets and earn as much as 17% interest with little or no risk.

Which, compared to the near-zero interest rates offered by conventional banks, sounded like a pretty good deal. By the fall of 2021, Celsius was one of the world’s largest crypto platforms with $25 billion in customer assets.

• But just like a $7.50/month MoviePass subscription, the deal proved waaaay too good to be true. Prosecutors allege Mahinsky actually operated Celsius as a risky investment fund and consistently put customers’ money in danger.
• When Celsius’ investments went sour in the spring of 2022, the crypto bank abruptly halted all withdrawals and eventually filed for bankruptcy, wiping out customer assets worth more than $4.7 billion.

🪙📈 Zoom out: Though the Celsius case marks another example of a crypto company being shady, the industry may as well be named “Mark Twain” – because the rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated.

The prices of bitcoin (+89%) and ethereum (+66%), the world’s two largest cryptocurrencies, have risen sharply this year. And on the legal front, a federal judge handed the SEC its first-ever loss against a crypto company in a landmark decision yesterday, ruling that Ripple Labs’ XRP token is “not necessarily a security on its face.”

📊 Flash poll: Fill in the blank: In my opinion, the crypto industry will play a ___ in the US economy over the long term.

Very large role

Large role

Medium-sized role

Small role

Very small role

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🌍🥤 Two different arms of the World Health Organization released reports about whether aspartame, a common artificial sweetener, causes cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer says it identified a possible link between aspartame and a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma, citing limited evidence from three large clinical studies – though people are safe from repercussions if they stay within the recommended daily limit (equivalent to 9-14 Diet Cokes per day). In a separate report published yesterday, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives say the current evidence for a link between aspartame and cancer in humans is “not convincing.”

🇷🇺 Several high-ranking Russian military officers have been detained by Moscow since the Wagner Group rebellion began, per the WSJ. At least a dozen senior Russian officers – including Gen. Sergei Surovikin, Russia’s head of aerospace forces – were arrested for questioning hours after Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin started his short-lived rebellion against Moscow last month, multiple sources told the Journal. Some of the Russian officers were reportedly suspended from duty or fired for suspected disloyalty, while a handful of others are still being detained.

🇨🇳 Foreign direct investment in China fell 80% in Q1 2023 compared to the same period last year. Ever since China in 1978 first opened itself to foreign direct investment – aka foreigners investing in domestic companies – the country has consistently seen more money coming in than going out. But a new analysis from research firm Rhodium Group has found foreign direct investment in China fell from $100 billion in Q1 of last year to $20 billion this year, which is roughly equal to the investment outflow from China for the first time ever. Experts say the trend can largely be attributed to President Xi Jinping’s new national-security agenda that’s made Chinese investments a riskier proposition for foreign entities in recent months.

If serious allegations were clothes, Shein would have more than enough by now to do its very own haul video.

The latest comes by way of a lawsuit filed this week by a group of independent designers, who allege Shein used sophisticated tech to steal and sell exact replicas of their original designs, and consistently does the same to others.

🤖📈 How it (allegedly) works… The plaintiffs are arguing Shein’s fast-fashion strategy – small initial production runs of 100-200 items, then scaling up to meet demand – allows the company to make billions off stolen IP while simultaneously testing the copyright infringement waters.

• If Shein doesn’t receive a lawsuit after a stolen design gets posted and initial products created – a common occurrence when it comes to small sellers without brand protection measures in place – it continues selling the item.
• If a lawsuit does come – a common occurrence when designs are taken from retail giants like Nike – Shein allegedly removes the listed item and blames its posting on a separate company… that Shein also owns.

📝 You might just get hit with that RICO. Per the lawsuit, Shein uses a “byzantine shell game of corporate structure” that makes it difficult to figure out which party to sue. In response, the plaintiffs are citing the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, in order to target all of Shein’s corporate parties and subsidiaries in one fell swoop – the same legal tool US authorities first used in 1970 to target the mafia. Shein has declined to comment.

For anyone feeling overwhelmed trying to catch up with an ever-growing watch list of Marvel, “Star Wars”, and Pixar content on Disney+, there’s at least one person within Disney who agrees.

He also happens to run the company.

According to a CNBC interview aired yesterday, Bob Iger – Disney’s on-again-off-again CEO who’s been back at the helm since November 2022 – believes too much streaming content may be to blame for the studio’s recent box office woes. Disney’s last three releases – Indiana Jones 5, Elemental, and Ant-Man 3 – have all performed significantly worse than expected.

• Over the last few years, Disney has made four shows in the “Star Wars” universe, including The Mandalorian and Andor. It's also made a whopping eight Marvel shows, including WandaVision, Loki, Ms. Marvel, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
• And on the Pixar front, Iger believes the recent run of straight-to-streaming releases of Luca, Soul, and Turning Red has trained viewers to wait for a movie to come out on streaming rather than see it in theaters (paying for one month of Disney+ is significantly cheaper than buying four tickets + concessions at the theater).

