Good morning, it's Thursday, July 30. Dr. Anthony Fauci pleaded the Fifth in testimony about COVID-19 origins. First time reading? Join over 4.7 million insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.
Also in today's Digest: high blood pressure in pregnancy (Need To Know), Jared Leto is accused of sexual misconduct (Sports, Ent., & Cult.), the Gilded Age (Civics), America's best states (Etc.), and much more.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci declined to answer over 100 questions during a Senate committee hearing yesterday on COVID-19's origins, citing concerns that Republicans could use his testimony against him.
Fauci, who served as the nation's infectious disease expert during the pandemic, maintains the virus likely spilled naturally from animals to humans. This view aligns with a 3.5-year independent assessment that says COVID-19 likely emerged from animal-to-human transmission but could not conclusively determine its origins. Homeland Security Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) aligns with the theory that COVID-19 emerged from a US-funded lab in China. Ahead of yesterday's hearing, Paul released 1,141 pages of Fauci's personal diary, which show the doctor expressing some doubts about a natural origin. See more diary takeaways here.
Paul said he will schedule a vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt for invoking the Fifth Amendment. The senator said the move was unwarranted since a Biden-era preemptive pardon shields Fauci from some criminal liability. |
Saudi Arabia confirmed yesterday it publicly joined the US' military campaign against Iran. The kingdom participated in a joint strike on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, reportedly killing at least 20 combatants.
In announcing the strikes, the kingdom's Ministry of Defense cited Iranian attacks on its oil industry: Saudi Arabia blames Iraqi militias for up to half of the nearly 1,000 drone strikes it has weathered since February. Earlier this week, drones and missiles struck Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq oil facility (see map). Although Riyadh had not openly participated in military offensive action until this week, US officials say the kingdom has secretly participated in US-led attacks in the past.
Iraq's prime minister has not commented on this week's attacks but has given the country's Iranian-backed militias until September to disarm. Learn about the country's delicate balancing act. |
🫶 Humankind: Father of five graduates as a nurse at age 64 after attending college alongside his son. |
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High blood pressure among pregnant women in the US rose 73% between 2016 and 2024, according to government data released yesterday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported one in 10 pregnant women had high blood pressure in 2024, up from one in 17 in 2016.
Hypertensive disorders—including gestational hypertension and preeclampsia—are among the leading causes of pregnancy-related death and illness in the US. They can increase the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, placental complications, and organ failure in mothers. Women who develop high blood pressure during pregnancy also face a greater lifetime risk of heart disease.
The new report is based on hospital-collected birth certificate data and only includes high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy. Blood pressure measures the force of blood pushing against artery walls. It rises when the heart pumps harder, blood vessels narrow or stiffen, or the body retains more fluid. See how blood pressure works here (w/video). |
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In partnership with Cytonics |
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The Next-Gen Drug Targeting a $560B Disease |
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Osteoarthritis is one of the world’s most common diseases, with over $560B spent managing its symptoms each year. But that may soon change for its 500M+ patients*.
