Axios

The 9/11 first responders will no longer need to swarm Congress every 5 years to extend their benefits, and it's thanks largely to the much-publicized work of Jon Stewart and the lesser-known role of John Feal.

Why it matters: There are 95,320 members enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, which was set up to help those with medical conditions linked to the attacks.

The London Stock Exchange said it's in talks to buy Refinitiv, the financial data provider that The Blackstone Group just last year carved out of Thomson Reuters (which retained a 45% stake).

Why it matters: This would put the British bourse in direct competition with Bloomberg's terminals business.

Disney's 2019 movie run has broken the all-time annual global box office record just 7 months into the year. And with more big-budget blockbusters still to come this year, and already in possession of more than a third of the world's total box office receipts, the company seems unstoppable.

What's happening: Disney's acquisitions of LucasFilm and Marvel have delivered huge wins for the company, but it's been the ability to produce live-action remakes from its own catalogue that has set the table over the last decade.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller has maintained a constant level of social media momentum in 2019, even outpacing some of the year's most buzzworthy cultural events, according to data from the social media analytics company NewsWhip.

Why it matters: It reveals just how deeply political stories have become enmeshed with traditional cultural discourse — and how the two can often seem indistinguishable.

Before President Trump agreed to support a 2-year budget deal that would inflate the national debt and allow $320 billion in new spending, he monitored Fox News for signs of rebellion. But instead of bringing up fiscal responsibility and the national debt, all his favorite hosts were talking about Robert Mueller.

Behind the scenes: Trump liked what he saw (or rather, what he didn't see), according to two administration officials familiar with the president's thinking.

DoorDash dominated more of the news cycle than it should have this week, after an NYT article brought broad awareness to its idiosyncratic policy on tips. The company would give its "dashers" a guaranteed minimum fee for delivering food; that minimum included any tips. The result was that most tips ended up going to DoorDash rather than to the delivery workers.

Driving the news: After defending the policy as recently as last month, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu backtracked on Tuesday, tweeting, "Going forward, we’re changing our model - the new model will ensure that Dashers’ earnings will increase by the exact amount a customer tips on every order."

The Baltimore Sun denounced President Trump Saturday for his Twitter attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and the majority-black Baltimore-area district he represents — which Trump called a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."

If there are problems here, rodents included, they are as much his responsibility as anyone’s, perhaps more because he holds the most powerful office in the land."