Good morning. In this edition:

• ⚖️ A landmark UN climate ruling
• 📝 'Twas a heavy earnings day
• ⛵ Scurvy, scourge of the seas

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.94-minute read (1,049 words).

Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free.

“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of their opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of their difficulties.”

–Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)

Move over, Belichick: There’s a new most-important bill in college sports.

The Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act, the most comprehensive bill connected to college athletics in decades, is set to be put up for a vote in the US House of Representatives, after two House committees gave it the thumbs-up along party lines yesterday (Republicans for, Democrats against).

The measure, which still has to pass the Rules Committee but could make it to the full floor as soon as September, would standardize name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules across states in the wake of the House v. NCAA settlement, among other things.

The NCAA and power conferences are pretty stoked

The institution-friendly SCORE Act would grant the NCAA antitrust protections, while also stipulating that athletes not be classified as employees, stripping their ability to collectively bargain.

Some of the bill’s other provisions include:

• Athletes would be able to profit off their NIL, but a college sports governing body would be able to set certain rules and restrictions surrounding these deals.
• The NCAA, College Sports Commission, and conferences would be protected against challenges to compensation rules, eligibility rules, and transfer rules. However, some athletes’ rights protections remain, such as a minimum for the cap on revenue-sharing compensation and a guarantee players can transfer at least once without penalty.
• If a school has coaches on their payroll who earn more than $250k/year, they have to offer certain medical benefits and sponsor a minimum of 16 sports.
• Increased regulations around sports agents and their relationships with athletes.

But…Pushback is mounting, with hangups mostly around the antitrust exemption and eliminating the ability for collective bargaining. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) dubbed the SCORE Act the “national championship of all heists,” while players’ associations of several pro sports leagues released a joint statement voicing opposition to the bill.

SCOREboard: The measure is likely to pass the Republican-controlled House, but would require the approval of seven Democratic senators to pass the Senate—a bar analysts say it’s unlikely to clear in its current form.

Elsewhere…Questions downstream from the House v. NCAA settlement—like where do NIL collectives fit in?—continue to be answered as court proceedings play out.

You know that feeling—walking into a dressing room with a huge stack of clothes, only to walk out with nothing that fits or flatters? That was me recently, feeling defeated and frustrated. Then I tried Wantable.

Their style quiz asks about your body shape and fit preferences, then sends nine perfectly curated pieces. Eight out of the nine items fit beautifully! They matched my style, budget, and body perfectly. Now I don't waste time leaving stores discouraged—I've found shopping that truly works for me.

In a long-awaited advisory opinion published yesterday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said countries around the world are legally required to battle climate change and cut emissions.

The court unanimously ruled that a livable planet is a basic human right and part of international customary law, meaning every country is obliged to protect the environment—not just those with climate treaties.

What the ruling means

The first-of-its-kind decision paves the way for a wide range of future legal actions related to climate change, including:

• Countries going to the ICJ to hold each other accountable over breaching the terms of existing climate agreements.
• Domestic lawsuits filed in UN member nations that seek to compel governments to address climate change.
• Investment agreements that must follow international law—like those between countries—may now have to take each nation’s climate commitments into consideration.
• Court-ordered compensation granted to some countries or individuals suffering from the effects of climate change.

But there’s a catch. Several world powers and global emissions leaders—including the US, China, Russia, and France—don’t accept the ICJ's compulsory jurisdiction, meaning the court can’t hear cases against those countries unless they agree to it.

And even if a nation breaks the rules, enforcement lies with the UN Security Council…where many of those same countries hold veto power.

Looking ahead: Legal experts say the landmark climate opinion could be used in court as early as next week, both at the ICJ and outside national courts.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📝 Alphabet tops expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue; Tesla reports a slight earnings and revenue miss; Chipotle hits expectations for earnings, but misses on revenue; AT&T and T-Mobile both deliver better-than-expected earnings and revenue.
• 📊 More meme-stock mania: Shares of GoPro (+73%) and Krispy Kreme (+39%) rose sharply in intraday trading, but ended with more modest gains; OpenDoor (-20%) and Kohl’s (-14%) cooled off following recent wild rides.
• 🏥 Waystar agrees to buy fellow healthcare-software company Iodine Software for ~$1.3 billion.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Meru Health

• 🧙 Wednesday renewed for Season 3 at Netflix; comes ahead of Season 2’s two-part release in early August and September.
• 🎾 Venus Williams, 45, becomes oldest woman to win pro tennis singles match in over two decades.
• 🏈 NFL reportedly close to deal for ESPN to acquire NFL Media, the content-focused arm of the league that runs the NFL Network, for ~$2 billion.

