Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 📲 iPhone–Android messaging is about to get an upgrade
• 🗣️ The first presidential debate is here
• 🚰🥊 America’s water systems are vulnerable to threats, per the EPA

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.86-minute read (1,294 words).

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"Success does not consist in never making mistakes, but in never making the same one a second time."

–George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

As part of the second developer beta of iOS 18 released earlier this week, Apple added support for Rich Communication Services (RCS) to its Messages app. And it could revolutionize the whole blue bubble vs. green bubble debate.

RCS is a next-gen text messaging standard that allows for several new features when an iPhone user texts an Android user, including higher-resolution photos/videos, the ability to send texts over Wi-Fi, and the ability to display typing indicators as well as read receipts. RCS messages are also encrypted, while SMS/MMS messages are not.

• One thing won’t be changing, however: messages from Android devices to iPhones will still wear the green bubble of shame.
• Support for RCS also seems to be limited to US carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon for now, TechCrunch reports.

Apple wasn’t exactly incentivized to make the switch. Internal emails made public in 2021 during a lawsuit showed senior Apple execs shooting down proposals to bring an iMessage app to Android due to its ecosystem lock-in. “I am concerned iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove an obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones,” current Apple senior vice president in charge of software Craig Federighi wrote in 2013.

So why is it adding iMessage-like functionality? Apple says it’s because RCS is more secure and privacy friendly than SMS/MMS.

But many experts speculate that avoiding future regulatory issues and legal costs are also a motivating factor. Samsung and Google have been pushing Apple to implement RCS for years, and startups like Beeper – which figured out a way to bring iMessage to Android devices before it got tired of playing Whac-A-Mole with Apple, who kept having it shut down – are increasingly likely to pop up.

👀 Looking ahead… Apple says a public beta of iOS 18 is coming “next month.” But if you’re looking for a more stable version (read: less buggy), the date to mark on your fireman calendar is mid-September.

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🇷🇺 The Russian trial of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich began yesterday. The 32-year-old American journalist has been imprisoned since March of last year, when he was arrested on charges of stealing state secrets for the US government – allegations which he, US officials, and the WSJ have repeatedly denied. A senior Russian official told reporters yesterday that Moscow is open to the possibility of a prisoner-swap deal that includes Gershkovich, who is the first US journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War.

🇩🇰 Danish lawmakers approved a cow tax. The first-of-its-kind tax, which takes effect in 2030, will require livestock farmers to pay an annual tax for the planet-heating emissions their animals generate. The tax will start at ~$17 per ton of carbon emissions – the equivalent of ~$96 per individual cow – and more than double by 2035. Analysts expect the bill to receive parliamentary approval in the near future.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s Supreme Court decriminalized marijuana for personal use. The law, which passed in an 8-3 vote on Tuesday, will reduce the penalties for marijuana possession in an effort to reduce the population of overcrowded prisons – but doesn’t legalize cannabis for personal use. The ruling makes Brazil one of the last Latin American countries to decriminalize marijuana possession for personal use.

+Update: Kenya’s president yesterday withdrew a proposed tax hike that had sparked weeks of public protests, including the storming of parliament on Tuesday.

Later tonight, President Biden and former President Trump will face off on-stage in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season.

The showdown, which kicks off at 9 pm ET on CNN, will be moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. It also carries a few rules:

• No live audience (unlike typical debates)
• Microphones will be muted unless candidates are directed to speak
• Candidates aren’t allowed to bring pre-written notes or props

Why the debate is a big deal: Research suggests presidential candidates’ debate performances – and the surrounding media attention – can significantly impact the choices of undecided voters.

And, in the rare instances where a candidate commits a significant gaffe or is clearly outperformed, evidence shows it has a lasting effect on their approval rating.

Zoom out: Last week, Biden pulled ahead of Trump in FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average for the first time this election cycle; he currently holds a 40.8%-40.7% lead. Both figures have remained relatively consistent since the beginning of March, with Biden and Trump remaining separated by less than two percentage points.

• Trump holds a 37%-35% polling lead over Biden in seven key swing states that experts say will likely decide the race (AZ, GA, MI, NC, NV, PA, and WI), per the latest Ipsos polling data.

👀 Looking ahead… Trump is expected to announce his pick for vice president shortly before or during the Republican National Convention, which takes place July 15-18.

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“All drinking water and wastewater systems are at risk – large and small, urban and rural.”

• America’s water systems have emerged as a top priority for foreign-linked cybercriminals intent on taking out critical national infrastructure, according to new data from the Environmental Protection Agency. Officials revealed that 70% of water systems the EPA inspected fail to fully comply with security requirements outlined in the Safe Drinking Water Act – and many have “alarming cybersecurity vulnerabilities” like default passwords, vulnerable single login setups, and former employees who retained systems access. The EPA says cyberattacks on America’s water systems – including recent attacks in Kansas, Texas, and Pennsylvania – can damage infrastructure, disrupt the availability or flow of water, and contaminate the public’s supply of drinking water by altering chemical levels.

📺 Stat of the Day: YouTube is no longer content with dominating the internet – it’s coming for your living rooms and bedrooms, too. Last month, the video-sharing platform made up 9.7% of all viewership on connected and traditional TVs in the US – the largest share for a streaming platform since Nielsen began tracking such data in May 2023. Among streamers only, YouTube’s market share of viewership on traditional TV setups was close to 25% last month.

