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| Today's top stories are: - 👨⚖️ The Supreme Court temporarily revived the Biden administration's "ghost gun" policy
- 🏗️ July was the first month since 2009 in which both producer and consumer prices in China decreased
- 📉 WeWork stock is down over 36% after the company's management said that its financial solvency was in question
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| 1 | | The Supreme Court issued a temporary ruling allowing the Biden administration's new "ghost gun" rules to stay in place. The Department of Justice submitted an emergency petition asking the Court to reverse a lower court decision from July which rejected the new regulations. More: - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued a new rule in 2022 that expanded its definition of "firearm" to include "ghost guns."
- Ghost guns are pre-packaged sets of gun parts that can be easily constructed into a useable firearm that is not serialized or licensed in the same manner as a traditional firearm.
- The ATF rule does not ban the sale of ghost gun kits.
- Instead, it requires producers and sellers of ghost guns to obtain licenses to sell firearms, serialize the kits, and conduct background checks on buyers.
- Under the provisional ruling, the ATF rules will stay in place while legal challenges against them proceed through the courts.
Zoom Out: - Ghost gun kits, as well as videos showing how to assemble them, are easily available online.
- According to ATF data, more than 19,000 non-serialized firearms were recovered by law enforcement in 2021, up from ~1,600 in 2017.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: WeWork stock fell by more than 36% on Wednesday after the company said it had "substantial doubt[s]" about its ability to stay in business in its Q2 earnings release. WeWork reported a net loss of $397M in Q2 2023, a substantial improvement from the $635M in losses in Q2 2022. Reasons for the downturn: Interim CEO David Tolley blamed the losses on excess supply in commercial real estate, strong competition, lower demand, and macroeconomic headwinds, which resulted in a decline in memberships. WeWork executives said they have a plan to improve the firm's financial health over the next year. Stock decline: WeWork has struggled since going public in 2021 at a ~$9B valuation. The company's stock is down nearly 99% from its IPO price, and its current market capitalization is ~$279M. | | | |
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| 3 | | Consumer prices in China fell on an annual basis in July for the first time in two years. Recent data also shows that the country's exports are falling, youth unemployment is increasing, and the housing crisis is worsening. More: - Chinese consumer prices fell 0.3% from July 2022 to July 2023.
- Core inflation, which excludes energy and food prices, rose to 0.8% in July (the highest mark since January 2023) from 0.4% in June.
- China's producer price index, which measures prices paid by manufacturers for domestic goods and services, fell 4.4% on an annual basis in July, continuing a trend that began last October.
- Excluding a single month at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, July was the first month since 2009 in which both consumer and producer prices decreased in China.
Zoom Out: - Inflation in China has been significantly lower than in other countries over the past three years, but deflation can increase the costs of servicing debt.
- The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) said that China's total debt level is now nearly three times greater than its 2022 GDP, a higher debt-to-GDP ratio than the U.S.
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| 4 | | GOOD NEWS: Eight South American countries created an alliance to protect the Amazon rainforest. Member states of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) agreed to implement sustainable development programs and protect the world's largest rainforest. More: - The "Belem Declaration" ― named for the Brazilian city where the conference was hosted ― was signed by Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wanted all member states to sign on to Brazil's goal of ending deforestation in the Amazon by 2030, but no such commitments were made ― instead, countries will set their own deforestation goals.
- The joint declaration did not set a deadline for ending illegal gold mining but member states agreed to jointly tackle cross-border environmental crimes.
- Lula said the "severe worsening of the climate crisis" meant that member states must respond quickly to threats facing the Amazon.
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| 5 | | Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he will seek to dissolve the country's parliament, paving the way for national elections later this year. Pakistan has been rocked by economic, environmental, and political crises over the last year. More: - Sharif said that a caretaker government would be established and that elections should take place within 90 days.
- Ongoing efforts to redraw electoral maps based on new census data could cause a months-long delay.
- Pakistan's last general election was held in July 2018, with former cricketer Imran Khan's party winning the most seats.
- Khan was ousted as prime minister in a no-confidence vote last year and replaced by Sharif.
- He was subsequently convicted of graft charges and barred from participating in an election for five years.
- Khan, who is currently in prison, said the charges were politically motivated and that Pakistan's powerful military was behind the push to remove him from politics.
Zoom Out: - On Wednesday, The Intercept reported on a leaked Pakistani diplomatic cable purporting to show that State Department officials supported the no-confidence vote against Khan.
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| 6 | | Gambling company Penn Entertainment signed a $1.5B deal with ESPN to rebrand one of its sports-betting apps as ESPN Bet. Penn will continue to operate the sports-betting app and ESPN will promote it across its digital and broadcast platforms. More: - The companies said that ESPN Bet will have "access" to some of ESPN's broadcasting talent.
- The licensing deal will initially last ten years upon which the parties could agree to extend the agreement.
- Under the deal, ESPN has the right to purchase up to $500M in Penn shares.
- ESPN said it will create a "responsible gaming" committee to determine ethical marketing rules around sports betting and that it will "educate sports fans on responsible gambling."
Zoom Out: - Penn said it sold Barstool Sports back to founder Dave Portnoy for an undisclosed amount.
- The gambling company first bought a 36% stake in Barstool in February 2020 for $163M and the remaining 64% for $388M in February 2023.
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- The New York Times reported on a December 6, 2020, memo produced by a Trump-aligned lawyer outlining plans to put forward false slates of electors to back Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order suspending state attorney Monique Worrell for being "soft on crime." Worrell said that DeSantis was promoting a "false narrative" that was not based on her actions as a prosecutor.
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 | Writer | | Dr. Daniel Smith is an Inside writer with a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. Follow him on Twitter @DJS12321 or email him at Daniel@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by NO ACCOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH THE EDITOR | |
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