TVG Daily Brief 15 MAY 2025

15 MAY 2025

Stay informed and ahead of the curve with today’s top headlines, breaking stories, and the latest updates shaping our world. Get the BLUF (bottom line up front!) on defense, national security, economy, business development, technology, American manufacturing, school safety, 2A issues - and more. Prep for the whiplash and stay engaged. Know better - do better. Be the somebody!

DEFENSE

-New Joint Chiefs boss steps into role with prelude to high-stakes NATO summit: The top U.S. general is making his debut this week at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where defense chiefs are preparing for a leader summit in June that is expected to focus on deterrence and spending. Gen. Dan Caine, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was deliberating Wednesday with top U.S. and European commanders on plans for bolstering the alliance. The meeting of allied generals and admirals coincides with a separate gathering the same day in Turkey, where U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with NATO foreign ministers for two days of talks. (Stars and Stripes)

· “We encourage all to do more, investing in capabilities that will allow us to face current threats and be fully prepared for the future,” Italian Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chairman of NATO’s military committee, said as talks got underway. The meetings in Belgium and Turkey are two of the final high-level conferences before a NATO summit in late June in the Netherlands, where President Donald Trump will be in attendance. The high-stakes summit in The Hague is expected to put pressure on European and Canadian allies to boost their defense spending.

-NATO weighs a US demand to massively hike defense spending as some struggle to meet the current goal: NATO foreign ministers on Thursday debated an American demand to massively ramp up defense investment to 5% of gross domestic product over the next 7 years, as the U.S. focuses on security challenges outside of Europe. At talks in Antalya, Turkey, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that more investment and military equipment are needed to deal with the threat posed by Russia and terrorism, but also by China which has become the focus of U.S. concern. “When it comes to the core defense spending, we need to do much, much more,” Rutte told reporters. He underlined that once the war in Ukraine is over, Russia could reconstitute its armed forces within 3-5 years. (AP)

· Secretary of State Marco Rubio underlined that “the alliance is only as strong as its weakest link.” He insisted that the U.S. investment demand is about “spending money on the capabilities that are needed for the threats of the 21st century.” The debate on defense spending is heating up ahead of a summit of U.S. President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts in the Netherlands on June 24-25. It's a high-level gathering that will set the course for future European security, including that of Ukraine.

-Army task forces ‘centerpiece’ for deterring China: INDOPACOM boss: The head of the largest U.S. combatant command praised the fires capabilities that the Army’s multidomain task forces bring to a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. The service’s task forces are the “centerpiece” of how the joint force denies Chinese military access to key areas, said Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Tuesday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual Land Forces Pacific conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Paparo said such units, combined with the Army’s firepower, enable land forces to contribute fires that counter China’s military aggression in the region. (Military Times)

· “We’re facing a profoundly consequential moment here in the Indo-Pacific and, accordingly, the world,” Paparo said. In a call with media before the event, Army Gen. Ronald Clark, head of U.S. Army Pacific, further framed the use of the task forces. “What we have developed over time through the joint force is the capability to flip the script if you will that land forces can provide access to air and maritime capabilities on the land,” Clark said.

-Army prepping for Pacific conflict with prepositioned equipment, logistics hubs: The Defense Department has struggled to get U.S.-made diapers to commissaries in Korea in the past, the former head of the Defense Commissary Agency said Tuesday, so logistics in the Indo-Pacific has a long way to go to be ready for war with China. (Defense One)

· Preparing for conflict requires not just manpower and sophisticated weapons, but the logistical might to get everything where it needs to go while enemies are trying to jam up the system. “Now we may be at a point where we can bring all that together, with good data, good tools, AI,” Bill Moore said during AUSA’s Land Forces Pacific symposium here.

· In the Pacific, the Army no longer has the benefit of a safe haven to which they can send tons of equipment and supplies, then allow units weeks and months to search through it for their shipments. “Many of us grew up with a Kuwait, or a big place you could stage from, right?” Lt. Gen. Jered Helwig, deputy commander of U.S. Transportation Command, said during the panel. “In this fight and in this theater, that will not be an option. We can’t dump a whole bunch of stuff in a place that can’t absorb it and move it on, because that will bring the Pacific to a halt, just as not having [supplies] would bring it to a halt.”

-Army Vice to aviation community: Cuts hurt, but ‘not making them would hurt more’: As the US Army unfurls additional details about its transformation overhaul, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus appeared before the aviation community today with a message: Cuts “hurt,” but waiting to modernize is not an option. “We are moving through a generational shift between manned and unmanned systems and from platform-centered to sensor and network-connected,” the four-star general said in prepared remarks for his keynote speech before the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual conference in Nashville, Tenn. “We are making decisions now … decisions that will either build the force we need … or leave the next generation of aviators under-equipped, under-trained, and overexposed,” he later added. (Breaking Defense)

-Army attracts older recruits as it moves beyond enlistment slump: Doniel Kennedy graduated from Texas State University in 2021 with plans for a career using his degree in digital media and cinematography. He’d done some acting in TV and film and landed his first job as a videographer for a production company in Austin. Then he got laid off. Kennedy said he struggled to replace his full-time job with another in the same field and thought he would see whether there was a place for a visual storyteller in the Army. “My father [and] my grandfather did 20 plus years in the Army,” he said. “I figured it could be a cool way to be a third-generation soldier. If there was a field that fit … then I’d go ahead and take that leap as well.” (Stars and Stripes)

· Kennedy shipped off to boot camp after Christmas 2022 on a five-year enlistment and celebrated his 26th birthday in training at Fort Jackson, S.C. Now, at 27, he is a specialist assigned to Fort Carson, Colo., married and expecting his first child later this year. The decision to enlist has given him stability and making the choice later as an adult gave him more perspective, thicker skin and the ability to better adapt to the military environment, he said.

· Kennedy’s story is part of a trend for the Army — older recruits. The average age of enlistees is slowly rising beyond 18-year-olds who just graduated high school to young adults who have had a taste of college or the job market. When the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the United States in 2020, the Army’s average recruit was 21.4 years old. Five years later, the average age has increased to 22.7. Meanwhile, the percentage of recruits enlisting during their senior year of high school — traditionally the bread-and-butter of military recruiting — has gone from 20.5% in 2020 to 13.1% in 2024, according to the service.

· The Army began seeking out older recruits during the pandemic, said Brig. Gen. Sara Dudley, deputy commander of operations for the Army Recruiting Command. “It pushed us out into a broader market and into deeper sections of the community that had individuals who were still [interested] but maybe weren’t getting that amount of attention from Army recruiters in the past,” she said. “As that developed and it became fruitful for us, then it’s just kind of kept on.”

· Military recruiting has struggled in the five years since the pandemic began, with all the services but the Marine Corps falling into a two-year enlistment slump from which they only began to emerge in 2024. Defense officials said all the services are on track for a positive end to fiscal 2025, which ends Sept. 30. The Army expects to meet its goal of 61,000 recruits for 2025, Dudley said.

-Trump, US Army birthday bash plans include 25 Abrams tanks: Twin celebrations of U.S. President Donald Trump's birthday and the Army's 250th anniversary will include as many as 25 tanks rolling through Washington in a celebration that will cost $25 million to $45 million, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday. U.S. military service branches take pride in their history and anniversary celebrations, called birthdays, across the United States and on bases around the world. (Reuters)

· The U.S. Army had long been planning to move troops and equipment to the National Mall in Washington on June 14 as part of its anniversary celebration. Plans now include a parade since that coincides with Trump’s 79th birthday. Two U.S. officials told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, the eventual cost could be as high as $45 million. One of them said the cost included several million dollars more than it would have without a parade.

· The official added that the Army is planning on sending about two dozen M1 Abrams tanks for the celebration. The officials’ latest estimates exclude costs the city of Washington would have to bear, like trash cleanup or road repairs for damage from the heavy tanks. Reuters has previously reported that the plan included more than 6,500 troops, about 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft moving to Washington.

· Critics have called such a parade an authoritarian display of power that is wasteful, especially as Trump slashes costs throughout the federal government.

-As Army plans parade for its 250th anniversary, protesters prepare, too: As the U.S. Army plans a parade in Washington with thousands of soldiers, hundreds of vehicles and dozens of aircraft to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding on June 14, protesters are making preparations of their own. "The National Protest Against Trump and the War Machine plans to mobilize thousands from across the country to protest the military parade," according a permit application filed with the National Park Service last week. The Army's celebration coincides with the 79th birthday of President Donald Trump, who has long mused about showcasing the might of America's armed forces on the streets of the capital. (WP)

· "A military parade celebrating Trump and the Army is an outrageous insult to the American people," reads the permit application. “What really makes America great is its working people — U.S.-born and immigrant alike — not billionaires and the military that enforces their domination of the rest of the world.”

· Andy Koch, a Minneapolis-based organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said he wanted to help coordinate a protest as soon as he heard about the Army’s plans. “It’s just kind of over the top,” said Koch, 35. He and other organizers have requested permission to host the rally in Meridian Hill Park in Northwest Washington, he said. "Then our intention would be to march within sight and sound of the military parade."

-US Navy's new fighter jet threatened by funding dispute, sources say: The U.S. Navy and Congress are battling with the Trump administration to keep moving forward with a contract award to build the Navy's next-generation fighter jet, according three people with knowledge of the matter. At the heart of the conflict is the F/A-XX program, intended to replace the Navy's aging Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet with a new carrier-based stealth fighter to be fielded in the 2030s. (Reuters)

· The Navy had been expected to announce a winner as early as March in a deal that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars to the winner over its lifetime, but a funding dispute threatens to derail that timeline. While the Navy wants to move forward with awarding a contract, some Pentagon officials are seeking to delay the program by up to three years, the people said, citing concerns about engineering and production capacity.

· In March, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a contract to make F-47 fighter jets, its version of a 6th generation stealth fighter to replace the 5th generation F-22. The Air Force has said it planned to buy more than 185 of the planes. Boeing and Northrop Grumman remain in competition for the Navy contract, while Reuters reported in March that Lockheed Martin had been eliminated from the contest. A three-year delay for the Navy would effectively cancel the program as it is currently defined, the people said, because contracts and pricing would expire during that time making a new competition almost inevitable.

· The fight over F/A-XX funding highlights broader questions about the future of naval aviation and the role of aircraft carriers in confronting China. Delaying the program could leave the Navy without a modern fighter capable of operating from carriers in the 2030s and beyond, potentially undermining the fleet's ability to project power in contested environments.

· China has already made test flights of advanced J-50 and J-36 fighters that it calls 6th generation - the same jet a forward deployed U.S. Navy would encounter.

· “America can’t do much with its aircraft carriers in 30 years if it doesn’t invest in a next-generation fighter for the Navy,” said a U.S. official. “Faster decision-making, extended operational reach, integration with autonomous systems, and maximum lethality are key to the future of air combat, especially in the Indo-Pacific,” the official added.

-Navy leaders look to expand munitions options as supplies run low: Navy leaders are looking for brand-new types of munitions to ensure they have enough firepower for future conflicts. During testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby acknowledged recent operations in the Red Sea “have highlighted the strain on our munitions industrial base.” Officials are working to close that gap, but current production lines may not be sufficient for that resupply. (Military Times)

· “Precision-guided, long-range munitions like Tomahawk, Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, the heavyweight torpedo, all those ammunitions we need to increase production on,” he said. “But I’m also of the mind that we need to look at other vendors. They may not be able to produce the same exact specifications, but they might be able to produce a missile that’s effective, which is more effective than no missile.”

-VCNO Kilby Sees ‘Tremendous Opportunity’ in American Shipbuilding: The acting head of the Navy sees “tremendous opportunity” for American shipbuilding with the focused White House, Navy secretariat and Congress aligned on rebuilding the industry. “We’re not satisfied with current production from our yards,” Adm. James Kilby said Tuesday at a Center for Strategic and International panel on global security featuring the service vice chiefs. He said Chinese yards “can build 200 times our rate” of commercial and military vessels in a year. “We’re making investments in the shipbuilding base [and] we’re making investments in the submarine base” to build a new workforce, upgrade yards and speed building and repair, he added. (USNI News)

-Puget Sound shipyard begins work to become homeport for USS John F. Kennedy: The Navy has begun a $145 million overhaul of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard’s “electrical backbone,” the first step in preparing Naval Base Kitsap to homeport the new USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier. “This project represents a huge infrastructure investment, supporting both increased capacity and reliability,” said Dave Sweet, the project director at the shipyard. The 179-acre shipyard, which is part of Naval Base Kitsap, is the Navy’s largest shore facility in the Pacific Northwest, with 15,000 military and civilian workers. The new project is part of the service’s more than $20 billion Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program. (Stars and Stripes)

· The program would modernize four public shipyards — Puget Sound, Norfolk, Va., Portsmouth, N.H., and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii — that by mid-century would include advanced power transmission systems and renovations or replacement of dry docks. The Navy so far has completed 44 projects costing $1.2 billion and has another 48 projects authorized with a projected cost of $6 billion, including the renovation or replacement of four dry docks. Nearly 250 pieces of shipyard equipment have been replaced at the four yards.

-'They Don't Care About My Kids': Marine Families Take Military to Court After Child Abuse at Yuma Day Care: A police officer knocked on a military family's door late at night asking to check their child for injuries after watching surveillance video from his base day care. A nurse was about to see a hospice patient when she got a call about the military day care staff's potential abuse of her child. Another mother's phone rang with news of the abuse while she was at the home of a day care worker who was later convicted of committing it. (Military.com)

· Those were some of the moments when Marine Corps parents said they began to understand the gravity and scope of abuse their toddlers endured at a child development center at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, between late 2020 and early 2021.

· More than four years later, five Marine Corps families are still contending with the aftermath of their children's abuse, which resulted in jail or probation for two of the day care workers. Videos shared with Military.com show just a fraction of what happened at the Yuma day care, where police documented more than 200 instances of alleged child abuse and neglect, according to court filings from the families' lawyer.

· In their search for answers and accountability, those families have taken the government to court. At least three times, government defense attorneys have denied their claims that the Department of the Navy -- which includes the Marine Corps -- allowed the abuse and neglect to occur, with the most recent refutation filed in court last week.

-Air Force eyes longer range for F-47 as combat edge in Pacific theater: The Air Force plans for its sixth-generation F-47 fighter to be able to fly significantly farther than previous jets. In a graphic posted Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin said the F-47 would have a combat radius of more than 1,000 nautical miles, advanced stealth capabilities, and be able to fly at speeds greater than Mach 2, or more than 1,500 miles per hour. (Defense News)

· Allvin’s post also said the first generation of semi-autonomous drones known as collaborative combat aircraft would have a combat radius of more than 700 nautical miles and stealth comparable to that of the F-35. Combat radius refers to how far an aircraft can fly away from its base or last refueling point, reach its target and carry out its mission, and safely fly back, and roughly equates to half of a plane’s total range.

· If those predictions pan out, the F-47 would have a greatly expanded range than the F-22 Raptor, whose combat radius is 590 nautical miles, and the F-35A, with a combat radius of 670 nautical miles. It would also be much faster than the F-35A, whose top speed is Mach 1.6, or about 1,200 miles per hour.

· That higher range would be a major benefit during a potential conflict with China. A war in the Pacific would require the Air Force’s aircraft to cross stretches of ocean to reach their targets, in contested airspace where aerial refueling may not be possible. Air Force leaders and aviation experts have expressed concern about whether the service’s existing aircraft would have enough range to get to Chinese targets on their own.

-Air Force general on Guam touts US readiness, warns adversaries against ‘miscalculation’: The Air Force on Guam has never been more ready for a fight — a quality that will prevent one from happening in the first place, the 36th Wing’s outgoing commander said this week. Brig. Gen. Thomas Palenske, interviewed Wednesday on “The Ray Gibson Show,” a Guam radio program, said a conflict in the Western Pacific is highly unlikely thanks to Air Force deterrence in the region. “We are as prepared to fight as we have ever been,” he said during the interview livestreamed on KUSG’s website. “We know exactly what every single airman is going to do, and we’re practicing day in and day out.” (Stars and Stripes)

-Coast Guard’s Plane Plans Questioned: Coast Guard acting Commandant Kevin Lunday faced questions about the service’s plan to spend $50 million on a new military plane to be used by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other top officials. Rep. Lauren Underwood (Ill.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee’s homeland security panel, during a hearing Wednesday said she was concerned about the “last-minute” update to the Coast Guard’s fiscal 2025 spending plan. (Bloomberg)

· Lunday said during Wednesday’s hearing that one of the two long-range command-and-control aircraft the service operates is approaching obsolescence, with increasingly unreliable communications. “This aircraft is necessary” to provide Noem, Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar, and top Coast Guard officials with “secure, reliable” communications and transportation, Lunday said of a new military plane.

· Subcommittee Chair Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) also pressed Lunday on whether he expects other military branches, including the Navy, to seek reimbursement for providing support to the Coast Guard on border security work. Lunday said he doesn’t expect to receive a bill but would communicate with appropriators if that changes.

