All Activity

Lawsuit claims proposed property tax amendment’s ballot language is ‘biased’ A week after the Florida Legislature placed a constitutional amendment aimed at reducing homestead property taxes on the statewide ballot, a nonprofit group has filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that the ballot language is “unconstitutionally biased, misleading and inaccurate.” https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/06/11/lawsuit-claims-proposed-property-tax-amendments-ballot-language-is-biased/? One school’s cell phone ban offers preview into how students, administrators may adapt to new law Just after 9 a.m. on a Thursday morning in April, Brewer High School student Dylan Unobskey walked into the main office and handed his cell phone to Office Secretary Megan Gobeil. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/06/12/repub/one-schools-cell-phone-ban-offers-preview-into-how-students-administrators-may-adapt-to-new-law/? Paul Renner is ‘not a huge fan’ of GOP’s proposed amendment on property taxes Former Florida Speaker of the House Paul Renner has made property tax reform a central tenet of his campaign for the Republican nomination for governor. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/06/11/paul-renner-is-not-a-huge-fan-of-gops-proposed-amendment-on-property-taxes/?

Severe storms A tornado emergency warning issued to millions late Thursday capped a violent day of severe weather across the Midwest. But it was hurricane-force winds that proved deadly: A man in Des Moines, Iowa, was killed by a falling tree, while hundreds of thousands of others were left without power across several states. Read more on today's forecast. WATCH: Illinois man rescued from beneath home destroyed by tornado

National Mall vandalism Huge numbers reading "8647" — a phrase generally used to signal opposition to President Trump — appeared etched into the grass on the National Mall on Thursday. The number "86" is often used in the restaurant industry as a code meaning to get rid of or remove an order or patron, while Trump is the 47th president. A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior condemned the vandalism and said authorities are investigating. Read more. Trump Mobile's T1 Phone Is Just an HTC U24 Pro, iFixit Teardown Finds 'What you have is not an 'American-Proud Design,' but a phone designed in China, made in China, with the vast majority of parts sourced from China,' iFixit says of Trump Mobile's T1 handset. https://www.pcmag.com/news/trump-mobiles-t1-phone-is-just-an-htc-u24-pro-ifixit-teardown-finds? ps:So once again trumps maga followers are deceived by there criminal leader into thinking that this cellphone is of high quality!!!!! But as all his other garbage it's made in china!!!!! Think about that for a while!!!!!

Iran war President Donald Trump is claiming that the US has "ended the war with Iran," predicting a deal could be signed as soon as this weekend that would resolve the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But a spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry said reports of a deal were "merely speculation" and that his country has not yet reached a final decision on any agreement. Read more.

Team USA The 2026 World Cup arrives on US soil today as Team USA takes on Paraguay in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET. Mexico opened the tournament on Thursday with a win over South Africa, setting the stage for more than a month of nonstop action and packed stadiums worldwide. See when and where your favorite team plays with the full World Cup schedule.

A Popular Doctor Had Long Warned That Vitamin K Shots Are Risky for Newborns. Now He’s Changed His Tune. For more than a decade, Dr. Joseph Mercola cautioned parents against a potentially lifesaving shot of vitamin K for their newborn babies: “Vitamin K shots are completely unnecessary for your newborn.” https://www.propublica.org/article/vitamin-k-shot-joseph-mercola-reversal-babies? How a 25-Cent Pill Became a Hundred-Billion-Dollar Business Reporter David Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer and soon learned that one of his drugs would cost almost $1,000 per pill. He set out to discover why, and uncovered financial records and legal filings that shocked him. The drugmaker’s strategy to raise the price over and over again helps explain why our healthcare system is the most expensive in the world. Read the original reporting: https://www.propublica.org/article/revlimid-price-cancer-celgene-drugs-fda-multiple-myeloma https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-a-25-cent-pill-became-a-hundred-billion-dollar-business/id1896058335? Lawmaker Pushes for Ban on Special Treatment for Convicted Drug Traffickers After ProPublica Report A federal lawmaker is pushing for a provision that would bar the Federal Bureau of Prisons from offering taxpayer-funded VIP perks to pardoned drug lords and child traffickers. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-bureau-prisons-pardons-juan-orlando-hernandez-norma-torres? What You Need to Know About How Tear Gas Harms Kids In city after city, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has been met by protests and rallies from members of the local community opposed to the White House’s deportation policies. Federal agents from the Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have repeatedly attempted to break up and drive back these crowds through the use of airborne irritants like tear gas and pepper spray, which can cause an array of immediate reactions — from eye pain to shortness of breath to nausea and vomiting — intended to temporarily disable their targets. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-tear-gas-harms-kids-trump-ice-cbp-minneapolis-portland?

