A rural population boom has sent housing prices soaring in hotspot counties across the country. In the 10 rural counties that have seen the biggest population bumps, housing prices are up 40%+. So just know that when your local coffee shop starts serving almond milk, your rent is about to go up.

On a separate and solemn note, we remember 9/11 victims today 🙏

In today's edition:

• Coco is a champion

• Afghanistan breaks bad

• Death to Terrorists?

 🔑 Key Stories

Hackable Apple

Apple issued an emergency software patch on Thursday after being warned that a software vulnerability allowed spyware to infiltrate its devices

• Israel-based NSO Group is a spyware company that created Pegasus, an advanced cyberweapon. The US sanctions NSO and accuses Pegasus of being used to spy on diplomats, journalists, and more

• The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab recently found a software vulnerability in iOS that Pegasus used to infiltrate devices. The software was found on the phone of a member of a US “civil society” group

• Apple patched the vulnerability with an iOS update

Dig Deeper

• “We are unable to respond to any allegations that do not include any supporting research,” NSO Group said in a statement. It has repeatedly argued it is not responsible for what countries do with its software

Morocco Earthquake

A magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck Morocco on Friday

• The quake struck Morocco in the Atlas Mountains just south of Marrakech, Morocco’s fourth-most-populous city. 2,200+ have been reported dead and 2,400+ injured, making it Morocco’s deadliest quake in 60+ years

• Morocco’s government declared a three-day mourning period and deployed its military to assist in search and rescue operations

• Several foreign countries have sent teams to assist, and others said they were on standby to help if Morocco needs them

Dig Deeper

• Collapsed buildings in Marrakesh, its southern outlying areas, and rural villages in the Atlas Mountains caused most of the casualties. Locals have told media that rescue responses have been slow and have not yet reached some of the more remote areas affected by it

US Open Ends

Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic won the women’s and men’s US Open titles, respectively

• Cori “Coco” Gauff is a 19-year-old American. She is widely regarded as one of the world’s best female players but going into this year’s US Open had never won a Grand Slam – one of tennis’s four major tournaments

• On Saturday, Gauff defeated the world’s #2-ranked player in the final, becoming the youngest American to win since Serena Williams did so at age 17 in 1999

• Djokovic won a record 24th Grand Slam title, widening the gap between him and Rafael Nadal (22)

Trans History Month

California became the first state to recognize a transgender history month

• On Wednesday, the lower house of California’s legislature passed a bill recognizing August as transgender history month

• The bill argued that trans history is integrally linked to California’s history, citing accounts of trans people influencing California’s history as far back as 1775

• Also on Wednesday, California’s lower house passed a bill requiring judges to consider parents’ acceptance of their children’s gender identity in custody battles. That bill now heads to its Senate

Dig Deeper

• “I believe that as Californians our strongest defense against the anti-trans agenda is just to tell the truth…Let’s lift up the history of the transgender Californians who left their mark on our great state,” the legislator who wrote the transgender history month bill said. Others argued it would increase tolerance and understanding for trans issues

• Critics argued the bill was unnecessary and political. Some said the state has gone too far to protect trans people at the expense of parent’s rights, fairness in sports, and other issues

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• Rubiales out: Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales resigned. He kissed female player Jenni Hormoso while celebrating Spain’s victory at last month’s Women’s World Cup

• Tuck out: Michigan State suspended head football coach Mel Tucker without pay after a sexual assault prevention activist accused him of sexually harassing her

• Cavalcante… still out: Police say that Danelo Cavalcante – the convicted killer who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison 12 days ago – has changed his appearance. He is now clean-shaven

Wildcard

• Phoenix Sunning: Phoenix, AZ set a new record with 54 days at or above 110°F, surpassing the previous record of 53 days set in 2020. From 1991 to 2020, the average in Phoenix was 21

• AI gets an L: “Heart on My Sleeve” – the song that uses AI-generated renditions of vocals by Drake and The Weeknd – is ineligible for a Grammy award despite previous reports saying it is

• Breaking Kabul: Afghanistan is the world’s fastest-growing maker of meth, according to the United Nations. Meth seizures linked to Afghanistan stretched from the EU to East Africa

👇 What do you think?

Today's Question:

Today’s question of the day is below the Wrap!

🌯 Roca Wrap

22 years ago today, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airlines.

They crashed two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and one into a field in Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 people and injuring thousands more.

To this day, the alleged mastermind of the plot – Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) – has not been convicted of the crime.

KSM became a wanted man after plotting various terror attacks. He eventually moved from his native Kuwait to Afghanistan, where he worked with Osama bin Laden and led propaganda operations for al-Qaeda. In the late 1990s, KSM worked with bin Laden to conceive of a massive airline-based terror attack that would strike symbolic American buildings.

According to testimony by a former top US official, bin Laden “told KSM it would be sufficient simply to down the planes and not hit specific targets. KSM stood his ground, arguing that the operation would not be successful unless the pilots were fully trained and the hijacking teams were larger.”

The US has said that KSM selected the buildings to attack, helped the hijackers train, and facilitated their travel, enabling their success.

KSM became one of the world’s most-wanted men, although the US failed to catch him during the invasion of Afghanistan and KSM managed to evade the security forces in Pakistan, where he was hiding. In 2002, he decapitated an American Wall Street Journal columnist, Daniel Pearl, in Pakistan. Later that year, KSM said in an interview that he was involved in the "Holy Tuesday operation,” slang for 9/11.

Pakistani authorities arrested KSM on March 1, 2003, and passed him to the Americans.

In the following years, he underwent extensive torture, including 7.5 days of sleep deprivation and 183 instances of waterboarding. He ended up at Guantanamo Bay, where he remains today.

During his detainment, KSM confessed to masterminding 9/11, killing Daniel Pearl, bombing a nightclub in Bali, and plotting the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Yet the US has been trying to put KSM on trial for over a decade and has yet to convict him of a crime. Many complications surround the evidence, much of which was either obtained during or after torture.

Another complexity is that KSM has said he would consider pleading guilty if he receives certain guarantees, including that he not be given the death penalty or solitary confinement, and that he be allowed to eat and pray with other 9/11 plotters. He has said if he pleads guilty with those conditions, he will facilitate other 9/11-related lawsuits.

On Wednesday, President Biden rejected most of those guarantees, but administration officials said he may be willing to drop the death penalty.

All of this leads us to today’s question of the day: Should KSM and other 9/11 plotters be given the death penalty?

Reply to this email at [email protected] to let us know what you think!

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Should psychedelics be decriminalized?
Yes: 49.9%
No: 50.1%

Yesterday's Question:

Just 20 Qs!

🧠 Final Thoughts

Everyone, we hope you all had wonderful weekends. We are excited to say that one of the Maxes is heading to Europe today on an extended international reporting trip. We'll be featuring his coverage starting in the coming weeks – stay tuned for that.

Looking forward to doing the news with you tomorrow!

—Max and Max