-Lawmakers Frustrated by Lack of Details for Trump’s Defense Budget: Senior U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed frustration that they are being cut out of some of the Trump administration’s most central decisions on military policy and spending, namely the budget reconciliation process and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to slash the number of generals. “We’re into a new, very complicated situation, which we’re trying to understand frankly,” Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters during a Defense Writers Group event May 14. “We haven’t got yet a very clear plan of what they’re doing.” (Air & Space Forces Magazine)

· One immediate concern involves efforts to boost defense spending through a process known as budget reconciliation. Congressional leaders of the Senate and House committees that authorize military spending have legislated $150 billion in add-on spending.

· Republican Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, wants assurance that the money will be used as Congress intends. During a hearing May 13, he asked nominees for senior Defense Department posts if they were committed to following Congressional intent for using the extra money. The nominees said they would.

· But Reed, a West Point graduate who served in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, said he and his colleagues are worried that some of the “arcane rules” of how the reconciliation funds would be used were not entirely clear to lawmakers and there was a risk that the Pentagon would not follow their guidance and intent.

· “I think it’s an extraordinary mistake,” Reed said when asked about the reconciliation budget by Air & Space Forces Magazine. “It surrenders congressional leverage and authority over the budget. Is it just a slush fund for the DOD to do what they want to do, or is it something that we can say, ‘No, these are the priorities?’”

· Some Republicans share Reed’s frustration, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense and a former Senate majority leader. In a May 14 appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he complained that Hegseth had vowed to spend $1 trillion in fiscal 2026 on defense, only for the administration to reveal later that the funding actually included the added funding package from Congress. McConnell accused the administration of engaging in “budgetary sleight of hand.”

· Other lawmakers say they are also searching for details. House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told Air & Space Forces Magazine May 12 that he still has not been given “a real clear understanding of what’s going to be in the reconciliation package.”

-Emil Michael, former Uber exec, confirmed as undersecretary for research and engineering: The Pentagon has a new top technology officer, as today the Senate voted to confirm Emil Michael, a former Uber executive, as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. Michael, confirmed in a 54-43 vote, was nominated in December for the role. He now takes over as the department’s point person on advancing, prototyping and developing new technologies. (Breaking Defense)

· At his March 27 hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Michael said that the protection of American intellectual property is “one of the most important things” he intends to work on, adding that Chinese cyber espionage efforts like Salt Typhoon allow Beijing to “catch up” to US innovation “without 80 percent of the cost.”

· In written testimony at the time, Michael also indicated he would look to review the structure of the R&E office, while pushing to shift a culture he described as “overly risk adverse.” “It is critical that the Department innovates more quickly and with more efficiency. If confirmed, I would look for opportunities to implement, as appropriate, best practices that I’ve used in the private sector to drive innovation at speed and with efficiency throughout the organization,” he wrote.

· He also wrote that “artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, quantum computing, directed energy, and hypersonic capabilities” would be priorities, though noted that once he has access to classified documents he expects to base his priorities on what adversaries are doing, in order to counter those actions.

-Pentagon hotline to Washington DC airport controllers inoperable since 2022: A hotline connecting the Pentagon and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers at Reagan Washington National Airport has been inoperable since March 2022, an FAA official told a Senate committee on Wednesday. The U.S. Army said on May 5 that it was suspending helicopter training flights in the vicinity of the Pentagon after two passenger airline flights were forced to abort landings at Reagan because a Black Hawk helicopter was flying nearby. On January 29, a Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger jet near Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people. (Reuters)

· Franklin McIntosh, the FAA’s deputy head of air traffic control, told the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday that the agency would not allow the Pentagon to resume the helicopter flights until the hotline is fixed. He said the hotline was maintained by the Pentagon and the FAA had only recently learned it was out of service. The Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion has temporarily halted training flights in and around the Pentagon while it determines what happened during the May 1 flight. The battalion is the Army unit responsible for such flights.

· Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz said the FAA has been preparing to suspend the FAA’s letter of agreement between the Army and FAA that gives the Army the right to operate without having to ask for clearance for each flight before the Army acts.

-2 Educational Programs for Troops Eliminated Amid Cost-Cutting Efforts at Pentagon: Two companies that had contracts aimed at educating troops say they have suddenly had their popular programs eliminated as the Trump administration continues efforts to cut costs at the Pentagon and congressional dysfunction shortchanges the department. (Military.com)

· Executives from a company that helped troops better utilize their tuition assistance suspect that their contract was cut by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, while leaders at a testing company that offered free military test preparation services to troops and families say their program was eliminated in the last congressional funding bill.

· The revelations offer a glimpse into what public efforts by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to eliminate contracts and cut spending at the Pentagon actually look like to rank-and-file troops. The end of those programs comes on top of other changes affecting the lives of service members -- like the slow and steady reduction of child care benefits -- that are the direct result of Trump policies.

-Pentagon Rushing to Find ‘Low-Collateral’ Tech to Counter Hostile Drones: The Pentagon is seeking ways to down hostile drones to defend military bases without endangering nearby civilians or infrastructure—and it wants solutions soon. In the wake of increased drone activity near U.S. and overseas bases, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit recently invited industry to present low-collateral defeat (LCD) capabilities that can engage hostile drones like the ones that hovered unchecked over Langley Air Force Base, Va., for two weeks in December 2023. Engaging drones near civilian areas will always present challenges, however, experts say, either in the form of disrupted radio frequency signals, collateral damage from downed drones, or other disruptions. (Air & Space Forces Magazine)

-Pentagon to Deploy Discriminating Space Sensor for Ballistic Threat as Part of Golden Dome: The Pentagon is developing space-based sensors that can distinguish missile threats from clutter as a key part of the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative. “We’re working on prototyping space sensor capabilities, in particular, Discriminating Space Sensor(DSS) to help improve ballistic missile defense in the future,” said Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, who heads the Missile Defense Agency, at a May 13 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “We will prototype it, and the Space Force will operationalize it.” (Air & Space Forces Magazine)

· Cold War-era systems like the Defense Support Program and the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) have existed for decades, but these launch-detection systems sometimes struggle to descriminate between real targets, decoys, and debris. The new DSS aims to distinguish real warheads from everything else to enable interceptors to defeat missiles in mid-flight.

-Golden Dome a Warning System, Reed Says: President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense umbrella is more of “a warning system” to detect and shoot down hypersonic weapons as soon as they launch, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee said. “It’s more of a warning system, than it is a firing system although they will develop firing units to complement,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) told the Defense Writers Group in Washington on Wednesday. “The key now is to identify hypersonics as soon as they launch so that we can engage them.” (Bloomberg)

· Golden Dome—a network of space-based interceptors—is the president’s priority, but the Defense Department and White House have offered few specifics regarding the system’s architecture, timelines and cost. “They have to identify the technologies; they have to go ahead and design an integrated plan,” Reed said. The most important part of Golden Dome is “really the detection and communication systems,” he added. “The easier part would be to get the kill vehicle developed.”

-CSIS Congressional Panel Calls for Changes in Defense Acquisition: A budget reconciliation bill is not the way to “juice” modernization across the services and overhaul Pentagon buying history and practices, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Tuesday. (USNI News)

· Speaking at a daylong security forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) added, “we should have a regular order” through the budget process to align spending with current and future needs. Kelly warned that the past has shown the United States has too often failed to predict where conflicts would happen and what they would look like. He cited a recent visit to a Ukrainian underground drone factory as a lesson to the defense industry, the Pentagon and Congress. “They iterate on a very rapid cycle, days, weeks [not years like the United States.” The American acquisition system was first put in place in the 1960s and has changed little, he said.

· Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), co-chair of the House Defense Modernization Caucus, said his constituents ask “to what end” the soon-to-be $1 trillion Pentagon budget will be used. An Army veteran who worked for small tech firms before running for Congress, Ryan said he came to Washington “to be disruptive.” “We really need to shake [the acquisition] process up,” Ryan said, but he didn’t disagree with Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll’s assessment that it could be a “success” if one prime [defense contractor] fails during the changeover.

· Although he now has concerns about turnover in Pentagon civilian leadership, Ryan said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s call to reallocate 8 percent of the budget to more needed investments was a step in the right direction. In looking at immediate priorities, Ryan said, “We need to get back to first principles – 155-mm ammunition” thousands of low-cost, attritable drones, not hundreds of more expensive unmanned systems.

· Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), chair of the Armed Services emerging threat panel, said there could be commercial applications for the drones a small business might offer to sell to the Pentagon. Again using drones as an example, she said, “our farmers are using drones to apply herbicides to [specific areas in] their fields.” The dual-use possibility reduces costs to the Defense Department and the farmer “and [pushes] small business forward,” she said.

-Start-ups are trying to close the U.S. hypersonic missile gap with China: A silver rocket shot into a bright blue New Mexico sky Wednesday morning, accelerating on a streak of blue-and-orange flame. The launch by Houston-based Venus Aerospace marked the first U.S.-based flight of a powerful new variety of rocket called a rotating detonation engine. The design has been theorized for decades as a way to significantly increase the fuel economy of rockets, but was only recently made practical by advances in materials, manufacturing and design software. (WP)

· Engineers betting on the new engines say they could one day make it cheaper to send satellites into space and even let airliners cross oceans in just a couple of hours. But their initial use case is likely to be military, inside the super-fast hypersonic missiles and aircraft the Pentagon says it will need to keep the U.S. military's edge over China and Russia in the coming decades. Venus is one of a growing number of start-ups pushing the limits of aerospace engineering as they test engines and airframes to fulfill the Defense Department's desire for faster aircraft and missiles.

-Lockheed Martin anticipates sooner-than-expected F-35 award: Lockheed Martin expects to be awarded a finalized contract on its F-35 jets, which have been beset by delays in a technology upgrade, sooner than it previously anticipated, the U.S. defense contractor's finance chief said on Wednesday. The fighter jets in lot 19 could potentially be awarded sooner than the second half of this year, which was the company's earlier timeline, newly appointed CFO Evan Scott said at a Bank of America conference. Lockheed's customer has told the company to expect lots 18 and 19 to be combined into a single contract, Scott added. (Reuters)

VETERANS

-Congress pushes VA to explain why it regularly overpays veterans and then asks for the money back: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs incorrectly gave veterans about $5 billion more in disability compensation and pension payments than it should have in the last four fiscal years — an error that lawmakers say is recurring and getting worse. In an oversight hearing Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs pressed VA officials to explain how the agency planned to rectify a problem that regularly creates financial nightmares for veterans when they are asked to pay the money back. “Our veterans live paycheck to paycheck,” said Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, who chairs the subcommittee. “A lot of them are in a deep, dark, black hole.” (NBC News, Stars and Stripes)

· Overpayments can result in the VA creating debts that veterans owe back to the agency, “which can create a paperwork nightmare for them and their families,” Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, said during an oversight hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “We must ensure that VA makes every effort to prevent overpayments from happening in the first place,” said Luttrell, chairman of the committee’s subpanel on disability assistance and memorial affairs.

· Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., said committee staff members visited the VA’s Debt Management Center in February and met veterans who were “confused, angry and even suicidal because they incurred a debt they didn’t know about.” The VA issued at least $5.1 billion in compensation and pension overpayments from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2024, Luttrell said. The VA said it overpaid nearly $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2024 alone. The VA only collected a “portion” of the four-year debt, meaning the agency wasted roughly $677 million in taxpayer dollars, Luttrell said.

· Agency officials said many factors lead to overpayment, including administrative errors as well as veterans’ failures to report dependents they no longer have and other changes to their eligibility or status. Nina Tann, executive director of the VA’s compensation service, said the agency, which serves about 9.1 million people, has a “heightened risk” of making improper payments due to the large number of beneficiaries and the high-dollar amounts it doles out.

· Tann said the agency has taken steps to prevent, detect and correct the issue, including being better about notifying veterans that they need to report changes. Tann also said the VA fixed an administrative error in January that had been causing duplicate payments for about 15,000 veterans with dependents in fiscal year 2024. The agency did not force those veterans to repay the money, she said.

· The overpayments sometimes span many years. In 2023, the VA temporarily suspended the collection of pension debts for thousands of low-income wartime veterans and their survivors after the agency identified an issue with income verification that led to overpayments between 2011 and 2022.

· Luttrell said veterans should not be responsible for correcting government-made errors. “That’s our fault,” he said. “We have to fix that problem.” A clear path forward was not established during the roughly one-hour hearing, and Luttrell asked Tann to continue speaking to him afterward. “Our heartache is the fact that it’s trending in the wrong direction,” Luttrell told the agency officials. “We’re losing ground.”

-While the federal VA plans to cut 80k jobs, its budget could increase by $27.6B: In President Trump’s proposed skinny budget for the 2026 fiscal year, funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs would increase by 17 percent. The proposal comes after the federal VA announced a goal to decrease its workforce by 15 percent due to an initiative from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. According to NPR, 25 percent of VA staff are veterans. Rob Larson is the legislative committee chairperson of the County and Tribal Veterans Service Officer Association of Wisconsin. He has been a Wood County veteran service officer for more than 20 years. Before that, he served in the Air Force and the National Guard. (WPR)

· Larson told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that Larson said the VA he works for receives no federal funds. “They are funded by local government and a small grant from the state,” Larson said. “So thanks to the counties and tribes for their continued support of us. Pretty much anything that deals with veterans, we can try to assist.”

· Larson said the VA’s health and disability benefits have been a help to him over the years. But the system can be hard to navigate. “In most cases, veterans come into our office for one thing that might be as simple as an application for a veterans identifier on their driver’s license,” Larson said. “Then we identify that, ‘Oh, you were exposed to Agent Orange after Vietnam in Guam. Do you have any of these disabilities?’ And all of a sudden, their service connected for their cancer, and the VA is paying for their treatment. They come in for one thing, and hopefully we take the time to see if there’s anything else that you may be entitled to.”

-Questions loom over Trump’s order to create housing for 6,000 homeless veterans: President Trump’s executive order calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to house thousands of homeless veterans on its West Los Angeles campus by the end of his term promises the relief veterans have been seeking in federal court for more than a decade. But the May 9 order gave no insight into how the president planned to overcome hurdles that have long stymied the dream of a vibrant veteran community on the 388-acre property, which was donated to the U.S. government in 1888 as a home for disabled soldiers. (LAT)

· Trump’s order called for establishing a National Center for Warrior Independence — with the capacity to house about 6,000 — “in which homeless veterans in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and around the nation can seek and receive the care, benefits, and services to which they are entitled.”

· Veterans and their advocates, who have been been critical of the VA’s management of the grounds, welcomed the announcement as a presidential endorsement of their cause, but generally reserved judgment over what they expect it to accomplish. Some were openly skeptical.

· “If this had come from any other president, I’d pop the champagne,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), whose district includes the West Los Angeles campus. Trump, he said, follows up on “like one out of 10 things that he announces. You just never know which one. You never know to what extent.”

· Among the questions not addressed in the order: How much would such an ambitious project cost? Is there enough room for that much housing? And how might the president’s vision fit in with projects already underway to build 1,200 housing units or a judge’s order, now under appeal, for at least 1,800 more?

-Chief Justice Rush lauds Veterans Court graduates for repairing their lives: Before entering Lake County Veterans Treatment Court, Derek Akins lost his wife, children and house. After 18 months in the program, Akins found housing, a job, got remarried and is working to reconnect with his children. “If you would’ve seen him 18 months ago, he’s not the same guy standing here. I am so proud of the hard work he did on himself,” said Lake County Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell, who leads the county’s veterans treatment court. (Chicago Tribune)

· Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush addressed the 26 graduates — the program’s largest ever graduating class — as well as their mentors and families during a Wednesday ceremony, which marked the completion of 18 to 24 months of drug treatment program and expungement of the charges against them.

· Veterans treatment courts “represent the highest ideals in our democracy,” Rush said. The Indiana Constitution dictates that the criminal justice system “should be built on principles of reformation not vindictive justice,” Rush said. Further, there’s the religious teaching to love your neighbor, she said. “You put those two things together and you see the justice system using the power of the law to sort of heal a wounded world,” Rush said. “That’s what I see here. Justice tempered with mercy, respecting the individuals who are going through.”

· Since its 2014 start, the Lake County Veterans Treatment Court has had more than 300 veterans complete the program, Rush said. That means hundreds more people benefited from the program, Rush said, because with each graduate families, friends and coworkers have also benefited from a more positive relationship with the graduate. The justice system is the primary referral source to get people who need substance abuse treatment, Rush said. In Indiana, judges have been trained to help people with substance abuse disorders and mental health needs, she said.

· “You can not incarcerate your way out of this,” Rush said. “Substance abuse is a chronic, treatable disease. It’s not a moral failure. People that find themselves wrapped up in this, it’s not fun.” Rush thanked Cantrell for leading the county’s veterans treatment court. But, the hardest work is done by the veterans in the program, because they have to overcome difficult challenges, she said.

· In the end, Rush said it’s an honor to watch the veterans in the program repair relationships with their families and friends, find jobs and advance their lives in a positive way. “I am so proud of you in getting this done. You have walked through the fires of hell for the country. You’ve walked through a challenging program,” Rush said.

· Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said his office has made referrals to the veterans treatment court because the office officials “believe in redemption.”

-UC research team working on device to help veterans with spinal cord injuries: A team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati is working on a device they hope will improve the lives of veterans living with spinal cord injuries. Everyday tasks like brushing your hair or drinking from a cup can be impossible for veterans living with spinal cord injuries and spinal cord disease. The team at UC is now working to make the impossible possible for these veterans. (WXIX)

· “We are developing a functional electrical stimulation integrated EXO to help with daily grasping tasks,” explained Derek Wolf, Ph.D., Project’s Principal Researcher. “We can help restore that function using a combination of robotics, as well as running electricity through paralyzed muscles to create motion.” Wolf oversees the Paralyzed Veterans of America-funded project, but he is not doing it alone.