Raging Trump, 79, Melts Down Over Impeachment Threat The president went nuclear in a furious 195-word screed. Donald Trump called for Rep. Jamie Raskin to be expelled from Congress because the “bum” wants to launch impeachment proceedings against him. In a typical Truth Social meltdown, the 79-year-old launched a 195-word tirade against the Maryland Democrat while sharing an X post from Fox News host Mark Levin demanding Republicans “move to expel” Raskin from the House. It is unclear what exactly set Levin and Trump off on their rants against Raskin. The longtime nemesis of the president has frequently hinted that Democrats will launch impeachment proceedings against Trump should Democrats retake control of the House in the midterms, as they are widely expected to do. Trump’s post also came after The Wall Street Journal reported that he is working on an entirely symbolic effort to pressure lawmakers into passing a resolution to “expunge” his two existing impeachments. “Jamie Raskin, a Loser in Life, who worked endlessly during my First Term to impeach me, and failed miserably, wasting the Country’s money, time, and effort, will guaranteed be trying to do it again, despite one of the most successful Presidencies in History,” Trump wrote. The president carried on his rant by lashing out at “pathetic soul” Texas Rep. Al Green and his fruitless attempts to impeach Trump late last year. The 79-year-old also desperately suggested Raskin would “be in jail right now” if former President Joe Biden hadn’t issued sweeping preemptive pardons just before leaving office. “Something should be done about people like this who do bad things, but always come up on the short end because of their illegal or unscrupulous behavior, and hurt our Country in the process,” Trump continued.“I agree with Mark Levin when he says to, EXPEL THE BUM. Congress can never be great with people like this, who suffer massively from Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), casting their vote of HATE!” In his X post, Levin said that if Raskin continues to “abuse our constitutional system and undermine our electoral process,” then Congress should take the “necessary steps” to expel him. Getting a member of Congress expelled is extremely rare, as the process requires a two-thirds vote in either the House or the Senate. An expulsion has occurred three times since the Civil War, with New York Republican George Santos the last member to be kicked out in December 2023 amid a string of fraud and ethics scandals. In an interview on All In with Chris Hayes, Raskin responded to Trump’s Truth Social post by suggesting the president is “having nightmare flashbacks about impeachment.” “There’s a very easy way to not get impeached: Stop committing impeachable offenses,” Raskin added. “Stop committing high crimes and misdemeanors. Don’t go to war and usurp the powers of Congress to declare war. That’s up to us. Don’t spend money in a way different from how Congress has appropriated money. Don’t impose illegal taxes and tariffs on the American people without congressional consent. “The president needs a basic constitutional primer. There are a lot of lawyers around him, but he should find one who actually understands what the Constitution says.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/raging-trump-79-melts-down-over-jamie-raskin-impeachment-threat/? ps:Don't waste your time, because there are to many weak maga republicans who would vote to do this!!!!!

https://theapproachingstorm.com/ This is a 7 part series by the VOP

Managing Your Weight During HIV Treatment You may have noticed that your pants got tighter, or looser, after your HIV diagnosis. Weight gain and loss are both common with HIV, and they happen for different reasons. https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/hiv-manage-weight-gain? Effects of HIV on the Body HIV attacks your immune system, making it harder for you to fight off things that can make you sick. As the virus weakens your natural defenses, you might notice signs all over your body. But if you start antiretroviral therapy (ART) medicines early in an HIV infection, you may not have most of these problems. https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/hiv-your-body? Chronic HIV Infection: What to Know HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The illness known as HIV/AIDS happens in three stages: acute HIV infection, chronic HIV infection, and AIDS. https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/hiv-chronic-infection? New HIV Treatments in Development Promising Drugs in Development When you have HIV, you go on a treatment called antiretroviral therapy (ART) as soon as possible after your diagnosis. ART generally includes three different HIV medicines from at least three different drug classes. This may mean that you take multiple pills per day, although there are several one pill per day or two pills per day regimens. https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/new-hiv-treatments-development? How Does HIV Prevention Medication Work? You may have heard about medication you can take to prevent HIV called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). You take it before having sex or using injection drugs. Find out how PrEP works, how to take it, and what to expect. https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/hiv-prevention-meds? HIV and Life Expectancy If you’ve been diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), you’re bound to wonder how it will affect your future, and how long the future might be. https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/hiv-aids-life-expectancy? How Effective Is PrEP for Preventing HIV and AIDS? PrEP is medicine that helps protect you from HIV. It stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis. https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/prep-for-hiv-and-aids-how-effective? What Is HIV Seroconversion? Seroconversion is a general term for the time between exposure to a virus and when antibodies show up in your blood. Antibodies are proteins that help your body fight against viruses, bacteria, and other germs. https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/what-is-hiv-seroconversion?

