Good morning. In this edition:

• 🇯🇵 Japan cracks down on baby names
• 🎻 The world’s smallest violin
• 💪 How much weight do you actually support during a pushup?

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.14-minute read (1,101 words).

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"The only defense against the world is a thorough knowledge of it."

–John Locke (1632-1704)

Thousands of people gathered in downtown Los Angeles yesterday to protest against recent immigration arrests by federal authorities, marking the fourth straight day of demonstrations that have frequently turned violent.

How we got here

On Friday evening, Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities executed search warrants at four areas across Los Angeles, arresting 44 people on alleged immigration violations.

• Two such immigration raids drew hundreds of protesters and devolved into violent standoffs between the demonstrators, and federal officials combined with the LAPD.
• At one of the sites, the president of the Service Employees International Union, David Huerta, was arrested for allegedly interfering with federal officers.
• Protests against federal immigration officials continued on Saturday and often turned violent, with 29 protesters arrested. Demonstrators lit fires and threw rocks at federal vehicles, while federal agents fired non-lethal munitions and tear gas into crowds.

The Trump admin steps in: On Saturday evening, President Trump authorized the deployment of ~2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, saying the move was necessary to support ICE officers and citing violence and destruction against federal agents and facilities.

• The move came despite objections from LA Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (both Democrats), who insisted an uninvited federal deployment was “purposefully inflammatory” and risked escalating tensions.
• On Monday, California’s AG said the state will sue the Trump admin over what it says is “a serious breach of state sovereignty.”

Protests further intensified on Sunday. Thousands of demonstrators gathered at several locations around LA, and also shut down a portion of the US-101 freeway. Protesters threw rocks, damaged police vehicles, and also set fire to several Waymo self-driving taxis, per the LAPD.

Looking ahead…The Trump admin is deploying ~700 active-duty Marines to the Los Angeles area to protect federal buildings and personnel, per a statement last night from the Pentagon, which said the troops won’t engage with protesters.

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Japan recently started banning certain nontraditional baby names, in a change widely seen as a crackdown on kirakira (translates to “glittery”) names, which started gaining popularity in the late 1980s and morph to align with trends in pop culture.

Banned monikers include: Naruto, Pikachu, Jewel, Lovely, Kitty, Elsa, Ōjisama (“Prince”), Daiya (“Diamond”), Naiki (close to “Nike”), and more.

Pika-choose another one: The gov’t says the move is designed to make digital admin procedures at hospitals, schools, etc. more straightforward by granting local authorities the power to reject any name they deem too outrageous or tricky to pronounce (particularly if it could have “a negative impact on a child’s future”).

• Names in Japan are typically written in Kanji, based on Chinese characters, which can be pronounced in multiple ways—sometimes up to 10.
• This means figuring out the proper pronunciation for certain names can be difficult if the names aren’t traditional, or an unusual combo of characters is chosen (think: “read” / “read” + “Ashley” / “Ashleigh” on more steroids than the Liver King).

The rule reflects a growing tension in Japan between individual expression and age-old norms when it comes to naming, the South China Morning Post reports.

Not just Japan: In the US, names containing numerals and symbols are usually prohibited (ex: “X Æ A-12”), since most government forms and databases can’t process them—while in New Zealand, names that conjure up royalty (ex: “King” or “Princess”) or marijuana themes (ex: “Sativa”/”Indica”) are a no-no.

Trying to get a job: the Gen Z version of walking uphill to school both ways. Mounting evidence exists that indicates today's young job-seekers are facing their fair share of hardship when seeking out work:

• The unemployment rate for degree-holders aged 22-27 hit 5.8% this spring—its highest level in four years, and well above the national average of 4.0%, per NY Fed data.
• Since mid-2023, recent college graduates account for 12% of the rise in US unemployment rate, contributing over twice their 5% share of the labor force, according to Oxford Economics.
• Just 7% of all Big Tech hires in the US were new grads last year, down 25% from the previous year and 50%+ lower than 2019, per SignalFire’s State of Tech Talent Report for 2025.

Some majors are more affected than others. The unemployment rate among college graduates who studied subjects like construction services (0.7%) and nutrition sciences (0.4%) remains close to zero. But computer engineering majors—once among the most highly sought-after specializations—have the third-highest unemployment rate for recent grads (7.5%), with computer science and mathematical majors in similar boats.