· Ryan Cuda, a Ph.D. student at UC, planned to join the military, but an arm injury led him to help people in a different way. “I did a lot of work in research in mechanical engineering,” Cuda said. “So, it’s really cool to see firsthand that impact that you’re having. Kind of, as you’re putting the prototype on them and you could hear them say, ‘Oh, this is the first time I’ve ever held something like this in years,’ and it’s been very impactful.”

GLOBAL

-Trump to Visit Biggest U.S. Military Facility in Middle East: President Trump on Thursday was expected to visit the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East and considered “essential to regional security” by the Pentagon. The U.S. military has been using the base since September 2001, when it positioned planes there to target the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Two years later, Al Udeid became the main U.S. air operations hub in the region. (NYT)

· U.S. commanders used Al Udeid to coordinate a wide variety of missions during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as strikes against ISIS in Syria. The air force has deployed a wide variety of aircraft, from advanced fighters and long-range bombers to drones, transport planes and in-flight refueling tankers. The Combined Air Operations Center at the base helps project U.S. air power across a vast region encompassing 21 countries, from Northeast Africa to Central and South Asia, according to the U.S. Air Force.

· Qatar, which saw the United States as its main protector in the Middle East, finished building the base in 1996, hoping to encourage the deployment of the U.S. military there. Over the years, Qatar has spent more than $8 billion to develop the base, which its military also uses alongside the British Royal Air Force, as part of Qatar’s efforts to build up its partnership with the United States. The statement of defense cooperation signed between Qatar and the United States on Wednesday included $38 billion in potential investments, including support for burden-sharing at the base.

· In a nod to the partnership, Qatari and American flags flanked the stage set up for Mr. Trump at Al Udeid on Thursday. An American Reaper drone was displayed on one side of the stage, and a Qatari F-15 fighter jet on the other. The modernization and expansion of the base has allowed a number of key U.S. military commands to operate out of Al Udeid. Along with the U.S. Central Command, the base also hosts command facilities for special forces.

· The base has played a role outside of offensive military operations too. In 2021, as the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan, Al Udeid became the central evacuation point for tens of thousands of people leaving Afghanistan, including Americans and Afghans considered at risk from the Taliban.

-Trump says U.S. is getting very close to a nuclear deal with Iran: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had "sort of" agreed to the terms. "We're in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace," Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a pool report by AFP. (Reuters)

· Fresh talks between Iranian and U.S. negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran's nuclear programme ended in Oman on Sunday with further negotiations planned, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing its uranium enrichment.

· Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, they remain deeply divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new nuclear deal and avert future military action.

-Trump appeals for Qatar's help in persuading Iran to give up its nuclear program: President Donald Trump urged Qatar on Wednesday to use its influence over Iran to persuade the country's leadership to reach an agreement with the U.S. to dial back its rapidly advancing nuclear program. Trump, who is visiting the Gulf nation as part of a three-country Mideast swing, made the appeal during a state dinner held in his honor by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Qatar, over the years, has played the role of intermediary between the U.S. and Iran and its proxies, including during talks with Tehran-backed Hamas as its 19-month war with Israel grinds on. (AP)

· “I hope you can help me with the Iran situation,” Trump said during remarks at the formal dinner. “It’s a perilous situation, and we want to do the right thing." The appeal to Qatar came after Trump told leaders at a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting earlier Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that he wants “to make a deal," but Tehran must end its support of proxy groups throughout the Mideast as part of any potential agreement.

-Trump heads to UAE as it hopes to advance AI ambitions: U.S. President Donald Trump was due to end a brief trip to Qatar with a speech to U.S. troops on Thursday then fly to the United Arab Emirates, where leaders hope for U.S. help to make the wealthy Gulf nation a global leader in artificial intelligence. The U.S. has a preliminary agreement with the UAE to allow it to import 500,000 of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips a year, starting this year, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The deal would boost the country's construction of data centers vital to developing artificial intelligence models. But the agreement has provoked national security concerns among sectors of the U.S. government, and the terms could change, sources said. (Reuters)

· A string of business agreements has been inked during Trump's four-day swing through the Gulf region, including a deal for Qatar Airways to purchase up to 210 Boeing widebody jets, a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S. and $142 billion in U.S. arms sales to the kingdom. The trip has also brought a flurry of diplomacy. Trump made a surprise announcement on Tuesday that the U.S. will remove longstanding sanctions on Syria and subsequently met with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

· On Thursday, Trump will address U.S. troops at the Al Udeid Air Base, which is in the desert southwest of Doha and hosts the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East. He then flies to Abu Dhabi to meet with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and other leaders. AI is likely to be a focus for the final leg of Trump's trip.

-US close to letting UAE import millions of Nvidia's AI chips, sources say: The U.S. has a preliminary agreement with the United Arab Emirates to allow it to import 500,000 of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips per year, starting in 2025, two sources familiar with the situation said, boosting the Emirates' construction of data centers vital to developing artificial intelligence models. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the agreement was at least through 2027, but that there was a chance it could be in place until 2030. (Reuters)

· The draft deal called for 20% of the chips, or 100,000 of them per year, to go to UAE's tech firm G42, while the rest would be split among U.S. companies with massive AI operations like Microsoft and Oracle that might also seek to build data centers in the UAE, the sources said. They said the agreement is still being negotiated and could change before being finalized. One source said the deal, elements of which were first reported by the New York Times, faced growing opposition in the U.S. government over the past day.

-Trump meets Syrian president, urges him to establish ties with Israel: U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syria's president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and urged him to normalise ties with longtime foe Israel after a surprise U.S. announcement that it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government. Trump then flew to Qatar, where he oversaw the signing of a deal for the Gulf Arab country to buy jets from U.S. manufacturer Boeing. (Reuters)

· He did not mention a controversial separate offer by Qatar to donate a Boeing jet to serve as the U.S. president’s official airplane. That would be one of the most valuable gifts ever given to the United States and it has triggered alarm in Washington over its security and ethics implications.

· After Trump’s declaration that he would lift sanctions on Syria, which is seeking to rebuild after more than a decade of civil war, he met with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who swept to power at the head of a group that Washington has called a terrorist organisation and once pledged allegiance to al Qaeda.

· Trump told reporters that Sharaa said he would be willing to eventually join the Abraham Accords, a U.S.-brokered 2020 agreement that saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalize relations with Israel. Syrian officials have signaled an openness to normalize under the right circumstances.

· “I told him, ‘I hope you’re going to join when it’s straightened out.’ He said, ‘Yes.’ But they have a lot of work to do,” Trump said, according to a White House pool report. Photos posted on Saudi state television showed the two men shaking hands in the presence of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump said the meeting with Sharaa, who he described as a young, attractive guy with a very strong past, was "great". "He's got a real shot at holding it together," said Trump.

-US-Saudi $142 Billion Defense Deal Sparks Questions, Few Answers: The Trump administration called its $142 billion defense deal with Saudi Arabia “the largest defense sales agreement in history.” Critics aren’t so sure. The deal, announced as part of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week, appeared ambitious and sweeping, touting purchases linked to the air force and space, missile defense, coastal security and various other upgrades. (Bloomberg)

· But like the broader $600 billion economic deal that it was a part of, the defense agreement lacked any specifics. And skeptics of the administration immediately pointed to questions around the numbers. One is that Saudi Arabia’s entire defense budget this year is $78 billion, estimated Bruce Riedel, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “It’s great publicity — makes it look like this trip was spectacularly successful,” said Riedel, a former senior US intelligence and national security official. “But the numbers don’t add up.”

· The White House, Pentagon and Saudi embassy didn’t immediately respond to requests for details of the agreement, such as which systems the kingdom would purchase, terms of the prospective contract and delivery time lines. The State Department referred questions to the White House.

· To be sure, Democratic and Republican administrations alike have a long history of re-purposing previous deals into sweeping, headline-grabbing agreements for presidents to sign during trips. Trump did it before, during his first-term trip to Saudi Arabia in 2017, when he announced the Saudis would spend $110 billion on US weapons to modernize the kingdom’s military.

· That package included deals negotiated under the Obama administration and others that were in the initial stages of a lengthy process requiring congressional approval and negotiations between the buyer and defense contractors. To date, the 2017 deal has yielded more than $30 billion in implemented foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia, according to a State Department fact sheet in January.

· Another potential hurdle is Saudi Arabia’s ability to afford massive defense purchases amid declining oil prices and considerable obligations at home. The country has been forced to borrow more, with debt jumping by about $30 billion to the most on record in the first quarter.

· If deals do eventually emerge from the White House and Saudi Arabia, experts will start sorting through what was new and what was old. Already, there are more than $129 billion in active military sales to Saudi Arabia from the US, according to the State Department fact sheet.

· While the numbers may be fuzzy, they also may not really matter. What the agreement also does, experts said, is highlight the depth of the US-Saudi partnership. That’s something Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will gladly take after several years of uncertainty. Former President Joe Biden, after all, called him a “pariah” over the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and suspended weapons sales to the kingdom.

-Trump, Qatar sign agreements to go ahead with $2B MQ-9B, $1B counter-drone orders: President Donald Trump inked an agreement with Qatar today to move forward with two major defense deals in which Doha will pay nearly $2 billion for MQ-9B unmanned aerial vehicles from General Atomics and $1 billion for counter-drone capabilities from Raytheon. (Breaking Defense)

· Both deals had previously been approved by the US State Department, but the White House said today’s signings “mark President Trump’s intent to accelerate Qatar’s defense investment in the U.S.-Qatar security partnership — enhancing regional deterrence and benefitting the US industrial base.”

· Trump was shown on television inking the deals, along with a number of commercial agreements that the White House said were worth billions more.

· The State Department approved of the potential sale of eight MQ-9B UAVs to Qatar in late March in a deal that would also include hundreds of bombs, scores of missiles, several radars, radios, satellite communication ground systems and related equipment, along with US technical support.

-Trump suggests US ‘take’ Gaza, make it ‘freedom zone’: President Trump on Thursday suggested the U.S. would look to take control of the Gaza Strip and turn it into a “freedom zone,” highlighting one of his more controversial foreign policy proposals during a visit to Qatar. “I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good. Make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved, and make it just a freedom zone” Trump said during a business roundtable. “I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone, let some good things happen. Put people in homes where they can be safe, and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with,” Trump added. (The Hill)

-US-backed aid group to start work in Gaza by end of May under heavily criticized plan: A U.S.-backed humanitarian organization will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily-criticized aid distribution plan, but has asked Israel to let the United Nations and others resume deliveries to Palestinians now until it is set up. No humanitarian assistance has been delivered to Gaza since March 2, and a global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation - a quarter of the population in the enclave where Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have been at war since October 2023. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and is blocking humanitarian deliveries to Gaza until Hamas releases all remaining hostages. Israel has said it backs “the American humanitarian plan.” (Reuters)

· That plan was initiated by Israel and involves private companies - instead of the U.N. and aid groups - transporting aid into Gaza to a limited number of so-called secure distribution sites, which Israel said would be in Gaza’s south.

· The newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will run the operation. U.S. security firm UG Solutions and U.S.-based Safe Reach Solutions, which does logistics and planning, would be involved, said a source familiar with the plans, speaking on condition of anonymity. At the distribution sites, the humanitarian assistance would be given to aid groups to give to civilians, the source said.

· Washington has urged the U.N. and aid groups to cooperate with the GHF. However, they raised concerns that the operation would not stick to the long-held humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality. “We have made clear our problems with the sort of aid mechanism that’s been proposed,” deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said earlier on Wednesday, citing heavy criticism of the proposed operation by U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher.

· In a letter to Israel on Wednesday, the foundation’s executive director, Jake Wood, sought to address some of the concerns. He said the foundation would not share any personally identifiable information of aid recipients with Israel. In a separate statement, GHF said Israel has agreed to expand the number of distribution sites “to serve the entire population of Gaza, and to find solutions for the distribution of aid to civilians who are unable to reach a SDS location."

-Former Gaza hostages urge Netanyahu, Trump to reach deal for release of all captives: Dozens of former hostages held by Hamas in Gaza on Wednesday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to reach a "comprehensive deal" for the return of all captives still being held. In a joint letter published by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, 67 former captives called on the US and Israeli leaders, "Only the immediate return of ALL hostages through a negotiated deal will create the foundation for hope, unity, and the renewal of our nation". (AFP)

· The forum said the letter, addressed to Netanyahu and also sent to Trump and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, had been written in response to the release on Monday of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander. "We believe the Israeli government now faces a genuine opportunity to return to the negotiating table. We urge all those involved in this process: Please do not walk away until a comprehensive deal is signed," it said. "The majority of Israeli society wants the hostages home -- even at the cost of halting military operations," it added.

-Bypassed by Trump, Israel dismayed but silent: Israel's right-wing government has maintained a diplomatic silence this week as U.S. President Donald Trump fired off a blizzard of announcements that have shaken Israeli assumptions about their country's standing with its most important ally. Trump's decision to bypass Israel during his current visit to the Middle East had already been seen as a marker of the his administration's increased focus on lucrative business deals with wealthy Gulf countries, including Qatar, which Israeli officials have long accused of helping Hamas. (Reuters)

· Even before the trip began, Israel was on edge over U.S. talks with its arch-enemy Iran and over Trump’s decision to stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen, regardless of the Iranian-backed group’s determination to keep up its own missile strikes against Israel. Israeli officials were then forced to stand by and watch as the United States negotiated to reach a deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas to bring home Edan Alexander, the last surviving American hostage in Gaza.

· Since then, they have had to listen as Trump declared an end to sanctions on Syria and called for a normalization of relations with the new government in Damascus, which Israel regards as a barely disguised jihadist regime. Even as Trump spoke in Riyadh on Tuesday, claiming credit for the ceasefire agreement with the Houthis, Israeli media noted that warning sirens were sounding in areas across Israel including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as a missile from Yemen headed towards them.

· Trump himself has brushed off any suggestion of a break with Israel, telling reporters accompanying him in the Gulf that his visit would ultimately benefit a country that has so far viewed him as one of its staunchest supporters. “This is good for Israel, having a relationship like I have with these countries; Middle Eastern countries, essentially all of them,” he said.

-Militant’s Death Would Be Blow to Hamas, but May Have Limited Long-Term Consequences: The assassination of Muhammad Sinwar, the influential Hamas leader whom Israel tried to kill on Tuesday in an airstrike, would be a major tactical success for Israel but its long-term significance is unclear. The group has survived for decades despite Israel’s systematic assassination of its leaders. (NYT)

· Mr. Sinwar, whose fate is unknown, is considered one of Hamas’s top military commanders in Gaza. He is the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, an architect of Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel in October 2023, whom Israeli troops killed last year. Israeli and Middle Eastern officials have concluded that Mr. Sinwar is one of the biggest obstacles to a new cease-fire in Gaza: They say he is among the Hamas officials most opposed to relinquishing the group’s arsenal — an Israeli precondition for any long-term truce.

· Mr. Sinwar is powerful but he is just one of several senior Hamas military leaders in Gaza, and far from the only one opposed to concessions to Israel. His killing would undermine the group, analysts said, but might not change Hamas’s strategic outlook and operational abilities, or soften Israel’s uncompromising approach to cease-fire negotiations.

· “If confirmed, his death would definitely be another big blow to Hamas — many of their senior military and political leaders have been killed, and Hamas can’t replace all of them,” said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist from Gaza. “But I’m not sure if his death will lead to a compromise with Israel, and it might even backfire, if his successor turns out to be even more radical than Sinwar,” he added. “Hamas is not a one-man show and its negotiations with Israel still depend on a collective decision.”

· Mr. Sinwar’s death would also be unlikely to change Israeli battlefield calculations. Israel’s aims extend far beyond killing specific commanders, as it seeks “total victory” over Hamas, even if Israeli leaders have struggled to define what that means.

-Israel intensifies Gaza bombardment, kills 80 people, as Trump visits Gulf: Israeli military strikes killed at least 80 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said, in an intensification of the bombardment as U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Middle East. Medics said most of the dead, including women and children, were killed in a barrage of Israeli airstrikes on houses in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza. (Reuters)

-Israeli gunfire hits perimeter of UN peacekeeping post in Lebanon, UNIFIL says: The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Wednesday that direct fire from the Israeli army had hit the perimeter of one of its peacekeeping positions in south Lebanon. In a statement, UNIFIL said the incident on Tuesday was the first of its kind since Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last November. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the incident, in which UNIFIL said one of its bases in the village of Kfar Shouba in southern Lebanon was hit. (Reuters)

-German Chancellor Merz says Israel should bring hostages back alive: Germany wants to see the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including Germans, brought back alive and Israel should consider this in its military actions in the strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday. Asked whether Germany would implement an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Merz said that in principle it should be possible for an Israeli prime minister to visit Germany. (Reuters)

· How this could happen would be clarified when necessary, he said at the joint press conference with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Berlin, adding that no bilateral visits by him or Netanyahu were currently planned. Merz said future financial support for UNRWA, the United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees, was conditional on the organization being reformed.

