Good morning. In this edition:

• 🧑‍⚖️ SCOTUS + nationwide injunctions
• 🎥 CA wants to bring filming back to Hollywood
• 🥔 Potato Wi-Fi testing

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.49-minute read (1,195 words).

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🚨 Breaking: Two firefighters were killed by sniper fire yesterday while responding to a blaze near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. This is a developing situation as of this writing. Read more here.

"Do one thing every day that scares you."

–Mary Schmich (b. 1953)

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On Friday, the Supreme Court imposed new limits on the ability of lower courts to pause federal policies from taking effect nationwide, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines.

A narrower scope

The decision came in a case centered around President Trump's effort to eliminate birthright citizenship in the US, which has been frozen by three separate universal injunctions while legal challenges play out.

What it means: The Court’s conservative majority ruled that federal district courts “likely exceed” their authority granted by Congress when issuing injunctions that block presidential policies nationwide, and can only make decisions that apply to the parties involved in each case.

• For the birthright citizenship lawsuit, that means Trump’s order is only blocked for the 22 Democratic-led states, expectant mothers, and immigration organizations that are suing.
• The decision doesn’t address whether Trump's push to eliminate birthright citizenship is constitutional, with the high court expected to take up that issue as early as this fall.

Moving forward, the ruling will make it substantially easier for more policies from Trump—and future presidential administrations—to take effect, according to legal experts. It’s also expected to affect several ongoing lawsuits that have produced nationwide injunctions blocking White House orders to:

• End government support for DEI initiatives
• Overhaul US federal elections
• Stop funding healthcare facilities that provide transgender treatments to patients under 19
• Dismantle certain federal agencies

It was a busy Friday for SCOTUS

America’s highest court also delivered several other major rulings on the final day of its 2024-25 session. The justices:

• Upheld a Texas law requiring porn site users to verify their age via photo ID.
• Affirmed an Obamacare provision requiring most insurers to provide free preventive care.
• Upheld the FCC's multibillion-dollar fund used to expand telephone and broadband access in rural areas.
• Voted to allow Maryland parents to remove their kids from lessons containing material that violates their religious beliefs.

Looking ahead…The Supreme Court’s next term begins in October, when it’s expected to take up cases related to the death penalty, the Fourth Amendment, and mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

📊 Flash poll: In general, do you agree with SCOTUS’ decision to impose new limits on lower courts’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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Call the consigliere and start drafting up paperwork: California has extended Hollywood an offer it hopes they can’t refuse.

State legislators voted on Friday to more than double the cap on the state’s film and TV tax incentives, from $330 million/year to $750 million/year, in a bid to entice fleeing studios to once again film in the Golden State, where production has tanked.

• Los Angeles just wrapped its worst year in three decades for on-location filming in the city, aside from 2020.
• And things aren’t getting any better: The first quarter of this year saw downturns in every category of production compared with the same period in 2024, according to FilmLA, a non-profit that handles film permits for the city and county.

Where are studios going? To greener ($) pastures, AKA one of the other 119-plus jurisdictions around the world that offer some sort of financial filmmaking incentive.

This includes states like New York and Georgia, who offer uncapped tax incentives, but also increasingly countries like Australia, France, and the UK—where it often works out to be cheaper to fly an entire crew of hundreds of Americans to film than use an empty studio down the street.

In other movie news…F1: The Movie zoomed to a better-than-expected opening weekend ($55.6 million domestically; $144 million globally), granting Apple its first major theatrical win.

Designer jeans genes are back in style: A first-of-its-kind effort called the Synthetic Human Genome Project (SynHG) officially kicked off its plan to construct human genetic material from scratch last week, after receiving ~$14 million in seed funding from The Wellcome Trust, the world’s largest medical charity.

Diving into the gene pool

Over the next five years, the UK-based scientists on the SynHG project will work to create new tools, technology, and methods allowing researchers to create the human genome from scratch.

• Their overall goal is to figure out exactly how DNA determines humans’ health and characteristics, which will help scientists develop new gene-based therapies for various diseases.
• Potential treatments include transplantable cells that are customized to help patients resist particular viruses, address autoimmune disorders, or heal organ damage.

Scientists are hoping to replicate the OG’s success. The original Human Genome Project was a 13-year, $2.7 billion effort that successfully mapped ~92% of the human genome. Its findings, published in 2003, have revolutionized modern medicine by helping doctors treat genetic diseases, develop personalized medicine approaches, and improve diagnostics.

