“Protests erupted in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center last night after reports that a 20-year-old Black man named Daunte Wright was shot by police following a traffic stop before getting back into his car, driving away, and crashing. The incident came as Minneapolis was already on edge as the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd enters its third week.” Read more at USA Today
“Jurors are expected to return Monday in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd to hear more medical testimony by the prosecution. Here's what has happened so far:
•Last week, the state called experts and police officials to testify about proper use of force as well as medical professionals to testify about how Floyd died. Prosecutors have also asked experts to testify about the role of drugs found in Floyd's system, trying to head off the defense's argument that they played a key role in his death.
•The defense has highlighted the effect meth and fentanyl may have on the heart and lungs. The defense has also argued the crowd of bystanders gathered near the scene distracted and threatened the officers, preventing them from giving care to Floyd and meriting additional force.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death.” Read more at USA Today
“All the things that could prolong the COVID pandemic are playing out right in front of our eyes, Axios health care editor Sam Baker writes.
Why it matters: Although the pace of vaccinations is still strong, experts fear it's about to slow down. In some parts of the country, particularly the South, demand for shots has already dropped.
Here's a preview of what our future could hold if the vaccination push loses steam:
Variants are beginning to infect more kids, even as schools are on the fast track to reopening, making the pandemic "a brand new ball game," as University of Minnesota epidemiologist Michael Osterholm put it.
New research confirms that our existing vaccines don’t work as well against the South African variant.
The U.K. variant is driving another surge in Michigan, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has resisted reimposing lockdown measures.
What's next: If we don’t control the virus well enough, we could spend years living through new variants — some of which might be more deadly, and some of which might be more resistant to vaccines.” Read more at Axios
“The United States is still seeing an increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, especially among younger people who haven’t gotten a vaccine. However, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky did point out death rates are going down. That’s cold comfort considering more than 562,000 people in the US have now died of the virus. China is in a tight spot after the country’s top health official admitted efficacy rates for Chinese Covid-19 vaccines are “not high.” He suggested either increasing doses or mixing with other vaccines to improve performance. India just crossed the threshold of 100 million vaccinations, but the country is still contending with record case numbers. Canadians in Montreal are protesting a new curfew put into effect to curb Covid-19 numbers, while in the UK, officials are lauding the slow rollback of restrictions as vaccinations increase.” Read more at CNN
“Top CEOs plan to get dramatically tougher on state legislators over proposed new restrictions on voting:
After a weekend Zoom summit, the CEOs are threatening to withhold campaign contributions — and to punish states by yanking investments in factories, stadiums and other lucrative projects.
The call included a long list of business luminaries, including James Murdoch, Ken Chenault, Ken Frazier, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, and executives of Delta, United and American Airlines.
Why it matters: After a slow response to Georgia's new limits, corporate America is suddenly making voting access a foremost issue — and is going beyond words with sweeping economic threats.
Saturday's historic Zoom summit was organized by Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale School of Management, who told me they ‘fortified each other’: ‘There was no sense of fear.’
The call included 90 business leaders, plus 30 other experts and aides.
A post-summit statement said: ‘CEOs who participated in a live poll indicated they will re-evaluate donations to candidates supporting bills that restrict voting rights and many would reconsider investments in states which act upon such proposals.’” Read more at Axios
“The holy month of Ramadan begins Monday and will span through May 12 when it culminates with Eid al-Fitr, which will break the sunrise-to-sunset fasts for Muslims. Because Ramadan is tied to the lunar calendar, its exact date varies from year to year. Community, tradition and celebration are all part of the sacred month, with families gathering for the early morning meal, known as suhoor, and the post-sunset meal, known as iftar, to break their fasts together. After closing its doors for Ramadan last year due to COVID-19, Masjid Al-Salaam in Dearborn, Michigan, will be hosting in-person service, but food will be served in drive-thru style. ‘It's going to be difficult like last year,’ said Nabeel Bahalwan, a volunteer at the mosque.” Read more at USA Today
“President Joe Biden will meet with a bipartisan group of U.S. House and Senate lawmakers Monday to discuss his proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. It aims to rebuild the nation's aging infrastructure, support electric vehicles and clean energy and boost access to caregivers and their pay. But the comprehensive bill will likely face an uphill battle, chugging its way through both chambers of Congress by the summer, which is when the administration aims to approve the package.” Read more at USA Today
“Iran’s main nuclear enrichment site at Natanz was sabotaged in an apparent Israeli operation on Sunday, one day after Iran launched new, advanced centrifuges at the facility.