-UN Yemen envoy warns of escalation between Israel, Huthis: The UN special envoy for Yemen warned Wednesday of a "dangerous escalation" between Israel and the Huthis, as the Israeli army carried out reprisal strikes on the Iran-backed rebel group. Recent events have served "as stark reminders that Yemen is ensnared in the wider regional tensions," Hans Grundberg told a meeting of the UN Security Council. He said the Huthi's May 4 attack on Israel's Ben Gurion airport and subsequent Israeli strikes in Yemen "represent a dangerous escalation, and the threats and attacks, regrettably, continue." (AFP)

-Erdogan's global peacemaker spotlight hides tumult within Turkey: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan has probably never held more global sway: he will host the first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks in three years on Thursday, days after his country's militant nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), dissolved. His growing capital as international statesman - working towards stability in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and receiving accolades from U.S. President Donald Trump for it - is turbocharging Turkey's rising regional influence. Yet the timing of it appears odd and even agonising to many at home who fear it could bolster his domestic political goals. (Reuters)

· The arrest and jailing of Erdogan's main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, prompted the largest protests in a decade in March and April over what critics called a politicised and anti-democratic legal crackdown. Imamoglu denies the charges he faces, while Ankara denies the criticism of autocratic behaviour. Yet these seemingly parallel universes - international versus domestic - underscore Erdogan's tendency over 22 years running Turkey to shift the focus abroad when political or economic problems are brewing at home.

-Iran Is Said to Propose Novel Path to Nuclear Deal With the U.S.: Iran has proposed the creation of a joint nuclear-enrichment venture involving regional Arab countries and American investments as an alternative to Washington's demand that it dismantle its nuclear program, according to four Iranian officials familiar with the plan. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, proposed the idea to an American special envoy, Steve Witkoff, when the two men held direct and indirect talks in Oman on Sunday, according to the four Iranian officials. They asked not to be named because they were discussing sensitive issues. (NYT)

· On Tuesday, several Iranian media outlets published front-page accounts of Iran’s “new plan on the negotiating table.” One of those outlets was the newspaper Farhikhtegan, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards Corps. It raised the question of whether the proposal was “a service or treason.”

· A spokesman for Mr. Witkoff, Eddie Vasquez, denied on Tuesday that the proposal had come up in the talks. “The claim by unnamed sources that a joint nuclear-enrichment venture idea was part of the last round of Iran talks in Oman is completely untrue,” he said. “It was never floated or discussed.” It was not immediately clear how feasible a regional nuclear venture might be if it involved Iran and two of its biggest rivals, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

-As Trump Crows Over Ending a Conflict, India's Leaders Feel Betrayed: Russia is still waging its grinding war on Ukraine. Israel is only deepening its fight in Gaza. But last week, President Trump got to play peacemaker, as he announced a cease-fire after the most expansive military conflict in decades between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed powers. He has hardly stopped talking about it since. And his freewheeling descriptions of the U.S. mediation are repeatedly poking some of India's most politically sensitive spots, straining relations with a growing partner that had overcome decades of hesitance to reach what it thought was a place of trust with the United States. (NYT)

· On Tuesday, India directly contradicted a claim that Mr. Trump made both that day in Saudi Arabia and the day before in Washington as he commented on the American diplomatic efforts. The president said he had offered to increase trade with India and Pakistan if they ceased hostilities, and had threatened to halt it if they did not. After these enticements and warnings, he said, “all of a sudden they said, I think we will stop” the fighting.

· None of this was true, an official in India’s foreign ministry said at a news conference on Tuesday. “There were conversations between Indian and U.S. leaders on the evolving military situation,” said Randhir Jaiswal, the ministry’s spokesman. “The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions.”

· India’s strong push to rebut Mr. Trump shows its leaders’ concerns about how the Indian public will view their conduct of India’s military effort. They are worried about being perceived as having halted the confrontation under outside pressure before achieving victory against a weaker adversary, analysts said.

· The U.S. involvement in ending the four days of escalating military clashes was not surprising, given that the United States has long been a force in cooling flare-ups in this part of the world. But India expected that such intervention from a partner it was growing to trust would happen quietly and on favorable terms, especially in a standoff with Pakistan, its archenemy ever since that country's creation 78 years ago.

-IAEA should take charge of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, India defence minister says: The International Atomic Energy Agency should take charge of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, days after the nuclear-armed neighbours ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades. "Are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of such an irresponsible and rogue nation?" Singh said while addressing soldiers in Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar. "I believe that Pakistan's nuclear weapons should be taken under the supervision of IAEA." (Reuters)

-Trump downplays Putin decision to skip Istanbul talks with Zelenskyy: President Donald Trump said Thursday he was not surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a no-show for anticipated peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey this week. Trump had pressed for Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet in Istanbul this week. He brushed off Putin’s decision to not take part in the expected talks. “I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters as he took part in a business roundtable with executives in Doha on the third day of his visit to the Middle East. (AP)

-Trump open to any mechanism resulting in just peace in Ukraine, US' Rubio says: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that President Donald Trump is open to any mechanism that would result in a just peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Rubio, speaking ahead of an informal meeting of foreign ministers in Turkey, said the United States wants to see progress made in the next couple of days, adding there was no military solution to the conflict. (Reuters)

-Ukraine peace talks mired in confusion as Putin stays away: Russian President Vladimir Putin sent aides and deputy ministers to hold peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday, spurning Kyiv's challenge to go there in person to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul and Zelenskiy had said he would be waiting for the Kremlin leader. But after keeping the world guessing for days about Putin's plans, the Kremlin late on Wednesday named a delegation that did not include the president. (Reuters)

· It was unclear how Ukraine - which has so far not publicly committed to send anyone to talks in Istanbul or to name a delegation - would respond. There was confusion in the Turkish city, where reporters were gathered near the Dolmabahce palace offices that the Russians had specified as the talks venue. Turkish officials have given no information on the time or location. Russia's TASS news agency said talks would start at 0700 GMT, but a Ukrainian official dismissed that, saying there had been no agreement on when they might begin.

· The Russian delegation named by the Kremlin is headed by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and includes a deputy defence minister, a deputy foreign minister and the head of the GRU military intelligence agency. The Kremlin said Putin had held a late night meeting with ministers, military commanders and spy chiefs to discuss the upcoming talks. A source involved on the Ukrainian side in the March 2022 talks in Istanbul said that Medinsky - who also led the Russian team then - did not have a strong mandate to make decisions. "The most important point is that the people who will actually be sitting at the table are not necessarily the key players," the source said.

-Taking Inches in Battle, Russia Demands Miles in Talks: Moscow thinks it’s winning in Ukraine and can play hardball diplomatically. Washington sees costly, incremental gains and an unrealistic negotiating position. As the world waits to to see if he shows up in Turkey for cease-fire negotiations this week, President Vladimir V. Putin has been sending a clear message, reinforced by his officials. Russia is winning on the battlefield, so it should get what it wants. (NYT)

· Mr. Putin said in late March that Russian forces had the advantage on the entire front and suggested Moscow was close to vanquishing the Ukrainians — an argument the Kremlin has used to underpin hardball demands. “We have reason to believe that we are set to finish them off,” Mr. Putin said, adding: “People in Ukraine need to realize what is going on.”

· Andrei V. Kartapolov, head of the defense committee in the lower chamber of Russian Parliament, reiterated that message on Tuesday, saying Ukraine needed to recognize the Russian military was advancing in 116 directions. If the Ukrainians did not want to talk, he added, they must listen to “the language of the Russian bayonet.”

· The hardball approach has been accompanied by gamesmanship over peace negotiations. It is unclear whether Mr. Putin will attend the talks he initially proposed for midlevel delegations on Thursday in Turkey. Mr. Zelensky upped the ante, saying he would attend and expected to see Mr. Putin, knowing Mr. Putin is loath to meet him. President Trump said he might go if the Russian president went. And Mr. Putin has left everyone in limbo.

· The Russian position has posed a challenge for the Trump administration, which has found Russian officials making extreme demands that the battlefield situation does not appear to justify. While Russian forces have seized the advantage and taken territory of late, they are a far cry from defeating the Ukrainians and have advanced at a very high cost.

· Yet in talks with Trump administration officials, they have insisted Ukraine accept strict limitations on its military, including the number of soldiers and number and type of weapons. And they have been demanding the full territory of all four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed in eastern Ukraine, including two regional capitals that Ukraine controls.

-No Surrender: Ukrainian media reports suggested that if Zelensky decides to send a delegation to the talks, they would discuss only two issues: an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and an “all-for-all” prisoner swap. But Russia is insisting that talks be based on the April 2022 draft Istanbul protocols, which included demands that Ukraine “significantly reduce its military capabilities and amend its constitution to add a neutrality provision that would ban Ukraine from joining any military alliances,” according to the Institute for the Study of War, which characterized the demands as “complete capitulation” by Ukraine. (Washington Examiner)

· Despite staggering losses (1,220 casualties just in the past day, according to the Ukrainian General Staff), Putin appears to be generating enough new recruits to replace losses and reinforce his forces in Ukraine, with an eye on making more battlefield gains,” according to an ISW assessment.

· “Putin stated on May 13, that 50,000 to 60,000 people voluntarily join the Russian military per month,” which the ISW notes may be exaggerated numbers, “to posture a large Russian military amid ongoing negotiations with Ukraine.”

· “Putin appears to be embracing significant losses in exchange for diminishing returns to make battlefield gains and manage perceptions about Russia’s military capabilities to pressure Ukraine in negotiations,” the assessment concluded.

-Pre-war EU-Ukraine trade deal may temporarily return when tariff suspension expires: The EU is weighing a temporary return to its pre-war trade agreement with Ukraine if a renegotiated deal is not ready to take effect when war-related tariff suspensions expire on June 5, EU diplomats said on Wednesday. The Commission proposed this transitional period would last seven months or until a new deal can come into effect. (Reuters)

-No indication Russia wants peace in Ukraine, Latvian foreign minister says: Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said on Thursday that they did not see any indications that Russia wants peace in Ukraine and that it was important to weaken Russia's military capabilities. "Weakening Russia's military capabilities is the most direct and cheapest way.... to achieve peace in Ukraine," Braze told reporters ahead of an informal meeting of foreign ministers in Turkey. (Reuters)

-Estonia says Russia sent military jet after bid to detain 'shadow fleet' tanker: Estonia's foreign minister said on Thursday Russia sent a military jet as his country's navy tried to detain a Russia-bound oil tanker under sanction by Britain, accusing it of sailing illegally without a flag. After the vessel, Jaguar, placed on Britain's sanctions list last Friday, refused to cooperate with an attempt to board it, the Estonian Navy said it was escorted to Russian waters. (Reuters)

· "The Russian Federation sent a fighter jet to check the situation, and this fighter jet violated NATO territory for close to one minute," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters in the Turkish city of Antalya. "We need to understand that Russia has officially tried and connected itself to the Russian 'shadow fleet'," he said, speaking ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. "(The) Russian Federation is ready to protect the 'shadow fleet'... The situation is really serious".

-'Increased threat': Dutch army raises alert level: The Dutch military on Wednesday raised its alertness level due to an "increased threat" and the possibility of sabotage near the country's borders. The Netherlands has been at alert level "Alpha" since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but Wednesday's increase took it to "Alpha Plus", meaning "increased threats" in Europe. Alpha Plus is level two on a six-level rating system that goes up to level D meaning "a targeted attack is imminent or has taken place." The raised threat level means military personnel should step up surveillance of suspicious people and vehicles, as well as drones, said the defence ministry. (AFP)

· The threat analysis from the MIVD spy agency is that "other countries are increasingly prepared to engage in sabotage activities, also near the Dutch border," the ministry said. "The increase is also related to increased threats in Europe. There is currently no concrete threat against a military site," the statement added.

-Finland plans to raise reservists' age limit to add 125,000 troops to wartime army: The government of NATO-member Finland wants to raise the upper age limit of its army reservists to 65, it said on Wednesday, which would add 125,000 troops to the its wartime strength and take the number of reservists to one million by 2031. Military service is compulsory for men in Finland, which joined the Western military alliance two years ago in response to neighbouring Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Women can apply for military service on a voluntary basis. After military service, conscripts are mustered out into the reserve. (Reuters)

· Male citizens are currently liable for military service until the age of 60, but the government has sent out for comments a draft proposal on raising the age limit. "Finland's defence capability is based on general conscription, a trained reserve and a strong will to defend the country," Minister of Defence Antti Hakkanen, said in a statement. "By raising the maximum age of reservists we are giving more people the possibility to participate in national defence," he said.

-Trump's Greenland threats spark Iceland jitters: US President Donald Trump's threats to take over Greenland have neighbouring Iceland rethinking its long-term defence, currently provided by the United States and NATO as the volcanic island has no military of its own. Around 74 percent of Icelanders think Trump's interest in Greenland, and in the Arctic in general, pose a threat to their country, according to a recent poll by public broadcaster RUV. "We can easily put ourselves in Greenlanders' shoes," an Icelandic member of parliament for the governing Social Democrats, Dagur Eggertsson, told AFP. (AFP)

-Germany's Merz urges western unity on Ukraine on eve of peace talks: Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday urged the West not to be divided on Ukraine and vowed to provide the financial means needed to build Germany's conventional army up into Europe's strongest. In his first major speech to parliament since taking office that laid out his government's priorities, Merz said a dictated peace for Ukraine or a submission to the status quo achieved by Russian military forces was unacceptable. "We hope and are working hard to ensure that this clear stance is not only upheld throughout Europe but also by our American partners," said Merz, who has promised to give Germany a bigger role on the global stage. (AFP, Reuters)

· German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged Wednesday to build up "the strongest conventional army in Europe" as the continent faces a hostile Russia while the Ukraine war rages on. "This is appropriate for Europe's most populous and economically powerful country," Merz told parliament. "Our friends and partners also expect this from us. Indeed, they practically demand it."

-3 Are Arrested in Russia-Linked Sabotage Plot, Germany Says: Three Ukrainian men have been arrested in Germany and Switzerland for planning acts of sabotage against infrastructure in Europe on behalf of Russia, the German authorities said Wednesday. The federal prosecutor’s office in Berlin said it was investigating the three men, who were arrested over the past five days, for a plan to send incendiary and explosive devices in parcels to addresses in Ukraine. None have been charged. (NYT)

· The aim, the prosecutor said in a statement, appeared to be part of a plot to damage logistical infrastructure for commercial freight. The statement did not provide further details about possible targets. One of the men, identified only as Vladyslav T. in accordance with Germany’s strict privacy rules, posted two test packages in Cologne containing GPS transmitters in order to trace the route of the packages to Ukraine, the prosecutor said.

-Belgium probing NATO staff over defence contract irregularities: Belgian judicial authorities said they are investigating former and current NATO staff and have arrested one suspect over possible irregularities in awarding contracts for NATO military equipment. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on Wednesday that, as part of an investigation into membership of a criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering, police arrested and questioned two suspects in Belgium on Monday. One remains in custody, while the other has been released. The arrests were made as part of criminal investigations in Belgium, with offshoots to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Spain, and in the Netherlands - coordinated by the EU agency for criminal justice cooperation Eurojust. (Reuters)

· The investigations focus on possible irregularities in awarding NATO contracts to defence contractors for equipment such as ammunition and drones, notably the possible passing-on of confidential information by employees of the Luxembourg-based NATO Support & Procurement Agency (NSPA) to defence contractors. Belgian prosecutors added that several former or current NSPA employees could be involved and that there were indications that money obtained from the illegal practices was laundered, partly by setting up consultancy companies.

-UK and Germany to jointly develop 2,000-km-range strike weapon: Britain and Germany will jointly develop a new "deep precision strike" weapon with a range exceeding 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles), the British government said on Thursday, as Europe's two largest economies step up their defence cooperation. The project builds on a commitment made last year to develop new weapons, when both countries signed a bilateral defence pact and stressed the need for Europe to be able to defend itself against any escalation of the war in Ukraine. (Reuters)

-The European Council president praises Montenegro's advance on the path to joining the EU: European Council President Antonio Costa on Wednesday praised Montenegro for its progress on the path toward membership in the European Union, describing the small Balkan country as “one of the finest examples of the EU’s positive enlargement momentum.” Costa spoke after meeting Montenegro's President Jakov Milatovic during a tour of all six Western Balkan countries aspiring to join the 27-nation bloc. Milatovic said Montenegro wishes to become the 28th member state by 2028, and pledged to keep up the pace of reforms. “Our country is proud to have the status of a front-runner in European integration,” he said. Montenegro and Albania have been at the forefront on the membership path while Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo and North Macedonia are lagging. (AP)

-Poland votes for a new president Sunday as worries grow about the future: Voters in Poland will cast ballots Sunday in a presidential election to choose a successor to conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda. There are 13 candidates and a runoff on June 1 is expected. Polls point to a showdown between the liberal mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, and Karol Nawrocki, a historian backed by the national conservative Law and Justice party. The campaign has been dominated by security concerns. War continues across the border in Ukraine. There are doubts about U.S. commitment to Europe’s security, and fears about Russian interference in a region once under Soviet control. (AP)

-Orban rival protests rapprochement with Romania's nationalist presidential frontrunner: Hungary's opposition leader Peter Magyar embarked on a 300 kilometre march to Romania on Wednesday to protest against Prime Minister Viktor Orban's rapprochement with the far-right frontrunner in the neighbouring country's presidential election. Magyar has said the 12-day walk aims to highlight what he calls Orban's betrayal of ethnic Hungarians living in Romania by backing nationalist eurosceptic George Simion against centrist Nicusor Dan in Sunday's presidential runoff. Orban said last week he would support Simion if he wins. He also promised Hungary's backing in what he dubbed the "struggle for Christianity and sovereignty" within the European Union. His comments sparked uproar among Romania's one million ethnic Hungarians, whose religious and political leaders have said Simion's victory could threaten minority rights. (AFP)

-Trump's sanctions on ICC prosecutor have halted tribunal's work: Nearly three months ago, U.S. President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan. Since then the British barrister has lost access to his email and his bank accounts have been frozen. American staffers at The Hague-based court have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest and non-governmental organizations have stopped working with the ICC. “Work has ground to a halt," one official said. (AP)

-China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army: China said Thursday it was ready to "expand practical cooperation" with the Russian army, after President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Moscow for a lavish World War II Victory Day parade. On Thursday, in response to a question linked to Xi's visit asking how China would promote military-to-military ties with Russia, the defence ministry said the relationship was "operating at a high level". (AFP)

· "The Chinese military stands ready to work with the Russian side to further deepen strategic mutual trust, step up strategic communication, and expand practical cooperation," defence ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said in a response posted to social media platform WeChat. The moves would "enrich the content of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era", Jiang said. He added that they would also "contribute to maintaining and strengthening global strategic stability".

