Israel/Hamas: Negotiations between Israel and Hamas stalled. The US pressured Israel to accept a deal, but Israel rejected it and demanded changes. Hamas retook control of most of Gaza after Israel withdrew.
Iran Human Rights: Iran executed at least 63 people in the past two weeks, continuing a broader pattern of capital punishment.
Trump hush-money case: Hope Hicks testified in Trump's trial, and her testimony seemed to suggest Trump was aware of hush money payments.
Xi Jinping visit: China's president, Xi Jinping, is touring Europe to meet with leaders in France, Serbia, and Hungary.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) indicted: Congressman Cuellar is accused of accepting bribes from foreign entities.
Canadian police arrest suspects in Sikh leader's murder: Canada accuses India of orchestrating the killing of a Sikh separatist leader. Three Indian nationals were arrested.
Trump Media's accounting firm charged with fraud: The accounting firm BF Borgers is accused of widespread fraud, but the SEC found no wrongdoing by Trump Media.
Texas man sues ex-partner for out-of-state abortion: This case highlights a new strategy to limit abortion access, even in states where it's legal.
US adds 175k jobs, unemployment up to 3.9%: The job market remains strong, but wage growth slowed.
Inside Garland’s DOJ: The Attorney General began investigating Trump as soon as he took office.
Trump criticizes Biden at donor retreat: Trump called the Biden administration the "Gestapo" and made controversial remarks about Democratic voters.
NOT NEWS NEWS
Orangutan uses medicine: Scientists observed an orangutan treating its wound with a medicinal plant, the first documented case of this behavior in animals.
Trump takes credit for Obama-era program: Trump falsely claimed credit for a veterans program passed during the Obama administration.
Campus protest arrests: Over 2,400 people have been arrested at campus protests across the US since April.
Vegan cafe owner contradicts herself: A cafe owner who blames migrants for hurting her business actually opened after Trump left office.
Governor Noem criticizes Biden's dog: Governor Noem suggested Biden should have euthanized his dog for biting Secret Service agents.
Arkansas governor against transgender rights: Arkansas will not comply with new federal rules on transgender student treatment.
Racist incident at protest: A University of Mississippi student made racist gestures towards a Black woman during a protest. The student was expelled from his fraternity.
NEWS NEWS
1.) Israel / Hamas
NEGOTIATIONS
AXIOS US put a hold on ammunition shipment to Israel. It was part of a full-court press that the Biden administration was running on Israel, Hamas, Qatar, and Egypt to get the hostage deal done. Most likely, the administration was unhappy that they felt Netanyahu was sabotaging the deal and did so as a warning shot.
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This is old news as the deal fell through and regular shipments are continuing.
We’re marching closer and closer to a Rafah operation. The US wants (3) things
Make sure Hamas is clearly on record as the side saying no, and the US understands that.
Present a clear and achievable plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah. The US insists that has never been done to their satisfaction.
Present a clear "day after plan" to the US, showing how the operation will serve to defeat Hamas. Because so far, many Israeli operations have seemed aimless.
Israeli Reshet Beit Radio military reporter Carmela Menashe reports that Hamas has taken over the entire Gaza Strip from Rafah up to the dividing line between the north and south of the Gaza Strip since the IDF withdrew from most of the Strip.
They have also consolidated partial control over the northern part, using the remnants of forces there and Hamas personnel that have smuggled themselves in through the tunnels. Hamas is well on the way to reestablishing the control it has lost since October 7th everywhere.
i24news: IDF strikes Hamas command center inside UNRWA HQ in central Gaza
Hamas is operating a command center within the UNRWA compound in central Gaza.
IDF troops raided the command center which served as a hub for orchestrating several terrorist operations in recent weeks. The center facilitated the transfer of weapons and supplies to Hamas fighters, including through underground tunnels.
Israel opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to facilitate humanitarian relief; Hamas fired rockets/mortars at the crossing(>10 injured).
[TS] Hamas is proving to us yet again they have absolutely no regard for Palestinians.
Hamas publishes footage showing the rocket barrage launched from southern Gaza's Rafah earlier today:
Plus, Israeli cabinet votes to close Al Jazeera office
There is news going around that Netanyahu also said this during the address:
“If we don’t protect ourselves, no one will…We cannot trust the promises of gentiles.”
[TS] I believe this is fake-news / misattributed quote. I can’t find the quote/clip. Happy to be corrected, but I haven’t seen it.
