Good morning! In case you missed the big announcement, Apple has finally solved all of your complaints about the iPhone. Sure, the battery still dies at 6 pm. And yes, your annoying Android friend still ruins group chats. But the new iPhone Air is 2mm thinner than the iPhone 16. So come and get it, baby.

In other news … Today is the 24th anniversary of 9/11, Spencer Pratt is now a housing activist or something, and El Salvador found 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.4 tons of wild cocaine floating free in the Pacific Ocean.

CRIME

🇺🇸 Conservative activist Charlie Kirk killed

The troubling trend of political violence in America continued yesterday when conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University. Police arrested two suspects yesterday, but released them after questioning.

As of late Wednesday night, a manhunt was still underway for the killer. Authorities believe a single shot was fired from a rooftop at least 100 yards away from the event.

Who? Kirk, 31, was a husband to Erika and the father of two young children. As the co-founder and leader of Turning Point USA, a youth-oriented conservative political group, he was a near-constant presence on college campuses (and TikTok).

• He was in Utah, kicking off his “American Comeback Tour,” which was to feature his famous “prove me wrong” public debates (meme guy is different).

• Kirk also led the related Turning Point Action, which functioned as a sort of side campaign organization for Trump in 2024.

Sympathies following his death flowed in from around the political spectrum. Speaking from the Oval Office, President Trump described yesterday as a “dark day for America” and ordered flags to half-staff until Sunday evening. Presidents Biden and Obama, meanwhile, said they were praying for his young family.

• Messages also poured in from around the world, too. The prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Israel were among those offering their thoughts.

• Vice President JD Vance will travel to Utah today to visit with investigators and mourners.

The House of Representatives, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as polished and proper as we’ve all come to expect. A prayer following the tragedy quickly descended into cursing and a shouting match.

In other crime news, the suspect in the murder of a young Ukrainian woman on a train in Charlotte has been charged by the feds with "committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system."

GOVERNMENT

💊 President Trump signed a memo designed to curb drug advertisements. He notes that a 1962 law gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate prescription drug advertising, but claims those regulations have been eroded over time. Now, Trump believes, drug ads are often misleading, encourage medicine over lifestyle changes, and improperly intervene in the doctor-patient relationship. Trump has directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services (that’s RFK Jr.), who oversees the FDA, too, to take whatever action the law allows to cut down on these ads. What might that include? Firstly, forcing drug companies to add far more information on potential risks to their advertisements.

⚖️ The Supreme Court agreed to take the case challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s entire slew of tariffs. The case is obviously super economically important, so it's been fast-tracked to the front(ish) of the line. Oral arguments will take place in early November, and justices appear set to make their ruling shortly thereafter. The Trump administration has collected tens of billions of dollars in new tariffs since February by using a 1977 law that allows them during (loosely defined) national emergencies. To that end, Trump declared an economic emergency. But tariff opponents don't think that's good enough, and a lower court agreed.

TRIVIA

According to a new prediction from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), total net immigration to the United States will be about 400,000 people this year. That seems like a lot of people, but it’s a cool 1.6 million fewer than it had predicted back in January. According to Pew Research, how many immigrants currently live in the United States?

Hint: We’re in the mid-10s of millions here.

WORLD

🔥 Protestors set fires in Nepal as government flees

On a less serious (but still pretty serious) note, the country whose name most closely resembles the word “nipple” appears to be experiencing a quasi-revolution right now.

The story: A Gen Z-led protest movement broke out last week, sparked by anger over social media posts showing the #nepokids of political elites living lives of luxury ... while everyone else struggled to survive. The government tried to crack down by banning social media. As you might expect, that didn’t go over too well.

Burning it down: Government forces clashed with protestors on Monday, and 19 people died. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday and promptly set fire to the parliament, the Supreme Court, and other buildings. They even ransacked the home of Nepal’s prime minister.

Country deets: Nepal is a poor country of 31 million people. It’s a little guy, about the size of Iowa, tucked into the Himalayas between India and China. Nepal’s probably most famous for being home to the southern half of Mount Everest. And, because rules are meaningless, it also has the world’s only non-rectangular flag.

The future: The prime minister and other government leaders have resigned and fled, and thousands of inmates have escaped. But the military has since restored some order to Kathmandu, and talks are underway with protest leaders to appoint a former Supreme Court justice as head of an interim government. Others want to reinstate the former king, who was deposed back in 2008.

Two thousand miles west, Israel is taking heat for a strike against Hamas leaders at their foreign HQ in nearby Qatar. Qatar's government condemned the strike as "cowardly" and said it violated international law. President Trump even jumped on board and said he was "not thrilled about the whole situation.”

BRIEFS

● Elon Musk's run as the world's richest person has come to an abrupt end in favor of Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Oracle’s stock soared by 36% on Wednesday, boosting Ellison’s net worth by $101 billion, from $292 billion all the way to $393 billion.

● Poland, which borders Ukraine, said it shot down a bunch of Russian drones after "a huge number" of them violated its airspace. Poland is a member of the NATO mutual defense pact and requested a meeting with all 32 members on Wednesday.

● Three former senior FBI officials are suing President Trump’s new FBI director, Kash Patel, and Patel’s boss, Attorney General Pam Bondi. They claim Patel told them he was firing them for political reasons to save his own job.

● A federal appeals court split the difference on a New Jersey gun law. Judges blocked some of the more "far-reaching" restrictions, like forcing gun owners to buy liability insurance. But others, like hefty restrictions on where guns can be carried, can remain.

● Congress didn't move to extend it, so the federal government's 30-day takeover of Washington, D.C.'s police department expired on Wednesday. The D.C. National Guard is under President Trump’s direct control and will remain in the city until November 30.

● Amazon has jumped into the robotaxi race alongside Tesla and Google's Waymo. The company's Zoox cars began offering free rides on the Las Vegas strip on Wednesday. Unlike others, Zoox vehicles have no steering wheels and don’t really even look like cars.

QUOTE

ANSWER

According to Pew Research in June 2025, the immigrant population in the United States is 51.9 million people. That's a record 15.4% of the overall population, though it's slightly lower than the 53.3 million who lived here in January.