But…Critics of the SynHG project argue that trying to create human DNA is a slippery slope to normalizing many ethically questionable practices—like creating “designer babies,” whose genes are specifically selected before birth, or celebrities “licensing” parts of their genome so that others can copy their traits.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🥪 J.M. Smucker plans to remove artificial colors from its products; becomes latest company in past weeks to announce similar move.
• 💰Unilever buys Dr. Squatch for $1.5 billion; the dude-focused soap brand will join the conglomerate’s men’s grooming portfolio, which includes Axe and Dove. | Warren Buffett donates $6 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five foundations.
• 🤖 Tesla posts 30-minute video documenting what it says is its first driverless delivery of a new car to a customer. | Meta hires eight researchers away from OpenAI; Sam Altman-led startup reportedly recalibrating its compensation in response to the Zuck hiring blitz.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Niphtio

• 📝 Ariana Grande, Kieran Culkin, and Mikey Madison among 534 invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, organizers of the Oscars. | Rob McElhenney, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star and part-owner of Wrexham FC, files to legally change name to Rob Mac. | Federal authorities reportedly investigating NBA player Malik Beasley on gambling allegations.
• 🎾 Wimbledon, the grass-court tennis Grand Slam tournament held at the All England Club in southwest London, begins today.
• 🏒 New York Islanders select defenseman Matthew Schaefer with #1-overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft; all seven rounds are in the books; see a pick-by-pick draft recap + team grades.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🔬 UC Irvine researchers discover the unique cells and structures that allow squids to make themselves transparent. | A fossilized zombie fungus from ~99 million years ago—caught bursting from its insect host—was recently found encased in amber.
• 🌊 Africa will tear apart and create a new ocean in a few million years due to ongoing tectonic activity underneath Ethiopia, per new research.
• 💻 A hacker working for the Sinaloa Cartel helped kill or intimidate FBI sources and witnesses in its investigation of drug lord El Chapo, per a new watchdog report.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Particle

• 🎓 University of Virginia President James Ryan resigns under pressure from the Trump admin over the school’s DEI policies.
• 💥 Russia launches biggest aerial attack on Ukraine since the start of the war, per Kyiv.
• 📝 President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” clears key Senate hurdle in 51-49 vote; chamber is on track to pass the tax-and-spending megabill as early as today. | US Border Patrol encountered ~8,700 unauthorized migrants at the southern border in May, down 93% from the same period last year.

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☝️ Jeff Bezos married longtime girlfriend Lauren Sánchez in a three-day ceremony in Venice this weekend.

🤔 Did You Know? Boeing once filled an airplane with potatoes to test its in-flight Wi-Fi, since potatoes mimic the way humans absorb and reflect wireless signals.

📰 Worth a Read: Why we need to bring back house parties

🖱️ Clickbait: The daredevils who take on the Grand Canyon's most terrifying job

On Friday, we covered how Zohran Mamdani is New York City’s unlikely new Democratic candidate for mayor, after he defeated former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the party primary last week.

❓ Our question to you: In general, how do you feel about NYC residents electing state Rep. Zohran Mamdani as their Democratic candidate for mayor?

• It’s a good choice: 32%
• It’s a bad choice: 36%
• It’s too early to tell: 22%
• Other: 10%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 2,196 votes and 259 longform responses.

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

1. Dub
2. Etym
3. Heli
4. Manu
5. Phor

🏆 The Westminster Dog Show is getting its own collection of trading cards featuring champion pooches from past years, including Sage the Miniature Poodle, Trumpet the Bloodhound, and Wasabi the Pekingese.

👟 Police officials in Southwest Japan were baffled when shoes started disappearing en masse from a local kindergarten...and were shocked to find out it was just one sneaky weasel.

🐢 A young Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was found over a year ago off the coast of the Netherlands, 5,000+ miles from its home in the Gulf of Mexico. After a year of rehabilitation, the endangered turtle, named “Boeier,” is making her way back home.

+Note: These stories previously appeared in a November 2024 edition of Positive DONUT, our weekly newsletter surfacing all the good things you don't hear about in the news.

1. Dub = Doubtful (e.g., dubious)
2. Etym = True (etymology)
3. Heli = Sun (heliocentric)
4. Manu = Hand (manual)
5. Phor = Carry (metaphor)