-End of nuclear in Taiwan fans energy security fears: Taiwan will turn off its last nuclear reactor on Saturday, fuelling concerns over the self-ruled island's reliance on imported energy and vulnerability to a Chinese blockade. The island, which targets net-zero emissions by 2050, depends almost entirely on imported fossil fuel to power its homes, factories and critical semiconductor chip industry. President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive Party has long vowed to phase out nuclear power, while the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party says continued supply is needed for energy security. (AFP)

-Indonesia military says 18 separatists killed in operation in Papua region: Indonesia's military has killed 18 Papuan separatists during an operation in its easternmost region of Papua, an official said on Thursday. The military seized dozens of munitions, including an assault rifle, bows and arrows and an unspecified homemade weapon during Wednesday's operation, military spokesperson Kristomei Sianturi said in a statement. (Reuters)

· Rebels have fought a low-level campaign for independence in the resource-rich Papua region bordering Papua New Guinea ever since the area was controversially brought under Indonesian control following Dutch rule in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969. The rebels have previously taken foreigners hostage, including a group of 26 wildlife researchers in 1996 and a New Zealand pilot who was released last year after being held for 19 months. Last month, the rebels said they had killed more than 17 people, saying they were soldiers disguised as gold miners.

-Australia PM Albanese meets Indonesia counterpart in first international visit since re-election: Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on defence cooperation and global trade on Thursday, describing Jakarta as an "indispenable partner" on his first international visit since his re-election. Albanese, sworn into office on Tuesday after his centre-left Labor party won an increased majority in parliament, said his visit showed the priority Canberra placed on defence and economic ties with Jakarta. Australia wants to increase economic ties with Southeast Asia, as it seeks to diversify export markets to reduce reliance on China, and in response to trade uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. (Reuters)

· "Indonesia is an indispensable partner for Australia," he said in opening remarks, meeting with Prabowo and ministers at the Presidential Palace. He urged Prabowo to forge closer defence ties with Australia, after an agreement was struck last year covering maritime security, counter-terrorism and disaster response. “Security is built on the sovereignty of every nation and the rules that govern all nations,” he said when the two leaders addressed the media after their meeting.

· Indonesia committed to completing the ratification of the defence agreement, Prabowo said. “We will continue discussing the opportunities to improve and increase cooperation in defence sector," he said. Trade and investment, food security, energy transition and critical minerals were also discussed, Prabowo said. "We also invite Australia to participate more in our economy. It is important to strengthen such cooperation amid global economy uncertainty," he added.

-Germany, Philippines sign defence agreement: Germany and the Philippines have agreed to enhance defence ties and boost joint activities as Manila builds up a range of alliances to strengthen its position in a longstanding dispute with China in the contested South China Sea. Philippine defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro and German counterpart Boris Pistorius signed an "arrangement concerning defence cooperation" in Berlin on Wednesday, agreeing to expand cooperation to include cyber security, defence armament and logistics and United Nations peacekeeping, Manila's defence ministry announced on Thursday. (Reuters)

-Indian army operation on Myanmar border kills 10 insurgents: Indian Army said at least 10 militants were killed in an operation still underway in the troubled northeastern state of Manipur, bordering Myanmar. The deaths came months after Reuters reported in November that Indian militant groups that sought refuge in Myanmar and fought in its civil war had begun streaming back across the border to Manipur. Stability has been at risk along the shared 1,650-km (1,025-mile) border from the civil war in Myanmar after a military coup ousted an elected civilian government in February 2021. On the Indian side, ethnic strife in Manipur since May 2023 has led to the deaths of nearly 260, with more than 60,000 displaced. (Reuters)

-New Zealand government to set up $112 million social investment fund: The New Zealand government said on Thursday it would set up a new NZ$190 million ($112 million) social investment fund in its 2025 budget to make targeted investments designed to help improve the lives of its vulnerable people. Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the fund will invest in 20 initiatives over the next year, with a tracking system built into the programmes to check its impacts. (Reuters)

-Canadian PM criticises UK's invite to Trump for state visit: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has criticised Britain's invitation to Donald Trump for a second state visit, saying it undermined his government's effort to project a united front against the U.S. president's talk of annexing Canada. Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly said he wants Canada to become the 51st U.S. state, a suggestion that has angered Canadians and left Britain trying to tread a fine line between the two North American countries. (Reuters)

-Retired judge arrested over Mexico mass student disappearance: Mexican authorities on Wednesday arrested a former senior judge in connection with the disappearance and presumed murder of 43 students a decade ago. Lambertina Galeana, who faces charges of forced disappearance, is accused of helping to conceal videos that allegedly showed the tragedy unfolding, a government statement said. The case, one of the violence-plagued country's worst human rights atrocities, has become emblematic of a missing persons crisis that has seen more than 120,000 people disappear. Galeana, now retired, was president of the Superior Court of Justice in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, where the students from a rural teacher training college disappeared in September 2014. (AFP)

-Colombia Senate blocks president's labor reform referendum: Colombia's Senate on Wednesday rejected a 12-question referendum on a labor reform backed by President Gustavo Petro, the latest defeat on the issue for the leftist leader, who says the reform will improve conditions for workers. Lawmakers had previously rejected the reform - which would enshrine an eight-hour daytime work day, increase weekend and holiday pay and require social security payments for delivery app drivers, among other measures. (Reuters)

-Violence-plagued Peru gets fourth PM in under three years: Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Wednesday appointed her fourth prime minister in under three years amid fresh protests over the government's handling of a surge in gang violence. On Tuesday, Boluarte's most trusted ally Gustavo Adrianzen resigned to avoid being ousted by Congress in a no-confidence vote over spiralling numbers of murders and extortion rackets. Former justice minister Eduardo Arana, 59, was sworn in Wednesday as his successor. Boluarte, one of the most unpopular presidents in recent Peruvian history with an approval rating of around two percent, reshuffled her cabinet ahead of the confidence vote to prevent the government collapsing. (AFP)

-South Africa's president to visit US next week to meet Trump: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will travel to the United States on a working visit next week and will meet U.S. President Donald Trump on May 21, Ramaphosa's office said in a statement late on Wednesday. "President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest," South Africa's presidency said. (Reuters)

-South Africa’s leader criticized Afrikaners going to the U.S.: President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa decried the dozens of white South Africans who have already left for the U.S. as “cowardly.” Over 8,000 more have expressed interest in resettling in the U.S. “They are running away” from a duty to help South Africa solve its problems, he said on Tuesday, adding, “When you run away, you are a coward.” The government strongly rejected the Trump administration’s assertion that Afrikaners, members of a white minority that ruled during apartheid Africa, should be eligible for refugee status. (NYT)

· Context: Trump has long spread conspiracy theories about the mistreatment of white South Africans. His close adviser Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, has shared similar views on social media. Each has argued that the lives of white farmers are in jeopardy, a claim that the evidence does not support.

-Judge to hear Mali's request to reopen Barrick mine under new management, official says: A court in Mali will hold a hearing on Thursday to consider a request made by Mali's military government to reopen Canadian miner Barrick's Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine under a provisional administration, a court official said. Granting the request would represent a major escalation of a dispute between the West African country and the Canadian miner after operations at the complex were suspended in January in a dispute over taxes and ownership. (Reuters)

-A French mining company sues Niger after its director disappears and offices are raided: French uranium mining company Orano has sued the government of Niger after the disappearance of its director and the raiding of its local offices, as military authorities in the west African country tighten their grip on foreign companies and civil society. “Orano deplores this intervention, for which no legal basis nor reason has been offered," Orano said in a statement late Tuesday, accusing authorities of arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and “unjust confiscation of the property of Nigerien companies, subsidiaries of Orano and the State of Niger itself.” The company's director was reportedly detained earlier this month. The company says the raids in Niamey, the capital, seized staff's electronic devices and cellphones. (AP)

-Al Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for Burkina attack, says it killed 60 soldiers: Al Qaeda affiliate JNIM has claimed responsibility for an attack targeting a military post in Burkina Faso's northern Loroum province in which the group said 60 soldiers were killed, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Tuesday. The U.S.-based non-governmental organization, which tracks online activity of Islamist militants, said JNIM had posted messages on Monday and Tuesday in which it took credit for four assaults in Burkina Faso and Mali. The attacks highlight the difficulties the three Sahel nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, ruled by military leaders, are facing in containing the insurgents. (Reuters)

-Libya fighting eases after announcement of truce: The worst fighting in Libya's capital for years calmed on Wednesday after the government announced a ceasefire, Tripoli residents said, while there was no immediate statement from authorities on how many people had been killed. Clashes broke out late on Monday after the killing of a major militia leader. After calming on Tuesday morning, the fighting reignited overnight, with major battles rocking districts across the entire city. "Regular forces, in coordination with the relevant security authorities, have begun taking the necessary measures to ensure calm, including the deployment of neutral units," the defence ministry said. The ministry said the neutral units it was deploying around sensitive sites were from the police force, which does not carry heavy weapons. (Reuters)

-Gabon transfers wife and son of former President Bongo to house arrest: The wife and son of Gabon's former president have been transferred from prison to house arrest, though it is unclear when they might stand trial for alleged financial crimes, two sources told Reuters. Sylvia Bongo, 62, and Nourredin Bongo, 33, were taken into custody shortly after Ali Bongo was toppled in a military coup more than a year and a half ago. They had most recently been held in basement cells in the presidential palace in Libreville, one of the sources said. Sylvia Bongo and Nourredin Bongo stand accused of crimes including embezzlement and money laundering. Their supporters have said they were tortured in custody. (Reuters)

BORDER

-US military zones on Mexico border sow legal confusion: Cases of migrants caught in new military zones on the U.S.-Mexico border have been stalled over legal confusion, and lawyers and a U.S. senator on Wednesday raised concerns over whether people actually know when they are entering the zones. The U.S. Army starting last month set up the zones in New Mexico and Texas as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Troops are allowed to detain trespassers. Defense lawyers say migrants are unaware they are entering the zones and locals fear being charged for trespassing in desert areas popular with hikers, mountain bikers and hunters. (Reuters)

· On May 1 a U.S. judge asked New Mexico’s U.S. attorney to explain his legal basis for charges against migrants caught in the so-called National Defense Areas. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a May 9 social media post that migrants faced combined charges of up to 10 years in prison when they crossed the border illegally into a military zone. At issue is whether migrants, or U.S. citizens, know they are trespassing in a military zone, which in New Mexico spans a 180-mile-long strip of border.

· In a letter to Hegseth on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat of New Mexico, said the military zones raised public access issues for people who use the area for outdoor recreation and ranching. He asked whether the Army would install signs to mark the New Mexico zone’s boundaries, if the entire 110,000-acre (44,515 hectare) area was not open to the public.

· Over 300 people have been reported detained in the New Mexico military area, according to Heinrich. “I have deep concerns that the Trump Administration is bypassing due process for individuals who either intentionally or unintentionally enter this newly restricted area,” Heinrich wrote. The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

-New militarized border zone spurs national security charges against hundreds of immigrants: Several hundred immigrants have been charged with unauthorized access to a newly designated militarized zone along the southern U.S. border in New Mexico and western Texas since the Department of Justice introduced the new approach in late April. (AP)

· President Donald Trump's administration has transferred oversight of a strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border to the military while authorizing U.S. troops to temporarily detain immigrants in the country illegally — though there's no record of troops exercising that authority as U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducts arrests. The designated national defense areas are overseen by U.S. Army commands out of Fort Bliss in the El Paso area in Texas and Fort Huachuca in Arizona.

· The novel national security charges against immigrants who enter through those militarized zones carry a potential sentence of 18 months in prison on top of a possible six month sentence for illegal entry. The full implications are unclear for migrants who pursue legal status through separate proceedings in federal immigration court.

· The Trump administration is seeking to accelerate mass removals of immigrants in the country illegally and third-country deportations, including Venezuelans sent to an El Salvador prison amid accusations of gang affiliation. The administration has deployed thousands of troops to the border, while arrests have plunged to the lowest levels since the mid-1960s.

· The federal public defender's office in Las Cruces indicates that roughly 400 cases had been filed in criminal court there as of Tuesday as it seeks dismissal of the misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor charges for violating security regulations and entering restricted military property. Court records show that federal prosecutors in Texas — where a National Defense Area extends about 60 miles (97 kilometers) from El Paso to Fort Hancock — last week began filing the military security charges as well.

· Las Cruces-based federal Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth is asking for input from federal prosecutors and public defense attorneys on the standard of proof for the trespassing charges “given the unprecedented nature of prosecuting such offenses in this factual context.” Public defenders say there needs to be proof that immigrants knew of the military restrictions and acted “in defiance of that regulation for some nefarious or bad purpose.”

-US homeland chief says illegal immigration levels could warrant suspending habeas corpus: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Wednesday that she believes recent levels of illegal immigration could provide a sufficient legal rationale to suspend habeas corpus, the right of someone in the U.S. to challenge their detention. During a hearing before a U.S. House of Representatives committee, Noem said she thought high levels of illegal border crossings under former President Joe Biden qualified under the U.S. Constitution as a reason to suspend the fundamental right. (Reuters)

· Representative Eli Crane, a Republican, asked Noem if she thought migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border qualified as a “rebellion or invasion” that could allow for the suspension of habeas corpus.

· “I’m not a constitutional lawyer, but I believe it does,” Noem said. U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign after taking office in January, declaring illegal immigration an “invasion” in an attempt to ramp up deportations. Trump in March invoked a wartime statute to rapidly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, but the Supreme Court issued an order in April that called for possible deportees to have a chance to contest the removal.

-ICE head recognizes Congress' role in visiting detention facilities, even unannounced: The head of the Department of Homeland Security's immigration enforcement agency on Wednesday recognized the right of members of Congress to visit detention facilities, even unannounced, while the department's secretary said members of Congress should have requested a tour of an immigration detention facility in New Jersey where a skirmish broke out last week. (AP)

· The slightly divergent comments by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, came in separate congressional committee hearings Wednesday. Three members of Congress have said that they went to the facility to inspect it as a matter of congressional oversight and that federal agents escalated the situation by arresting the mayor of Newark, who was also trying to enter. DHS has blamed the lawmakers, accusing them of trying to break into the detention center.

· Noem dived straight into the brewing controversy during her opening statement. ”What happened on May 9 was not oversight. It was a political stunt," she said. DHS later followed up on Noem's remarks with a news release once again accusing the representatives of storming the facility and “reminding” members of Congress of the visitation rules.

· Lyons addressed the issue as well after being questioned by Rep. Lauren Underwood, a Democrat from Illinois. “We do acknowledge that any member of Congress has the right to show up for an inspection at one of our facilities in their oversight capability,” Lyons said. He also said that while those visits are “unannounced,” members need to show identification and go through screening and can’t bring contraband.

-ICE Requests More Beds: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking to shuffle $312.5 million to expand immigrant jail capacity, according to the top House Republican overseeing homeland security appropriations. House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee Chair Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) questioned ICE acting Director Todd Lyons about the plan during a hearing Wednesday, asking how much space it would create and whether ICE can avoid a budget shortfall. Lyons said the money would get the agency up to 60,000 detention beds and pledged to work within its budget to avoid a shortage. (Bloomberg)

· ICE currently operates around 52,000 beds, above the 41,500 Congress provided funding for in the latest appropriations cycle, according to Rep. Lauren Underwood (Ill.), the top House Democrat overseeing homeland funding. Surging capacity even more requires moving money from other purposes, though lawmakers didn’t specify where the money would move from, and ICE didn’t respond to questions about it.

· Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who oversees homeland funding in the Senate, said she’s engaging with the department to understand the request but noted that reprogramming requests “are ordinary occurrences for which the department has the authority.”

