Good morning. In today’s edition:

• ⚖️ A look at the death penalty
• 🫡 The US healthcare industry is starting to see more competition
• 🦜 Fowl Foul-mouthed parrots

… and more. Let’s roll.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.77-minute read.

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

“The best way to understanding is a few good examples.”

–Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

Last night, Alabama began carrying out the world’s first judicial execution using nitrogen gas, after a pair of last-minute appeals to the Supreme Court were denied.

• The condemned prisoner was one of three men convicted in the 1988 murder of a woman whose husband hired them to kill her.

Why it matters: If Alabama’s novel execution is deemed successful, it’s likely that nitrogen gas will be examined by other US states where the death penalty is legal. This is because lethal injection – the most widely-used method of execution – has become increasingly harder to perform following a 2012 EU export ban on such drugs and a recent streak of botched injections.

• Some experts and rights groups, including the UN Human Rights Council, have criticized Alabama’s decision to use nitrogen gas. They argue the new method is unproven in executions, potentially unsafe for witnesses, and could violate multiple international treaties regarding the care of prisoners.

Big picture: Use of the death penalty in the US has declined considerably this century, falling from a total of 98 executions in 1999 to 11 as of 2021.

But that trend has started to reverse. Total US executions rose to 18 in 2022 – and increased again last year to reach 24, the highest figure in a half-decade.

⚖️ Zoom out: The death penalty is currently legal in 21 US states, and can also be used by the federal government and US military. America is one of 52 countries featuring the death penalty, with three nations – China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia – accounting for 90+% of all executions in 2022.

• The share of US citizens in favor of the death penalty peaked at 80% in 1994, and has steadily declined over the past three decades to its current rate of 53%, per Gallup polling.

📊 Flash poll: In general, do you support the existence of the death penalty?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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🇫🇷 France’s constitutional authority rejected large parts of a controversial immigration bill. The court ruled that all or part of 32 of the bill’s 86 articles are unconstitutional, including measures that toughen social welfare, introduce immigration quotas, and make it harder for immigrants to bring their families to France. The ruling came days after 75,000 people across France protested against the legislation.

📱🇪🇺 Apple is allowing third-party apps on iPhones for the first time. Yesterday, the tech giant announced a series of updates that will allow EU users to download apps on their Apple devices without going through the App Store. EU developers offering apps this way won’t be subject to Apple’s App Store commission – which is being lowered from a max of 30% to 17% in the EU – but instead will have to pay a fee for each install above 1 million/year. The new EU features will roll out as part of iOS 17.4, coming in March, and were spurred by the EU’s Digital Markets Act (aka wide-ranging antitrust legislation).

🌍 Global lithium prices fell 80% over the past year, per a new report. A prior boom in EV sales in recent years – mainly in China – propelled the expansion of lithium mining projects across major suppliers in Australia and South America. But China’s recent economic slump has decreased domestic demand for EVs, causing excess lithium supply to hit the market. Lithium prices topped $80,000/ton in 2022 and 2023, but are now down to ~$13,000/ton.

Tyson Foods, one of the 50 largest US employers and the maker of dino nuggets, is switching up pharmacy benefit managers in an effort to lower healthcare costs for its ~140,000 workers.

The food giant this week announced plans to drop CVS Health’s Caremark, the largest US pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), in exchange for a startup named Rightway, becoming the largest company to publicly pull its business from one of America’s three main PBMs – Caremark, Cigna’s Evernorth, and UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx – which collectively own ~80% of the market.

What are PBMs?... Pharmacy benefit managers are companies that use their wholesale power to negotiate rebates with drug makers, then pass those savings on to employers and health insurers after keeping a portion for themselves. But they’re often a black box, and some experts and advocacy groups argue PBMs actually end up inflating prices since they’re incentivized to favor more expensive drugs with higher profit margins.

👀 Looking ahead… Instead of using Caremark, Tyson is turning to PBM startup Rightway, which guarantees it can save employers 15% on pharmacy costs.

• Tyson says its decision to drop Caremark🥊 was driven by a 12%-14% hike in prices for this year (which, given the company’s $200 million annual spend, represents a significant chunk of change).
• When Caremark was asked to explain the increase, they were reportedly unable to provide the data Tyson was looking for. (Luckily they were talking to Tyson the food company – not Mike Tyson, the fighter.)

And that’s where Chartr comes in. Join 500,000+ visual thinkers and data-driven professionals getting their facts from the #1 visual newsletter out there.

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• 🍎 How Microsoft unseated Apple as the world’s most valuable company
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• 👋 What America wants to change most in 2024

Each issue takes only 5 minutes to read (remind you of anyone? 😁🍩) and helps you better understand today’s world through easy-to-digest visual data. Best of all, it’s totally free!

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💬 Quoted… “We could end up with 100 swearing parrots on our hands. Only time will tell.”

• Remember when your mom wouldn’t let you sleep over at that one kids’ house because “they’re a bad influence”? We’ll soon see how it would’ve actually played out irl. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in the UK, which recently adopted eight potty-mouthed African gray parrots, is trying out a new plan to rehabilitate these swearing birds. After previous attempts to switch up the parrots’ behavior via isolation proved unsuccessful, the park is now reintegrating them into a larger flock of 100 birds – and hoping their fowl behavior doesn’t rub off.

