Good morning. It's Friday, July 10, and we're covering a huge day at the Supreme Court, the death of a South Korean politician, and more. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Split Decision on Trump Taxes

The Supreme Court rebuffed a bid by Congress to access President Trump's financial records yesterday, ruling 7-2 to send the case back to lower courts for further review. A trio of congressional committees had argued the documents were required to assess the adequacy of oversight laws (see background); the justices found that the lower court decision granting access failed to fully consider separation of powers, something the high court has been wary of adjudicating. 

Separately, the court upheld the ability of Manhattan prosecutors to obtain eight years of Trump's individual and corporate tax returns. The request was part of a probe into whether hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels violated any New York state laws. The decision, also 7-2, rejected the administration's argument that the president was immune to any type of criminal investigation while in office. As part of a grand jury subpoena, the documents are ostensibly held private.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas were the minority in both decisions, which you can read here and here. 

Seoul Mayor Found Dead

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was found dead yesterday, officials confirmed. While police have not released details, Park is believed to have died by suicide. His body was found just hours after his daughter, who said he left a cryptic "will-like" note, reported him missing. 

The 64-year-old politician was considered South Korea's second-most powerful politician, having served three terms leading the country's capital city of nearly 10 million. The liberal politician, known for railing against the country's growing wealth gap, was seen by many as a presidential contender in 2022. His death comes days after his secretary reportedly filed a sexual harassment charge against him. 

The country has the fourth-highest suicide rate in the world—former President Roh Moo-hyun died by suicide in 2009 after allegations of corruption against his family. 

Unemployment Claims Stay Above 1 Million

An estimated 1.3 million Americans filed unemployment claims last week, down roughly 100,000 from the previous week. While the number of new claims made during the pandemic nears 50 million, continuing claims—workers who have been collecting benefits for at least two weeks, a better proxy for current unemployment—dropped by 700,000, to around 18 million. Initial claims, while gradually declining, have stubbornly persisted above 1 million for 16 straight weeks.

Spiking COVID-19 cases have forced six states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, and Texas—to halt reopening plans. The reversal threatens to derail the nascent recovery, with the group accounting for approximately one-third of the US economy. See each state’s current reopening status along with daily changes in case totals here.

Separately, stimulus-supported unemployment benefits are set to end July 31, and a potential fourth stimulus package may be debated when Congress returns from recess July 20. Here’s what it may include.

The US has reported 3.12 million total cases, with 133,291 deaths, as of this morning. See the moving three-day average here.

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Big Ten announces it will only play within its conference for fall sports, including football (More) | See where the rest of the major college sports conferences stand (More)

> MSNBC promotes Joy Reid to weeknight anchor slot previously held by Chris Matthews, making her one of the few Black women to anchor a major US evening news program (More) | Scrabble bans racial and ethnic slurs from its official list of approved competition words (More)

> "Glee” actress Naya Rivera presumed dead as search moves to recovery operation one day after she went missing following boat outing in California lake (More)

Science & Technology

> Mounting evidence suggests the coronavirus can be aerosolized and spread through the air; the mode is separate from transmission via coughing or sneezing (More) | Studies find virus may cause brain disorders even in patients with mild symptoms (More)

> Bacterial enzyme allows scientists to make edits to mitochondrial DNA, a feat unachievable using CRISPR (More) | What are mitochondria? (More)

> A protein extracted from the blood of mice that exercise frequently found to have a rejuvenating effect in the brains of non-exercising mice (More)

Business & Markets

Brought to you by The Ascent

> S&P 500 (-0.6%) and Dow (-1.4%) down on unemployment figures and growing concerns over lingering pandemic; tech-heavy Nasdaq (+0.5%) sees another record closing (More)

> Ant Group, the payment platform owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, planning Hong Kong IPO later this year; world’s most valuable unicorn could be valued at $200B or more (More)

> Nvidia becomes world's most valuable semiconductor chipmaker, surpassing industry pioneer Intel (More)

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Politics & World Affairs

> Supreme Court rules a large swath of eastern Oklahoma belongs to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, as Congress never disestablished the reservation boundaries when Oklahoma gained statehood; decision upends civil administration in the area (More) 

> Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says keeping schools closed poses a greater risk to children's health than reopening (More) | Bolivian President Jeanine Añez tests positive for the coronavirus (More)

> US Roman Catholic Church received at least $1.4B in coronavirus stimulus aid, with some funds going to dioceses who have recently paid out damages in sexual abuse lawsuits (More)

Weekend Reads

The Myth of Cancel Culture

Medium | Daisy Onubogu. Amid a wave of firings and public shamings, many have criticized what they see as suppression of free inquiry and legitimate public discourse. Here is one of the more thoughtful rebuttals to that criticism we've seen. (Read, $$)

Editor's note: The article is a reply to this post ($$, Medium), which is also worth reading. Separately, more than 150 prominent writers, journalists, and others signed an open letter calling for more open debate.  

Uganda's Poaching Crisis

National Geographic | Dina Maron. Among the unintended consequences of the pandemic has been a plunge in global ecotourism. In Uganda, the industry's collapse has emboldened poachers and pushed desperate locals to hunt in parks, with the country's endangered wildlife bearing the brunt. (Read)

A Violent Attack Turned This Man Into a Math Genius

BBC | Sarah Keating. Jason Padgett was selling futons in Tacoma, Washington, sleepwalking through a life of partying and womanizing. It all changed one night in 2002 when a blow to the head changed—quite literally—how he saw the world. (Read)

What I Learned From Losing $200M

Nautilus | Bob Henderson. How the 2008-09 financial crisis taught one trader an expensive lesson about the illusion of control. (Read)

ETCETERA

Here's how your phone spies on you.

After 50 years, the California condor has returned to Sequoia National Forest.

Read 29 pandemic-inspired short stories from leading authors. ($$, NYT)

The Army Green Berets welcome their (almost) first female member.

From our partners: Udemy is the leading online learning marketplace, offering over 150,000 courses from over 60,000 instructors. Check out bootcamps for MBAs, Python, Financial Analysis, and so many more. Start learning now! #Ad

Take a peek inside the fridges of the world's best chefs.

The Rolling Stones to release unheard tracks from 1973.

This 12-year-old girl won $20,000 after designing an alarm to prevent hot car deaths.

Hubble Telescope captures a fluffy galaxy.

Clickbait: Phony church charged after selling bleach coronavirus cure.

Historybook: France declares war on Great Britain and enters American Revolutionary War (1778); Iconic inventor Nikola Tesla born (1856); Scopes Monkey Trial begins (1925); Tennis player Arthur Ashe born (1943); HBD actress Sofia Vergara (1972).

"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation."

- Arthur Ashe

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