El Nino is here and scientists fear it’ll be big, bad and costly, with heat, floods, droughts, fires Meteorologists announced Thursday the El Nino has formed. It is a warming of the Pacific near the equator that affects weather patterns across the globe, and it’s expected to grow to historic strength. Read more. Why this matters: Meteorologists forecast it will rival — or exceed — a record El Nino that began in 1997 and helped trigger billions of dollars in damage from heat waves, floods, droughts, tornadoes and wildfires. Several climate scientists forecast that 2027 will be the hottest year on record because of lagging effects of this El Nino, which is expected to peak in the fall or winter. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Extreme weather can whip up anxiety. A safety plan can help Here’s how to avoid heat-related illnesses and stay cool this summer Tornadoes pummel communities outside Chicago, tearing up homes and toppling power poles Climate change makes once-rare coastal floods more likely, study says Wildfires are making the US smoggy again, reversing progress on cleaner air, study finds

Trump is raising expectations that this time he really will close a deal with Iran to wind down war President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. and Iran could come to terms this weekend on an agreement that would set the pathway to end the 3-month-old war. Read more. What to know: Trump has said on several occasions in recent weeks that he's on the cusp of a deal without anything coming to fruition. Still, Trump is claiming this time might be different. The breakthrough comes after he threatened to escalate the conflict with more intense bombardment of Iran and by seizing control of Iran’s oil industry, including capturing Iran’s vital Kharg Island oil facility. Trump told reporters that he believed the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is ready to sign off on the deal. A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry told state television following Trump’s comments that mediators were active but nothing had been finalized to end the conflict. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Citing fallout from Iran war, World Bank cuts forecast for global economic growth Where Trump has lost support with independents, according to AP-NORC polling Trump nominates US Attorney Jay Clayton to be director of national intelligence US puts up $750K to evacuate an American who was aboard hantavirus cruise ship from remote island Opening of Canada-US bridge that Trump threatened to block is delayed over unresolved ‘issues’ FISA spy powers are almost certain to expire after Congress fails to act Trump administration identifies ‘super-sponsors’ of migrant children in a possible prosecution tack Melania Trump unveils a spinoff of Trump Accounts for children in foster care Kennedy Center board seeks pause of ruling ordering removal of Trump’s name by Friday deadline Lights! Camera! Cage match! The White House lawn’s Octagon is ready for Trump’s 80th birthday bash WATCH: Previews of the upcoming UFC spectacle