-At Supreme Court, a Once-Fringe Birthright Citizenship Theory Takes the Spotlight: Before the Trump presidency, there was broad consensus that the 14th Amendment established birthright citizenship for children born in the United States. Shortly after the Supreme Court announced in April that it would consider the nationwide freeze on President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, he gleefully spoke to reporters in the Oval Office. (NYT)

· Mr. Trump said that he was “so happy” the justices would take up the citizenship issue because it had been “so misunderstood.” The 14th Amendment, he said — long held to grant citizenship to anyone born in the United States — is actually “about slavery.” “That’s not about tourists coming in and touching a piece of sand and then all of the sudden there’s citizenship,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “That is all about slavery.”

· For more than a century, most scholars and the courts have agreed that though the 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution after the Civil War, it was not, in fact, all about slavery. Instead, courts have held that the amendment extended citizenship not just to the children of former slaves but also to babies born within the borders of the United States.

· The notion that the amendment might not do so was once considered an unorthodox theory, promoted by an obscure California law professor named John Eastman and his colleagues at the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank — the same professor who would later provide Mr. Trump with legal arguments he used to try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

· The story of how the theory moved from the far edges of academia to the Oval Office and, on Thursday, to the Supreme Court, offers insight into how Mr. Trump has popularized legal theories once considered unthinkable to justify his immigration policies. “They have been pushing it for decades,” said John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and a top lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. “It was thought to be a wacky idea that only political philosophers would buy. They’ve finally got a president who agrees.”

-Pro-Palestinian Georgetown student ordered released from US custody: A Georgetown University student from India whom the Trump administration detained over his pro-Palestinian activism must be released, a U.S. federal judge ordered on Wednesday. The Trump administration wants to deport Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at the Washington, D.C., university. He was detained in March by immigration authorities, accused of spreading Palestinian militant propaganda and antisemitism. (Reuters)

GUNS

-US Republican budget proposal has removal of gun silencer tax in its sights: U.S. Republican tax writers pushing through President Donald Trump's signature tax cut priorities proposed to eliminate a customer tax on firearm silencers, a tax potentially undoing the almost 100-year-old tax. If the bill is passed by Congress and enacted into law, Americans would no longer be charged $200 when purchasing a firearm silencer, also called a suppressor, an add-on feature that reduces the sound of a gunshot. (Reuters)

· The firearm silencer tweak is only 12 lines in the almost-400-page bill, but represents a potential grassroots win for gun-rights groups that want to deregulate purchases of firearm suppressors, which currently require special approval from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

· The suppressor tax has been on the books since the 1934 National Firearms Act, and 4.5 million suppressors were registered with the federal government by the end of 2024, according to data from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. On average, a firearm suppressor costs about $830 at retail, the group said. Repealing this tax would cost $1.4 billion dollars over a decade, according to analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation.

· House Republicans applauded Representative Eric Burlison, from Missouri, when he rose at his party’s January meeting in Miami to push tax committee leadership to eliminate the suppressor tax. “This is about making sure that people keep their hearing at the end of the day,” Burlison said in an interview, noting he also questions whether the tax infringes the right to bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

· Burlison said he worked with Representative Rudy Yakym, a Republican tax writer from Indiana, to make progress on the silencer tax cut while foregoing a repeal of the same tax for short barrel rifle purchases due to “heartburn” from the larger tax committee.

· Democrats tried to strike this silencer tax provision from the bill during legislative debate in the middle of Tuesday night. Republicans defeated the amendment. Representative Mike Thompson, a California Democrat, argued the silencer change will “make it harder for victims of mass shootings to know where the shots are coming from as they’re trying to run for cover.” “As a combat veteran, a lifelong hunter and gun owner, I can tell you this has nothing to do with hearing protection, but everything to do about making money for one segment of the gun industry,” Thompson said.

· The Fraternal Order of Police and the National Association of Police Organizations did not respond to requests for comment about the tax change. Meanwhile, pro-gun lobbyists like the American Firearms Association said this tax tweak does not go far enough, calling the change “nothing more than a crumb dropped from the King’s table." "It's vital that Republicans use the majorities they have in the House, Senate and control of the White House to completely deregulate suppressors and short barrel rifles, and even more importantly, abolish the ATF and repeal the National Firearms Act," said vice president Patrick Parsons.

-House Democrat Jill Tokuda Introducing Bill to Track Triggers, Gun Barrels: U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI) is introducing legislation that would mandate triggers, barrels, and other gun parts be tracked after being sold. Island News reported that Tokuda’s bill, the Gun Hardware Oversight and Shipment Tracking Act (Ghost Act), is designed to track gun parts as a way of helping law enforcement find so-called “ghost guns.” (Breitbart)

· Hawaii News Now noted the legislation “will allow law enforcement to track gun parts coming into the state and who ordered them.” Tokuda said, “Let’s not make it easy for people to buy the parts that they need to make weapons of destruction, endangering law enforcement, killing everyday people, and innocent lives across this country. That’s what the Ghost Act is all about.” She also said, “The more we can get these ghost guns [and] privately manufactured firearms off the streets, that’s going to keep us safer.”

· On April 29, 2025, Breitbart News pointed out that California state Sen. Jesse Arreguín (D-CA) was pushing legislation in his state to require background checks for firearm barrel purchases. Moreover, Arreguín’s bill, SB 704, prohibits the online sale of aftermarket or replacement barrels, mandating that all sales be conducted in person where a background check can be processed.

-Weighing run for governor, David Jolly proposes gun liability insurance to reduce violence: When it comes to guns, doing nothing can be an accomplishment for the Florida Legislature. Now, David Jolly is asking voters if they are OK with that. Jolly is a former Republican congressman from St. Petersburg introducing himself to voters elsewhere as a potential Democratic candidate for governor. He's holding a series of town halls; among the things he's talking about is gun violence. (Naples Daily News)

· At an April 30 town hall in Broward County, he said lawmakers should look into requiring liability insurance for firearms as a way to reduce gun violence. The idea is to leverage the profit motives of insurance companies as part of a responsible gun ownership framework. One catch: The idea is under challenge in the courts.

· Nonetheless, a change in approach is needed, according to Jolly: Florida witnessed six mass shootings – defined as an incident involving four people injured or killed, not including the shooter – in the first four months of 2025. The shootings claimed 10 lives and injured 20.

· There have been 19 mass shootings in the state since 1987, when lawmakers began a spree of repealing gun control measures to make firearms more easily accessible.

· According to information from the Statista data company, combined with the Gun Violence Archive daily totals, Florida is third in the number of mass shootings since 1982, behind California with 35 and Texas with 29.

· In a follow-up conversation with the Democrat, Jolly said a major obstacle to reducing gun violence is that the “Republican majority in Tallahassee won’t even consider talking about gun safety measures.” While Luis Valdes of Gun Owners of America calls liability insurance for firearms a violation of civil liberties – “We don’t force insurance on free speech. Why guns?” Valdes said – he probably doesn’t need to worry about the conversation Jolly wants to have.

· The GOP supermajority at the Capitol, backed by a base of Second Amendment absolutists, rarely allow such a proposal or any gun safety measure to see the light of a committee hearing. For seven years straight, Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, has filed bills to strengthen background checks for firearms purchases and require safe storage requirements to no avail. None of her bills have ever been scheduled for a hearing.

-Domestic Violence Misdemeanors May Lead to Ban on Gun Possession: A federal law that prohibited a defendant who had three previous misdemeanor domestic violence convictions from possessing a gun is valid under the Second Amendment, the Fourth Circuit said Wednesday. (Bloomberg)

· The law is valid under US Supreme Court opinions in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen and United States v. Rahimi, because the US has a history of disarming individuals who present a credible threat to the safety of others, Judge G. Steven Agee said for the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

· Under 18 USC §922(g)(9), a person convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” is prohibited from possessing a gun. David Nutter, who had three such convictions from West Virginia, pleaded guilty to violating §922(g)(9), but reserved the right to challenge the statue’s validity on appeal.

-Supreme Court decisions: Top cases to watch: Decision season starts Thursday for the Supreme Court, kicking off a race against the clock to release this term’s opinions before the court’s summer break begins. The justices are set to hand down major decisions implicating the role of religion in public life, efforts to restrict gender-affirming care and a host of environmental issues. Here’s a look at the major cases this term: (The Hill)

· Mexico’s suit against US gun makers: Case name: Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. What they’re weighing: Is Mexico’s lawsuit against the American firearms industry barred by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA)? Mexico sued a group of prominent American firearms companies over their guns turning up in cartel violence, seeking $10 billion and injunctive relief that would change the state of U.S. firearm regulation. But in 2005, Congress passed the PLCAA, which provides broad legal immunity to the gun industry. The Supreme Court is hearing the gun industry’s appeal after a lower court held Mexico’s lawsuit falls under an exception to the law’s immunity shield. What it will impact: The scope of the gun industry’s liability shield.

· Ghost guns: (The Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision upheld the Biden administration’s rule.) Case name: Bondi v. VanDerStock. What they’re weighing: Is the Biden administration’s crackdown on “ghost guns” legal? In 2022, the Biden-era Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued a rule cracking down on “ghost guns,” subjecting them to background-check, licensing and other requirements. The Supreme Court is reviewing whether that the Biden administration could do so by deeming ghost guns as “firearms” under the Gun Control Act of 1968. The case does not implicate the Second Amendment. What it will impact: The executive branch’s ability to regulate ghost guns without congressional approval.

-Former Michigan National Guardsman accused of plotting attack on US Army base: FBI agents have arrested a former member of the Michigan Army National Guard accused of planning to carry out a mass shooting this week on behalf of Islamic State at a U.S. military base near Detroit, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. Agents arrested Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, on Tuesday after he traveled to an area near the Army installation and launched a surveillance drone in support of the attack plan, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit said in a statement. Said is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device, according to the government's 42-page criminal complaint. If convicted, Said could face up to 20 years in prison on each count, federal prosecutors said. (NYT, Reuters)

· According to the complaint, Said spent months planning the attack with two undercover officers posing as IS operatives. The target of the alleged plot was the Army's Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command facility at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan, about 20 miles north of Detroit. In addition to flying his drone over the base to conduct "operational reconnaissance and surveillance," Said supplied armor-piercing ammunition and magazines that he believed would be used in the attack, the complaint said.

· Said, a resident of Melvindale, Michigan, another Detroit suburb, enlisted in the Michigan National Guard in September 2022 and was discharged in late 2024, months after he allegedly began telling undercover investigators he was "fed up with" the U.S., according to the complaint. It said Said pledged loyalty to an IS leader and that he boasted about the grenade and firearms training he received while a National Guard soldier and his ability to take apart and reassemble an assault rifle with his eyes closed.

· Brig. Gen. Rhett R. Cox, the commanding general of the Army Counterintelligence Command, said in a statement on Wednesday that Mr. Said’s arrest was a “sobering reminder” of the importance of counterintelligence efforts. “We urge all soldiers to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to their chain of command, as the safety and security of our Army and our nation depends on our collective efforts to prevent insider threats,” General Cox said.

-A mom is accused of buying ammunition and tactical gear for her son, who authorities say was planning 'mass targeted violence' at a Texas school: A Texas mother is accused of buying ammunition and tactical gear for her son, who investigators say was planning "mass targeted violence" at a San Antonio school, according to an arrest affidavit. (CNN)

· Ashley Pardo, 33, was arrested Monday and charged with aiding in commission of terrorism. Authorities say she provided her son material support and resources with the knowledge they would be used to plan and carry out an attack. The alleged plot placed Jeremiah Rhodes Middle School “in further fear of serious bodily injury,” according to a Bexar County arrest affidavit obtained by CNN affiliate KSAT.

· Despite being contacted by local law enforcement, child protective services and school personnel - and knowing about her son’s desire to “commit acts of mass violence” - Pardo told the school she was not concerned about his behavior, the affidavit says. Authorities say she purchased tactical gear, ammunition and supplies for her son in exchange for babysitting his younger siblings. She “intentionally and knowingly aided” her son, the affidavit states.

· “The Defendant’s refusal to see [her son’s] concerning behavior and her assistance in gathering items for him that have been found to have been used in other acts of mass targeted violence, it is believed she is facilitating the [boy’s] desire to carry out his threats," authorities said in the affidavit.

-Man accused of Trump assassination attempt in Florida seeks dismissal of some gun charges: Attorneys for a man awaiting trial on federal charges of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year at his Florida golf course asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss the gun-related charges against him and bar a witness identification as “unreliable.” (AP)

· Ryan Routh appeared in a Fort Pierce courtroom as Sowmya Bharathi, an assistant federal public defender, went before a judge. Bharathi said two charges Routh faces — possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number — should be dropped under his 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

· Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010, according to court records cited previously by the Department of Justice in a statement announcing his indictment. Bharathi, however, cited a “deep split” in circuit courts over whether “felons could be wholesale disenfranchised from their 2nd Amendment rights.” “The government has not shown that this prior conviction would allow Congress to permanently disarm him,” Bharathi told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Bharathi continued that even without a serial number on a gun, that does not take away the ability to possess a firearm.

· John Shipley, an assistant U.S. attorney, countered by saying the law clearly shows an “absolute consensus” that a firearm with an obliterated serial number is “not a weapon with any lawful purpose.” “The law is clear with that,” Shipley said. “I don’t think there’s any precedent at all for the position they are asking you to take.”

-Free gun locks offered by Kent County Veterans Services: Kent County residents will be able to get a free gun lock, while supplies last, beginning on May 14. Kent County Veterans Services (KCVS) is offering free firearm cable locks at their location at 836 Fuller Avenue Northeast in Grand Rapids. They will have more than 400 cable locks to hand out as part of a donation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in an effort to help prevent veteran suicides and protect veterans and their families. (WZZM)

· KCVS said the devices are a powerful tool that can reduce access to firearms during moments of crisis, giving a pause that can help save lives. "We’re honoring our veterans not just with words, but with action by providing gun locks to support safe storage and prevent tragedy," said Gayle Witham, Community Engagement Partnership Coordinator at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs' Battle Creek VA Medical Center. "It’s a simple, powerful step to help keep veterans and their loved ones safe at home and in the community."

· A 2022 Veteran Affairs National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report found that 6,407 U.S. veterans died by suicide that year. “Even one life lost is too many,” said Ryan Grams, Director of Kent County Veterans Services. “These gun locks are a small but potentially life-saving resource. We encourage veterans and their families to take advantage of this free tool as part of a broader approach to safety and wellness.”

-Minnesota's suicide rates remain unchanged, health department says: The Minnesota Department of Health says the state's suicide rate remained unchanged last year compared to the year before. The state's suicide rate last year in rural counties was twice that of the Twin Cities metro counties. Those rural counties make up about 1.6% of the Minnesota population -- but 2.8% of all suicide deaths. (CBS Minnesota)

· A promising solution is hoping to prevent firearm-related suicides. Protect Minnesota, a statewide gun violence prevention organization, has partnered with the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Medical Association and Health Partners Institute to launch a website with a map of firearm storage options.

· “This is not a question of taking your guns or of you being forced to give your guns up,” said Maggiy Emery, executive director of Protect Minnesota. “Folks can seek it out and choose to use it for themselves or they can be referred into it by their health care professional.”

· A new statewide initiative is hoping to prevent suicide by helping Minnesotans voluntarily and safely store their firearms outside the home until they are ready to take them back.

AMERICAN MANUFACTURING

-How Trump's man in Beijing swung from trade globalist to China hawk: The new U.S. envoy to China, Ambassador David Perdue is a former champion of global trade turned China hawk who will emphasize his close ties to President Donald Trump as he seeks to restore crucial lines of communication between Washington and Beijing. Perdue, a one-time Republican Senator for Georgia, arrived in Beijing Thursday, according to a post on his X account. He replaces career diplomat Nicholas Burns, a pick of former President Joe Biden, who left in January. Perdue’s arrival will be closely watched after both sides reached an unexpected truce in Geneva last weekend, pausing a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies that had stoked fears of a global recession. (Reuters)

· “It is an honor to represent President Trump,” Perdue wrote on his official X account Thursday, accompanied by a selfie taken outside the embassy building. “I am ready to get to work here and make America safer, stronger and more prosperous.”

· Analysts say Perdue, who was a prominent Senate ally for Trump in his first term, will use his ties to Trump as he seeks to gain credibility with Chinese interlocutors to help push through a trade deal.

· “I would describe David Perdue as having one of the closest relationships with the President of any of our ambassadors,” Republican Senator Steve Daines told Reuters in an interview. “President Trump has picked the right man, at the right time, for this most important responsibility.”

· Perdue is also tasked with helping to convince Beijing to stop the flow to the U.S. of ingredients used to manufacture the deadly opioid fentanyl, the reason behind 20% of Washington’s remaining tariffs on China. Daines said he and Perdue have discussed the issue “at length,” including a proposal offered by Chinese Premier Li Qiang in March during Daines’ visit to Beijing.

· Daines suggested both sides could structure a tariff reduction deal around whether Beijing commits to effectively stopping the precursor flow within a set timeframe, though it remains up to the two countries’ negotiators to hammer out such steps.

· China’s foreign ministry said Wednesday it is “willing to facilitate” Perdue’s arrival in Beijing to take up his duties. Reuters has contacted the U.S. Embassy in Beijing for comment.