The scale of the attack, which Iranian officials said caused a power failure, is not yet known. The nature of the attack is also unclear: The blackout could have been caused by explosives, according to unnamed intelligence officials cited by the New York Times. Israeli media have speculated about a possible cyberattack conducted by the Mossad.
The incident came on the day of a milestone for U.S.-Israel relations under the Biden administration—the first visit to Israel by a cabinet official—although it was not clear whether U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed the strike with his counterpart Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv. A senior U.S. administration official told the Washington Post’s John Hudson that the United States ‘had no involvement’ in the attack.
Vexing Vienna. The strike on Natanz is an indication of how little faith Israel has in talks between the founding parties to the Iran nuclear deal currently taking place in Vienna. The United States is not part of direct negotiations, but expert groups are believed to be working through the issues of sanctions relief and a U.S. return to the deal. Adding up Israel’s recent actions against Iran’s nuclear program—from assassinating one of its top scientists to repeatedly sabotaging its facilities—it appears Israel sees its own activities as more effective at delaying Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb than any diplomatic efforts.
Not so cold war. It’s also another action in a tit-for-tat battle with Iran that is becoming indistinguishable from outright warfare. Last week, a ship used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was damaged by an Israeli mine in the Red Sea, adding to a string of attacks (at least 10 since 2019) against Iranian vessels. Iran has launched attacks of its own, most recently carrying out a missile strike on an Israeli container ship in March.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“With a feat of golf and weightlifting that ought to rate way up there among masteries of sports pressure, Hideki Matsuyama managed to win the 85th Masters on Sunday. He played the golf with dominance and then resilience, curbing his own near-crumble, and he did the weightlifting of the hopes of his sports-cherishing nation of 126 million without running off and hiding behind a pine tree, which might have been understandable.
The first men’s major title for Japan, a win of inestimable meaning for a country with feelings for golf that make reverence look puny, came after its 29-year-old hopeful refrained from panic when panic surely breathed through the Monday morning living rooms of his country’s 47 prefectures. In the genteel horror in which golf long has specialized, a yawning six-shot lead with seven holes to play at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club shrank all the way to two with three to play, in part because of Xander Schauffele’s four straight birdies and in part because Matsuyama’s approach at No. 15 went scurrying through the green and hurrying for a swim.
He bogeyed that, No. 16 and No. 18, but he launched steely drives on Nos. 17 and 18, and he performed his highbrow knack for scrambling from a greenside bunker on No. 18 with a 73 at 10 under par, one shot ahead of phenom Will Zalatoris and three ahead of Jordan Spieth and Schauffele, whose mounting hopes disintegrated on No. 16 with the first triple bogey of his 1,042 major golf holes. ‘My nerves really didn’t start on the second nine today,’ Matsuyama said in Butler Cabin on the CBS telecast. ‘It was right from the start today and right to the very last putt.’” Read more at Washington Post
“The United Nations is ‘very concerned’ about the welfare of Princess Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, the missing daughter of Dubai's ruler in the United Arab Emirates. In secret recordings obtained by the BBC and shared with CNN in February, Princess Latifa claimed she was being held hostage in a ‘villa converted into a jail,’ with no access to medical help. She also sent a letter to UK police that month, asking them to investigate the alleged kidnapping of her sister in Britain in 2000. At the time of the recordings, Dubai’s royal family said Latifa was being cared for at home. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights asked the family for ‘proof of life’ late last week, but has not received it.” Read more at CNN
“With more than 560,000 people who have died of COVID-19 in the U.S., the Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering up to $9,000 per funeral to ease the financial burden on those left behind. FEMA will accept applications starting Monday. ‘The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense grief for so many people,’ acting FEMA Administrator Bob Fenton said. ‘Although we cannot change what has happened, we affirm our commitment to help with funeral and burial expenses that many families did not anticipate.’” Read more at USA Today
“Hairdressers, beauty salons, gyms, nonessential shops and bar and restaurant patios reopen Monday in Britain as its steady march out of a three-month lockdown remains on track . A ban on overnight stays away from home in England will also be lifted, and outdoor venues such as zoos and drive-in cinemas can operate again. ‘We set out our road map and we’re sticking to it,’ said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He added: ‘We can’t be complacent. We can see the waves of sickness afflicting other countries, and we’ve seen how this story goes.’ Britain has recorded almost 127,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Europe. The government aims to give all adults at least one shot of vaccine by July, and hopes that a combination of vaccination and mass testing will allow indoor socializing and large-scale events to return.” Read more at USA Today
“Median pay for CEOs of the largest U.S. public companies hit $13.7 million last year, up from $12.8 million the year before, a Wall Street Journal analysis found.