June 12, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. Happy Friday. Let’s go to the stock market. Note: Monetary values have been adjusted for inflation. Source: Dealogic. The New York Times Liftoff SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket-building, satellite-launching and artificial intelligence company, is set to go public today at $135 a share. The company plans to sell 555 million of them. That means SpaceX would raise around $75 billion, putting its valuation at $1.77 trillion, the largest I.P.O. in history. It could make Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Or it could tank. Some analysts have argued that SpaceX is significantly overvalued. The market could decide that Musk’s an overpromiser and pass on the stock’s high price. (Remember his purchase of Twitter for $44 billion in 2022? The company, now known as X, saw its ad revenue decline by 65 percent last year. Musk folded it into his A.I. company, xAI. Which is now part of SpaceX.) “It really does feel very much a ‘don’t look at the man behind the curtain’ situation,” one career investor told The Times. Plenty of people will get rich anyway. One launch engineer who worked at the company for 12 years told The Times he’d earned more than 100,000 shares during his tenure. At $135 a pop, his SpaceX stock would be worth at least $13.5 million at some point today. Even if the price drops by half, he’d still have millions on paper. “The magnitude of this has been ridiculous,” he said. Or look to Antonio Gracias, one of Musk’s staunchest friends and business allies. He and his private equity firm, Valor Equity Partners, have a $65 billion stake in SpaceX at its target I.P.O. valuation. If the stock soars, Gracias will instantly become one of the world’s richest human beings. Antonio Gracias and Elon Musk. Jim Vondruska for The New York Times We’re in this together Even if you don’t like Musk, or believe in the high value of SpaceX, the stock is likely to end up in your 401(k), Mike Isaac and Maureen Farrell report. When the company was setting up its I.P.O., it said it wanted to be included in the nation’s top stock indexes — groupings of public companies that act as a barometer for the broader market — shortly after going public. That’s not how it usually works: Most indexes, like the Nasdaq-100, do not add companies until at least a year after they go public to protect index funds — the widely used investment vehicles that track the indexes — from trading volatility. If SpaceX was included faster than normal, it would compel large index funds run by giants like Fidelity and Vanguard to buy millions of SpaceX shares practically overnight. While that could boost SpaceX’s share price, it could expose index fund investors to more risk. They fast-tracked SpaceX anyway. (Who wants to miss out on the largest I.P.O. in history?) That means a lot of index funds, which millions of us have in our retirement accounts and pension plans, will hold shares in the company fairly soon. And if the stock plunges? “It doesn’t feel like anybody is watching out for retail investors or the common person anymore,” one of those common persons told Mike and Maureen. “It feels like the system is rigged against us.” JOMO Still, there are a lot of retail investors who want in on the SpaceX I.P.O. anyway. They have a fear of missing out. Ron Lieber, who writes our personal finance column, is not one of them. Instead he encourages the embrace of JOMO — the joy of missing out. For one thing, he says, even if you can get access to the shares, they’re expensive, so you’d need to bet a lot to win a lot. For another, Space X’s price-to-sales ratio (that’s a measure of a stock’s price in relation to the company’s annual sales) is incredibly high. One leading research firm values the stock at $63. Here’s Ron: “If its analysts are correct or even close, there will be no reason to lament missing out on buying SpaceX at $135.” Turn away, Ron says. Eat some ice cream and think about what you’ve already won instead. You don’t need to play the lottery. THE LATEST NEWS War in the Middle East President Trump abruptly called off strikes against Iran that he had announced earlier in the day, and then said that a peace deal could be signed as soon as this weekend. Trump said the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and claimed that Iran’s supreme leader had already signed off on it. Iran’s state broadcaster, quoting a government spokesman, said “nothing has been finalized.” The European Central Bank raised interest rates in response to rising inflation caused by the war. NATO The United States plans to significantly reduce the aircraft and warships that it makes available for NATO operations in Europe. This is part of a U.S. effort to scale down the protection it has offered to European allies for eight decades. Politics Trump said he would nominate Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, as director of national intelligence. Lawmakers revolted over his previous pick, Bill Pulte, a loyalist with no national security experience. The House rejected a bill to extend a powerful law that lets the government spy on foreign adversaries, all but assuring it will expire on Saturday. Elections In the first extensive interview with Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, since his primary defeat, he predicted a “miserable” final two years for Trump and said he and others were planning to flex their new political freedom. Young politicians from both parties are focusing their campaigns on housing costs. Will redistricting prevent a blue wave? Nate Cohn simulated every House race 100,000 times to see how Democrats might fare in the midterms with the new maps. Click to watch. The New York Times Around the World It’s become almost impossible to build a robot without China. The country’s factories are making parts at a scale and price others can’t match. Israel is rushing to place temporary housing for settlers at about 60 empty sites in the occupied West Bank before national elections this fall. OPINIONS The New York Times Ross Douthat talked to Christian Angermayer, a biotech billionaire, about “humanmaxxing:” how to enhance athleticism, physical appearance, consciousness and life span. The infusion of cash into SpaceX could mean more towns like Starbase, Texas, which Musk built to house employees. That means more opportunities to create his own reality, Amy Gamerman writes. Human made. Human played. 75% off. Subscribe to New York Times Games for 75% off your first year. Our best offer is only available for a limited time. Relax and recharge with our full portfolio of games, including Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, the Crossword and more — all mindfully made by humans. MORNING READS In Bordeaux, France. Yann Werdefroy for The New York Times Bordeaux: This wine was the toast of the world. Now even the locals don’t drink it. Counterclockwise: People across cultures and ages, regardless of their dominant hand, veer left when walking. Scientists don’t know why. ⬅️ Creative writing: A.I. loves the em dash — but does it use it as well as us humans? Ignorance is bliss: Nancy Wexler’s research into Huntington’s disease produced a genetic test for the devastating condition. She chose not to find out whether she had it herself. Your pick: Yesterday’s most clicked story in The Morning was about a restaurant that stopped charging for food. Oilman: Lee Raymond built Exxon Mobil into a global behemoth while soundly rejecting the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels caused global warming. He died at 87. TODAY’S NUMBER 68 quadrillion — That is how many miles of fungi filaments there are in the Earth’s underground circulatory system, which ferries water and nutrients to plants while pulling carbon away from them. To put that number in perspective: It’s roughly 730 million times the distance between Earth and the sun. SPORTS N.H.L.: Carolina beat Vegas 4-2 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, moving one win away from the championship. World Cup: Mexico beat South Africa in the opening match of the 2026 games in Mexico City, winning 2-0. At the South Korea game against the Czech Republic (South Korea won), there were large sections of empty seats. (The Times will be covering the tournament for the next five weeks. Follow along here.) RECIPE OF THE DAY Kelly Marshall for The New York Times Rhubarb and strawberries are one of the great June marriages. Genevieve Ko sets them up for a honeymoon with this recipe for a rhubarb and roasted strawberry pie — roasting the berries before baking concentrates their flavor against the juicy tang of the rhubarb. You could pop that filling into a store-bought crust and be fine. But don’t. It’s the weekend. Make your own with butter and shortening. Then bake, rest and serve with vanilla ice cream. You’ll see. GRIT AND GLAMOUR Marcus Maddox for The New York Times Laverne Cox, who sailed to fame on “Orange Is the New Black,” has a memoir out, “Transcendent,” that chronicles her rise from childhood poverty to Hollywood success. (For those who remember the gritty old days of the East Village of Manhattan, her ascent came by way of an early waitressing job at Stingy Lulu’s!) The book arrives at a moment when transgender people are facing renewed challenges from the Trump administration, Republican states and some feminists. Cox talked about that with The Times. “In a moment when trans people are being so dehumanized and stigmatized, when our rights are being taken away, we need to rehumanize trans people and rehumanize each other,” she said. More on culture Emo is alive and well in the Bay Area, our critic Jon Caramanica discovered. He talks about the Berkeley band Like Roses and its single “Wrist” on “Song of the Week.” File this away for sick days and evenings when it’s too hot to look for fireflies: 30 TV shows to watch this summer. Late night hosts joked about a U.F.C. fight at the White House. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Cine Paris in Athens. Camille McOuat for The New York Times Visit Athens, if only in your imagination. It’d be nice to take in a movie there this weekend, sitting on a rooftop terrace with views of the Acropolis, no? Eat peas. They’re very, very good for you. Pouch your phone this summer, especially if you’re bound for the beach or a boat. The ingress protectors at Wirecutter found some excellent waterproof cases. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was etymology. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