-China suspends some non-tariff countermeasures after US trade talks: China on Wednesday said it was suspending some non-tariff countermeasures against the United States, in another de-escalation of the trade war with Washington following high-level talks in Switzerland. Beijing will suspend certain restrictions on dozens of US defence and aerospace firms "to implement the consensus reached at the China-US high-level economic and trade talks", a spokesperson for the Chinese commerce ministry said. (AFP)

· Beijing's commerce ministry confirmed in its statement Wednesday that it was suspending for 90 days measures that put 28 US entities -- including defence and aviation firms -- on the "export control list". That list bars firms from receiving "dual-use" items that could be used for both civilian and military purposes. And in a separate statement Wednesday, the ministry said it was pausing measures that added 17 US entities -- including defence, auto and artificial intelligence firms -- to the "unreliable entity list".

-Ketchup maker Kraft Heinz investing $3 billion upgrading US manufacturing: Kraft Heinz is spending $3 billion to upgrade its U.S. factories, its largest investment in its plants in a decade, even as executives say consumer sentiment is at its second-lowest point in 70 years, and it has cut sales and profit forecasts. The upgrades will help lower costs by making the plants more efficient, which in turn may help offset President Donald Trump's tariffs, which factored into the company's decision to make the investment, said Pedro Navio, Kraft Heinz's president of North America, in an interview with Reuters. (Reuters)

-Ford to recall more than 273,000 vehicles: Ford Motor is recalling 273,789 vehicles in the United States as a loss of brake function may increase the risk of a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday. The recall affects certain 2022-2024 model Navigator and Expedition vehicles, NHTSA added. (Reuters)

-Japanese Carmakers Face $19 Billion Hit From Trump’s Tariffs: Japan’s biggest carmakers are looking at a hit of more than $19 billion from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs that have left the global auto industry reeling. The industry’s top brands warned of a weaker financial performance this year, or withheld guidance altogether, as they tallied up the potential cost of Trump’s ever-changing policies on imports of cars and auto parts. The impact is likely to linger for years as the uncertainty spurs carmakers to re-think their North American investment and production. (Bloomberg)

· Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, is likely to be the worst hit. It said last week it expects a ¥180 billion ($1.2 billion) impact to operating income in April and May alone. The figure could be as much as $10.7 billion for the whole fiscal year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Pelham Smithers analyst Julie Boote forecasts between $5.4 billion and $6.8 billion.

· Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. both estimate a $3 billion impact. Subaru Corp., which imports roughly half of the cars it sells in the US, also skipped annual guidance as it predicted a $2.5 billion dent. Mazda Motor Corp. forwent a full-year outlook.

· Most vehicles imported into the US were hit with a 25% duty on April 3, while most auto parts become subject to that levy as of May 3. There are some executive orders that prevent tariffs from doubling up, but the policies are expected to add thousands of dollars to the price of cars in the US.

· The US is the biggest market for Japan’s top carmakers, which utilize factories in Mexico or Canada to build vehicles that are then sent across the border. But Trump’s import tariffs now make that an expensive, if not unviable, practice and left companies struggling with the costly dilemma of how to overhaul their supply chains to escape the duties.

ECONOMY

-Stocks Set to Fall as Trade Deal Rally Fizzles Out: Stocks looked set to open in the red on Thursday as the relief rally sparked by this week’s U.S.-China tariff deal lost steam. (Barron’s)

· Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 207 points, or 0.5%, and S&P 500 futures slipped 0.3%. Contracts tied to the Nasdaq 100 were down 0.2%, putting the tech-heavy gauge’s six-day winning streak at risk.

· The three indexes surged at the start of this week after Washington and Beijing brokered a deal to scale back tariffs for 90 days, but the market will need further catalysts to carry on rising. President Donald Trump’s tour of the Middle East did yield some good news Wednesday, with Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Aramco signing agreements with U.S. companies with a potential value of $90 billion.

· “Outside of tech the equity mood was actually pretty weak,” Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said in a research note, pointing out that the equal-weighted versions of both the S&P 500 and the small-cap Russell 2000 had dropped on Wednesday. “Among the reasons for a stalling of the equity rally was a relative absence of trade headlines,” he added.

· Russia and Ukraine are set to kick off peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday, but the Kremlin has said that President Vladimir Putin won’t attend. If the two countries aren’t able to agree a ceasefire deal, that could scuttle investors’ hopes of a so-called peace dividend.

· Economic data on retail sales, producer prices, and the housing market are also due on Thursday.

· The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped 2 basis points to 4.520% on Thursday. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the strength of the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was down 0.2%.

· Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by total market capitalization, was down 1.3% to $101,927 in early trading.

-Fed policymakers on hold to seek clarity from the data, but the data are not cooperating: Federal Reserve policymakers are leaving interest rates where they are while they try to assess how U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs and ongoing trade negotiations will affect prices and the economy. So far, the hard data is giving them little to go on. "We're still kind of holding our breath," Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said on Wednesday on NPR's Morning Edition radio show. "We've got a bunch of noise that we're trying to figure out the through line. (Reuters)

· A case in point: on Tuesday a widely-watched measure of inflation showed consumer prices rose a less-than-expected 2.3% in April, the smallest annual increase in four years.

· The tame reading owed mostly to a decline in food prices. Excluding food and energy prices, which can be volatile from month to month, underlying “core” inflation was 2.8%, the same as in March and too hot to be consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation goal.

· “We continue to get these numbers that at least suggest that it’s going okay,” said Goolsbee, a current voter on the Fed committee that sets interest rates. “It’s just, I think, not realistic to expect businesses or central banks to be jumping to conclusions about long-term things when you’ve got so much short-term variability. That’s just a very difficult environment.”

· The Fed has held short-term borrowing costs in the 4.25%-4.50% range at each of its three meetings so far this year, and last week Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled there is no rush to change that.

· Policymakers speaking this week echoed that sentiment.

· “We have ourselves in a good position to respond to whatever comes right now,” San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told the California Bankers Association on Wednesday. "Patience is the word of the day."

-Fed Must Be Steady Hand Amid Stock, Policy Moves, Goolsbee Says: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said that it’s important for central bankers not to respond to day-to-day volatility in equities and economic policy pronouncements, noting that economic data remain steady for now. (Bloomberg)

· “It’s important to remember that the Fed – our job is to be the steady hand, not respond to the daily gyrations either of the stock market or of policy pronouncements,” Goolsbee said in an interview on NPR that aired Wednesday morning. “And we’ve continued to get these numbers that at least suggest that it’s going OK.”

· Goolsbee noted the risk of consumers and businesses pulling back on spending and investment plans on concern about an uncertain environment. He said that last month was a moment when there was “a lot of dust in the air,” without detailing specifics. President Donald Trump on April 2 unveiled steep “reciprocal” tariffs on trading partners that roiled equities, though he later put most of them on pause.

· “We’re still kind of holding our breath,” on the economic data, Goolsbee said. In moments as those that happened in April, “you can go into some of this paralysis. But it still takes some time for that to show up in the numbers.” There’s “a bunch of noise,” but “if we can get past that, I feel like underneath there that solid hard data economy is still there,” the Chicago Fed chief said.

-Fed’s Jefferson Sees Lower Growth, Says Inflation Could Rise: Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said tariffs and related uncertainty could slow growth and boost inflation this year, but monetary policy is well positioned to respond as needed. (Bloomberg)

· Jefferson stressed heightened uncertainty about government policies, and said it is not yet clear if tariffs will have a short-lived or more persistent effect on price growth. He marked down his economic growth forecast for this year, but said he still expects the economy to continue to expand.

· “If the increases in tariffs announced so far are sustained, they are likely to interrupt progress on disinflation and generate at least a temporary rise in inflation,” Jefferson said Wednesday in prepared remarks for a conference organized by the New York Fed.

· “With the increased risks to both sides of our mandate, I believe that the current stance of monetary policy is well positioned to respond in a timely way to potential economic developments,” he added.

-The Fed Wants to Hit Its Inflation Target. Why It Might Not Get To: As Federal Reserve officials sipped wine and chatted at a conference in sunny California, tension hung in the air —a central bank preparing for a changing of the guard and, potentially, a changing of the mission. The theme of Stanford’s Hoover Institution monetary policy conference last week was “finishing the job,” a nod to the Fed’s ongoing struggle to bring inflation down to 2% while easing interest rates. But the job, as it turns out, may be unfinishable. And the institution trying to complete it may soon be reshaped. (Barron’s)

· Behind the genteel panels and policy jargon, one thing was clear: The Greenspan-to-Powell era, a 30-year arc of central bank activism, could be nearing its end. What comes next is a narrower, more restrained version of the Fed that could break with recent precedent on everything from balance sheet strategy to its very purpose. The Fed’s intellectual tool kit—the framework guiding how it interprets data and steers the economy—is under scrutiny. And everyone is a critic.

· James Bullard, dean of Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business and former president of the St. Louis Fed, argues that the traditional model of managing inflation in a world of “sticky” prices no longer reflects reality. Prices now adjust quickly, he said, while contracts remain rigid. The Fed’s mission, then, should go beyond stabilizing inflation and to ensuring money is predictable enough to support those contracts.

· Jason Furman, a former top White House economist, sees a different problem. The Fed, he says, relies on an ever-shifting mix of indicators, leaving markets and the public guessing. He advocates for a clearer framework, while others argue the central bank should lean more heavily on rule-based approaches like the Taylor rule, rather than reacting to data in real time.

· Inside the Fed, some are calling for internal reforms. Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack has urged a re-examination of how the Fed uses its balance sheet, including the long-term implications of quantitative easing and tightening. Her predecessor, Loretta Mester, believes policy decision memos have become too terse, pushing investors to read too much into Chair Jerome Powell’s every word.

-New Retail Sales Data Are Coming. Americans’ Spending Looks to Have Slowed Down: After Americans pulled forward many big-ticket purchases in March to get ahead of potential tariff-induced price increases, spending is expected to be more muted in April. Economists surveyed by FactSet project that overall retail sales gained 0.2% month over month in April, a slowdown from the 1.4% surge in March. (Barron’s)

· The control group of retail sales that excludes purchases of autos, gasoline, building materials, and restaurant dining for a more consistent measure of spending is expected to gain 0.4% in April, the same monthly rate as March. The control sales group is worth monitoring because it feeds into calculations of gross domestic product.

· “Retail sales likely tumbled in April following a one-off jump in purchases of autos and other big ticket durable goods in March, before the tariff hikes,” writes Bill Adams, chief economist for Dallas-based Comerica Bank.

· Economists expect to see a pullback in auto sales in April. March was a blowout month as consumers bought cars and trucks ahead of expected tariffs kicking in for the sector. Morgan Stanley’s economists project auto sales will decline by 1% in April. However, the team is anticipating another strong month of restaurant sales, a good indicator to watch for early changes in Americans’ spending habits.

· While the consensus outlook for the retail sales data is for a muted increase, the range of estimates is wide, with some economists predicting an outright pullback of 0.5% and others expecting flat growth in sales. The difficulty in forecasting is due, in part, to seasonal factors such as the late-season Easter and Passover holidays, as well as challenges in determining exactly how Americans will react to tariffs, rather than a clear underlying weakness in purchasing power, writes Aditya Bhave, U.S. economist at Bank of America Global Research.

-US Spring Homebuying Season Has Its Weakest Start in Five Years: The crucial spring home-sales season in the US, barely off the runway, is already sputtering. April is normally when transactions kick into overdrive, warmer weather drawing in buyers and sellers alike. But this year, the number of signed contracts was the lowest for the month since the Covid lockdown in 2020, according to seasonally adjusted data from Redfin Corp. Deals were down 3% from last April, already seen as a low mark. (Bloomberg)

· Active listings for April also ballooned to the highest level since 2019, suggesting homes are piling up on the market. And annual median price growth, measured by completed purchases, was just 1.4%, compared with the almost 6% gain recorded in April 2024.

· Hopes for a spring bounce have run headlong into economic turmoil as high mortgage rates squeeze affordability and President Donald Trump’s trade wars spur stock swings and weigh on consumer confidence. As a result, nobody feels any urgency. Would-be buyers are staying on the sidelines and sellers are in no rush because few are in financial distress.

-Congressional Stock Ban Gains Momentum: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is helping give new life to legislation that would ban members of Congress from trading stocks, a priority of members from both parties that has long faced obstacles getting past leadership and into law. “I’m in favor of that, because I don’t think we should have any appearance of impropriety here,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. (Bloomberg)

· Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) introduced Wednesday a companion bill to Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) S. 1498, which would bar members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks. Johnson’s support adds to the momentum of the ban that secured President Donald Trump’s support last month, Maeve Sheehey, Kate Ackley and Lillianna Byington report. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), one of the House’s wealthiest and most prolific stock traders via her husband, also seems to have reversed course and now is open to the prohibition.

· Lawmakers’ market moves can risk insider trading and undermine Americans’ trust in Congress, a number of good government groups and members on the left and right say. The effort comes as Democrats have accused Trump of market manipulation and questioned whether his allies in Congress have a leg up in stock trading.

GOVERNMENT NEWS OF NOTE

-House Republicans Push Forward Plan to Cut Taxes, Medicaid and Food Aid: House Republicans on Wednesday pushed forward with major legislation to deliver President Trump’s domestic agenda, moving over the opposition of Democrats to advance cuts to taxes, Medicaid and food assistance after slogging through all-night and all-day drafting sessions. The votes, in three key committees, were a crucial step for what Mr. Trump has labeled the “big beautiful bill” that Republicans hope to push through the House by the end of next week. The approvals sent the main pieces of the legislation to the full House, where G.O.P. leaders were racing to pass it before a Memorial Day recess. (NYT)

· The measure would extend Mr. Trump’s 2017 tax cut and temporarily enact his campaign pledges not to tax tips or overtime pay. Cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and subsidies for clean energy would partly offset the roughly $3.8 trillion cost of those tax measures, as well as increased spending on the military and immigration enforcement. “The American people are counting on us to get this done and get it done quickly, and we are on target to do it,” Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, said on Wednesday morning at a news conference at the Capitol.

· Even as the committees approved their slices of the plan in party-line votes, House Republican leaders faced dissent in their ranks that could delay or derail passage. Conservative lawmakers have argued the proposed cuts to Medicaid, which stopped short of an overhaul in an effort to protect vulnerable Republicans, do not go far enough.

-Bipartisan Kids Online Safety Bill Returns: Senate leaders Wednesday revived a bipartisan effort on a landmark bill that would require major social media platforms to prevent harm to children and teenagers online. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) reintroduced the Kids Online Safety Act — a high-profile measure that came close to becoming law last Congress. The bill seeks to force technology companies such as TikTok, Snap, and Meta‘s Facebook and Instagram, to better protect their youngest users. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill last year, but House Republicans declined to hold a vote. (Bloomberg)

· House Consideration: The Senate’s reintroduction has injected new momentum on Capitol Hill. Both Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) threw their weight behind the bill — key endorsements that suggest the legislation is poised to advance. House Republicans in recent days have been tied up with advancing parts of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and spending package, but they said they expect to act. “We’re making progress. But I do want to look at their bill,” Rep. Gus Bilirakis (Fla.), the lead Republican on last year’s House version of the bill, said of the new Senate legislation. Bilirakis said they’re “pretty close” to releasing companion legislation.

-GOP’s Radio Spectrum Sale Faces Fight: Top Republicans want to auction radio spectrum to wireless broadband companies to help pay for their massive tax package, but their proposal faces stiff opposition from senators concerned about the potential impact to defense systems. (Bloomberg)

· House Markup: The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved language Wednesday authorizing 600 megahertz of sales to Verizon and Elon Musk’s Starlink, which would generate an estimated $88 billion in revenue over a decade. Telecom giants have been lobbying to restore spectrum sales to expand their broadband internet services. But the idea of auctioning spectrum has faced resistance from the Pentagon and its closest allies on Capitol Hill, who warn that changes to radars and other systems could cost hundreds of billions of dollars and impact key capabilities.

· Senate Memo: An internal Republican staff memo obtained by Bloomberg, however, said the draft Senate spectrum language would preserve existing protections for the Defense Department, including reimbursements to cover displaced spectrum and assurances they get “access to a functional equivalent.” The memo also warned that attempts to add further policy restrictions on spectrum sales could run afoul of the Senate’s Byrd Rule, which limits language in fast-track budget bills to items impacting spending or revenue.

-More than 80 lawmakers from both parties urge Trump to unfreeze FEMA funding: Members of Congress from both political parties are calling on the Trump administration to unfreeze funding for a grant program that helps local communities better prepare for natural disasters. The letter from more than 80 lawmakers urges the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin spending money already approved by Congress for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. (States Newsroom)

· “The BRIC program was established by Congress in the 2018 Disaster Recovery Reform Act and signed into law by President (Donald) Trump with bipartisan support,” the two-page letter states. “In the years since, this program has catalyzed community investments in resilient infrastructure, saving federal funds by investing in community preparedness before a disaster strikes.”

· The lawmakers wrote that BRIC grant funds go to a variety of projects and that the program has played “an essential role in helping Tribal Nations and rural communities strengthen their defenses against natural disasters and safeguard critical infrastructure.”

· “Through BRIC, Tribes and rural communities can access dedicated funding to strengthen community resilience by investing in hazard mitigation projects—such as flood protection, fire prevention, and infrastructure hardening—that are otherwise difficult to finance in rural or remote settings,” the lawmakers wrote.

