Good morning. In today’s edition:

• ⚖️ SCOTUS is considering the legality of abortion pills
• 🌉 Unpacking the major bridge collapse in Baltimore
• 🍩 The DONUT writes about doughnuts

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 5.15-minute read.

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"Nothing can dim the light that shines from within."

–Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

In yesterday's newsletter, we said the Sagrada Familia basilica in Spain will become the tallest building in the country upon its completion; it'll actually be the tallest in Barcelona. Apologies for any confusion.

Note: This is the 49th correction out of the 541 newsletters we've published since January 2022 (for context, each newsletter contains 20+ news events).

The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case challenging whether the FDA improperly approved and expanded access to the abortion pill mifepristone, marking the Court’s first abortion case since it overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Background: Mifepristone, alongside the drug misoprostol, is typically taken during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy to induce an abortion or manage an early miscarriage. Over 5 million women have used mifepristone since it was first approved by the FDA in 2000.

• The drug’s popularity accelerated in 2016, when the FDA repealed a series of laws that required three doctors’ visits to obtain mifepristone, limited its use to the earliest weeks of pregnancy, and banned mailing pills to patients.
• By 2023, medication abortions accounted for 63% of all US abortions, with the vast majority using the mifepristone/misoprostol combination.

Yesterday’s legal challenge before SCOTUS is seeking to reverse that trend. In oral arguments, anti-abortion/pro-life activists asserted that the FDA didn’t adequately study mifepristone’s side effects before approving and expanding access to the abortion pill, saying regulators underestimated the frequency of severe side effects like infection and hemorrhaging.

However, a majority of Justices seemed to agree with the Biden admin’s argument that the plaintiffs in this case – emergency room doctors who morally object to treating mifepristone patients – don’t have standing to sue, since they’re already protected from treating such patients under federal law.

• Biden admin officials also cited what they called an exhaustive scientific record to support the FDA’s mifepristone decisions, including evidence that the drug has been safely used by millions of Americans since 2000.

👀 Looking ahead… SCOTUS’ final decision is expected by late June/early July. If the Court rules against the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, it would effectively outlaw the drug nationwide – even in states where abortion is legal.

📊 Flash poll: How do you feel about the lawsuit before SCOTUS seeking to reverse the FDA’s approval of mifepristone?

• Strongly agree
• Agree/Somewhat agree
• Neutral
• Disagree/Somewhat disagree
• Strongly disagree

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🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia is building the world’s first Dragon Ball Z theme park. The 5.3 million-square-foot park was recently announced as part of the country’s multi-trillion-dollar Saudi Vision 2030 campaign, which is aimed at attracting tourism and diversifying the Saudi economy away from oil. The upcoming Dragon Ball Z park will feature more than 30 themed rides, including a 230-foot-high roller coaster based on the Japanese anime’s magical dragon.

🇷🇺 A Russian court extended the detention of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich by three months. Gershkovich was initially arrested last March over allegations of stealing state secrets for the US government – charges which he, US officials, and the WSJ have repeatedly denied. Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated in February that he would be open to a prisoner swap for Gershkovich, who is the first US journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the end of the Cold War.

🇬🇧🇺🇸 A UK court delayed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s potential extradition to the US. Assange, 52, is facing federal charges in America for obtaining and publishing confidential military records regarding the US’ actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The WikiLeaks founder has spent the past five years in a London prison amidst a legal battle with the British government to avoid extradition to America. The UK court’s ruling gives US prosecutors three weeks to offer guarantees that Assange won’t be subject to prejudice at trial, and that he won’t face the death penalty.

A major bridge in Baltimore collapsed early yesterday morning after a large container ship lost control and rammed into it, leaving six people missing and presumed dead.

What happened: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the ship’s crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the bridge at around 1:30 am local time, allowing authorities to limit vehicle traffic and prevent larger casualties.

The six people still unaccounted for were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which spanned a total of 1.6 miles and was used by 12 million vehicles last year.

• It’s currently unclear what caused the Singapore-registered ship, called the Dali, to malfunction. According to Coast Guard officials, the vessel’s lights flickered on and off multiple times several minutes before it veered off course and struck the bridge.

👀 Looking ahead… The bridge collapse is widely expected to increase shipping costs and wait times along the East Coast for the next several months. Local officials have suspended all vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore – which handles $80 billion/year worth of cargo – until further notice, forcing other ports in the region to take on extra shipments.

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A morning – or afternoon – stop at McDonald’s could soon include a sweet, holey treat. Following a regional test that exceeded both chains’ expectations, the fast-food giant will soon begin to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at its locations nationwide.

POV: you’re at the drive-thru window: Three Krispy Kreme doughnuts will be available to McDonald’s customers – original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles, and chocolate iced cream-filled. They can each be bought individually or in packs of six, and, like Kid Cudi, will be available Day ‘N’ Nite.

With the move, McDonald’s keeps taking aim at Starbucks and Dunkin’. This Krispy Kreme partnership could help the fast-food giant bolster its breakfast and coffee sales – a similar reason to why it recently launched its spinoff beverage-and-snack-focused brand, CosMc’s. In December, when McDonald’s debuted its first CosMc’s location, CEO Chris Kempczinski was quoted as saying: "This is a $100bn category that’s growing faster than the rest of [casual dining] and with superior margins. And it’s a space that we believe we have the right to win."

