Hi! NYThing you can do… USA Today is boosting its digital entertainment and gaming platform by bringing 1,000 Marvel comics and a new exclusive “Spider-Man TODAY” series to the service it launched last October. Today we’re exploring:

Note: We’ll be taking a break from sending Chartr — see you all on the other side!

Prediction markets have, predictably, been given a boost by the summer of sports

Major platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have seen huge upticks in users of late, thanks in no small part to what’s felt like a recent sporting smorgasbord, with major competitions across hockey, basketball, and soccer soaking up fans’ time (and spending, clearly) at the outset of summer.

While gaming industry groups may not like it, there’s been a huge change in the methods people are using to put money on the big games, with everyone from fortunate NYC bar owners, to a far less fortunate Spanish supporter, turning to prediction markets to try and turn their sports know-how into cold, hard cash.

According to a new report from Adam Blacker for Apptopia, that shift might have been even more seismic than imagined in the wake of the NBA and NHL finals and around the 2026 World Cup kicking off.

Since May 15, the number of daily active users on Polymarket and Kalshi have surged a staggering 191% and 134%, respectively, with the increases seen as the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Final kicked off and concluded, as well as around the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Much of the growth will undoubtedly have come through the US market, while a growing group of countries in large swaths across the European Union and Asia place restrictions — both temporary and permanent — on the platforms, per Bloomberg.

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Despite slight declines, Japanese tourism figures are still hovering around record highs

Tourism figures to Japan just declined for two months in a row for the first time since the start of 2022, as fewer flights, rising airfares, and a dearth of visitors from China begin to impact the number of globetrotters who are flocking to the country.

According to the latest monthly figures from Japan’s National Tourism Organization released today, total visitor arrivals to the country in May sat at 3.56 million — down 3.6% on the same month last year. For the most part, the drop-off was largely down to Chinese arrivals slipping from 790,000 in May 2025 to just 313,000 in 2026 (-60.4%).

Bloomberg noted that many Chinese visitors, who had, alongside South Korean and Taiwanese tourists, previously buoyed the nation’s tourist statistics, have steered clear of the nation since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan towards the end of last year.

Still, despite the geopolitical reasonings, the flight disruptions, and the rising costs connected with travel, plenty of people — as the smiling snaps from Mt. Fuji and Kyoto that likely litter your social media feeds could attest — are clearly still keen to head out to the Eastern nation.

Even taking the last two months of decline into account, Japan has still welcomed around 17.9 million international visitors for the year through May — putting this year’s tally very nearly on par with the 18.1 million that had come to the country by the same point in 2025.

The figures, like the fact that more Japanese local governments are introducing anti-overtourism measures such as dual pricing at popular attractions, seem to show that global visitors aren’t yet tiring of The Land of the Rising Sun.

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Off the charts: Which of Yum! Brands’ iconic food chains is the company offloading in a pair of separate deals worth a combined $2.7 billion? [Answer below].

Answer here.

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