Good morning. Reports are surfacing that Apple's latest iOS 17.5 update has introduced a bug causing old photos that were deleted, sometimes years ago, to reappear in some users' photo libraries as brand new – including NSFW pics.

Apple has yet to comment. But the situation does illustrate a little-known fact.

• When you delete a piece of data from your device – a pic, video, text message, etc. – it doesn't vanish. Instead, your device makes it inaccessible and labels that space as available to be overwritten by new information.

Just something to keep in mind🙃.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.66-minute read (1,241 words).

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“The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.”

–Eric Hoffer (1902-1983)

Much like a gambler who’s in deep with Tony Soprano’s crew, America is being forced to dedicate a growing amount of income to paying down interest on its debts.

For the first time in recorded history, the US government is spending more money on interest payments associated with the national debt than both defense and Medicare, according to new Treasury Department data.

By the numbers: Since the current fiscal year began last October, the US government has spent $514 billion on interest payments servicing its national debt, compared to $498 billion spent on national defense and $465 billion on Medicare.

• Interest payments now rank as the second-largest line item in the federal budget, behind only Social Security at $837 billion.
• Overall, the US government has spent $3.82 trillion in the first seven months of this fiscal year, compared to $2.96 trillion in revenue.

The data indicates 2024 will continue a decades-long trend of deficit spending. The US has spent more money than it takes in each year since 2001, including record-setting deficit levels in 2020 ($3.1 trillion) and 2021 ($2.8 trillion). To cover this shortfall, the government borrows money by selling Treasury bonds to investors, who expect to be paid back with interest.

• These back payments make up the national debt, which currently sits at $34.6 trillion – or ~115% of America’s annual GDP.
• Total interest payments on the national debt crossed $1 trillion/year at the end of October, up from $475 billion/year as of early 2022.

Looking ahead… Barring any executive or legislative action, interest payments on America’s national debt are projected to consume 35% of all federal revenue by 2053, overtaking Social Security as the largest line item in the budget.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, how should the US government deal with its rising national debt and associated interest payments?

• Raise taxes
• Cut spending
• Print more bonds/money to cover interest
• Some combination of the above
• Nothing needs to be done
• Other/unsure

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🇲🇽 A star is born in Mexico: Michelin released its first ranking of restaurants in the country. The newly published Michelin Guide Mexico features a pair of two-star restaurants and 16 one-star locations, with no establishment attaining Michelin’s highest category of three stars. While the majority of restaurants named in the Mexico ranking are considered fine dining, Michelin also awarded one star to a 10-foot-by-10-foot taco stand in Mexico City.

🇷🇺 Russia has reportedly been secretly testing an anti-satellite weapon in space for more than two years. In a new WSJ report, multiple unnamed US officials confirmed that Russia launched a satellite into space in February 2022 designed to test components for a space-based weapon capable of destroying satellites in orbit with a nuclear blast. Officials say the satellite in question, which doesn’t carry a nuclear weapon, is still traveling around the Earth and operating as a research and development platform for the new weapon system.

🇪🇺 The EU is investigating Instagram and Facebook over their risks of child addiction and harm. The probe, announced yesterday, will assess whether the companies’ parent Meta has breached the Digital Services Act, a recently implemented EU law aimed at protecting minors online. EU officials specifically cite the social media sites’ online interfaces, which they say may be designed to “exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior.”

Wayfair, the online home goods retailer that at one point was the center of a child-trafficking conspiracy, announced it’s opening its first brick-and-mortar location. The 150,000-square-foot megastore, located near Chicago, is slated to open May 23.

Only shopping online? Soooo 2010s. Wayfair, which currently has a market cap of $8.3 billion, follows other direct-to-consumer brands that have opened physical locations after establishing sizable online customer bases, including Warby Parker, Figs, Casper, Glossier, and Everlane.

• The reality: E-commerce retail sales spiked during Covid, but have hovered around 15% of total retail sales since 2020. Meaning ~85% of all retail purchases still happen offline.

Retail is back

New store openings largely outpaced closures in the early 2010s – but that changed in 2017. CNBC reports that ~8,000 retail storefronts were shuttered and only ~5,000 new ones opened that year.

This trend continued for five years. Then, in 2022, it pulled an Uno reverse card: more physical stores were opened than closed, resulting in 1,575 net new openings. There were 307 net new openings in 2023, and there have already been 521 net new openings in 2024 (as of May 10).

🏬 Bottom line: No matter how far tech has evolved, some things – like actually testing out a mattress or trying on shoes to see how they fit – are better done in person.

