Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🗳️ President Biden drops out of the presidential race
• 😬 Technology = sometimes fragile
• ✈️ Exploding cans are injuring flight attendants

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.98-minute read (1,325 words).

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"Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude."

–Hilary "Zig" Ziglar (1926-2012)

In a letter published yesterday afternoon, President Biden announced his immediate withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, saying he plans to “focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

• Biden’s decision comes after escalating pressure from his Democratic allies to step aside following his widely panned performance at the June 27 presidential debate.
• And with less than four months until November’s election, it marks the latest point in US history at which a major party candidate dropped out of the presidential race voluntarily.

So… what happens now? Biden has accrued 80+% of all Democratic delegates over the past several months by winning primary elections across the country. These delegates would typically vote for Biden at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) next month.

However, Biden’s decision to step aside releases his delegates from their previous commitments, potentially sparking a competition among other Democratic presidential hopefuls.

• Biden officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the nominee yesterday, with many high-profile Democrats and donors following suit.
• Other top Democratic figures, including former President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and current congressional leaders, have held off on an endorsement thus far.
• Outside of Harris, several Democratic governors have been floated as possible replacements for Biden, including Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and JB Pritzker of Illinois.

What about the campaign funds Biden has already raised? The Biden-Harris campaign and allied Democratic committees had $240+ million in the bank at the end of May, though experts disagree on how readily Harris will be able to access those funds.

• Because Harris is also on Biden’s campaign filing documents, many experts believe the money could legally be transferred over to her if she takes the top spot on the ticket.
• However, some argue Biden would need to be officially nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate before a transfer could be made.

Looking ahead… The Democratic presidential candidate will be decided either through reviving the pre-1968 open convention process during the DNC (August 19–22), or in a virtual roll call vote planned for early August.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, who should replace Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024?

• Vice President Kamala Harris
• Gov. Gavin Newsom (CA)
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (MI)
• Gov. Andy Beshear (KY)
• Gov. Josh Shapiro (PA)
• Gov. JB Pritzker (IL)
• Rep. Dean Phillips (MN)
• Marianne Williamson
• Michelle Obama
• Other
• Unsure

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🇧🇩 Bangladesh scaled back government job quotas that sparked national student protests. The country’s quota system, which was abolished in 2020 but reinstated by a court verdict last month, reserves 30% of all public-sector jobs for the relatives of veterans who fought for Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971. In recent weeks, at least 139 people – mostly students – have been killed during mass anti-quota protests, with Bangladesh enforcing a strict curfew with shoot-to-kill orders. Under a Supreme Court ruling published yesterday, Bangladesh will now reserve 5% of government jobs for family members of veterans.

🇷🇺 Russia sentenced WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison. The 32-year-old American journalist has been imprisoned since March 2023, 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. Gershkovich has 15 days to appeal Friday’s sentence, which counts his time already spent in detention.

🇬🇧 A UK court handed record prison sentences to Just Stop Oil protesters. Five activists who planned a four-day protest in 2022 that shut down a major UK motorway received four- or five-year prison sentences last week, under a new law intended to deter unruly protests. Officials say the 2022 demonstration caused ~$2.4 million in damages and a combined 50,000+ hours of vehicle delays. According to Just Stop Oil, the sentences represent the harshest terms handed down for a peaceful protest in England’s history.

Starting late Thursday, many around the globe experienced a taste of the “good” ‘ole technology free days, as an outage linked to a not-tested-enough software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (not a cyberattack) knocked out systems at major banks, logistics providers, airlines, hospitals, retailers, and more.

The fallout: 911 services in certain areas were unavailable, airlines were forced to cancel thousands of flights (or turn to paper boarding passes), hospitals postponed non urgent surgeries, banks (including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America) were unable to offer certain services, retailers (including Starbucks) were unable to process payments, and small businesses were left unable to run payroll, operate phone services, or sign contracts.

• All-in, ~8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices running the CrowdStrike software experienced the “blue screen of death.”
• Many affected users are already back up and running, but it could take weeks for others depending on the system in use.

CrowdStrike is a Ron Burgundy-sized big deal in the cybersecurity world. Founded in 2011 and publicly traded since 2019, the company (market cap: ~$74 billion; -11% on Friday) counts ~60% of Fortune 500 companies and more than half of the Fortune 1,000 among its ~29,000 customers.

👀 Looking ahead: Y2.0K?… As major businesses increasingly rely on a small subset of vendors for critical operations – and outdated technology utilized by airlines, government, and other industries keeps getting stretched – many experts say these types of outages could happen more often.

It’s not often The Motley Fool gives the “All-In” signal. But when they do their track record is pretty good…

• 🤑 “All In” picks have seen returns as high as 10,000+%.
• 📈 The average return of stocks selected with the “All In” buy signal is 839%… crushing the S&P 500 by nearly 4x.
• 💰 Went “All in” on Netflix in 2004 (up 27,660%), and Nvidia in 2009 (33,407%).

They just flashed the signal for one California company that sits in the middle of the advertising market – a market that’s 10x bigger than the online streaming industry (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.)

So what company is their next “All-In”? Find out here at The Motley Fool.

“[Finding] viable solutions to bursting hot cans is our top priority."