· While the program “has room for improvement,” the lawmakers wrote that FEMA and Congress should work together “to improve the application review and funding distribution process to more effectively reduce the costs disasters pose to our communities, economies, and livelihoods.”

· Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, led drafting the letter in their chamber. Reps. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C.; Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; and Ed Case, D-Hawaii, spearheaded efforts in the House.

-Congressional Dems urge rescission of Schedule F regulations: A group of 27 Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday urged the Trump administration to reverse course on plans to reinstate Schedule F and strip tens of thousands of federal employees of their civil service protections. (Government Executive)

· The Office of Personnel Management published proposed rules last month governing the revival of President Trump’s first-term effort to reclassify federal workers in “policy-related” roles outside of the competitive service, making them effectively at-will employees. OPM is accepting public comments on the proposal, now renamed Schedule Policy/Career, until May 23, after which the agency is expected to finalize the rules and President Trump to sign an executive order ordering the first round of job reclassifications.

· In a letter to acting OPM Director Charles Ezell, a group of congressional Democrats led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said the administration’s plan threatens to “upend” more than a century’s worth of laws aimed at insulating the civil service from partisan influence.

· “The Trump administration has made clear its ambitions to undercut the nonpartisan civil service through the Schedule Policy/Career directive,” the lawmakers wrote. “Reclassifying civil service positions into the excepted service removes virtually all protections and rights currently afforded to civil servants. This includes due process and appeals rights that help ensure civil servants can conduct their duties without fear of politically motivated removal or retaliatory measures.”

-Democratic congressman pushes Trump impeachment, but backs down from vote: A Democratic lawmaker is backing down, for now, from a renegade bid to impeach President Donald Trump after colleagues in his own party criticized the effort and refused to support it. Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan isn't abandoning his resolution to impeach Trump, saying that, as an immigrant, he wants to do all he can to protect America's Constitution and its institutions. But with his own party leaders opposed, Thanedar late Wednesday edged back from forcing a vote that was certain to fail. (AP)

· “Instead, I will add to my articles of impeachment and continue to rally the support of both Democrats and Republicans to defend the Constitution with me,” Thanedar said on social media. He said other offenses could be added to the resolution, including Trump’s plan to accept a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar. “I will continue to pursue all avenues to put this President on notice and hold him accountable for his many impeachable crimes,” Thanedar said.

· It’s the third time Trump has faced impeachment efforts after being twice impeached during his first term as president — first in 2019 on charges related to withholding military aid to Ukraine as it confronted Russia and later on a charge of inciting insurrection over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Trump was acquitted both times by the Senate.

-RFK Jr. Attacks Health Agency, Defends Cuts: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended cutting thousands of staff while attacking the agency’s past work in one of his first appearances before Congress since taking office. In exchanges with lawmakers that at times became tense, Kennedy told the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that the cuts made progress toward President Donald Trump’s goal to shrink federal spending. (Bloomberg)

· While Kennedy characterizes the cuts as a bid to streamline redundancies, the agency has also laid off employees conducting research in food safety labs, running firefighter health programs, working to make infant formula safer and studying childhood lead exposure. Kennedy also denied accusations before House lawmakers of withholding funds for life-saving government research as part of an HHS overhaul in a heated back-and-forth with Appropriations top Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).

-EPA Taking Closer Look at Canceled Grants: The EPA will likely end up restoring some grants that have been canceled once they are more closely examined, agency head Lee Zeldin told lawmakers in a shift from his usual momentum to slash wasteful spending. The Environmental Protection Agency has canceled—or tried to cancel—billions of dollars worth of grant funding under Zeldin’s leadership. The agency has faced litigation from states and other groups affected by the cancellations. (Bloomberg)

· Zeldin faced repeated grilling from Democrats about specific grants they said have been canceled for undisclosed reasons during a Senate Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee hearing. But Zeldin on Wednesday repeatedly invited lawmakers to contact him with concerns about cancellations, saying they may be able to fix issues on particular requests.

· Subcommittee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also posed questions about particular canceled funding. In preparing for the hearing, Zeldin said he reviewed several Alaska grants the EPA had canceled. He told the panel he found that, while the grants might have some elements that don’t match up with the Trump administration’s policy goals, they also have elements that do.

-Lawmaker demands explanation for Trump administration's ouster of intelligence analysts: The top Democrat on the U.S. House intelligence committee on Wednesday called on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to produce proof of the alleged political bias that led her to oust the heads of the intelligence community’s highest analytical body. Gabbard's removal of the pair came after the National Intelligence Council produced an assessment contradicting the legal argument used by U.S. President Donald Trump to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. (Reuters)

-DOJ lawyers cleared Pam Bondi's memo backing the legality of Trump accepting Qatari 747: The Justice Department's internal legal advisers cleared a memo signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsing the legality of President Donald Trump accepting a 747-8 luxury jet from Qatar, a DOJ official said Wednesday. (CNN)

· The Office of Legal Counsel approved the memo before Bondi signed it and sent it to the White House, a Justice Department official told CNN. Bondi, who previously lobbied on behalf of the Qatari government, also consulted with career ethics officials, the official said, who determined there was no conflict that would require her recusal.

· DOJ’s acknowledgment of Bondi’s memo and the process behind it comes as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter demanding answers from the Justice Department about the memo that reportedly said it was OK for Qatar to gift the plane to the Department of Defense and then transfer it to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation.

· "There are serious questions about whether you should have recused yourself from this matter," Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said in a letter to the attorney general, adding that Bondi committed to "consult with the career ethics officials within the Department" if matters involving Qatar arose. The Justice Department told CNN it has received Durbin's letter. Durbin is the latest Democratic lawmaker to demand answers from the Trump administration on the multimillion-dollar gift. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was placing a blanket hold on all Justice Department political nominees until he got answers related to the jet.

-National Security Council expected to be overhauled under Rubio: A significant overhaul of the National Security Council at the White House is expected in the coming days, including a staff reduction and a reinforced top-down approach with decision-making concentrated at the highest levels, three senior Trump administration officials told CNN. Staffed by dozens of foreign policy experts from across the US government, the NSC typically serves as a critical body for coordinating the president's foreign policy agenda. But under President Donald Trump, the NSC's role has been diminished, with the pending overhaul expected to further reduce its importance in the White House. "NSC as we know it is done," an administration official said. (CNN)

-Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation: The Trump administration has sharply expanded its campaign against experts who track misinformation and other harmful content online, abruptly canceling scores of scientific research grants at universities across the country. The grants funded research into topics like ways to evade censors in China. One grant at the Rochester Institute of Technology, for example, sought to design a tool to detect fabricated videos or photos generated by artificial intelligence. Another, at Kent State University in Ohio, studied how malign actors posing as ordinary users manipulate information on social media. (NYT)

· Officials at the Pentagon, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation contend that the research has resulted in the censorship of conservative Americans online, though there is no evidence any of the studies resulted in that. The campaign stems from an executive order that President Trump issued on Jan. 20 vowing to protect the First Amendment right to free speech, but the scale of it has prompted criticism that it is targeting anyone researching misinformation. The intent, the critics have said, is in fact to stifle findings about the noxious content that is increasingly polluting social media and political discourse.

-Trump Officials Balk at RFK Jr.’s Attack on Pesticides: A bid by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to label pesticides as a potential cause of U.S. health woes has attracted pushback from some White House and agency officials who are concerned the move would disrupt the food-supply chain, according to people familiar with the debate. Kennedy, who is spearheading a coming report to “Make America Healthy Again,” wants to highlight what he views as the deleterious impact of pesticides, people familiar with the matter said. He previously campaigned on removing pesticides from the food supply. (WSJ)

· White House officials have raised concerns about the pesticide push and are closely reviewing the coming report, the people said, though it wasn’t clear where President Trump himself stood on the issue. And some officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates pesticides, and Agriculture Department have cast doubt on Kennedy’s desire to cast weedkillers as harmful to health.

-EPA Moves to Weaken Biden-era PFAS Limits for Drinking Water: The EPA will rescind limits on several groups of PFAS in drinking water and extend the time for water systems to comply with limits for two other groups of “forever chemicals,” the agency said. Water systems will have two additional years, until 2031, to comply with Biden-era limits on PFOA and PFOS in drinking water under a new rule the Environmental Protection Agency plans to finalize in 2026, the EPA said in a Wednesday news release. (Bloomberg)

· The EPA in 2024 finalized an enforceable 4 parts per trillion (ppt) limit on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water. The Biden administration set a non-enforceable maximum contaminant level goal for PFOA and PFOS at zero, reflecting research showing that no level of exposure to the chemicals is risk-free from cancer and other diseases.

-In reversal, OSC now says agencies can fire probationary feds for almost any reason: The Office of Special Counsel, operating under new leadership, now says it believes agencies do have the authority to fire their probationary federal employees — for virtually any reason and at any time. (Federal News Network)

· In a reversal of its own legal position from earlier this year, OSC argued in an amicus brief filed Wednesday afternoon that current federal regulations give agencies broad discretion to terminate probationers “with very limited restrictions on the reasons for termination.”

· OSC’s brief, filed with the Merit Systems Protection Board, argued that agencies’ terminations of probationary employees, in response to the Office of Personnel Management’s guidance, were in compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, and therefore do not constitute a prohibited personnel practice.

· Current federal regulations state that agencies should terminate employees who fail to fully demonstrate their qualifications for continued employment, on the basis of either performance or conduct.

-Trump's lawyers hope Supreme Court will help president implement his second term agenda more quickly and effectively: On Thursday, the Supreme Court will take up a case that could decide how quickly President Donald Trump can implement his second term agenda as it hears arguments about nationwide injunctions that allow a single judge to block a policy for the entire country. (CNN)

· The issue arises from an appeal challenging rulings that have blocked Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, the longstanding practice based in the 14th Amendment of granting citizenship to any child born on US soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. “Nationwide injunctions, universal injunctions issued by district court judges have fundamentally thwarted the president’s ability to implement his agenda,” a senior Justice Department official told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday.

· Trump has issued over 200 executive orders in the past four months – more than any other president – which have been blocked by judges 39 times, according to the Justice Department. While recent presidents of both parties have faced nationwide injunctions, Trump is on pace to set a record, which is why this issue has become a priority for him and his Republican allies in Congress.

· “It cannot be the case that the president of the United States has to march around to 600-odd district court judges and ask each one of their individual permission to implement any policy, particularly important policies that he ran on and that the American people elected him to do,” a second administration official told reporters.

· Nationwide injunctions started being implemented around 1963 and were used sparingly until the modern era, when judges started using them to block presidents of both parties, the DOJ says. "I would say it's a bipartisan issue, it's a nonpartisan issue, and the one institution that's been very consistent on this is the US Department of Justice, which across five administrations has said these are not a thing," the official said.

· Solicitor General John Sauer, who successfully argued before the Supreme Court in favor of presidential immunity when he was Trump's personal attorney, will argue on behalf of the administration that the courts are thwarting the power of the legislative and executive branches by blocking policies for the whole country. Critics of the Trump administration's arguments, however, say that preventing judges from blocking policies while litigation plays out means that actions of questionable legality or constitutionality could be in effect for years before the Supreme Court ever considers them.

OTHER DOMESTIC NEWS OF NOTE

-Trump's approval rating rises to 44%; Americans worry less about recession: President Donald Trump's approval rating rose this week as Americans worried less about his handling of the economy and prospects of a recession, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Tuesday. The two-day poll showed 44% of respondents approved of the Republican leader's performance, up from 42% in a prior Reuters/Ipsos survey carried out April 25-27. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. (Reuters)

-Americans worry about Trump's handling of measles outbreak, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds: Americans worry about the Trump administration's ability to contain an ongoing outbreak of measles, while the vast majority of them believe that vaccines for the disease are safe, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Just 31% of respondents in the two-day poll, which closed on Tuesday, agreed with a statement that the administration is handling the measles outbreak responsibly, while 40% disagreed and the rest were unsure or did not answer the question. (Reuters)

-Democrats are deeply pessimistic about the future of their party, an AP-NORC poll finds: Six months after Donald Trump's presidential victory, Democrats remain deeply pessimistic about the future of their party, although neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party is viewed favorably by a majority of U.S. adults. A new poll conducted earlier this month by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only about one-third of Democrats are “very optimistic” or even “somewhat optimistic” about their party's future. That's down sharply from July 2024, when about 6 in 10 Democrats said they had a positive outlook. (AP)

-The World Is Wooing U.S. Researchers Shunned by Trump: Help Wanted. Looking for American researchers. As President Trump cuts billions of federal dollars from science institutes and universities, restricts what can be studied and pushes out immigrants, rival nations are hoping to pick up talent that has been cast aside or become disenchanted. For decades, trying to compete with American institutions and companies has been difficult. The United States was a magnet for top researchers, scientists and academics. In general, budgets were bigger, pay was bigger, labs and equipment were bigger. So were ambitions. (NYT)

· In 2024, the United States spent nearly $1 trillion — roughly 3.5 percent of total economic output — on research and development. When it came to the kind of long-term basic research that underpins American technological and scientific advancements, the government accounted for about 40 percent of the spending. That’s the reason political, education and business leaders in advanced countries and emerging economies have long fretted over a brain drain from their own shores. Now they are seizing a chance to reverse the flow.

-Fatal Overdoses in U.S. Fall to Prepandemic Levels: The number of people who died of drug overdoses in the U.S. dropped dramatically in 2024, a promising sign amid a national fentanyl crisis that has fueled a surge in drug-related deaths in recent years. Drug-overdose deaths dropped by 27% to around 80,000 deaths in 2024 from about 110,000 in 2023, according to preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. The deaths reported last year fell closer to levels not seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic, which exacerbated the country’s drug-overdose crisis and led to a surge in deaths. (WSJ)

· Yearly declines in new overdose deaths are rare and tend to be small, making 2024’s drop unprecedented in its scope. This is also only the fourth year in more than three decades in which the U.S. reported fewer drug fatalities, but also the second in a row after a modest reduction in 2023. Illicit forms of fentanyl have pushed U.S. drug fatalities to record levels in recent years. A significant drop in deaths tied to synthetic opioids, largely fentanyl, is fueling the overall decline, according to estimates from the CDC. Synthetic opioids were involved in 48,422 deaths in 2024 compared with 76,282 deaths in 2023.

-UnitedHealth Group Is Under Criminal Investigation for Possible Medicare Fraud: The Justice Department is investigating UnitedHealth Group for possible criminal Medicare fraud, people familiar with the matter said. The healthcare-fraud unit of the Justice Department’s criminal division is overseeing the investigation, the people said, and it has been an active probe since at least last summer. While the exact nature of the potential criminal allegations against UnitedHealth is unclear, the people said the federal investigation is focusing on the company’s Medicare Advantage business practices. (WSJ)

-Musk's election PAC sued over alleged failure to pay $100 to petition signers: Elon Musk's political action committee failed to pay registered swing state voters as promised during last year's U.S. election in return for signing a petition or referring other voters, according to a proposed federal class action lawsuit. Musk's America PAC helped Republican President Donald Trump beat Democratic challenger Vice President Kamala Harris. (Reuters)

-Harvard University puts $250 million to shore up research hit by Trump freeze on grants: Harvard University is dedicating $250 million of its own funds to support researchers after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration froze nearly $3 billion in federal grants and contracts in recent weeks, the university announced on Wednesday. The elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of Trump's most prominent targets. The Republican president has been making an extraordinary effort to revamp private colleges and schools across the U.S. that he says foster anti-American, Marxist and "radical left" ideologies. He has criticized Harvard in particular for hiring prominent Democrats to teaching or leadership positions. (Reuters)

-Detained Russian-born Harvard scientist criminally charged with smuggling: A Russian-born scientist and research associate at Harvard University who has been held for months in an immigration detention center in Louisiana has been criminally charged with attempting to smuggle frog embryo samples into the United States. Federal prosecutors in Boston announced the smuggling charge against Kseniia Petrova, 31, hours after a federal judge in Vermont heard arguments in a lawsuit she filed alleging that the Trump administration has been unlawfully detaining her. (Reuters)

-Missouri lawmakers approve referendum to repeal abortion-rights amendment: Missouri lawmakers have approved a referendum seeking to repeal an abortion-rights amendment passed by voters six months ago. The Republican-led Senate voted Wednesday to place a new amendment on the statewide ballot that would instead impose a ban on most abortions, with exceptions for rape and incest. The vote came after the GOP majority used a rare procedural move to cut off debate by Democrats who opposed the measure. The new referendum would go before voters in November 2026 unless Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe calls a special election sooner than that. Missouri senators also passed legislation that would repeal a voter-approved paid sick leave law. (AP)

-Ex-FBI agent and Pentagon contractor sues over secret recording showing him criticizing Trump: A former FBI agent and Pentagon contractor has sued the founder of a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings over secretly recorded videos showing the contractor criticizing President Donald Trump to a woman he thought he had taken on a date. Jamie Mannina says in his lawsuit that he was misled by a woman he met on a dating website who held herself out as a politically liberal nurse but who was actually working with the conservative activist James O'Keefe in a sting operation designed to induce Mannina into making “inflammatory and damaging” remarks that could be recorded, “manipulated” and posted online. (AP)