NEED TO KNOW

Ian Slams Florida

More than 2.5 million people are without power this morning in Florida after Hurricane Ian made landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm along the state's Gulf Coast yesterday afternoon. The system reached maximum sustained wind speeds of 155 mph—two miles per hour short of Category 5 status—before arriving just north of Fort Myers. No US deaths had been reported as of this morning, though search and rescue teams have been slowed by weather conditions. 

The storm's counterclockwise spin pulled water out of Tampa Bay (see video) while inundating areas along Florida's southwestern coast, with between 12 and 16 feet of storm surge in some locations. The effect, generated by the force of the wind pushing excess water onto land, caused dislodged a number of buildings in the Fort Myers area. As of this morning the storm had been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Ian is expected to traverse the peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean, then bend back over the Carolinas and head toward the Midsouth and Midwest over the weekend. See its trajectory here.

Porsche Goes Public

Volkswagen-owned sports carmaker Porsche begins publicly trading today in what is Germany's second-largest initial public offering, behind Deutsche Telekom’s $13B IPO in 1996. The IPO is also the third biggest in Europe, valuing Porsche at about $73B. Porsche expects to raise more than $9B. A portion of the funds may be used toward investments in electric vehicles, observers say.

Approximately 114 million shares, or 12.5% of Porsche's total 911 million shares—an ode to its popular 911 sports car—are for sale to the public at about $80 per share. The sovereign wealth funds of Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Norway, along with Baltimore, Maryland-based mutual fund firm T. Rowe Price, have together committed to taking up as much as $3.5B of the IPO. 

Volkswagen bought Porsche in 2012 after a takeover struggle between the two automakers. Last year, Porsche earned nearly $4B in profit on revenue of $32B.  

'A Deliberate Act' of Sabotage

Damage to the Nord Stream pipelines observed Monday was likely a deliberate act of sabotage, European Union officials alleged yesterday. Officials did not explicitly name who they believed caused the damage to the separate pipes, triggered by multiple underwater explosions on the same day in international waters between Poland and Denmark (see map). Some European leaders individually pointed to Russia, though both lines are majority owned and operated by Russia's state-owned Gazprom.

The 750-mile pair of steel-and-concrete pipes lie under the Baltic Sea and can deliver over 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Russia to Germany (see construction). Russia had cut supply via Nord Stream 1 since August amid the war in Ukraine, while Nord Stream 2 never began operation as a result of sanctions. Both were filled with methane prior to the damage, now currently leaking into the atmosphere.

The statement came as Russia pushed forward with its attempt to formally annex four occupied territories of Ukraine's east and south following Kremlin-led referendums. 

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Coolio, Grammy-winning rapper best known for "Gangsta's Paradise," dies at 59 (More) | Former "Today" show coanchor Katie Couric reveals she's been diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing treatment (More)

> Hilaree Nelson, famed American ski climber, found dead in Nepal two days after falling off world's eighth-highest mountain (More)

> New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hits 61st home run, tying Roger Maris' 1961 American League record (More) | LeBron James headlines ownership group for Major League Pickleball franchise (More) | Pickleball 101 (More) 

Science & Technology

> New Alzheimer's drug shows success in small trial in slowing the neurodegenerative disease; the drug, which clears the protein beta-amyloid from the brain, reduced patient cognitive decline by more than 25% over 18 months (More)

> Study finds dogs can detect when humans experience acute stress with above 90% accuracy; ability attributed to changes in odors from breath and sweat (More)

> Researchers find genetic mutation in a single protein may enhance athletic ability by modifying the structure and strength of tendons (More) | How tendons work (More, w/video)

Business & Markets

In partnership with The Ascent

> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +2.0%, Dow +1.9%, Nasdaq +2.1%); Dow ends six-day losing streak (More)

> Bank of England to purchase long-term UK bonds to ease bond market concerns (More)

> Ten-year US treasury yield sees largest daily decline since 2020 on Bank of England news after briefly increasing above 4% (More)

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Politics & World Affairs

> At least nine people dead and 32 injured after Iran launches drone strike against Kurdish group in Iraq (More) | US embassy in Moscow urges American citizens in Russia to leave immediately (More) 

> Victims of Highland Park, Illinois, July 4 shooting sue gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, the gunman and his father, and the store that sold the gun (More) | Philadelphia police search for five shooters who killed one teen and injured four others after a high school football scrimmage (More)

> US Navy nuclear engineer and wife plead guilty in federal court to charges related to selling sensitive information about the design and performance of US nuclear-powered warships to foreign governments (More)

IN-DEPTH

Finding the Zodiac Killer (Again)

Los Angeles Magazine | Aaron Gell. For decades, the identity of the Zodiac killer behind the notorious murders in California remained a mystery. But now, a Los Angeles novelist-turned-amateur sleuth may have finally cracked the case. (Read)

The Art of Bidding, or Surviving Prison

The Marshall Project | Eric Borsuk. In this essay, Borsuk recounts life behind bars with his two best friends after robbing a university's rare book collection and how they found their "bid," or purpose, together until one day, everything changed. (Read)

YOUR COLLAGEN IS HUGE

In partnership with Droplette

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ETCETERA

What the world looks like with 8 billion people.

Lizzo plays former President James Madison’s crystal flute.

Can you beat a stranger in a game of words?

Butter is the new charcuterie.

The James Webb telescope shows a spiral galaxy in extraordinary detail.

Ship that sent iceberg warning to Titanic discovered in Irish Sea.

Visualizing the trajectory of celebratory gunfire.

The best albums from the 1990s.

Clickbait: Stay overnight in a cottage that smells like children.

Historybook: John D. Rockefeller becomes world’s first billionaire (1916); Pope John Paul II is first pope to visit Ireland (1979); Stacy Allison becomes first American woman to climb Mount Everest (1988); Basketball star Kevin Durant born (1988). 

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