👪 Stat of the Day: Today’s unintended Hot Corner theme = parents and kids not seeing eye to eye. About 59% of parents say they helped their young adult children financially in the past year, per a new Pew Research report that focuses on adults under age 35. But (interestingly enough) this number changes when you ask their kids. Overall, 44% of adults ages 18 to 34 who have a living parent say they received financial help from their parents in the past year. This ranges from 30% among those 30 to 34, to 68% among those younger than 25. Young men and women are equally likely to say they received financial help from the ‘rents.

🤔 Did You Know?... The number of American workers hired by international companies grew 62% last year, according to the State of Global Hiring Report from Deel, an HR platform that specializes in global hiring. The report draws on 300,000 contracts between Deel customers and workers for both contractors and full-time employees. Roughly 85% of those contracts are for remote positions, with a UK, Canada, France, Singapore, or Australia-based company being the most likely landing spot for a US worker.

📰 Worth a Read: Uncovering Earth’s Secrets One X-ray at a Time → (Smithsonian Magazine)

• ☝️ South Korean researchers recently constructed a robotic dinosaur called Robopteryx, which was built to test their theory that dinosaurs used feathered appendages in threatening displays to flush insects and other prey from hiding.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Spotted Bear Ranch

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +0.5%; Dow: +0.6%; Nasdaq: +0.2%). | 🚗 Tesla shares closed down 12%, their biggest drop in over a year, after the EV-maker reported earnings that missed expectations and warned of a slowdown in 2024.
• 📈 US GDP grew 3.3% in Q4, per new data from the Commerce Department; that's down from 4.9% the previous quarter but still the sixth straight quarter GDP has grown 2.0% or more.
• 🏦 JPMorgan Chase reshuffled its top leadership; CEO Jamie Dimon regularly makes these changes, saying it ensures the bank will run smoothly after he’s gone from his role.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 The official trailer for Road House, a remake of the Patrick Swayze-led '80s classic starring Jake Gyllenhaal and UFC fighter Conor McGregor, dropped yesterday. Watch it here. | 🎤 Justin Timberlake released a new single and announced his first new album since 2018.
• 🏈🏆 Finalists for eight of The AP's 2023 NFL awards were revealed yesterday.
• 📝 A woman who received a payout from WWE boss Vince McMahon accused McMahon, the company, and a former executive of sex trafficking in a new lawsuit. (More)

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Ingrid, Barnaby & Dot's Dreamland Adventure

• 🚀🌕 Japan’s space agency said its precision lunar lander hit its target on the Moon last week, but appears to have landed upside-down on its nose.
• 🦏 Scientists achieved the world's first in vitro fertilization of a southern white rhino; the procedure paves the way to save a closely related endangered species, the northern white rhino, whose population has dwindled in central and east Africa due to poaching.
• 🚁🪐 NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter mission has officially ended after three years on the red planet, the space agency announced.

*From our partners: 📖 A whimsical tale of courage, friendship, and the power of imagination… Join Ingrid, Barnaby, and Dot as they journey through Dreamland and encounter wonders, creatures, and unlikely friends in this enchanting book for kids. Get your copy for $1.99 on Kindle.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 😮‍💨 Two Robitussin cough medicines sold across the US are being voluntarily recalled due to microbial contamination.
• 🎓🗽 The City University of New York (CUNY)’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism announced plans to become tuition-free by 2026.
• 🗳️ Arizona’s Republican Party chairman resigned after a leaked recording appeared to show him offering GOP candidate Kari Lake a bribe to keep her out of the 2024 Senate race. | 🇮🇷 US officials secretly warned Iran that ISIS was planning to carry out the terrorist attacks earlier this month that killed over 80 Iranians, per multiple reports.

CLICKBAIT

• 🍽️🏆 Yelp's 100 best restaurants of 2024.

There's nothing worse than your flight getting delayed while on the runway. 

Some travelers leaving from New Zealand's Wellington National Airport on January 12th experienced exactly this – but their flight was delayed due to an unexpected obstacle on the runway: a small penguin known as Korora. 

• It's unclear how the penguin ended up on the airport runway. "The pilot and passengers patiently waited while Wellington Airport staff raced out to collect and help the visitor," read a post by the airport.

🐧 Safe and sound... The penguin was rescued and brought to the Wellington Zoo to recover. 

It’s time to find out – our weekly news quiz is live.

• Test your mettle against the team.

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

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Cream cheese
• Onion powder
• Sour cream
• Canola oil
• Ground beef
• Salt
• 4-cheese blend
• Green onion
• Crispy fried onions

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Buttermilk
• Salt
• Bone-in, skin-on chicken
• Lemon
• Ranch seasoning
• Dill
• Chives
• Parsley

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Quick-rolled oats
• Mixed seeds
• Dried fruit
• Kosher salt
• Cinnamon
• Unsalted butter
• Brown sugar
• Golden syrup

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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☝️ Recipe #1: Chili dip

✌️ Recipe #2: Ranch chicken

3️⃣ Recipe #3: British flapjacks