• Flight attendants can add another item to their midair danger checklist: exploding soda cans (right above repetitive safety briefings, and just below unruly passengers). In recent months, at least 20 Southwest flight attendants have been injured by canned beverages that were warped by intense summer heat and ruptured, with one injury requiring stitches. Southwest says it’s implementing measures to address the issue, including at several of its hotter locations like Austin, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Sacramento. Experts say the exploding cans, which appear unique to Southwest, likely stem from it being the only major airline that doesn’t stock perishables onboard (so no air-conditioned catering trucks).

• ☝️ The San Diego Air and Space Museum held a celebration on Saturday to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the first Moon landing; Buzz Aldrin (right), the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew, headlined the gala.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Scott Kemper Imagery

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board on Friday (S&P:-0.7%; Dow: -0.9%; Nasdaq: -0.8%); the S&P and Nasdaq experienced their worst weeks last week since April (-2% and -3.7%, respectively).
• 🏦 Berkshire Hathaway sold ~$1.5 billion worth of Bank of America stock last week; the Warren Buffett-run conglomerate still owns 999 million BofA shares.
• ☕ Elliott Management, an activist investor firm, has reportedly built a large stake in Starbucks and is pushing for changes.

*From our partners: 🌊🙌 Transform your walls with beautifully captured coastal landscapes… Until the end of July, fine art photographer Scott Kemper is offering DONUT Readers exclusive pricing on selected prints of iconic beaches and shores from around the globe. Check out his coastal collection at Scott Kemper Imagery.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏌️ Xander Schauffele won the British Open by two strokes yesterday, capturing his second major championship of 2024. | ⛹️‍♀️ WNBA All-Star Game: Team WNBA defeated Team USA Basketball 117-109 behind 34 points from Arike Ogunbowale (a new All-Star Game high). | ⛹️ The USA men’s basketball team beat South Sudan 101-100 in a pre-Olympic exhibition thanks to a last-second LeBron James layup; the US was a 43-point favorite over South Sudan, which became a country in 2011.
• 🌪️ Twisters took the US box office by *bad pun incoming* storm (groans) its opening weekend, generating a better than expected $80.5 million.
• 🎸 The Boss is…well, a boss: Bruce Springsteen is now a billionaire, according to Forbes. | 🎧 Will Ferrell – also a music boss: The actor will be joining the band Swedish House Mafia on stage at a benefit show in Chicago on October 26, per a YouTube announcement.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Coral Isles Sunscreen

• 🤖 OpenAI released GPT-4o mini, a cheaper, slimmed-down version of its flagship AI model. | 🤣 AI-crafted jokes outperformed those written by everyday humans, per a new USC study.
• 🧠 Small regions of the human brain can take micro-naps while other regions are awake, per new pioneering research from UC Santa Cruz and WashU.
• 🧑‍🚀 Dune saw it first: Scientists developed a new device that can capture astronauts' pee and recycle it into drinkable water within minutes.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚁 The 20-year-old who tried to assassinate former President Trump is believed to have flown a drone around the rally site before the event, per an AP source; the FBI has reportedly recovered the drone.
• 🔥⛪ The First Baptist Dallas church experienced a fire that burned down its sanctuary, which was built in 1890; officials are still determining whether to demolish the sanctuary for structural reasons.
• 🚨 The FBI arrested nine people in connection with a murder-for-hire plot, in which South Florida developer Sergio Pino hired multiple hitmen crews to kill his wife.

CLICKBAIT

• 💳 They Turned 18 and Immediately Had a Credit Score Over 700.

🏘️💪 Stat of the Day: What do houses and gym bros have in common? They’re both getting swole. Between 1980 and 2018, the average US house size rose by 150%, with the median size reaching 2,300 square feet as of 2022, per Census Bureau data. But bigger isn’t always better, according to a growing number of women US towns. In recent months, local officials from Aspen, East Hampton, Martha’s Vineyard, and several other towns have approved or proposed laws that would drastically reduce their maximum-allowed house size, sometimes by as much as 50%.

🤔 Did You Know? Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is the first major party nominee for president or vice president to have facial hair since Thomas E. Dewey, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 1944 and 1948.

📰 Worth a Read: Yelp's impact on restaurants and reviews, 20 years in → (Eater)

Monday: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House

Tuesday: National Gorgeous Grandma Day

Wednesday: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will address Congress

Thursday: Comic-Con kicks off in San Diego

Friday: The Summer Olympic Games begin in Paris; Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters

On Friday, we covered a growing number of companies that have announced plans to eliminate some or all of their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

❓ Our question to you: In general, do you support diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at companies?

• 👍 Yes: 47%
• 👎 No: 40%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 13%

Click here to read the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 3,364 votes and 319 longform responses.

Mechanical engineer Ashok Aliseril Thamarakshan recently took his love for flying to the next level by constructing an entire working plane in his backyard.

To the skies... The dad of two, who started the passion project in 2020, took 18 months to complete his plane, which passed over a dozen inspections before being allowed to fly.

• Ashok is now able to jet his family all around Europe – for roughly the same cost as maintaining an SUV. 

💬 What he's saying: “Once I landed, [the test pilot] clapped his hands and said ‘Congratulations, you’ve just landed the plane you built.’ That was a great feeling,” the pilot shared about his first flight in the plane.

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words:

1. Amor
2. Calc
3. Clar
4. Erg
5. Glob

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1. Amor = Love (e.g., amorous)
2. Calc = Stone (calcium)
3. Clar = Clear (clarity, declaration)
4. Erg = Work (ergonomic)
5. Glob = Sphere (globe)