Good morning! Happy Wednesday and thanks as always for reading. If you’re in the windshield business, maybe swing by the Texas Panhandle. There’s probably some broken glass in the area after that pineapple-sized hail.

WORLD

🌍 G7 leaders forced to spend three days in Italy for work this week

“Oh, sorry, I can’t make it to that budget meeting. I have to be at a luxury seaside hotel in Italy.” That’s the excuse major world leaders get to use today as they head to the 50th annual G7 summit. Must be nice.

What’s the G7? The G7 is a not-so-cleverly named cooperative group of seven powerful countries. Those countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

• The European Union is also a (non-numbered) member. Because the E.U.'s government is weird, it sends two different leaders.

• The group was called the G8 until its eighth member — Russia — got the boot for invading Ukraine. No, not this time. The last time.

• Because political names are bad, there’s a similar group with many of the same members called the G20. Very (not) different.

The more the merrier: The G7 invited more than a dozen other countries to the summit this year including Brazil, India, South Africa, and Turkey (🦃).

Copycat: The rival gang across town has its own meeting called BRICS. Its nine members include Brazil, China, Iran, and Russia.

Meeting: The host nation rotates annually. This year’s event is hosted by Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. The G7 is set to return to the United States in 2027.

• G7 representatives attend various meetings throughout the year. But the big summit every summer is for the big dogs — presidents, prime ministers, and a chancellor (Germany really stuck with that title despite, you know...).

• G7 countries recently agreed to ban the import of most Russian diamonds in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

• In 2021, they agreed to a minimum corporate tax rate of 15%. Last year they committed to strengthen ties with developing nations.

This year’s agenda includes climate change, immigration, Ukraine, Chinese industrial capacity, and more. Pope Francis will, of course, lead a discussion on AI.

In other, more American news…

• 🌿 A decade after legalization, Colorado's legal weed market is tanking as legal hemp-derived products hit the market and legalization spreads.

• ⚖️ A federal judge overturned a 2023 Florida law that banned some transgender-related procedures

• 💰 Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reported being gifted loads of free travel. Four other justices reported huge piles of cash from book deals.

POLITICS

🔵 First Son Hunter Biden was convicted on three felony charges yesterday for lying about his drug addiction struggles on a federal form when buying a handgun in 2018. President Dad says he'll "accept the outcome" of the case "as Hunter considers an appeal." Hunter isn't likely to spend time in jail, but his upcoming trial on tax charges (in September) could complicate that.

⚪ Trump-backed South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace (of “cancel morning sex to make the prayer breakfast on time” fame) survived her Republican primary challenge. She defeated a former Nikki Haley staffer by 27%. Mace will face Democrat Michael Moore (no, not that one) in the November general election for this Republican-leaning seat.

⚪ Retired Army Captain Sam Brown, who was severely burned in Afghanistan, easily won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the swing state of Nevada. He’ll face current Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen in November in a race that could decide which party controls the Senate next year.

🔵 Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spent $30,000 in campaign cash on hair and makeup last year. The move isn’t illegal. But in a city with plenty of problems, perhaps it’s not the smartest political move.

TRIVIA

Despite what the Democratic and Republican Parties may want you to believe, voters who self-identify as “independent” far outweigh those who say they belong to the big two parties. What percentage of American voters say they’re political independents?

WORLD

🇨🇴 Colombia: A U.S. court found Chiquita — the banana company — liable for funding a Colombian paramilitary terrorist organization 25 years ago. The company claims it was extorted. Nonetheless, it owes victims' families $38 million. On a related note, Colombia's navy seized a narco-submarine carrying 5 tons of cocaine.

🇮🇱 Israel: Israel agreed to the terms of a temporary ceasefire proposal negotiated by the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar. But Hamas wants a few changes. Negotiators hope the deal will lead to a permanent end to the war. But Israel has vowed to continue until Hamas is completely destroyed.

🇺🇦 Ukraine: The U.S. lifted its longtime ban on the use of American weapons by a certain Ukrainian special forces unit called the Azov Brigade. A U.S. investigation found no evidence for accusations of prior human rights abuses.

BRIEFS

• Canada’s government dropped a bombshell report claiming some members of Parliament are secretly agents of foreign countries

• Thieves in Rome tunneled into a jewelry store from the sewers, stole $537,000 in merch, and disappeared right back into the sewers

• Ninety-nine-year-old former President Jimmy Carter, on month 16 of hospice care, is no longer awake every day, says his grandson

• The World Bank says the U.S. economy is growing at 2.5% annually and totally carrying the team on global economic growth

• Paramount Global exec Shari Redstone rejected Skydance Media’s offer to buy the struggling media company

QUOTE

SNACKS

🍎 Apple: Siri is getting a big AI boost from ChatGPT. iOS 18 will also finally add RCS support, which should smooth things over a little in group chats with your Android “friends.”

⛳ Golf: Tiger Woods will keep it in the family as he competes for his 16th major victory at the U.S. Open tomorrow. His 15-year-old son Charlie will serve as his dad’s swing consultant.

☕ Starbucks: Fresh off its delivery deal with GrubHub, everyone’s favorite closest coffee shop wants to take the next logical step: start a movie studio.

ANSWER

Polling firm Gallup asks this question (and plenty of others) constantly. Their most recent poll (from April) says 45% of Americans self-identify as political independents.

We have to go by polls on this because legitimate national data on how people are registered doesn’t exist. Why not? Glad you asked. Only 31 states have voters officially register as members of a specific party.