🤔 Did You Know? The average age of a successful startup founder is 45 years old (at the time their company was started), according to a 2018 Harvard Business Review analysis.

📰 Worth a Read: The first fugitive caught by the internet → (The Hustle)

• ☝️ Delta opened its first Delta One lounge this week; the 39,000 square-foot lounge, only available for travelers with the Delta One or secretive invite-only “360” status, is located in Terminal 4 at the JFK Airport in New York and features an array of elevated amenities and experiences, including shower suites, spa treatments, relaxation/work pods, an outdoor terrace, signature bar, and full service restaurant. Delta One lounges are also expected to be unveiled in Boston and LA later this year.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with “BEAT THE BRIDGE” by Game Show Network

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +0.2%; Dow: +0.04%; Nasdaq:+0.5%). | 📦 Amazon crossed $2 trillion in market cap for the first time during intraday trading; the e-commerce giant is the fifth company to ever achieve the milestone. | 🏡 New home sales hit a six-month low in May; sales fell 11.3% from April to a seasonally adjusted rate of 619,000.
• ✈️ Southwest Airlines cut its revenue guidance for the current quarter due to trouble adapting to shifts in booking patterns; shares closed down 0.2%. | 📈 Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang answered questions at the company’s annual shareholder meeting yesterday; the chipmaker’s value has grown ~200% since its last annual shareholder meeting.
• 🤔 Verizon’s new logo looks suspiciously like Netflix’s.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈🏟️ Jacksonville’s City Council approved an agreement with the NFL’s Jaguars for a $1.4 billion renovation of EverBank Stadium; the team will contribute $625 million (and stay in Jacksonville for at least 30 more years), while the city will pay $775 million.
• 🏀 The NBA Draft took place last night; the Atlanta Hawks selected French forward Zaccharie Risacher as the No. 1 overall pick. | 🏀 Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges was traded to the New York Knicks for a package including five first-round picks.
• 🤝 The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the union representing most behind-the-scenes film and TV crews, reached a tentative three-year deal with Hollywood studios, likely avoiding a potential strike next month. | 🎭 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars, invited 487 new members including Jessica Alba, Catherine O'Hara, and Lily Gladstone.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Dyce Games

• 🌉🚕 Waymo officially opened its self-driving taxi service in San Francisco to the general public.
• 🤖 Japanese researchers developed a self-healing artificial skin for robots; the not-at-all creepy invention is comprised of lab-grown human skin cells.
• 💻 ChatGPT’s desktop app is now available to all macOS users, instead of only paying subscribers.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• ☕🚫 Nearly 300 types of canned coffee distributed across the US by Snapchill are being recalled due to risk of potentially deadly food poisoning.
• 🏛️ Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a member of “The Squad” of progressive House lawmakers, lost his Democratic primary to challenger George Latimer.
• 📱 The Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit alleging the Biden administration unlawfully pressured social-media platforms to remove content flagged as disinformation. | 📝🤭 SCOTUS also accidentally posted a draft decision to its website showing the Court appears ready to allow emergency abortions in Idaho, superseding the state’s near-total abortion ban; the Court later issued a statement saying no decision was final.

CLICKBAIT

• 🏞️ America's Greatest Lake Towns to Visit This Summer.

We bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week.

• San Francisco home selling for $488,000 but you can't move in until 2053 → (ABC7 News)
• A pet donkey disappeared in California five years ago. He’s been spotted living with a herd of wild elk → (CNN)
• New Jersey man flies to Florida to attack another player over an online gaming dispute, deputies say → (Associated Press)
• 180-foot bike certified as world's longest - and it's actually rideable → (Guinness World Records)
• Watch believed to have been eaten by cow turns up 50 years later → (UPI)

Yesterday, we covered how a record-high eight states are projected to hold ballot measures in the fall that would rewrite their local election rules, with the measures billed as attempts to fix extreme partisanship in politics.

❓ Our question to you: Which of the following best describes your opinion about open primary elections and ranked-choice voting?

• I support both policies: 35%
• I only support open primary elections: 21%
• I only support ranked-choice voting: 14%
• I support neither policy: 17%
• Unsure/other: 13%

Click here to read the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 2,844 votes and 273 longform responses.

Mikal Bridges always wanted to play professional basketball.

And while the Brooklyn Nets New York Knicks small forward may have achieved his childhood dream, there's always been another career path he's considered chasing: teaching second grade. 

Class is in session: Mikal's dream of becoming an elementary school teacher came true in March, when he stepped in as a substitute at Public School 134 in Brooklyn, New York.

• Teaching the young students math, English, and, of course, a basketball lesson in PE for the day, "Mr. Bridges" became a quick favorite among the kids.
• "A lot of days, [when] we're in school," the athlete told CBS News, "we're with our teachers and I think they just don't get enough credit. Because we're around them a lot, you know what I'm saying. And they help us become better people every day."

👀 Looking ahead... Mikal hopes to pursue a career as a teacher, or even school principal, after his time in the NBA.

+Note: This story first appeared in Positive DONUT, a weekly newsletter delivering awe (and awww) inspiring stories you won't hear in the news. Sign up for free here.

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