Today’s Big Story

Let the Games Begin

Consider this your opening ceremony primer

The 2024 Olympic Games kick off tonight in Paris. Of course, it all starts with the official opening ceremony. Exactly 100 years since the Olympics were last staged in the French capital—and 128 years since its modern revival in Athens—the Summer Games can still deliver fresh looks for its 33rd edition.

That’s because instead of kicking off the games from the standard stadium, thousands of the world’s best athletes will enter the Games in a flotilla sailing westward along the River Seine at sunset toward the Eiffel Tower. A crowd of 320,000 people is expected on the riverbanks along the 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) route from Pont d’Austerlitz to Pont d’Iéna. And you’ll be able to watch it via streaming, social media and cable.

Leading Team USA will be three-time Olympian and legendary NBA player LeBron James. He will be joined by US Open champion and women’s world No. 2 tennis player Coco Gauff, as the flag bearers for the team. It’s not only her first Olympics, but the 20-year-old is the first tennis player to serve as a Team USA flag bearer. They will, of course, be decked out in Ralph Lauren.

What entertainment can we expect? Thomas Jolly, a French theatre director and actor, is overseeing the ceremonies as artistic director. He’s invited a cast of local and international stars to celebrate the rich history and diversity of French musical culture. Aya Nakamura, France’s most listened-to singer, will perform along with Celine Dion and Lady Gaga. Parisian rapper Rim'K, from hip hop band 113, will also make an appearance.

Of course, there’s still the mystery of who will light the cauldron, which is always an exciting part at the end of the opening ceremony. The final torchbearer will light it at the Jardins du Trocadéro Stadium, just over the Seine opposite the Eiffel Tower. But I’m stoked. I love the Olympics. Watching people who have dedicated themselves to their sport, compete at the highest level for the glory of their country? It gets me every time. And at a time when the world seems so chaotic, a dose of global unity is always welcome.

A New Generation of Weight Loss Drugs

Competitors are coming, and the drugs will no doubt shake up our healthcare system

It should be news to no one that booming sales of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound have led to widespread shortages of the injectable treatments. Which is why pharma companies are rushing to get the next generation of weight-loss drugs to market.

Axios reports that prospective competitors to newly popular anti-obesity and anti-diabetes drugs are heading toward commercialization. San Diego-based Viking Therapeutics is accelerating development of its own injectable GLP-1 treatment after receiving positive feedback from the FDA. But they’re still years away from being able to sell it to the public.

Meanwhile, the big firms—Novo, Eli Lilly and Pfizer—are working on weight-loss pills, rather than injections, making them easier to consume and store; others are developing drugs that target different biochemical pathways, in the hopes that they will be even more effective. For instance, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said last week that an experimental daily pill had delivered average weight loss of 6.1% within four weeks for people experiencing obesity but not diabetes.

California Governor Orders Homeless Camps Cleared

But the impact of his executive order was unclear given that most are not on state land

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered state agencies to remove homeless encampments from public property in one of the most sweeping reactions to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing such bans. Newsom said he issued the executive order because the makeshift camps, which lack electricity and running water, pose an urgent public health and safety hazard.

“There is no longer any barrier to local governments utilizing the substantial resources provided by the state … to address encampments with both urgency and humanity,” his order reads. According to the Associated Press, California is home to roughly one-third of the nation’s population of homeless people—a problem that has dogged Newsom since he took office. There are thousands of tents and makeshift shelters across the state that line freeways, and fill parking lots and public parks.

But, as the Washington Post points out, the executive order cannot force localities to act, although he could withhold state money until they comply. It could spark a standoff between his administration and some of the state’s largest cities and counties, also run by Democrats, where homeless encampments are largely concentrated. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass balked at Newsom’s order, noting that her team has made serious inroads addressing the problem: An annual count of the city’s unhoused showed their ranks had decreased by 10%. But San Francisco Mayor London Breed said after the ruling that there were “many people struggling on our streets with addiction and mental illness, and our outreach workers will offer access to treatment … but those who refuse our help or those who already have shelter will not be allowed to camp on our streets.”

The New Corvette Is Here

The first turbocharged Vette is by far the most powerful production version ever built

General Motors’ newest Chevrolet Corvette will be the most powerful version of the American sports car ever produced—and it’s not even close. Powered by a flame-shooting, twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8, the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 makes a towering 1,064 horsepower—a 309-hp mega leap over the last car to wear the ZR1 badge, reports Motor Trend.

That kind of power places it among the ranks of supercars that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to Car and Driver, the Corvette has long proved it can play with pricier exotic sports cars, and it became even more like them when the C8 generation made the switch to a mid-engine format. “But the new ZR1 has the power and the track hardware to engage in wheel-to-wheel combat with the world's best supercars.”

GM said pricing for the 2025 Corvette ZR1, including an additional “ZTK” performance package, will be released closer to when the vehicle goes into production next year. The new ZR1 joins what GM is calling the “Corvette family,” including the “everyman’s sports car” Corvette Stingray, which starts at about $70,000; the hybrid E-Ray; and the roughly $112,000 Z06 track car.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ + Whopper Popcorn

It’s finally here. Are you ready for it? Ryan Reynolds’ wisecracking mercenary Wade Wilson is at a low point on his timeline, no longer considered relationship material by the love of his life, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin, barely present), and only somewhat buoyed by the affection of his loyal group of friends, a ragtag assortment returning from the first and second films. All Deadpool really wants is to matter.

But don’t worry. The first reactions for the film are in and are overwhelmingly positive. Critics says that as bountiful as the action scenes are, the jokes are the sturdiest part Deadpool reuniting with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. It’s been called “a game changer as it is the biggest, boldest, and most badass MCU film since Infinity War and Endgame.” And while you might go into this expecting to see familiar faces from comic-book movies past, the sheer specificity of its many, many cameos may still take you by surprise.

Celebrate the little wins.