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White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video

White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video

  Axios reports: The White House canceled a high-level U.S.-Israel meeting on Iran that was scheduled for Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video on Tuesday claiming the U.S. was withholding military aid, two U.S. officials tell Axios. Why it matters: President Biden’s top advisers were enraged by the video — a message U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein delivered personally to Netanyahu in a meeting hours after it was published, two U.S. and Israeli sources say. Then the White House decided to go a…

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Iran signals a major boost in nuclear enrichment at key site

Iran signals a major boost in nuclear enrichment at key site

The Washington Post reports: A major expansion underway inside Iran’s most heavily protected nuclear facility could soon triple the site’s production of enriched uranium and give Tehran new options for quickly assembling a nuclear arsenal if it chooses to, according to confidential documents and analysis by weapons experts. Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed new construction activity inside the Fordow enrichment plant, just days after Tehran formally notified the nuclear watchdog of plans for a substantial upgrade at…

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More immigrants boost economy, reduce budget deficit, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper says

More immigrants boost economy, reduce budget deficit, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper says

HuffPost reports: A “surge” of immigrants has boosted the U.S. economy recently and is projected to add almost $9 trillion to it through 2034, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new report Tuesday. The CBO, in an update to budget and economic forecasts made in February, said the current level of immigration of “other foreign nationals” was well above historical patterns and would continue to add to the overall size of the U.S. population, providing more workers for…

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Something’s rotten about the justices taking so long on Trump’s immunity case

Something’s rotten about the justices taking so long on Trump’s immunity case

Leah Litman writes: For those looking for the hidden hand of politics in what the Supreme Court does, there’s plenty of reason for suspicion on Donald Trump’s as-yet-decided immunity case given its urgency. There are, of course, explanations that have nothing to do with politics for why a ruling still hasn’t been issued. But the reasons to think something is rotten at the court are impossible to ignore. On Feb. 28, the justices agreed to hear Mr. Trump’s claim that…

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Amy Coney Barrett may be poised to split conservatives on the Supreme Court

Amy Coney Barrett may be poised to split conservatives on the Supreme Court

Politico reports: A rift is emerging among the Supreme Court’s conservatives — and it could thwart the court’s recent march to expand gun rights. On one side is the court’s oldest and most conservative justice, Clarence Thomas. On the other is its youngest member, Amy Coney Barrett. The question at the center of the spat may seem abstract: How should the court use “history and tradition” to decide modern-day legal issues? But the answer may determine how the court resolves…

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As Israeli generals approve Lebanon offensive battle plans, Hezbollah provides glimpse of surveillance intel

As Israeli generals approve Lebanon offensive battle plans, Hezbollah provides glimpse of surveillance intel

The Times of Israel reports: The head of the IDF’s Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin and head of the Operations Directorate Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk approved Lebanon battle plans on Tuesday, the military said, following a recent intensification of cross-border fighting with Hezbollah. In a statement, the IDF said the generals held an assessment, during which “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved.” The top commanders also made decisions regarding “accelerating the readiness of the forces on…

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U.S. troop numbers in Jordan surge to record high amid Gaza war

U.S. troop numbers in Jordan surge to record high amid Gaza war

Middle East Eye reports: The number of US troops stationed in Jordan has soared to a two-decade high amid Israel’s war on Gaza, according to a new congressional report. US President Joe Biden informed Congress on 7 June that the US had deployed 3,813 to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a nearly 20 percent increase in troop numbers from December. The troop levels are higher than at any time since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, according to US troop…

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Israel is killing entire Palestinian families. AP documents 60 who lost dozens or more

Israel is killing entire Palestinian families. AP documents 60 who lost dozens or more

The Associated Press reports: He is among the very last survivors of his Gaza family, a clan so close they knew without thinking how blood and marriage bound them across generations and city blocks. Then, branch by branch, 173 of Youssef Salem’s relatives were killed in Israeli airstrikes in a matter of days in December. By spring that toll had risen to 270. Bones and flesh strewn over the ruins of family homes. Blond curls of a young cousin peeking…