Bottom line: At least some of the trend can be attributed to AI’s recent explosion onto the scene. A LinkedIn report last month found 63% of executives surveyed agreed that AI will sooner or later take on some of the mundane, manual tasks currently assigned to entry-level employees.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📺 Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two publicly traded companies; one will contain its streaming and studio biz, the other, its cable networks. | Disney will pay NBCUniversal another ~$438 million for its Hulu stake; the move resolves a dispute over the streaming service's valuation.
• 🌯 Chipotle plans to release its first new dip in five years (Adobo Ranch; available for a limited time).
• 🍏 Everything Apple unveiled at WWDC 2025, including iOS 26 and Liquid Glass.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Dunhill Travel Deals

• 🏒 NHL Stanley Cup Final: The Panthers beat the Oilers 6-1 last night to take a 2-1 series lead. | The Men’s College World Series is set.
• ⚖️ A federal judge dismissed Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times. | Actor Jared Leto was accused by nine women of sexual misconduct. | Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper accused her former Boston University soccer coach of sexual harassment.
• 💰 Elevate, a sports agency network, launched a $500 million private-equity backed fund that aims to strategically invest in universities’ athletic-focused infrastructure and commercial projects.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🎻 Physicists in the UK used nanotechnology to create what they believe is the world’s smallest violin; the instrument sure to be played by those listening to constant complainers everywhere measures 35 microns long and 13 microns wide (1 micron = 1 millionth of a meter).
• 🦕 Scientists recently published the first-ever discovery of stomach contents from a sauropod dinosaur.
• 👀 Chinese researchers developed a laser device that can read text from a book located up to 0.85 miles away; it uses eight infrared laser beams to recreate an image of an object in the distance.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with HelloTalk

• 🏥 Health Secretary RFK Jr. removed all 17 members of the expert panel that makes vaccine policy recommendations to the CDC, saying they'd be replaced with "new members currently under consideration."
• 🥚 1.7 million dozen eggs have been recalled amid an ongoing salmonella outbreak linked to at least 21 hospitalizations; the eggs were sold across nine states, mostly in Walmarts.
• 🏛️ Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), the House Homeland Security Committee Chairman, announced plans to resign after Congress passes President Trump's budget bill.

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☝️ NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter recently captured this rare view of Arsia Mons, one of Mars’ biggest and oldest volcanoes, poking above the clouds in the red planet’s atmosphere.

🤔 Did You Know? When doing a push-up, the average person is supporting between 69%–75% of their body weight, depending on the up vs. down position.

📰 Worth a Read: How "Type C" became the cool-mom parenting style

🖱️ Clickbait: Can humans spontaneously combust? The baffling cases explained

Yesterday we covered how a federal judge approved a landmark settlement that allows schools to directly pay players for the first time in NCAA history starting July 1, in a move that officially redefines the financial landscape of college athletics.

❓ Our question to you: What are your personal feelings regarding the House v. NCAA settlement?

• Approve: 21%
• Disapprove: 51%
• Unsure/other: 28%

❓ Follow-up question: In general, do you approve or disapprove of the way the college sports landscape is currently evolving?

• Approve: 17%
• Disapprove: 83%

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

+Sample size: We received 1,869 votes and 203 longform responses.

+Note: We encountered some technical issues yesterday that briefly rendered curated op-eds unreadable on our website. If you're so inclined, see the pundit-focused 360° view on the House v. NCAA settlement here.

🍕 Trivia: What's the key difference between pizza and flatbread?

🦋 True or False? Butterflies taste with their feet

🔍 A petite, flightless grasshopper once thought to be extinct was spotted in Virginia for the first time in nearly 80 years. 

🐒 Brazilian biologist Fernanda Abra helped design and build 30 wildlife canopy crossings over a 2,000-mile highway that slices through the Amazon rainforest. She was chosen as one of the winners of the 2024 Whitley Fund for Nature Award, which celebrates grassroots conservationists.

🥚 Jackie and Shadow are a “bald eagle power couple” with thousands of online fans. The duo is currently incubating three eggs at Big Bear Valley in California. If any of the chicks hatch, it will be the couple’s first baby since 2022.

+Note: These stories previously 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.

🍕 Trivia: Yeast

🦋 T/F: True