Good morning. In this edition:

• 🧲 US automakers + Chinese magnets
• 🏀 Who sportsbooks are rooting for in the NBA Finals
• ⛔ Trump announces travel ban

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.45-minute read (1,184 words).

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🚨 Breaking: President Trump has ordered his administration to investigate former President Biden's mental state and the use of an autopen to sign White House documents. Read more here.

"You are now, and you do become, what you think about."

–Earl Nightingale (1921-1989)

Several major US automakers could be forced to shut down some car production in the coming days or weeks if they can’t find workarounds to recent Chinese restrictions on rare-earth magnets, per new reports from the Wall Street Journal and NY Times. Cue: Teams of lawyers thumbing through Beijing’s laws of attraction.

• China controls 90+% of the world’s supply of rare-earth magnets, which play a key role in much of the world’s modern technology—from smartphones to F-150 pickups to F-35 jet fighters—by helping magnets operate at high temperatures.

How we got here: In April, China suspended exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets amid an ongoing trade war with the US.

• Beijing was supposed to have eased export controls on rare-earth magnets as part of a 90-day tariff truce agreement last month.
• However, Chinese officials have slow-walked the implementation, framing it as retaliation for recent US moves like revoking Chinese student visas and restricting AI chip exports.

At a crossroads

US companies are currently reviewing several ideas to deal with a lack of rare-earth magnets, including potentially stripping out some premium features—like adjustable seats or high-end speaker systems—that use this tech.

• Other options include producing electric motors in Chinese factories, or shipping made-in-America motors to China to have magnets installed.
• Moving production to China could prove successful since Beijing’s restrictions only cover magnets by themselves—not when they’re already worked into a finished part.

Is decoupling from China a realistic option? Not in the immediate future. While many countries possess rare earth deposits, they’re currently unable to process or manufacture the materials without assistance from Chinese firms, since much of the advanced know-how is tied up in patents and proprietary IP from the country.

However, there is an ongoing push by Western countries to diversify the global rare-earth supply chain, thereby reducing reliance on China.

Zoom out: Car companies in Europe, Japan, and India have also warned of manufacturing disruptions in the coming weeks due to Chinese export restrictions on rare-earth magnets.

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“The Thunder Rolls” = the wishful NBA Finals anthem being played at sportsbooks everywhere. As the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder prepare to take the court to compete for a league championship, casinos and betting platforms are pulling hard for OKC to come out with a victory.

Big OKC tha plug

This is because the Thunder’s odds of winning were not really long enough at any point in the season to warrant a major liability for sportsbooks, while bets on Indiana carry much better odds (and bigger potential payouts). 

BetMGM has "a couple" of Pacers futures wagers with a chance to win six figures at 125-1 odds, with others that can win smaller amounts at 150-1 odds.

• When it comes to the Finals matchup, the Thunder are a lopsided favorite, at -700 vs. +500.
• Likely due to the larger potential payout, 92% of bets and 91% of total dollars have been wagered so far on the Pacers to win the ‘ship. And if Indiana pulls off a series victory, it would be the biggest NBA Finals upset since 2004, when the Detroit Pistons (+500) beat the LA Lakers in five games.

Looking ahead…Game 1 tips tonight at 7:30 CT, with one big question on the minds of sports execs and broadcasters—will people actually tune in to watch this smaller-market matchup?

+Want more stories like this? Sign up for Press Sports, our sister newsletter delivering smart, witty sports news to inboxes 2x/week. It’s free.

Now, Grandma has no excuse to miss a family cookout. Uber yesterday launched a new feature aimed at simplifying its service and user interface for older adults.

Senior accounts, as the feature is called, are now included as an option for both solo users and Uber’s family profile feature—which allows up to five users to link their accounts—in the US and several other countries.

Here’s what to expect, according to Uber:

• Simplified Booking: Senior accounts feature a redesigned app experience with larger text and icons, and less buttons.
• Support Access: Family members or caregivers can book rides on behalf of the senior account holder, contact drivers, monitor trips in real time, and receive notifications in the event of delays.
• Saved Places: Frequently visited locations—such as home, medical offices, or grocery stores—can be stored for easy access.
• Flexible Payments: Senior accounts can pay using their own card, a family member’s payment method, or an eligible Medicare Flex card.

Big picture: Uber’s move comes weeks after rival Lyft launched “Lyft Silver” accounts, which include similar features for older customers. Analysts say both ride-share giants see senior accounts as a much-needed service in a world where ~1 in 6 people globally will be at least 60 years old by the end of the decade.

Imagine a weight loss method with no calorie counting, strict diets, or cutting out entire food groups. Well, there is and it’s no miracle pill. It’s an app—Simple.