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U.S. pier for Gaza aid is failing, and could be dismantled early

U.S. pier for Gaza aid is failing, and could be dismantled early

The New York Times reports: The $230 million temporary pier that the U.S. military built on short notice to rush humanitarian aid to Gaza has largely failed in its mission, aid organizations say, and will probably end operations weeks earlier than originally expected. In the month since it was attached to the shoreline, the pier has been in service only about 10 days. The rest of the time, it was being repaired after rough seas broke it apart, detached to…

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ADL faces Wikipedia ban over reliability concerns on Israel, antisemitism

ADL faces Wikipedia ban over reliability concerns on Israel, antisemitism

JTA reports: Wikipedia’s editors have voted to declare the Anti-Defamation League “generally unreliable” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding it to a list of banned and partially banned sources. An overwhelming majority of editors involved in the debate about the ADL also voted to deem the organization unreliable on the topic of antisemitism, its core focus. A formal declaration on that count is expected next. The decision about Israel-related citations, made last week, means that one of the most prominent and…

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Weeks before Oct. 7, IDF said to have been warned of Hamas plan to take 250 hostages

Weeks before Oct. 7, IDF said to have been warned of Hamas plan to take 250 hostages

The Times of Israel reports: A document put together by the IDF’s Gaza Division less than three weeks before October 7 warned that Hamas was training for a large-scale invasion of Israel during which hostages would be taken en masse, according to an Israeli television report Monday. Chillingly, the September 19 document by Military Intelligence’s Unit 8200 — which was ignored — estimated the target number of hostages at 200-250, according to the Kan public broadcaster, citing unnamed security sources….

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Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières: Gaza before October 7th

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières: Gaza before October 7th

📽️ Watch the documentary “Gaza before 7 October”, which captures the resilience of healthcare workers in Gaza, before the war erupted in October 2023, and the unfathomable loss and devastation that followed.https://t.co/PEzJvxAWuz — MSF International (@MSF) June 17, 2024 Most of the footage in this documentary was filmed in May 2023, some five months before the war that has now engulfed Gaza. The purpose of the original documentary project was to explore the impact of Israel’s blockade on Gaza, which…

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UNICEF decries Israel’s ‘war on children’ as starvation and deaths mount in Gaza

UNICEF decries Israel’s ‘war on children’ as starvation and deaths mount in Gaza

  The Israeli military on Sunday announced a daily “tactical pause” in its attacks on Rafah to allow humanitarian relief to enter the Gaza Strip, after systematically blocking aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza since October 7. While a full ceasefire is still vital, “any pause in the bombing is good news for children,” says UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, speaking to Democracy Now! from Rafah. “The physical and psychological exhaustion they face is almost impossible to capture,” he says, characterizing…

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New polling shows the real fallout from the Trump conviction

New polling shows the real fallout from the Trump conviction

Ankush Khardori writes: Donald Trump’s criminal conviction didn’t instantly upend the 2024 presidential race. But the results of a new poll should be worrying for Trump. In the weeks since the verdict, both parties have sought to shape the public’s initial reaction, with Republicans largely denouncing it and Democrats citing the result as further evidence that Trump is unfit for office. To figure out how this unprecedented moment is being processed by the electorate, POLITICO Magazine partnered with Ipsos in…

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Crypto industry aligns with Trump

Crypto industry aligns with Trump

The New York Times reports: Ryan Selkis, a cryptocurrency executive, was eating dinner at Mar-a-Lago last month when he got an unexpected invitation: Former President Donald J. Trump wanted him to come to the stage and say a few words. Mr. Selkis, who runs the crypto data firm Messari, was one of a couple hundred attendees at an event celebrating Mr. Trump’s series of nonfungible tokens, the digital collectibles known as NFTs. When he reached the lectern, Mr. Selkis turned…

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WARNING: Social media can be harmful to your mental health

WARNING: Social media can be harmful to your mental health

Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, writes: One of the most important lessons I learned in medical school was that in an emergency, you don’t have the luxury to wait for perfect information. You assess the available facts, you use your best judgment, and you act quickly. The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor. Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social…

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