• For Krispy Kreme, this partnership presents an opportunity to both expand and invest in its distribution.
• The doughnut company says it can currently service ~6,000 of McDonald’s ~13,500 US locations with its existing “hub and spoke” infrastructure, but will need to expand its operations in order to service the rest.

🍩👀 Looking ahead… The partnership rollout will begin later this year, with Krispy Kreme doughnuts in McDonald's locations nationwide by 2026.

💬 Quoted… “It’s not necessarily about me as a person, but it’s about literally anybody else as an idea.”

• Ready for a wild headline? A North Texas schoolteacher has legally changed his name to “Literally Anybody Else” and launched a write-in campaign for the US presidential election in November. Mr. Else, formerly known as Dustin Ebey, said the plan came in response to his deep dissatisfaction with the leading presidential candidates from both parties. And others share that sentiment. Else’s long-shot presidential campaign comes as a record-high 63% of US adults agree the Republican and Democratic parties do “such a poor job” of representing America that “a third major party is needed,” per Gallup polling.

🍌📈 Stat of the Day: For the first time in over two decades, the price of a banana at Trader Joe’s is no longer 19 cents. The grocer this week announced a nationwide price bump to 23 cents per banana, citing an increase in acquisition costs. According to government data, average banana prices have risen by a total of ~3 cents/pound over the past decade.

🤔 Did You Know?... Saturn is the only planet in our Solar System with an average density less than water – meaning it could theoretically float inside a gigantic bathtub, if such a contraption were to exist.

📰 Worth a Read: Behind scientists’ search for mysterious ghost particles → (BBC Science)

• ☝️ Could Jack and Rose have both fit on the floating door at the end of Titanic? One anonymous bidder will now have the chance to find out, after spending $718,750 on the wood panel in a recent auction involving a trove of Planet Hollywood memorabilia; other items included the whip from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and the ax from The Shining.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Hers

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -0.3%; Dow: -0.1%; Nasdaq: -0.4%). | 📈 Truth Social rose ~16% in its first day of public trading; former President Trump's stake in the company was worth ~$4.6 billion at close.
• 📦💊 Amazon is rolling out same-day delivery of medical prescriptions in NYC and LA.
• 💳 Visa, Mastercard, and the largest US credit-card issuing banks agreed to a legal settlement that would lower swipe fees for merchants, though it still needs to be approved by a federal judge. (Read more)

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 The NFL officially approved a one-year rule change to its kickoff structure aimed at improving player safety and increasing the number of returns; NFL owners also approved a ban on hip-drop tackling.
• ⚾ MLB star Shohei Ohtani made his first public comments since news broke regarding his interpreter’s gambling + a $4.5 million transfer made from Ohtani’s account to an alleged illegal bookie.
• ❣️ Jenn Tran was named ABC's new Bachelorette; she’ll be the first Asian American woman to lead the dating reality show.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Pair

• 🍏 Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will take place from June 10–June 14, the company announced yesterday.
• 🌕 Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander – the first US craft to land on the Moon in 50+ years, and the first-ever private craft to do so – has “permanently faded” and won’t be waking up again.
• 🛰️ Orbital Reef, a joint venture between Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin and Sierra Space, has passed four key technological milestones as it aims to build a space station in low-Earth orbit.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🗳️ Robert F. Kennedy Jr. officially selected Nicole Shanahan, a California lawyer and philanthropist, as the vice presidential pick for his third-party presidential campaign. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• 📺 Ronna McDaniel, the former RNC chairwoman who was hired as an on-air political commentator by NBC News last week, has been removed from the network after four days; NBC’s decision to cut ties with McDaniel followed public rebukes of the hiring from some of the network’s biggest stars. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• 🤫 A NY judge placed former President Trump under a gag order ahead of his criminal hush money case that begins April 15.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤑⌚ The 13 most expensive Rolex watches ever sold.

Welsh artist Nathan Wyburn loves to experiment with different art mediums. Most recently, the sculpture artist recreated some of the UK's most famous natural monuments – entirely out of local organic produce. 

😋 Good enough to eat... The project came to fruition after researchers realized how little people know about the produce they're regularly consuming.

• “I like to bring people closer to the natural world through my work, and relished the opportunity to take up this unique challenge," he told Berkshire Live. "It was a really fun process thinking about how I could bring that to life through local products.”

How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Then you guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

• 🤣 15: How many times the average adult laughs each day.
• 🛀 20,000: The amount of bathtubs Niagara Falls could fill per second.
• 🐌 2: The number of years a snail can sleep for.

(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. 🤣 Over, 17 laughs/day
2. 🛀 Under, 16,667 bathtubs per second
3. 🐌 Over, 3 years

*Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. See Important disclosures at www.masterworks.com/cd

**Based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil. Hair Blends are compounded products and have not been approved by the FDA. The FDA does not verify the safety or effectiveness of compounded drugs. Prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information.