Grain Exports, Alaskan Rumbles, and the Year's Funniest Pet Photos

Grain Deal Deadline

A deal keeping millions of tons of grain moving out of Ukraine via the Black Sea will expire tonight if Russia does not renew the agreement, a potential shock to World Food Program-reliant developing countries and global food prices (see breakdown). 

The Black Sea Grain Initiative has released over 30 million tons of grain—mostly wheat, corn, and sunflower (see data)—since it was brokered last July. The accord allows Ukrainian vessels from three ports to safely navigate a Russian-blockaded Black Sea corridor through the Bosporus strait in northwest Turkey, where departing and returning ships are inspected for deal compliance (see map). The deal has faced expiration three times, ultimately being renewed amid diplomatic pressure on Russia.

To keep the deal going, UN officials offered to partially restore Russian access to a Belgium-based international financial payments system known as SWIFT. See updates here.

Rumbles in Alaska

Alaskans spent the weekend experiencing an uptick in seismic activity, with a series of volcanic eruptions from the remote Shishaldin Volcano Friday followed by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake late Saturday morning off the southwestern coast, which briefly triggered a tsunami warning.

The volcano is nestled in the middle of the sparsely populated Aleutian Islands, part of the archipelago making up the Alaskan peninsula. Shishaldin started exhibiting low-intensity eruptions Tuesday but began Friday with a burst that sent an ash cloud nearly 40,000 feet in the air. Meanwhile, the Saturday earthquake was the strongest to hit the area since an 8.2 magnitude quake in 2021. The tsunami warning was canceled early Sunday morning, with minimal impact from the tremors.  

The region sits along the northeastern ridge of the "Ring of Fire"—a set of tectonic boundaries that encircle the Pacific basin, giving rise to numerous volcanoes and frequent earthquakes along its perimeter. See an overview of the subject here (w/video).

Wimbledon Upsets

History was made at Wimbledon over the weekend after the Czech Republic's

Markéta Vondroušová upset No. 6 Ons Jabeur, becoming the lowest-ranked winner and first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon. The tournament, held in London since 1877, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the sport's four Grand Slam championships. 

The win capped a magical run for Vondroušová, who was once ranked No. 14 in the world and reached the French Open finals in 2019 but has dealt with a string of injuries in recent years. The loss left Jabeur, hailing from Tunisia, still searching for her first Grand Slam victory—she finished as runner-up at both Wimbledon last year and September's US Open. Vondroušová had also beaten three top 10 players en route to Saturday's final match. 

On the men's side, top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz beat No. 2 Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller that lasted more than four-and-a-half hours. The win is the 20-year-old Alcaraz's second Grand Slam title and snaps Djokovic's run of four straight Wimbledon championships. 

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Historybook: Tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed (1918); Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California (1955); Jazz singer Billie Holiday dies (1959); Broadcast legend Walter Cronkite dies (2009); Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down, 298 killed (2014).