THIS DAY IN HISTORY June 12 1987 President Reagan challenges Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall” In one of his most famous Cold War speeches, President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the repressive Communist era in a divided Germany. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1898 Philippine independence declared 1980s 1982 One million people demonstrate in New York City against nuclear weapons 21st Century 2016 Terrorist gunman attacks Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida Asian History 1975 Indira Gandhi convicted of election fraud Black History 1963 Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is assassinated Crime 1994 Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murdered Holocaust 1942 Anne Frank receives a diary Sports 1920 Big Red sets record at Belmont Stakes 1974 Under pressure, Little League Baseball allows girls to play U.S. Presidents 1924 George Herbert Walker Bush is born World War II 1944 D-Day landing forces converge

⚾ 1 fun thing: GOP's "SportsCenter" moment Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) connects for a single in the fifth inning during the annual Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park on Wednesday. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images A dive to catch a fly ball earned Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) the MVP title in this year's Congressional Baseball Game — along with a bloody nose and the No. 5 spot in ESPN's Top 10 Wednesday night. Rs beat Ds, 11-2. The game drew 35,000 fans and raised $3 million for charity. Watch a video.

☀️ Chart du jour Data: Ember. Chart: Ben Geman/Axios Solar energy's share of the U.S. electricity mix was 12.8% last month, Axios energy expert Ben Geman tells us. Why it matters: It's the first time solar outpaced coal on a monthly basis, according to clean energy think tank Ember's analysis. Go deeper. ps:This is something that should've happen years ago!!! We wouldn't be in this mess if we had!!!

🚀 Extraterrestrial data centers Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios With data center protests gaining momentum on Earth, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others have been eyeing outer space — with its ready supply of unimpeded solar energy — as the next frontier, Axios' Ina Fried reports. Tech giants like SpaceX and Google as well as some startups are already working on launching data centers into space. How it works: In a report this week, real estate research firm JLL says it sees space as particularly suited to energy-intensive, but less urgent tasks. Data centers on the ground could handle real-time computing work while those in space tackle training AI models. Keep reading.

🎯 Bills target data centers Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Members of Congress are scrambling to jump on the data-center opposition sweeping local communities, Axios' Andrew Solender reports. 🧮 By the numbers: Legislative proposals to restrict data center construction were fairly rare on Capitol Hill before this year. Now, Republicans and Democrats alike are flooding the zone. In the last three months alone, more than a dozen bills have been introduced to either investigate the impact of data centers or restrict their proliferation. 🏛️ Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bill to impose an outright moratorium on new data center construction "until legislation is enacted that safeguards the public from the dangers of artificial intelligence." 🤖 Reality check: The prospect of any of these bills passing is slim. AI and AI-adjacent companies are spending big through super PACs in the 2026 midterms to curry favor with sitting lawmakers and get allies elected to Congress.

🔭 Winning the future Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios The Wall Street Journal named a "Best Companies For the Future" list, based on factors that include AI readiness, talent, innovation, financial strength and resilience. The top 10: Nvidia. Alphabet. Microsoft. Meta. Cisco Systems. Salesforce. Mastercard. Amazon. Adobe. Intuit. Browse the full list ... How the companies were picked (gift link).

🛢️ China saved the oil market Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios China apparently kept the oil market from imploding in the wake of the Iran war, Axios' Emily Peck reports. The world's second-largest economy sharply cut the amount of oil it imports, taking the pressure off worldwide demand for the commodity and keeping a lid on prices. 💰 The big picture: Even as the conflict enters its fourth month, the price of a barrel of oil is still trading below $100 — defying predictions of $200 back in March when the war began. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gas is $4.11 — down 10%+ from its late-May peak. China reduced oil consumption using three key levers: Ramped up usage of electric vehicles and electric-powered rails. Used coal instead of oil to produce certain chemicals. Stopped aggressively stockpiling oil — as it did in the year before the war. 📈 Reality check: Energy prices are still way up since February, and have driven up global inflation. Go deeper.

🔎 What's in the Iran deal Ships are anchored yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman. Photo: Reuters Axios' Barak Ravid unpacks the Iran deal President Trump says is so close that he'll dispatch Vice President JD Vance to sign it in Europe as soon as this weekend: The U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding calls for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen immediately without tolls, and for Iran to receive sanctions relief based on compliance, according to a diplomat from one of the mediating countries and a U.S. official. Why it matters: The MOU would extend the ceasefire for 60 days, including in Lebanon. Nuclear negotiations would be held during that time. The text includes a framework for addressing Iran's enriched uranium stockpile, though any action on Iran's nuclear program would depend on a second, more detailed accord. State of play: The diplomat from one of the mediating countries, who walked Axios through the latest text, said the U.S. and Iran "have agreed on the text of a deal," but acknowledged the deal still needed final sign-off. As of last evening, the deal had been approved on the Iranian side at high levels but likely not by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, two knowledgeable sources said. Zoom in: The MOU calls for the strait to be reopened immediately without tolls, with a return to pre-war shipping volumes within 30 days. In return, the U.S. blockade would also be lifted. 🖊 The deal, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, will be called the Islamabad Agreement — if both sides ultimately agree to sign. Read on.

