NEED TO KNOW

Fires Near Yosemite

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency over the weekend for Mariposa County as a brush fire near Yosemite National Park rapidly expanded to become the state's largest wildfire this year. Officials say the Oak Fire began southwest of the park Friday and by Saturday, had grown to 19 square miles (around 12,000 acres). 

Currently burning across a relatively sparsely populated and rural area, around 6,000 residents were under evacuation orders—though experts say the fire has the potential to surpass 100,000 acres consumed, pending weather conditions. As of this morning, the fire was 0% contained (see updates). While California experienced its driest January through February period on record, the severity of wildfires has thus far tracked below recent years, though peak fire season runs through the fall. 

See photos of the rolling smoke clouds caused by the flames.

Russia Shells Odesa

At least two Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian port city of Odesa over the weekend, less than one day after Russia had agreed to a United Nations-brokered deal to allow the safe passage of grain and other food-related exports via the Black Sea. Odesa remains the only major Ukrainian port along the coast not under Russian occupation capable of exporting goods by sea (see map).

Before the invasion, Ukraine was the world's fifth largest grain exporter, accounting for roughly 8.5% of global exports. More than half of the product went to Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Lebanon. Aid groups have argued the inability to export Ukrainian grain has exacerbated hunger in underdeveloped regions; wheat prices spiked more than 40% from prewar averages in mid-May but have since fallen to near January prices.  

Separately, Ukraine has reportedly begun a counteroffensive to retake the southern region of Kherson. See updates on the war here.

Global Health Emergency

The World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern Saturday as cases reached 16,000 across 75 countries. Infections in the US have risen to nearly 3,000, including two children. 

The declaration is a call to coordinate efforts against the virus and signals monkeypox is a serious global risk (see definition). Officials made the decision despite an advisory panel's lack of consensus. Since the protocol was established in 2005, a global health emergency has been called seven times, the most recent being the coronavirus in April 2020. The US is deliberating whether to call for a national emergency.

The infection continues to spread primarily within communities among men who have sex with men, presenting fever, aches, exhaustion, and a rash one to two weeks after direct contact. Limited vaccines are available (see CDC guidelines) as countries ramp up production and distribution. See the map of total cases here. 

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard tops two-time defending champ Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia to win his first Tour de France title (More)

> Marvel Studios reveals slate of films and series to be released through 2025 (More) | Bob Rafelson, Emmy-winning producer and director known for cocreating "The Monkees," dies at 89 (More)

> US women upset Jamaica to win 4x100-meter relay gold at Track and Field World Championships (More) | Vince McMahon retires as World Wrestling Entertainment CEO amid misconduct allegations (More)

Science & Technology

> Google fires Blake Lemoine, researcher who publicly claimed the company's LaMDA AI platform had become sentient (More) | See background (More)

> Researchers decipher how different cancer cells respond to drug-delivering nanoparticles; advance may allow for tailored drug treatments specific to cancer type (More)

> Chemists discover a simple method to produce synthetic tetrodotoxin, the paralyzing toxin found in pufferfish and other animals; the compound has potential as a powerful pain-killing agent (More)

Business & Markets

In partnership with Piestro

> US stock markets close lower Friday (S&P 500 -0.9%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq -1.9%) but finish out the week with gains (More)

> Twitter misses quarterly revenue and earnings expectations; company cites industry headwinds and Elon Musk's $44B bid as drivers of underperformance (More)

> The German government agrees to a $15B rescue deal for German energy giant Uniper amid Russia’s gas supply cuts (More)

From our partners: Making pizzerias 3x more profitable. Piestro is the startup disrupting the $155B pizza market with its fleet of robotic pizza-making pods that make their pizzas at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. These robots are making pizzerias 3x more profitable and require no additional labor. It’s no surprise they’ve already brought in $580M of preorders via commercial contracts. You can invest in Piestro today—check it out before the offering ends in 3 days.

Politics & World Affairs

> Japan's Sakurajima volcano erupts, prompting evacuations; no reports of injuries as of this morning (More)

> Pope Francis visits Canada, apologizes to Indigenous communities for abuses and deaths to Indigenous students at church-led residential schools between the late 19th century and 1970 (More) | See overview of the abuses here (More)

> Suspect accused of attacking Rep. Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) during a gubernatorial campaign event Thursday to face federal charges (More)

DITCH THE SUGAR GUMMIES

In partnership with Hiya

Did you know the average kid’s vitamin is basically candy in disguise? That’s why two dads created Hiya. Hiya was created out of a frustration that typical gummy vitamins for kids just aren't as healthy as you might think—instead each gummy is filled with added sugar, unhealthy dyes, hard-to-pronounce chemicals, and sticky junk awful for kid's teeth.

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ETCETERA

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Housecats' favorite new video game.

Clickbait: A chess-playing robot gets violent.

Historybook: DNA scientist Rosalind Franklin born (1920); Football great Walter Payton born (1954); First baby born via vitro fertilization (1978); Rock Hudson is first major celeb to announce AIDS diagnosis (1985); Concorde Air France crash kills 113 (2000).

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