[RELATED-ISH] A graduate at Northeastern U flashes the "Red Hands" symbol at a commencement ceremony:
[CONTEXT] The image became an iconic symbol of the Second Intifada after Palestinian terrorists held up their bloody hands as the crowd cheered after lynching 2 Israelis (Israeli military reservists Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Nurzhitz) who took a wrong turn into Ramallah (2000).
[TS] Really no way to parse this other than a celebration of torture and murder.
[RELATED 2] Turkey halted trade with Israel until Israel stops bombarding Gaza and allows in more humanitarian aid.
[RELATED 3]NYT: A doctor from Gaza who was detained by Israeli forces and held for four months has died in Israeli custody, Palestinian officials said.
[RELATED 4] Morning Consult: Americans’ support for a ceasefire in Gaza is on the rise (regardless of political affiliation).
2.) Iran Human Rights: The Islamic Republic has executed one Iranian every five hours over the past two weeks. At least 63 individuals were executed.
The data presented by the Iran Human Rights Organization (IHRNGO), headquartered in Norway, highlights a broader pattern of capital punishment in Iran.
Since the beginning of 2024, 171 people have been executed across various prisons in the country. In 2023 alone, the country saw at least 834 executions.
3.) Trump hush-money case.
Hope Hicks, a former aide to Donald Trump, testified for several hours in his Manhattan criminal trial. She seemed nervous and at one point broke down in tears.
[TS] Her testimony seems incriminating:
Trump not only communicates "it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election."
Trump also links it to Cohen hush money: "had Michael not made that payment."
4.) Xi Jinping begins a tour around Europe this week, first trip to Europe in five years.
He’s going to France, Serbia and Hungary — nations that, to varying degrees, embrace China’s push for a new global order.
5.) POLITICO: DOJ charges Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife with accepting $600,000 in foreign bribes and money laundering.
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, have been indicted by the Justice Department for allegedly accepting $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities, an oil and gas company owned by the government of Azerbaijan and a bank headquartered in Mexico City. The indictment alleges that the Cuellars participated in schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering from December 2014 through November 2021. Despite the charges, Rep. Cuellar maintains his innocence and plans to continue seeking reelection to his Texas seat.
6.) CBC: The Canadian police arrested three Indian nationals in the June killing of a Sikh leader in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India of orchestrating the murder.
According to CBC News, Canadian police have arrested members of an alleged hit squad believed to have been tasked by the Indian government with killing prominent Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., in June 2023. The arrests of Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreet Singh, and Karan Brar, who face first-degree murder and conspiracy charges, were made in Edmonton.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is also actively investigating possible links to three additional murders in Canada, including the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton. The arrests come amidst ongoing tensions between Canada and India, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously accusing the Indian government of involvement in Nijjar's killing.
7.) CNN: Trump Media’s accounting firm charged with ‘massive fraud.’ [TS] Spicy headline, but unrelated to Trump/Truth Social:
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged BF Borgers, Trump Media & Technology Group's independent accounting firm, with widespread fraud, accusing it of operating a "sham audit mill." The SEC imposed severe penalties against BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin Borgers, permanently suspending the firm from practicing as accountants before the agency and requiring them to pay $14 million collectively in fines. Although Trump Media, owner of Truth Social, was a client of BF Borgers, the SEC made no allegation of wrongdoing against the company, and Trump Media has announced plans to work with new auditing partners.
8.) WaPo: Texas man files legal action to probe ex-partner’s out-of-state abortion.
[CONTEXT] There’s been a surge of abortion investigations in Texas since the state's new abortion law took effect in September 2021. The law, known as Senate Bill 8, bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion.
Texas authorities have launched at least 1,600 investigations into abortion-related complaints, but have not found any violations of the new law. The investigations have created a chilling effect on abortion providers and women seeking abortions, as they fear being sued or prosecuted.
Some critics argue that the law is unconstitutional and violates women's rights to privacy and bodily autonomy.
[ARTICLE]
A Texas man has filed legal action to investigate his ex-partner who got an abortion *in Colorado,* where abortion remains legal. The latest antiabortion strategy to intimidate + stop women from crossing state lines.
The attorney the ex-partner retained (Jonathan Mitchell) served the woman with a letter threatening to investigate BEFORE she had the abortion, in hopes of getting her to not to go through with it.
