Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🏨 Uber everywhere
• 🏀 NBA anti-tanking proposal
• 🌲 Pine trees predict rain

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.07-minute read (1,082 words).

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"Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work."

–Chuck Close (1940-2021)

The oil industry is delivering more drama than last season’s Love is Blind reunion.

Starting tomorrow, the United Arab Emirates will no longer be a member of OPEC, marking one of the biggest shakeups to the oil cartel in decades.

A crude awakening

The UAE’s departure from OPEC after nearly six decades in the oil cartel can be chalked up to a mix of geopolitics and economics.

• The ongoing war in Iran has deepened fractures among key OPEC members while also triggering the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil flows.
• That’s limited OPEC’s ability to respond to one of its biggest supply shocks in recent memory.

However…The UAE has a built-in workaround, in the form of a $3.3 billion oil pipeline connecting its oil production centers to the Indian Ocean. This allows the country to reroute more than half of its oil exports around the Strait, a loophole most OPEC members don’t have.

• Analysts say this advantage, combined with frustration over OPEC production limits and growing tensions with heavyweight member Saudi Arabia, pushed the UAE towards the exit.
• Upon leaving OPEC, the UAE will be able to ramp up output and invest more freely as it prepares for an uncertain energy future. They’ve been a member of OPEC since 1967.

The impact: The UAE is OPEC’s third-largest producer, with its departure removing ~13% of the oil cartel’s production capacity. It also takes away one of the few OPEC members with meaningful spare capacity, a lever the group typically uses to stabilize global oil markets.

Big picture: The move further weakens OPEC at a time when its influence has been slipping. While the group still accounts for ~40% of global oil production, internal disagreements and a surge in US output have chipped away at its ability to steer markets in recent years.

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Forget a quick ride home from the bar: Uber is coming for your entire travel itinerary.

The ride-sharing giant announced a slate of new features yesterday at its annual “Go-Get” event in New York City. And the biggest update has nothing to do with getting from Point A to Point B, but where you stay once you get there.

Here’s what’s new
Uber is rolling out hotel bookings directly in its app, giving users access to 700,000+ properties worldwide through a new partnership with Expedia.

• A new “hotels” icon will appear on the Uber home screen, prompting users to enter their destination and filter search results based on reviews, price, amenities, etc.
• Pricing will also include all taxes and fees upfront.

It just makes cents sense: Uber says the move builds on how many consumers already use the app when traveling. Over 100 million users take Uber rides to or from airports each year, with ~1.5 billion Uber rides occurring outside riders’ home cities each year.

Big picture: The expansion is part of Uber’s broader push into a “one-stop-shop” model for travel. While on a trip, users will now get reminders to schedule Uber rides, and see options for a “Room Service” feature where Uber Eats can deliver food or any forgotten items.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🏦 Federal Reserve votes to hold baseline US interest rates steady in a range of 3.5%-3.75%, in last policy meeting of Jerome Powell’s eight-yr tenure as Fed Chair; vote was split 8-4—the highest level of dissent since 1992—due to disagreements over future rate cuts. | Senate banking committee votes along party lines to confirm Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s nominee for new Fed Chair. | Jerome Powell indicates plans to continue as Fed governor after his term as chair ends, citing recent legal attacks against the central bank.
• 📉 Bill Ackman’s new stock-picking fund, Pershing Square USA, opens down 18% in its trading debut after raising $5 billion in its IPO.
• 💰 Earnings corner: Alphabet (+7% after-hours), Amazon (+2%), Microsoft (+1%), and Meta (-7%) all report better-than-expected earnings and revenue after the closing bell.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 👻 Casper the Friendly Ghost live action series under development at Disney+, with Steven Spielberg and Goosebumps producers Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston attached.
• 🏀 NBA unveils new anti-tanking proposal called the “3-2-1 lottery,” which includes a “relegation zone” where the bottom-three teams each season have lower draft odds, per multiple reports.
• 🎶 Kacey Musgraves reveals upcoming North American tour called Middle of Nowhere. | 🎭 Evita, the award winning production from London’s West End starring Rachel Zegler, announces transfer to Broadway in 2027.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🚀 SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket—the second-most powerful rocket in history—successfully launches for the first time in 18 months, deploying a massive communications satellite into orbit.
• 🤖 Brookfield's Compass Datacenters is pulling out of a massive data center project in Northern Virginia following local pushback.
• 🧠 GLP-1 drugs may reduce the buildup of proteins in the brain that characterize Alzheimer's disease, per newly published scientific review of data from 30 studies.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🌍 President Trump instructs aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran “for months if needed,” in White House discussion with US oil companies on how to mitigate its impact; Trump says blockade is aimed at getting Iran to agree to dismantle its nuclear network. | Iran is experiencing severe economic hardship amid the war and US blockade, which has thrown an estimated 2 million people out of work (~8% of Iran’s workforce) and contributed to 67% annual inflation in April.
• 🗳️ Florida’s GOP-controlled legislature approves redrawn congressional map that could add up to four GOP seats in the US House.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Supreme Court rules 6-3 that Louisiana must redraw its congressional map, finding that states aren’t allowed to use race to draw districts for minority communities; the practice had previously been allowed under the Voting Rights Act.

👆 King Charles III and Queen Camilla wrap up a four-day visit to the US later today, which marks the first state trip to America by a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II in 2007. The visit, held in part to recognize the upcoming 250th anniversary of US independence from Britain, included stops in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

🤔 Did you know? Pine trees can predict when it's about to rain. Pine cones close up when the air is humid, often indicating that rain is on the way.

📰 Worth a read: These young innovators created a ‘Fitbit’ to predict epileptic seizures

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• The most surprising baby name trends in the US right now
• Why every Tootsie Roll contains a piece of history
• How unfollowing on social media became the ultimate hostile act

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Yesterday we covered oral arguments before the Supreme Court in a case that centers around the legality of “geofence warrants,” which are regularly used by law enforcement to access location data collected by big tech firms.

❓ Our question to you: In general, do you support or oppose the use of geofence warrants by US law enforcement?

• Support: 40%
• Oppose: 41%
• Unsure/other: 19%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 509 votes and 52 longform responses.

🐦 Top of the pecking order: How Bruce the half‑beak kea weaponised his disability to become the alpha bird.

🚫🚗 Read: The US wants to ban China’s high-tech cars—but they’re already here in El Paso.

📍 History right in your backyard: A new digital tool lets you see where your home was located millions of years ago (via latitude), dating back to the supercontinent Pangea.

❓ Want to discover a delightful dose of trivia in your inbox each day? Now I Know is a daily newsletter packed with quirky history, curious science, and fascinating word origins. Subscribe today.*

*A message from our partners

Which French city is known as the perfume capital of the world?

🪂 Tom Kopke, a 23-year-old German YouTuber known as Tooleko, jumped out of a plane over South Africa and solved a Rubik's Cube in 23.3 seconds while in freefall to set a new Guinness World Record.

Grasse

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