How the UFC conquered Trump's Washington Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Dana White likes to say he sells "holy sh*t moments for a living." Sunday night, the UFC CEO will attempt his magnum opus on the biggest stage in combat sports history, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: The UFC and President Trump have forged one of the most successful cultural alliances in modern politics, carrying mixed martial arts (MMA) from the fringe of American sports to a starring role in the country's 250th anniversary. 👀 Zoom in: For Trump, the UFC was a lifeline after the 2020 election and Jan. 6 left him radioactive to corporate America. White brought Trump cageside — reintroducing the defeated president as an anti-establishment icon to the young, male-heavy audience that would help power his 2024 comeback. Trump's instinct at moments of maximum legal vulnerability was to return to the Octagon, as the UFC calls its cage. Days after his first indictment in 2023, he appeared at UFC 287 in Miami; two days after his 2024 guilty verdict, he made his first public appearance at UFC 302 in Newark, N.J. For the UFC, Trump's return has coincided with a cascade of rewards: a $7.7 billion rights deal with Paramount, new partnerships with the FBI and State Department, and now a fight night on the White House's South Lawn. UFC parent company TKO says the UFC Freedom 250 — complete with a massive fan viewing experience on the Ellipse — will cost the UFC more than $60 million and lose money on paper. Still, TKO president Mark Shapiro has called the first professional sporting event ever held at the White House "the greatest earned marketing tool of all time." Journalists got a sneak peek yesterday at the Octagon at the UFC Freedom 250 set on the South Lawn. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images The big picture: UFC Freedom 250 has been cloaked in controversy and curiosity since well before construction began on the 92-foot-tall steel "Claw" now towering over the South Lawn. 1. 🥊 The sport: To fans, MMA is what Joe Rogan calls "high-level problem solving with dire physical consequences" — a full-body chess match that fuses boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu and pain tolerance into a brutal test of skill, will and nerve. To critics, MMA remains a bloody spectacle tied to the ugliest strains of hypermasculinity, making its arrival at the White House feel jarring even as the sport has gone mainstream. 2. 📢 The promotion: The UFC built a global sports empire by functioning as the ultimate market gatekeeper, yielding immense corporate profits even while weathering antitrust lawsuits and allegations of suppressed wages. 3. 🏟️ The event: White insists the card will be patriotic, not political, promising to "tell the story of America" through historical vignettes between fights. But almost every logistical and financial detail points back to one man. Between the lines: The public isn't sold: A YouGov poll found 51% of Americans disapprove and just 17% approve of UFC Freedom 250. A watchdog group has sued to stop the event, arguing the administration approved a private spectacle on federal parkland without proper review. Even within the UFC's Trump-friendly fan base, the alliance is showing cracks: Fans have flooded promotional posts with complaints about Israel, the Epstein files and other perceived populist betrayals by Trump.

Where Trump has lost support with independents, according to AP-NORC polling WASHINGTON (AP) — Independents have grown increasingly unhappy with President Donald Trump during his second term, a new AP-NORC polling analysis finds, particularly those without a college degree. https://apnews.com/article/poll-independents-trump-approval-c44ab6c775fba86de739353217108673?

> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.8%, Dow +1.9%, Nasdaq +2.5%) after President Donald Trump calls off Iran strikes > US wholesale prices rise 1.1% in May, putting annual rate at 6.5%, the highest since November 2022 (More) | European Central Bank raises interest rates for first time since 2023 amid Iran war, becomes first major central bank to do so (More) > Waymo launches premier subscription tier for $29.99 a month in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix; perks include priority rides and 10% back in loyalty credits per trip (More)

> Physicists introduce phase contrast to electron microscopes, enabling scientists to observe how molecules function inside living cells, potentially transforming our understanding of diseases (More) > Researchers discover biological driver of cocaine addiction in the liver, suggesting how the body metabolizes cocaine may predict addiction; most prior research has focused on the brain (More) | Why does cocaine feel so good? (More, w/video) > Genes inherited from now-extinct hominins strengthened ancient humans' immunity to viruses and bacteria and continue to influence skeletal development, according to a large-scale study of genomes from Oceania (More)

> Serena Williams exits HSBC Championship, her first professional tournament since 2022, after her doubles partner withdraws due to a knee injury (More) > "24 Jump Street" is in development, with Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and Ice Cube in talks to return for the third installment of the "Jump Street" franchise; plus why "23 Jump Street" was never made (More) > FIFA World Cup: Mexico's Julián Quiñones scores tournament's first goal, nutmegging South Africa's goalkeeper (Watch) | Bosnia-Herzegovina faces Canada at 3 pm ET today, while the US faces Paraguay in Los Angeles at 9 pm ET (More, w/schedule)