*From our partners: 💚 Build unshakeable mental resilience…Transform your mental health with Meru Health. Master mindfulness and develop the skills for lifelong emotional strength through personalized therapy and biofeedback. Covered 100% by Aetna and Cigna health plans. Learn more about Meru Health.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 📜 Researchers uncover previously unknown ancient Sumerian myth; story features a storm god held captive in the underworld, and a clever fox leading his rescue mission.
• 💻 Microsoft links Chinese hacking groups to ongoing SharePoint cyberattacks; at least 54 organizations—including those within the US gov’t—have been breached using an exploit in Microsoft’s SharePoint server platform.
• 🏜️ Rocks from Grand Canyon contain ~500 million-year-old fossils that could help shed light on exactly when complex life first appeared on Earth.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🎓 Bryan Kohberger receives four consecutive life sentences without parole for 2022 fatal stabbings of four Idaho college students. | Columbia University agrees to deal with Trump admin to restore nearly all federal research grants; Columbia will pay $200 million to settle allegations it violated antidiscrimination laws over harassment of Jewish students; news comes one day after the school penalized 70+ students over Israel-Gaza protests.
• 🏛️ President Trump was told by AG Pam Bondi in May that his name appeared multiple times in DOJ documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, alongside hundreds of other names, according to a new WSJ report.
• 🌎 Ukrainians hold second straight night of mass protests in response to law signed by President Zelensky limiting the independence of anti-corruption agencies. | Trump pulls US out of UNESCO, the UN’s culture and education agency.

☝️ You’re looking at two of the winners of the Wellcome Photography Prize 2025, which featured entrants from 100+ countries and a prize pool north of $70,000.

🤔 Did You Know? Prior to the mid-19th century, most shipowners and governments assumed ~50% of their sailors would die from scurvy on any major voyage. Historians say the disease killed more sailors than storms, shipwrecks, combat, and all other diseases combined.

📰 Worth a Read: The steel mill that built America

🖱️ Clickbait: Why people are buying $8,000 lifelike baby dolls

AI is moving fast. That’s why HubSpot started Mindstream, to help you stay on top of the rapid developments in the space and integrate AI into your work life successfully.

Don’t fall behind on AI—join 200,000+ daily readers in the Mindstream community. The best part? It’s free.

Yesterday we covered how US lawmakers are currently locked in a redistricting arms race, with TX Republicans looking to redraw congressional maps to create up to five new winnable GOP House seats—and CA Gov. Gavin Newsome threatening to do the same for Democrats in his state.

❓ Our question to you: Which of the following best describes your opinion about the congressional redistricting process in America?

• It’s a major problem: 71%
• It’s a minor problem: 12%
• It’s not a problem at all: 8%
• Unsure/other: 9%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 1,884 votes and 202 longform responses.

Only two US state capitals rhyme with each other. Can you name them? (One is pictured above.)

❤️‍🩹 98-year-old Marine veteran Richard Remp had one wish while fighting cancer in hospice care: he wanted to graduate high school. The veteran had been sent to war before graduation in the '40s, and never received his diploma. After going above and beyond to make it happen, Sharon Schools Superintendent Justi Glaros hand-delivered an honorary diploma to Richard just before he passed.

🪶 A single feather of the extinct huia bird sold for $28,417 at auction. The huia bird was considered sacred by the Māori people, with their feathers adorning the headpieces of chiefs and their families.

🥖 La Poste, the French postal service, released a scratch-and-sniff stamp honoring the infamous French baguette.

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

Austin, TX, (pictured) and Boston, MA

+Clue for the Games newsletter: Today’s Conjoiner sequence travels off the beaten path to Istanbul. Try not to call out sick.