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NEED TO KNOW

TikTok Reversal

President Joe Biden reversed a number of Trump-era executive orders yesterday that took aim at Chinese social media apps, most notably viral video platform TikTok. 

The initial ban arose over concerns by Western officials that Chinese law would obligate the companies to turn over data on US-based users if requested by Beijing. In the case of TikTok, parent company ByteDance—who argued American user data was physically stored in the US—eventually agreed to fully divest US operations. A blockbuster $30B sale to Microsoft ultimately fell through, and a federal judge suspended a ban on the platform in September.

The White House says it will institute a new review process for all platforms owned by foreign adversaries, as opposed to targeting individual companies. 

Navalny Ban

A Russian court designated opposition leader Alexei Navalny's political movement to be an extremist organization in a ruling yesterday. The decision comes almost one week after President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning supporters and members of extremist-designated groups from running for office. The combination effectively excludes Putin's biggest opposition group from political power. 

Navalny, who was jailed after being poisoned—allegedly by federal agents—is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in the country's notorious Pokrov correctional colony. International rights groups consider him to be a prisoner of conscience, persecuted for noncriminal reasons.

The ruling comes ahead of President Joe Biden's first in-person meeting with Putin, set for June 16 in Switzerland. Biden begins his first foreign trip today, meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson before heading to the G-7 summit. 

Keystone XL

A Canadian energy firm behind the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline said yesterday it would formally end the project. President Joe Biden revoked the company's permit to build an extension from Montana to Steele City, Nebraska, on his first day in office. 

The canceled line was planned as the fourth phase of the larger Keystone pipeline, which is currently operational (see map) and transports more than 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to refineries along the US Gulf Coast. The already built line, which enters the US in North Dakota, remains operational. The addition would have increased capacity by roughly 800,000 barrels per day, or 7% of US daily consumption.

The Phase IV extension was originally opposed over its environmental impact in US Great Plains states, but became a proxy for the larger debate over climate change. See a timeline of the project here. 

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Carrie Underwood and John Legend win Video of the Year at 2021 Country Music Television Music Awards for "Hallelujah" (More) | See complete list of CMT award winners (More)

> NFL to stage upcoming regular-season games in Germany; has played 28 games in London since 2007 (More) | Ex-Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler's son claims his father was aware of sexual abuse by team doctor (More)

> Tribeca Film Festival returns to New York City as first major in-person film festival in North America since pandemic began; will feature 56 movie world premieres (More)

Science & Technology

> Study shows the eventual fate of mature hair follicles is predetermined by the arrangement of cells during embryonic skin development (More)

> Quantum imaging technique allows imaging of biological cells at unprecedented details; approach uses quantum-correlated light particles to produce images 35% sharper than current techniques (More)

> Caltech scientists demonstrate improved CRISPR technique to knock defective genes out of DNA by delivering all necessary gene-editing components into cells at the same time (More)

Business & Markets

Brought to you by The Ascent

> El Salvador passes law to become first country to make Bitcoin legal tender, 70% of El Salvador residents currently don’t have bank accounts; Bitcoin up on the news to $37K (More)

> Swedish lithium-ion battery maker Northvolt raises $2.75B at $11.75B valuation from VW, Goldman Sachs, and others, as demand for electric vehicle batteries surges (More)

> “Meme stock” video game retailer GameStop announces hiring of former Amazon executives as new CEO and CFO as company shifts focus to e-commerce (More)

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Politics & World Affairs

> Biden administration pledges to donate 500 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, enough for 250 million people, to 92 low-income countries (More) | US COVID-19 cases average below 15,000, the lowest since last March (More) | Vaccinations plateau in the US, with around 64% of US adults receiving at least one shot (More)

> Meat processing giant JBS reportedly paid $11M to end ransomware attack in May; company was hacked by REvil, the same Russian-based group who forced the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline (More)

> Government watchdog report finds former President Trump's decision to visit Lafayette Square amid June 2020 protests did not influence officers' decision to clear it or use chemical irritants to disperse crowd (More) | See timeline of the day (More, note: article has not been updated to reflect new report)

IN-DEPTH

The Epstein Fortune

Vanity Fair | Gabriel Sherman. The details surrounding how deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, once a high school math teacher, amassed his fortune remain a mystery. His long relationship with retail tycoon Les Wexner may hold the answer. (Read)

The Han Twins

Truly*Adventurous | Jana Meisenholder. In sunny Southern California, bad blood between identical twins boils over into a murder plot. (Read)

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ETCETERA

The world's most livable cities.

Why everyone is talking about Amazon Sidewalk.

France to deliver a second Statue of Liberty.

NASA snaps a photo of Jupiter's biggest moon.

Release the salmon!

Ughhh old millennials: You're too lazy to run for office (kidding, who can blame you?).

Rare Double Eagle gold coin sells for almost $19M.

South African woman gives birth to 10 babies.

Clickbait: Arizona bear goes on a power trip.

Historybook: Benjamin Franklin conducts famous kite experiment (1752); Hattie McDaniel, first African American to win an Oscar, born (1893); Hollywood legend Judy Garland born (1922); Italy invades France, declares war on France and Great Britain (1940); RIP musician Ray Charles (2004).

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

- Judy Garland

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