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White House opposes House bill to force Israeli arm shipments as it approves $1 billion more weapons

White House opposes House bill to force Israeli arm shipments as it approves $1 billion more weapons

Politico reports: The White House announced on Monday that it opposes a Republican-led bill that would force President Joe Biden to send withheld military assistance to Israel. “We strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the president’s ability to deploy a U.S. security assistance consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. House Republicans introduced the bill over the weekend in response to Biden’s decision to pause a shipment of weapons in an effort…

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She campaigned for a Texas school board seat as a GOP hard-liner. Now she’s rejecting her party’s extremism

She campaigned for a Texas school board seat as a GOP hard-liner. Now she’s rejecting her party’s extremism

By Jeremy Schwartz, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, May 15, 2024 This story was originally published by ProPublica Weeks after winning a school board seat in her deeply red Texas county, Courtney Gore immersed herself in the district’s curriculum, spending her nights and weekends poring over hundreds of pages of lesson plans that she had fanned out on the coffee table in her living room and even across her bed. She was searching for evidence of the sweeping national movement…

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The New York Trump case embodies the defendant

The New York Trump case embodies the defendant

George T. Conway III writes: Not all that long ago, I thought that the trial currently being held in The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump would be the last one I’d want to see as the first one tried against the former president. It seemed the least serious of the cases against him. Here’s a man who tried to overthrow American democracy by launching a coup to stay in power. A man who allegedly stole dozens of boxes of classified…

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Some of the universe’s oldest stars have been discovered in the Milky Way

Some of the universe’s oldest stars have been discovered in the Milky Way

Quartz reports: Some stars in our very own Milky Way are some of the earliest ever seen, according to research published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The stars are in the Milky Way’s halo, a shroud of stars that surrounds the galactic disk. The stars are also relatively close, at just 30,000 light-years from Earth. The team found that the stars are between 12 billion and 13 billion years old, clocking them to around the…

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In defense of Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson assails U.S. government in an attack on the judicial system

In defense of Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson assails U.S. government in an attack on the judicial system

The Associated Press reports: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson assailed the hush money case against Donald Trump Tuesday as an illegitimate “sham,” becoming the highest-ranking Republican to show up at court, embrace the former president’s claims of political persecution and attack the U.S. system of justice. It was a remarkable moment in modern American politics: The House speaker amplifying Trump’s defense and turning the Republican Party against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to the U.S. government…

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Trump blasts his trial judges. Then his fans call for violence

Trump blasts his trial judges. Then his fans call for violence

Reuters reports: On a recent Tuesday morning, a visibly frustrated Donald Trump sat through a tense hearing in the first-ever criminal trial of a former American president. During a break, he let rip on his social media platform. New York Justice Juan Merchan, Trump declared on Truth Social, is a “highly conflicted” overseer of a “kangaroo court.” Trump supporters swiftly replied to his post with a blitz of attacks on Merchan. The comments soon turned ugly. Some called for Merchan…

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New York City’s Union Theological Seminary votes to divest from Israel’s war on Gaza

New York City’s Union Theological Seminary votes to divest from Israel’s war on Gaza

  As student protests around the world call for their educational institutions to divest from companies with ties to Israel, we speak to the Reverend Dr. Serene Jones, the president of Union Theological Seminary, an ecumenical seminary affiliated with Columbia University that is one of the first schools to begin divesting from companies that “profit from war in Palestine/Israel.” Jones says divestment is an extension of Union’s “long policy of trying our best to bring our values, our core mission…

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Israel cabinet ministers and allies say Palestinians should be ‘encouraged’ to emigrate

Israel cabinet ministers and allies say Palestinians should be ‘encouraged’ to emigrate

The Times of Israel reports: Cabinet ministers and MKs called for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in Gaza at an ultra-nationalist march and rally attended by thousands in the town of Sderot, close to the Gaza border on Tuesday. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared that the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza should be promoted, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi insisted that the resettling of Gaza was the only way to ensure Israeli security, and Religious Zionism MK Zvi…

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Facing an endless barrage, Ukraine’s air defenses are withering

Facing an endless barrage, Ukraine’s air defenses are withering

The New York Times reports: This is what a year of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine looks like. Ukrainian air defenses used to intercept most missiles, but in recent months, more and more have made it through. The data, from a New York Times analysis of daily Ukrainian military reports, shows a major shift: Ukraine is increasingly failing to stop Russian missiles, crippling its ability to protect major infrastructure and plunging cities into darkness. Russian air assaults have struck critical…

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U.S. overhauls electric grid to make way for more renewables

U.S. overhauls electric grid to make way for more renewables

Reuters reports: The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday approved the first major electric transmission policy update in over a decade that aims to speed up new interregional lines to move more clean energy to meet growing demand amid the explosion of electric vehicles, data centers and artificial intelligence. Approved in a 2-1 vote, the new rule is also the first time the FERC has ever squarely addressed the need for long-term transmission planning, playing a key role in…

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FBI probes whether Iran envoy Malley committed crimes in handling of classified info

FBI probes whether Iran envoy Malley committed crimes in handling of classified info

Politico reports: The FBI is investigating whether the Biden administration’s Iran envoy, Rob Malley, moved classified information onto his personal email, where it may have fallen into the hands of a foreign actor, according to a person briefed on the case and a letter from Republican lawmakers. Investigators are trying to determine if any crimes were committed, according to the person briefed on the case and another person familiar with the matter. But it is not yet clear if the…

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Biden admin sees Israel’s ‘total victory’ as neither likely nor even possible; Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to nuke Gaza

Biden admin sees Israel’s ‘total victory’ as neither likely nor even possible; Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to nuke Gaza

Politico reports: The Biden administration doesn’t believe Israel’s current strategy against the Hamas militant group will lead to “total victory,” a top U.S. official said Monday. Speaking at the NATO Youth Summit in Miami, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the U.S. has been “struggling over what the theory of victory is” in Gaza. “Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talked about mostly the idea of some sort of sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory,”…

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War on Gaza: First international staff member killed in Israeli attack on UN convoy in Rafah

War on Gaza: First international staff member killed in Israeli attack on UN convoy in Rafah

  The UN confirmed its first international staff casualty in Gaza after a UN vehicle was struck in Rafah. Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stated during a news conference that the total number of UN staff killed in Gaza since October 7 has reached 190. Haq characterized the Rafah incident as an attack and confirmed that two individuals were in a UN-marked vehicle en route to the European Hospital as part of their duties. The UN…

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Cambridge University’s wealthiest college votes to divest from all arms companies

Cambridge University’s wealthiest college votes to divest from all arms companies

Middle East Eye reports: The college council of the University of Cambridge’s wealthiest constituent college, Trinity College Cambridge, has voted to divest from all arms companies, Middle East Eye can reveal. MEE learnt from three well-informed sources close to Trinity’s student union that the college council, responsible for major financial and other decisions, voted to remove Trinity’s investments from arms companies in early March. According to the sources, the college decided not to announce that it would divest from arms…

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