Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🚫 A bipartisan Senate group seeks to ban stock trading in Congress
• 📝 The latest inflation data
• 📖 Webster’s…salty early definition of “cat”

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.93-minute read (1,312 words).

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"Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy."

–Howard W. Newton (1903–1951)

This week, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would ban members of Congress and their immediate family from trading stocks, in an effort to prevent profiting from insider knowledge.

Some quick background: Lawmakers are currently prohibited from using non-public information for private profit under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012. This also requires lawmakers to disclose any stock trades they make within 45 days.

• However, the penalty for violating the STOCK act is a $200 fine – which critics say doesn’t go far enough to disincentivize such behavior.

This new proposal aims to add some bite to that bark. The measure, supported by three Democratic senators and one Republican, would prevent members of Congress from buying or selling individual stocks starting 90 days after being signed into law. The bill, which doesn’t apply to mutual funds or pooled securities investments like ETFs, would also extend to members’ spouses and dependent children starting in March 2027.

• Penalties for violating the proposed law would be set at either the monthly salary of a lawmaker ($10,000+) or 10% of the value of each asset illegally bought or sold – whichever is greater.

Zoom out: Stock trading by elected government officials has come under increased focus from ethics watchdogs following disclosures that several senators made highly profitable trades in early 2020, when Congress was receiving classified briefings warning of how disastrous the Covid pandemic could be for the US economy.

Overall, lawmakers have been so active in the stock market that some traders have launched investment products allowing ordinary Americans to mimic trades made by members of Congress or their spouses.

• A pair of ETFs following the trades of both Democratic and Republican members of Congress have outperformed the Dow since launching last year.
• Additionally, the Autopilot app lets users copy trades of individuals like Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, whose tracker was up 45% last year.

Looking ahead… On July 24, the new bipartisan proposal will become the first congressional stock trading ban to receive formal consideration from a Senate committee.

📊 Flash poll: Which of the following best describes your opinion on how the financial investments of Congress and their immediate family should be governed?

• They should be allowed to participate in the market without insider info
• They shouldn’t own individual stocks, but some other investments are okay
• They shouldn’t own any market-based financial investments
• Unsure/other

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💥 Israel-Hamas update: In recent days, the Israeli military has ordered Palestinians to evacuate Gaza City and head south as it increases military operations in the area, marking the second time since the Israel-Hamas war began that the entirety of Gaza City has been told to evacuate. Separately, the Pentagon announced yesterday that the US will shut down its short-lived $230 million humanitarian aid pier for Gaza, which has suffered from inconsistent aid deliveries due to logistical issues.

🇨🇳 NATO accused China of supplying Russia’s attacks on Ukraine for the first time. In a statement, NATO demanded that China halt shipments of weapons and technology used to rebuild the Russian military. The declaration came after the US provided intelligence to NATO indicating China is providing weapons, computer chips, and advanced software to Russia. China denies NATO’s claims, saying Beijing’s core position is promoting peace talks in Ukraine.

🇵🇰🇦🇫 Pakistan is extending the stay of legal Afghan refugees by one year. The extension applies to 1.45 million Afghan refugees legally residing in Pakistan, many of whom fled Afghanistan due to the Taliban takeover in 2021. The decision comes after Pakistan previously enacted an anti-migrant crackdown in November over accusations that Afghan nationals were involved in local militant attacks, smuggling, and other crimes (which the Afghan Taliban government denied).

A group of scientists recently turned a gut feeling into a gut reality.

Researchers at Eligo Bioscience, a biotech company in Paris, have designed the world's first gene-editing tool that can modify the gut microbiome of a living creature.

Why it’s important: The human gut microbiome, aka the trillions of microorganisms living in the intestinal tract, is vital to overall health. Sometimes referred to as the “second brain,” it’s home to the Enteric Nervous System – a network of millions of neurons wrapped in and around our gut that are in constant communication with the brain.

The breakthrough: Until now, base editors used to modify the gut microbiome have failed to modify enough of the target bacterial population to be effective.

But the team involved with the study figured out a workaround, engineering a brand-new delivery vehicle using components of a bacteriophage – a virus that infects bacteria – to home in on several E. coli receptors that are expressed in the gut environment. Using this method, they were able to modify two different E. coli genes and successfully overhaul the gut microbiome of living mice.

• The scientists’ research also suggests their editing system can be adapted to target different bacteria strains and species.

👀 Looking ahead… While this base-editing experiment proved it possible to successfully alter the gut microbiome, the next step for researchers is to develop mouse models with microbiome-driven diseases to measure whether specific gene edits have a beneficial impact on health.

“I’m in this to complete the job I started.”

Last night, President Biden held a rare solo press conference to close out a three-day NATO summit in Washington, DC, marking a key event in a monumental week for Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign as he fends off calls for him to step aside as the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee. During the conference, Biden faced nearly an hour of questions from reporters about his personal health, his foreign policy actions, and whether he’s up to continuing his reelection campaign. 

