A lawsuit almost old enough to drink will live to see another day. Yesterday, a New York federal judge officially rejected a controversial settlement between retailers and credit card giants Visa and Mastercard.

In 2005, the same year Google Maps and Wedding Crashers graced the world, four merchant associations filed an antitrust class action lawsuit against Visa, Mastercard, and the banks that work with them, claiming they had too much power over swipe fees—the amounts retailers must pay to accept credit card payments. The parties reached a settlement this March:

• Mastercard and Visa said they would slowly lower rates, which hover anywhere from 2% to 4% on consumer transactions, by 0.04 percentage points for the next three years and the average rate would be lowered 0.07 points for five years.
• But many large retailers were outraged by the outcome, saying that the estimated $30 billion it would save them over five years was not nearly enough.

These fees are big business: Last year, banks and other financial groups that issue Visa and Mastercard credit cards raked in $172 billion in swipe fees, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.

Merchants want less honor

One rule that merchants want to ditch—and that was not addressed in the settlement—is the “honor all cards” stipulation. It means that if a business wants to accept one type of credit card, it has to accept all cards under the Visa or Mastercard umbrella, no matter what bank is behind them or if they cost more in swipe fees.

Judge Margo Brodie had already made clear earlier this month that she wasn’t planning to approve the deal, hinting that the honor all cards rule’s survival was partly to blame. But her opinion wasn’t released with her decision yesterday, so we don’t yet know why she denied the deal (it’s expected around June 29).

What’s next? Likely a new settlement that offers a better deal for merchants, or the case will have to go to trial.—MM

If you regret not investing in Tesla before it went public, now’s your chance to invest in what many are dubbing the “Tesla of micro-EVs.” But you have to move fast—there’s only one day left to join their current funding round.

Why invest in this EV startup?

Demand for smaller, affordable EVs is skyrocketing. Eli’s vehicles, 70% smaller and half the price of sedans, tap into a $470b market as estimated by McKinsey.

With hundreds of sales across Europe, Eli has proven, impressive traction. And now they’re expanding into the untapped US market this year, with 120x+ growth potential.

3,700+ investors have already joined Eli, with a solid total of $5m+ raised to date.

Don’t miss out—the final day to invest in Eli is tomorrow, June 27.

Protests against Kenya tax hike turn deadly. Kenya’s President William Ruto vowed to crack down after protesters he called “treasonous” entered parliament and burned part of the building in a failed effort to keep legislators from passing an unpopular finance bill to raise taxes. Police fired live rounds, and at least five people were killed. Many others were injured. During the demonstrations against the bill, which were primarily led by young people, former US President Barack Obama’s half-sister was tear-gassed by police while giving an interview about her opposition to the bill live on CNN.

⚕️ The surgeon general declared gun violence a public health crisis. US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy is warning the public about something new with a 39-page advisory on the public health impact of firearm violence that calls on the nation to address it like it did motor vehicle safety and the health impact of tobacco. His recommendations to Congress, which come as mass shootings have been on the rise and gun violence is the leading cause of death for children, include universal background checks and laws that ban automatic rifles, restrict gun use in public spaces, and regulate the gun industry.

The IRS apologized to billionaire Ken Griffin for a tax records leak. Usually, nobody wants to hear from the IRS, especially not a hedge fund founder, but this time, Griffin got an unusual message: a public apology from the agency. The IRS said it was working on the data security problems that allowed a contractor (now in prison) to leak private information about him and other wealthy taxpayers to the media. The “we’re so sorry” is part of the settlement of the Citadel founder’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak, which he has now dropped. Other targets of the leak included Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Donald Trump.

For once, Florida Man isn’t playing legal defense: Alejandro Otero and his family are asking NASA to compensate them for a piece of space trash that smashed into their home in Naples, Florida, earlier this year.

The US space agency admitted that the 1.6-pound metal chunk that caused roof damage (but didn’t hurt anyone) was a fragment of equipment it jettisoned from the International Space Station, which it had (wrongly) expected to burn up before reentering the atmosphere.

The cosmic case could set a liability precedent for human-made space objects that cause trouble on American soil.

Being made whole for the roof hole

Under the Federal Torts Claim Act, the family is seeking over $80,000 in damages, their attorney, Mica Nguyen Worthy, told the Washington Post. They claim to have suffered non-insured property loss, business interruption damages, and emotional anguish damages.

• Worthy says the Oteros want to establish a streamlined process for Americans to be paid for incidents involving space debris from NASA.
• Governments are currently responsible for compensating space junk damage, but only for incidents on foreign soil under the Space Liability Convention.

More space junk is coming. Increasingly frequent launches have led to more instances of debris falling to Earth, like the piece of a SpaceX Dragon trunk that recently landed near Asheville, North Carolina.—SK

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A new law in Denmark challenges long-held thinking that it’s better out than in. The Danish government agreed this week to a tax for farmers with cattle, making it the first country to impose a carbon tax on agriculture.

How it works:

• Starting in 2030, farmers with livestock will be taxed 120 Danish kroner ($17) per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted from each bovine.
• A typical Danish cow produces 6 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year, bringing the average annual charge per cow to a little over $100.
• Emissions from pigs will also be taxed, though cows create more.

Livestock is forecast to account for 46% of Denmark’s emissions by 2030, according to Politico, and the country is targeting 70% emissions reductions by then. The livestock tax could help the Danes meet their goal, as experts predict the tax could cut as much as 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Elsewhere…the tootin’ news comes months after farmers across Europe protested against proposed regulations on agriculture emissions, and New Zealand recently halted its efforts to impose a “burp tax” on sheep and cows after farmers protested nationwide.—CC

Turns out the Cybertruck has bigger problems than looking like it belongs at the bottom of a cereal box: Tesla recalled the vehicles yesterday for the fourth time since they went on sale at the end of November. The latest recalls of the electric truck are to fix issues with its massive front windshield wiper and trim pieces that can come loose. The notice announcing the recalls also reveals how many Cybertrucks are on the road, since it covers 11,688 vehicles manufactured from Nov. 13, 2023, to June 6, 2024. (Tesla doesn’t break out its sales numbers by model in its quarterly reports.)