9.) April Jobs report - US adds 175k jobs, unemployment ticks up to 3.9%
175,000 jobs. Half in health care (don’t expect a rate cut anytime soon…):
[TS] Unemployment rate has now been below 4% for *27 straight months* (last time was in the 70’s).
Pretty much a goldilocks job report. 175K jobs is respectable at any time and in the context of strong prior months so a ~250K monthly average even more so.
Unemployment ticked up to 3.9%.
Earnings growth slowed.
Most reassuring data for the Fed in the last 2+ weeks.
That said, absent two bad jobs reports in a row, I still don't see how the Fed will be reassured enough about inflation to cut before its December meeting. But we'll see.
[RELATED] Per CRFB: The US has added 6 million jobs since before the pandemic (we were projected to add 4 million jobs over this period).
10.) NYT: Inside Garland’s Effort to Prosecute Trump
[TS] Unlike what most people believe:
Merrick Garland opened an investigation into Trump as soon as he got to the DoJ in March 2021.
According to multiple sources familiar with multiple conversations in the first months of Garland's tenure, "Garland gathered his closest aides to discuss a topic too sensitive to broach in bigger groups: the possibility that evidence from the far-ranging Jan. 6 investigation could quickly lead to former President Donald J. Trump and his inner circle.
"At the time, some in the Justice Department were pushing for the chance to look at ties between pro-Trump rioters who assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, his allies who had camped out at the Willard Hotel, and possibly Mr. Trump himself."
"Mr. Garland said he would place no restrictions on their work, even if the “evidence leads to Trump.
11.) NYT Shane Goldmacher / Maggie Haberman: At Donor Retreat, Trump Calls Biden Administration the ‘Gestapo’
Also during the event:
Trump, per audio: “When you are Democrat, you start off essentially at 40 percent because you have civil service, you have the unions and you have welfare And don’t underestimate welfare. They get welfare to vote."
[TS] Fairly Romney-esque, but specifically targeting Dems.
NOT NEWS NEWS
12.) NBC: In a first, an orangutan was seen treating his wound with a medicinal plant
Researchers in Sumatra, Indonesia, observed an injured orangutan named Rakus repeatedly chewing on the leaves of a specific liana plant and applying the chewed leaves as a paste to his wounds, marking the first documented case of an animal applying medicine to a skin wound.
13.) Trump takes credit for Veterans Choice Program passed during the Obama-Biden administration in 2014
At a rally in Waukesha, WI - Trump says he got it done.
14.) AP: Over 2,400 arrested at campus protests in the US (so far)
The Associated Press has recorded at least 61 incidents since April 18 in which arrests were made at protests, with more than 2,400 people being arrested on 47 campuses. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies. Many encampments have been dismantled.
[RELATED] Morning Consult poll has most people agreeing with Biden’s statements on campus protests:
She said her business did better when Trump was president.
The catch?
“Gray’s restaurant on Wells St. opened in August 2023, more than two years after Trump left office.”
[UPDATE] Irony strikes:
[UPDATE 2] [TS] Gray, the owner, benefitted from the SAME PROGRAMS that she complained about:
16.) CBS Face the Nation: Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) Suggests Biden’s Dog Should Have Been Killed, Too.
Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Ms. Noem, a Republican, suggested that Commander, who was banished from the White House last fall after bloodying a number of Secret Service agents, should also have been put down.
“Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people,” she told her interviewer, Margaret Brennan. “So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog?”
[CONTEXT] This is after she detailed shooting her dog and goat and false claimed to have met Kim Jong Un.
17.) Washington Times: Arkansas governor (Sarah Huckabee Sanders - R) says state won’t comply with new federal rules on treatment of trans students.
[TS] Seems nullification is spreading in the south…
[CONTEXT] Nullification refers to the idea that states have the authority to invalidate federal laws they deem unconstitutional. This concept asserts that states can refuse to enforce or comply with federal laws they believe exceed the powers granted to the federal government by the Constitution.
Texas used the same justification for the border, specifically the law:
Senate Bill 4 (SB4), allows state authorities to arrest, process and imprison people suspected of crossing the US-Mexico border illegally – thereby infringing on roles long reserved for federal authorities.
18.) ‘Ole Miss’ student seen on video making monkey noises towards Black woman during pro-Palestine protests
[UPDATE] Mississippi’s Gov. Tate Reeves (R) retweets a video from the event (not the clip above):
[UPDATE 2] Ole Miss student who made monkey noises at a Black woman has been kicked out of his frat.
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