• The president reiterated that he plans to stay in the 2024 race, and pushed back at every suggestion that he is slowing down, showing noticeable signs of decline, or isn’t in command of the job. 
• Additionally, Biden gave detailed responses about his work to preserve NATO and his plans for a second term – but he also made two notable flubs yesterday, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” at a NATO event beforehand, then calling Vice President Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump” when asked about her at the press conference.

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• ☝️ 35Awards recently announced the best underwater photo winners from its ninth annual international photography awards.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

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• 💰 US markets closed mixed (S&P: -0.9%; Dow: +0.1%; Nasdaq: -2.0%) | 📈 The US Consumer Price Index rose 3.0% year-over-year in June, matching its lowest level since March 2021; core inflation rose 0.1% compared to May, the smallest monthly increase since August 2021.
• 🥤 PepsiCo reported Q2 earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, but also warned of weaker US consumer demand. | ✈️ Delta reported record Q2 revenue, though earnings fell below analysts’ expectations due to discounted fares; the airline also forecast record revenue for Q3 thanks to booming summer travel demand.
• 🙅 Google parent Alphabet has reportedly abandoned its plans to acquire marketing software maker HubSpot. | 🚖🤖 Tesla is reportedly postponing its planned robotaxi unveiling from August to October (a huge surprise given the company’s history of meeting timelines).

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Inside Out 2 is now Pixar's highest-grossing film of all time, with $1.25+ billion in global ticket sales less than one month after its release.
• 🙏 Shelley Duvall, the actress best known for her starring roles in The Shining and Nashville, passed away at 75.
• 🏀 The NBA has reportedly reached an official agreement on a record 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal with ESPN, Amazon, and NBC. | ⚖️ Former NBA player Jontay Porter, who was banned from the league for life for gambling on his own performance, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a case tied to his gambling scandal.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Mira

• 🎗️📉 Nearly half of all US adult cancer deaths could be prevented by making lifestyle changes, per a new American Cancer Society study.
• 💊 Pfizer said it’ll continue to develop a once-daily version of its weight loss pill, danuglipron, after it saw “encouraging” data in an early-stage trial.
• 🦣 A piece of wooly mammoth skin dating back 52,000 years that was excavated from the Siberian permafrost was found to contain a fossilized chromosome with its 3D structure still intact, marking a first-of-its-kind discovery.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• ⚖️🏥 The FTC reportedly plans to sue the largest three pharmacy-benefit managers for how they negotiate drug prices; this comes after the agency delivered a scathing report on the practice earlier this week.
• 🚢🇨🇳 The US Coast Guard said it encountered four Chinese military vessels in the Bering Sea off Alaska; the ships were legally located in international waters but within the US exclusive economic zone.
• 🇺🇸🇲🇽 President Biden announced new 25% tariffs on steel product imports from Mexico that weren’t melted and poured in the US, Mexico, or Canada; the move is aimed at limiting China’s evasion of existing US tariffs.

CLICKBAIT

• 🛒 What your grocery cart says about you.

💰 Stat of the Day: The progressive “Fight For $15” may need a little modification moving forward. According to new data from global poverty nonprofit Oxfam, just 13% of all US workers are currently earning less than $15/hour – down from 32% two years ago. This has led Oxfam this year to revise its definition of a low-wage US worker from $15/hour to $17/hour.

🤔 Did You Know? An early version of Noah Webster’s dictionary in 1828 defined “cat” with the entry: “The domestic cat needs no description. It is a deceitful animal, and when enraged, extremely spiteful.”

📰 Worth a Read: Why small annoyances can harm us more than big disruptions → (Psyche Magazine)

Helen Denmark just celebrated her 108th birthday. 

At a party hosted by friends and caregivers at Brookdale Assisted Living in Birmingham, she shared her secret to a long happy life: "drinking wine, eating dessert, and flirting with men with mustaches."

• Happy birthday to the impressive centenarian🎉.

Our weekly news quiz is live. How well did you pay attention this week? Let’s find out.

Below are three lists of ingredients. Your job is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Chicken cutlets
• Salt & pepper
• Oregano
• Olive oil
• Shallot
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Garlic
• Dry white wine
• Heavy cream
• Parmesan cheese
• Baby spinach

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Ears of sweet corn
• Mexican crema
• Mayonnaise
• Cilantro
• Garlic
• Ground chipotle pepper
• Lime zest
• Cotija cheese

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Water
• Granulated sugar
• Egg yolks
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Heavy cream
• Vanilla extract
• Kosher salt

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☝️ Recipe #1: Creamy Tuscan chicken

✌️ Recipe #2: Grilled Mexican street corn (aka "elote")

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Flan