Good morning. In this edition:

• 🏛️ Gov’t shutdown is ending
• 🤖 The Big AI Short?
• 👶 Most popular baby names

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.58-minute read (952 words).

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"An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered."

–G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

On Monday night, the Senate officially approved a bipartisan package to fund the federal government and end the ongoing shutdown, which has now been in effect for a record-high 43 days and counting.

The final vote on Monday was 60-40, with seven Democrats plus Sen. Angus King (I-ME) voting "Yes," and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul as the lone Republican voting "No."

What’s in the package?

The new bipartisan resolution allows the government to be funded until January 30, giving lawmakers time to craft full-year spending bills for the 2026 fiscal year.

• Three such yearlong funding bills—out of 12 total—were included in the agreement, covering funds for the Agriculture Department, Department of Veteran Affairs, and legislative branch.
• Additionally, the Senate deal would reverse all Trump administration layoffs announced after the government shut down on October 1, while all ~1.25 million furloughed federal workers would receive back pay.

The agreement also includes the promise of a Senate vote next month on a Democrat-backed bill to extend Covid-era Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are set to expire in 2026. However, the measure will reportedly be set at a 60-vote threshold, which analysts say makes it unlikely to pass.

• Until this week, Democrats in Congress had refused to fund the government and end the shutdown without also extending those ACA tax credits.
• Many Democratic lawmakers and liberal grassroots groups harshly criticized the bipartisan Senate agreement and the moderate Dems who moved to cut a deal, saying it fails to address the “healthcare crisis” that will occur when the tax credits expire.

Zoom out: Overall, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the shutdown will reduce annualized Q4 GDP growth by 1.5 percentage points. But experts stress that if US GDP does decrease, it’ll be difficult to figure out how much is due to the shutdown, and how much stems from other economic issues like a continuing slowdown in the job market.

Looking ahead…The House is expected to vote on the bipartisan funding package as soon as today after lawmakers return to Washington. President Trump already supports the deal, clearing the way for the federal government to officially reopen this week.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): What are your thoughts on the upcoming end of the US government shutdown? The most thoughtful answers will be featured in tomorrow’s newsletter.

• Click here to leave a response

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🤖 SoftBank sells its entire stake in Nvidia for $5.8+ billion to help bankroll AI investments. | Michael Burry, short-selling investor made famous by The Big Short, accuses some large tech companies of using aggressive accounting to pad their AI profits.
• 💳 Visa and Mastercard officially reach $38 billion settlement with merchants to lower swipe fees and give retailers more freedom to deny credit cards; deal ends 20-year-old antitrust legal dispute.
• 🍝 Trump admin announces 92% antidumping duty on 13 Italian pasta companies, which collectively import the majority of pasta from Italy to the US; duty is in addition to existing 15% tariff on EU imports.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 👋 Dallas Mavericks fire GM Nico Harrison amid 3-8 start to this season; move comes ~9 months after Harrison dealt superstar G Luka Dončić to the LA Lakers, a trade widely considered one of the worst in sports history. | New York Giants fire head coach Brian Daboll following 2-8 start to this season, and 20-40-1 record across four years.
• 🎭🤖 Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine sign voice deals with AI audio company ElevenLabs to create AI-generated versions of their voices; ElevenLabs to also launch marketplace where brands can use officially licensed AI celebrity voices, including Caine’s.
• ⚾ MLB and sportsbooks the league works with will cap bets on individual pitches and exclude them from parlays, after two Cleveland Guardians were indicted on charges of rigging pitches.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 👊 Scientists discover the optimal strategy for winning multiple rounds of rock, paper, scissors.
• 🏥 Hormone replacement therapy for women undergoing menopause will no longer carry a black box warning about serious health risks like cancer, heart attack, and stroke; FDA commissioner says the warnings are based on outdated science and discourage women from taking the therapy.
• ☕ New coffee study challenges previously held medical belief on how the beverage affects atrial fibrillation, a common heart condition; research showed a 39% lower risk of AFib for coffee drinkers.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🏛️ President Trump hosts Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House; Al-Sharaa is the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the country's independence from France in 1946.
• 🌏 Pakistan blames India-backed militants for a suicide bombing that killed 12 people in Islamabad on Tuesday; incident in Pakistan comes one day after a metro station explosion in India’s capital of New Delhi killed eight and injured 20+, prompting an anti-terrorism investigation.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Supreme Court rejects appeal challenging legality of same-sex marriage, but takes up case challenging legality of mail-in ballot grace periods. | Trump asks SCOTUS to review $5 million civil judgment that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.

☝️ Residents of the Philippines bunkered down last week as Typhoon Fung-wong struck the island country, bringing widespread flooding and destruction. Over 1.4 million people were preemptively evacuated before the storm, which brought winds at speeds up to 143 MPH across the region.

🤔 Did you know? Babies can actually taste the food their mom eats before they’re born. Flavors from a pregnant person’s diet pass into the amniotic fluid, with studies showing that babies will swallow more amniotic fluid when it tastes sweet—and less when it’s bitter.

📰 Worth a read: Volcano in Costa Rica is like a piece of ancient Mars on our doorstep

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Taco Bell just got some serious competition from a chain that was never expected
• The most popular baby names this year
• Stop asking “How was school today?” To raise mentally strong kids, ask these 7 questions instead

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On Monday, we covered widespread travel disruptions due to air-traffic controller shortages stemming from the US gov’t shutdown, as well as a reported agreement reached in the Senate to reopen Washington.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, how will the ongoing US government shutdown end?

• Democrats’ demands win out: 10%
• Republicans’ demands win out: 34%
• Some sort of middle-ground compromise: 45%
• Unsure/other: 11%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 758 votes and 67 longform responses.

❓Trivia: What is the only naturally occurring rock that floats on water?

🎓 True or false?…Earth’s magnetosphere shields us from harmful solar and cosmic radiation.

🤔 Riddle me this…I build up castles; I tear down mountains. I make some men blind; I help others to see. What am I?

💸 17-year-old Josh Pache is a prime example of good karma. After returning a $3,500 wad of cash he found at a gas station, he received a $1,000 reward—and a guaranteed job after graduation.

❓Trivia: Pumice; it has so many air-filled cavities it can float.

🎓 T/F: True; it serves as a vital protective bubble around the planet

🤔 Riddle: Sand

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