• Simple is a clinically proven weight loss tool empowering 17.5M+ users to achieve significant results. The science-based method uses habit trackers, fasting schedules, and a personal smart coach for lasting results.
• Debi, pictured above, lost 76 lbs in just nine months, going from a size 20 to a size 12. She says, “But more importantly, I feel fabulous.”.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📝 US private sector hiring rose by 37,000 in May, the lowest in more than two years. | A nationwide, coordinated retail crime crackdown—what authorities are calling the first of its kind—led to hundreds of arrests in 28 states last week.
• 🏦 Wells Fargo can grow its assets for the first time in seven years after federal regulators moved to lift a punishment levied in the wake of the bank's fake-accounts scandal.
• ⭕ Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, will begin trading on the NYSE today; the company’s IPO price gives it a valuation of $6.8 billion.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with NoNetz

• 🏒 Stanley Cup Final: The Edmonton Oilers beat the Florida Panthers in a 4-3 OT thriller last night to take Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
• 🎥 The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off in New York City.
• 📝 Loïs Boisson, a 22-year-old French women’s tennis player ranked #361 in the world, reached the French Open semis yesterday following a second-straight major upset; she’s the second woman to ever make the semis of her first Grand Slam. | Steph Curry’s company, Thirty Ink, generated $174 million in revenue last year; the company also says all of its businesses are profitable.

*From our partners: 🙌 There’s nothing dads love more than ultimate comfort…And with NoNetz, he won’t have to compromise on style either. Cooling Polos, Luxury Joggers, and Anti-Chafe Swim Trunks so comfy they double as regular shorts. All sustainably made and perfect for Father’s Day. Save 15% on NoNetz with code DONUT15.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🤖 Chinese lab DeepSeek may have trained its AI models at least in part on outputs provided by Google’s Gemini AI models, per a series of unverified reports. | Reddit is suing AI startup Anthropic for allegedly scraping user comments to train its Claude chatbot.
• 💻 Amazon is investing $10 billion in new North Carolina data centers as part of its push to expand AI infrastructure.
• 🌌 Our entire observable universe could be located inside the interior of a black hole formed in some larger "parent" universe—which would explain the Big Bang, dark energy, and other mysterious details about our universe, per a new study.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with MorningSave

• 🏛️ The White House asked Congress to formally claw back ~$9.4 billion in approved spending mostly covering foreign aid and public broadcasting; it represents the first move to codify DOGE spending cuts. | The Trump-backed tax and spending bill progressing through Congress would increase budget deficits by $2.4 trillion over the next decade compared with doing nothing, per a new CBO estimate.
• 🎓 The Trump admin initiated the process to remove Columbia University’s accreditation over allegations of antisemitism “in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws.”
• 🌏 President Trump announced a travel ban fully preventing citizens from 12 countries from entering the US (with certain exceptions); it also partially restricts entry for seven other nations. | Russia plans to respond to Ukraine’s recent drone attack targeting its airfields, President Trump said yesterday following a phone call with President Putin. | Iran’s supreme leader effectively rejected a US proposal to resolve the ongoing standoff over its nuclear program.

*From our partners: 🛏️🌛 Score a silky, soft six-piece sheet set for only $25…Made with a breathable microfiber-rayon from bamboo blend to ensure cool, comfortable, and restful sleep. Includes flat sheet, fitted sheet, and 4 pillow cases. Save $105 here (reg. $130) at MorningSave.

☝️ Astronomers discovered the smallest known star to host a transiting gas giant planet; the pair—featuring a star ~20% as big as our Sun and a Jupiter-sized planet—is especially puzzling to scientists, as it shouldn’t exist under leading planet formation theories.

🤔 Did You Know? The color orange was named after the fruit—not the other way around. The word "orange" in reference to the fruit first appeared in the English language around the late 14th century, while its use as a color was first documented over a century later.

📰 Worth a Read: Why Americans are camping alone more than ever

🖱️ Clickbait: The rise of the revenge meal: Why parents are sneaking off to secretly snack

Yesterday we covered how Meta announced a deal with nuclear energy provider Constellation Energy to buy massive amounts of electricity over the next two-plus decades.

❓ Our question to you: In general, how do you feel about using nuclear energy as a source of electricity in the US?

• Strongly agree: 46%
• Agree/Somewhat agree: 27%
• Neutral: 9%
• Disagree/Somewhat disagree: 11%
• Strongly disagree: 7%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 2,517 votes and 236 longform responses.

Which South American city was originally laid out in the shape of a puma?

🐻 One Northern California resident might as well make her backyard a community bear pool. See the moment she captured a mama bear teaching her cub how to swim.

🎀 A UK primary school set up an after-school Barbie Club to teach students positive messages about self confidence and chasing your dreams. It's proven so popular they already have a wait list. 

🐚 Providence resident Felicia Neuhof turns seafood shell waste from local Rhode Island restaurants into working furniture and sustainable building materials through her company, Shellf Life.

Cusco, Peru