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💬 Quoted: “It’s just nail polish.💅”

• When it comes to emoji usage, people often interpret the same symbol in entirely different ways – just ask anyone who’s received an eggplant or peach from grandma. A newly released report found the most misunderstood emoji in the US is 💅, with 40% of people using the icon to signify being classy or bougie, and others saying it’s just nail polish or a symbol for “Don’t mind me hehe.” Other confusing emojis include 💨, which most Americans classify either as dashing away or farting (sometimes both at once), and the “persevering face” emoji 😣, which most believe signals either frustration or cringe.

🪙 Stat of the Day: Counting cards at the blackjack table is soooo early 2000s – these days, enterprising MIT students have a different way to stack up cash. Case in point: A pair of brothers who studied at MIT were arrested this week on federal charges accusing them of carrying out a cutting-edge scheme to exploit the blockchain of Ethereum, which allegedly resulted in the theft of $25 million worth of cryptocurrency in just 12 seconds.

🤔 Did You Know? The fastest badminton shot in history is ~1.5x quicker than the top speed ever recorded by a Formula One car (351 MPH vs. 247 MPH).

📰 Worth a Read: He is basketball’s undisputed MVP – of wasting time → (WSJ)

• ☝️ The Census Bureau released new data yesterday that shows large cities in the Northeast and Midwest grew on average in 2023, reversing earlier population declines – though the fastest growth was seen in the South.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Pair

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -0.2%; Dow: -0.1%; Nasdaq: -0.3%); the Dow briefly rose above 40,000 for the first time.
• 🏬 Walmart reported Q1 earnings that beat analysts’ expectations for revenue and earnings; the retail giant’s shares closed up 7%.
• 🎽 Under Armour announced a new restructuring plan and said it projects a 10+% drop in sales for this fiscal year.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎮 EA Sports revealed its College Football 25 cover athletes yesterday; the new videogame, which is returning after a decade-long break, will be released on July 19. | 🏈🗣️ The NFL published a statement saying Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s controversial commencement speech represents his own personal views, not those of the league. Read a breakdown of the situation.
• 🎰 The Mirage Casino in Las Vegas is closing its doors for good in July after 34 years in business; the casino will undergo a three-year renovation and rebrand as Hard Rock Las Vegas.
• 🏀 Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever drew an average of 2.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched game in league history across ESPN platforms. | 🏌️ The PGA Championship teed off yesterday; see the full leaderboard.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Commons

• 💊 UK engineers and pharmacists designed a 3D-printed “polypill” that can be customized to include an entire day’s worth of medications.
• 🔭 NASA is considering an offer of a private mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope before it plunges into Earth’s atmosphere around 2034.
• 🌊 A long-buried branch of the Nile river once flowed alongside 30+ pyramids in Egypt, potentially solving the mystery of how their massive stone blocks were transported, per a study published yesterday.

*From our partners: 💰🌍 Get paid for spending and living more sustainably… Commons app lets you earn for every purchase from 50,000+ sustainable brands and everyday climate actions like using public transit or shopping secondhand. Get the Commons app FREE here.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🌶️ A Massachusetts teen who ate a super-spicy tortilla chip as part of a social media challenge passed away due to a combination of a heart defect and eating a large quantity of chile extract, his autopsy report concluded.
• 🗣️ The Biden-Harris campaign accepted an invitation from CBS News to participate in a vice presidential debate in July or August.
• ⚖️ The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the funding process for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is constitutional, reversing a lower court ruling. | 🌿 Attorney General Merrick Garland officially began the process to reschedule marijuana on a federal level and classify it as a less dangerous drug.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔🖼️ The mystery of Mona Lisa’s background may have been solved.

For years, the volunteer fire department in Calhoun, MO, could barely make ends meet. Mark Hardin, volunteer fire chief of the station, said at one point the organization had $169 in the bank. 

The firemen were using 40-year-old equipment and old trucks that needed repairs. Mark wasn't sure how to keep the department running – until he received a call from 91-year-old Sam Sloan, a retiree who lives two miles up the road.

• After meeting the elderly man for breakfast, Mark was blown away when Sam offered him a check for $500,000. 
• “I’ve never seen a check with so many zeros,” Mark said. “I was at a loss for words.”

💬 What he's saying: “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I knew at this point in my life, I could help,” said Sam, who has lived in the area since 1960. “It’s important to have a good fire department." 

Our weekly news quiz just dropped. See how your news superpowers stack up against our team.

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

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Flour
• Baking powder & soda
• Salt
• Cinnamon
• Allspice
• Cloves
• Nutmeg
• Butter
• Honey
• Orange zest
• Vanilla extract
• Eggs
• Whole milk

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Chicken breasts
• Ginger
• Green onions
• Chicken bouillon
• Ground white pepper
• Jasmine rice
• Chicken stock
• Salt

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Buttermilk biscuit dough
• Butter
• Light brown sugar
• Vanilla extract

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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.

Start referring.👇

☝️ Recipe #1: Honey cake

✌️ Recipe #2: Chicken congee

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Monkey bread