Cytonics may have discovered what could become OA’s first potential cure. Now they're advancing their first-in-class therapy through FDA clinical trials. Phase 1 completed successfully, next clinical trial in 2027.**
Potential medical breakthroughs like this are rare. Eli Lilly did it with insulin. Novo did it with Ozempic. And now, you have the opportunity to invest in this potential breakthrough to osteoarthritis. The window to invest is almost closed. Invest in Cytonics today before the round closes.* |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> K-Pop group BTS will not submit its recent chart-topping album “Arirang” for Grammy consideration, a move that appears to protest the new Asian pop music performance category (More) | Irish singer Glen Hansard dies at age 56 (More) |
> Jared Leto is accused of sexual misconduct by 10 women in a new BBC documentary (More) | Watch the 16-minute film (More) | Ye, formerly Kanye West, settles 2024 sexual misconduct lawsuit filed by a former assistant (More) |
> LIV Golf to cancel team championship slated for August as the league struggles to find investors after losing backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (More) | Why star golfers who joined LIV are in limbo (More) |
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> DoorDash begins building its own drones for commercial deliveries after securing key Federal Aviation Administration approval (More) |
> Researchers build tool to dissect how shape-shifting proteins work, potentially paving the way for new drugs to treat cancer, neurodegeneration, and other conditions (More) |
> Cargo recovered from 17th-century shipwreck off Australia's coast includes stone from multiple quarries in Europe, suggesting more extensive and complex trade than previously believed (More) | Only one-third of the 340 passengers lived (More) |
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> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -1.5%, Dow -2.2%, Nasdaq -1.7%) (More) |
> Federal Reserve votes 9-3 to hold interest rates steady for seventh consecutive month, underscoring inflation concerns (More) | Read the Fed statement (More) |
> Starbucks raises full-year guidance after same-store sales rise 7.9% (More) | Microsoft beats expectations as full-year revenue for Azure cloud tops $100B (More) | BMW to cut up to 8,000 jobs by end of 2027 amid declining sales in China (More) |
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> xAI sues Minnesota over first-in-the-nation law barring "nudification" technology; the law is set to go into effect on Saturday (More) | See background (More) |
> Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband testifies in ongoing trial of woman who admits she killed her three children, cites postpartum psychosis (More) | See previous write-up (More) |
> Reported cyclosporiasis cases exceed 18,000, with 6,707 confirmed in lab testing and 423 people hospitalized, latest data reveals (More) |
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In partnership with USAFacts |
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Why Should You Care About Public Data? |
If the government is spending taxpayer dollars and making major policy decisions, Americans should be able to measure whether those decisions are working.
Without reliable public data, it's harder to understand what's happening in our communities, harder to assess whether taxpayer dollars are being used effectively, and harder to make informed decisions about the future. Public data helps make government more transparent, accountable, and effective—and that's something every American benefits from.
Support public data and sign the open letter. |
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1440 Civics: The Gilded Age |
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The Gilded Age, a term popularized by Mark Twain's novel of the same name, was a period from the 1870s to 1900. The era was defined by rapid industrialization, wealth inequality, political corruption, and immigration into America's fast-growing cities.
> With the help of a photographer who took photos of children at work, child labor in the US was eventually restricted by law in the mid-1900s. (More)
> John D. Rockefeller—the world's first billionaire—was born to a well-known con artist father. (More)
> Thomas Nast helped bring down Boss Tweed, one of America's most corrupt political bosses, with cartoons. (More)
> A moral crusader convinced Congress to pass a law banning "obscene" materials from the mail that's central to today's debate over abortion pills. (More)
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In partnership with Cytonics |
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Closing Soon: Last Chance to Invest |
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The deadline to invest is almost here. Cytonics is developing what could be osteoarthritis’ first cure. It just cleared Phase 1 clinical trials. Now they’re preparing for the next phase.
If successful, this is historically when Big Pharma acquires biotech targets: when efficacy data exists but no price has been set. Take BMS’s $74B acquisition of Celgene, for example. While nothing’s guaranteed, an uncured $560B disease is exactly what acquirers look for. Invest in Cytonics before the round closes.* |
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Historybook: British author Emily Brontë born (1818); Automobile pioneer Henry Ford born (1863); Uruguay wins first World Cup (1930); Arnold Schwarzenegger born (1947); British singer Kate Bush born (1958); Medicare and Medicaid established in the US (1965).
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"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths." |
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*Source: The Lancet Rheumatology. This is a paid advertisement for Cytonics Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.cytonics.com/. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee of performance. Past performance does not predict future results. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal.
**Phase 1 clinical trials are designed primarily to assess safety and tolerability and do not establish efficacy. Clinical trial results are preliminary, and there can be no assurance that future trials will be successful or that any product candidate will receive regulatory approval. |
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