So, what’s the solution? Less content. And less sequels, which, to Iger, means only doing one or two sequels per Marvel movie rather than five.

🤝 Zoom out: Besides revamping Disney’s content strategy, Iger hinted at possibly selling the media giant’s linear channels, including ABC and FX.

🍷 There’s a lot more to do in Lodi than enjoy 85+ award-winning wineries at an affordable cost…

• 🎭 Arts and culture - immerse yourself in first-rate art galleries and music venues.
• 🥳 Annual events - don’t miss the Parade of Lights and more!
• 🚵‍♀️ Outdoor recreation - discover the natural beauty of Lodi’s lakes, rivers, and trails.
• 🛍️ Shopping - explore one-of-a-kind boutiques.
• 🦒 Zoos and museums - journey through the county’s rich history.

And those are just a few reasons why families are choosing Lodi as their next vacation... we haven’t even touched on their renowned, diverse selection of fine dining🤤.

Learn more in the official 2023 Lodi Visitor’s guide.

💬 Quoted… “At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence.”

• The Secret Service yesterday ended its probe into the mysterious cocaine found at the White House this month, unable to trace any suspects due to the absence of DNA, fingerprints, or helpful surveillance footage.

💰 Stat of the Day: According to a recent SmartAsset report, you’ll need to make about $653,000/year to be considered in the top 1% of earners in the US. That figure varies significantly by state, however, with Connecticut having the highest annual salary of any state for one percenters – $953,000/year – and Virginia having the least – $367,000/year.

🤯 Did You Know?.... The last time Hollywood’s actors and writers were both on strike simultaneously was in 1960, when Ronald Reagan was president of the actor’s union (then known as SAG). Which can only mean one thing… Fran Drescher, the current president of SAG-AFTRA, will be US president in 2044.

📖 Worth a Read: My A.I. Writing Robot → (New Yorker)

• ☝️ A 19-foot Burmese python, the longest in recorded history, was caught this week by local hunters in South Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve; for context, the snake is about as long as an adult giraffe is tall.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Chartr

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board yesterday (S&P: +0.9%; Dow: +0.1%; Nasdaq: +1.6%). | 🏢📉 The commercial real estate market is projected to lose $800 billion in value across nine major cities by 2030 in a moderate scenario, per a new McKinsey report.
• 🤖 The FTC is investigating whether OpenAI’s ChatGPT harmed people by publishing false information about them.
• ✈️ Delta yesterday posted its highest quarterly revenue and earnings ever on the back of strong travel demand.

*From our partners: 📊🥰 If you like data and visual storytelling, you’ll love Chartr… a free newsletter with data-driven insights to understand today's world and take your small talk to the next level – at the office and at home. Subscribe free to Chartr.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎾 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia will face off against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the Wimbledon women’s singles final on Saturday; the men’s semifinals take place this morning, with the final match scheduled for Sunday.
• 🏈 The New York Jets and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams agreed to a four-year, $96 million contract extension ($66 million guaranteed).
• 📺🎓 The CW Network signed a deal with the ACC to air a combined 50 college football and basketball games this upcoming season.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with MakeUseOf

• 💊 The FDA approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill in US history yesterday.
• 🤖🏥 Google says its new AI tool for answering medical questions, called Med-PaLM, is the first chatbot ever to pass the US Medical Licensing Examination.
• 🚀 Virgin Galactic announced plans to launch its first private passenger spaceflight as soon as August 10.

*From our partners: 🤖🔮 Unlock the potential of ChatGPT with this free e-book, packed with advanced prompting techniques that take ChatGPT’s responses to another level. Claim your copy by subscribing free to one of MakeUseOf’s tech newsletters.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 📱 Texas’ TikTok ban on official devices – which extends to public universities – is being challenged in a lawsuit filed yesterday by a pro-First Amendment group.
• ⚖️ The Pennsylvania mass shooter who killed 11 people and wounded 6 others at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 is eligible for the death penalty.
• 🌌 An earlier forecast indicating the Northern Lights could be visible in up to 17 northern US states this week has been updated to show modest auroral activity, with the Northern Lights only visible in Alaska and Canada.

CLICKBAIT

• 🏢 The luxury tower built for New York’s elite still sits half empty.

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Always educational, sometimes challenging, but never disappointing: it's the DONUT's weekly news quiz.

Test your mettle against our team.

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Italian sausage
• Red pepper flakes
• Bacon
• Onion
• Minced garlic
• Chicken broth
• Potatoes
• Heavy cream
• Spinach

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Orange sherbert
• Vanilla ice cream
• Fresh orange juice
• Simple syrup
• Heavy cream
• Wooden sticks

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Brown sugar
• Apple cider vinegar
• Red salsa
• Pinto beans
• Onion
• Jalapeno peppers
• Mustard
• Paprika
• Salt & pepper
• Garlic powder
• Mexican oregano
• Cayenne pepper
• 1 bottle of Mexican lager
• Bacon

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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☝️ Recipe #1: Zuppa toscana

✌️ Recipe #2: Dreamsicles

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Drunken baked beans