Pay rose for 64% (206) of the 322 CEOs in the Journal study.
"The median raise was nearly 15%."
Between the lines: ‘Salary cuts CEOs took at the depths of the crisis had little effect,’ The Journal reports. ‘The stock market’s rebound boosted what top executives took home because much of their compensation comes in the form of equity.’” Read more at Axios
“Administration officials meet today with chief executives from companies ranging from General Motors to Google to figure out how to relieve a shortage of semiconductors that’s idled automakers worldwide.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The Business Roundtable today will release a survey in which 98% of 178 CEOs polled said that increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, as President Biden proposed, would have a ‘moderately’ to ‘very’ significant adverse effect on their company’s competitiveness.
75% of CEOs said an increased tax burden on U.S. companies would negatively affect investments in R&D and innovation.
71% of CEOs said it would negatively affect their ability to hire.
Nearly two-thirds said it would result in slower wage growth for U.S. workers.
BRT President & CEO Joshua Bolten: ‘This survey tells us that increasing taxes on America's largest job creators would lead to a reduced ability to hire Americans, slower wage growth for workers, and reduced investments in research and development — all key components needed for a robust economic recovery.’” Read more at Axios
“Corporate giants would be barred from acquisitions, and century-old antitrust laws would get sharper teeth, under a "Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act" that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) shared exclusively with Axios.
‘This country and this government shouldn't be run by a few mega-corporations,’ Hawley told me in an interview.
Why it matters, from Axios' Scott Rosenberg and Ashley Gold: Hawley, a possible 2024 presidential candidate, is among the Senate's most conservative members. But his attack on corporate power shows the depth of Republican anger at what they see as ‘censorship’ by Big Tech.
Between the lines: Hawley's plan is more than a salvo against Silicon Valley. Its rules on mergers would cover dozens of U.S. giants in virtually every economic sector, from banking and health to retail and media.” Read more at Axios
“Surprise in Ecuador. Guillermo Lasso, a conservative, has won a surprise victory in Ecuador’s presidential election, beating his socialist opponent Andrés Arauz by a five-point margin in the country’s second-round runoff on Sunday. Lasso’s victory came close to never happening, after he and indigenous leader Yaku Pérez virtually tied in second place behind Arauz in the first round of voting. Lasso has promised to increase oil production, attract more foreign direct investment, and vaccinate 9 million Ecuadorians within his first 100 days.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Peru’s first round. According to early results, the leftist trade union leader Pedro Castillo appears to have captured the highest number of votes (16 percent) in the first round of Peru’s presidential election. If current trends hold, Castillo will face off in the second round against the right-wing economist Hernando de Soto (who has 13.8 percent with just over 40 percent of ballots counted)—although there is still a chance he could face the far-right Rafael López Aliaga or Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“India is new COVID epicenter. India has overtaken Brazil as the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus infections worldwide, after a record daily count of 168,912 new cases was reported on Monday. The jump in cases comes as huge crowds are expected to gather in India’s northern city of Haridwar this month for the Kumbh Mela religious festival.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“A happy Hashemite family? Jordan’s Prince Hamzah appeared in public for the first time since he was placed under house arrest last week. The prince appeared with his half-brother, King Abdullah II, as they prayed at a family tomb on the centenary of the establishment of Transjordan, the Hashemite kingdom’s predecessor. Although this is the first time Prince Hamzah has been seen in public, the whereabouts of the 18 others detained by Jordan’s security forces over an alleged sedition plot are unknown.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Biden’s refugee cap. The United States is on track to accept the lowest number of refugees in decades, despite an announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden that he would lift the Trump-era cap on admissions from 15,000 to 125,000. If trends continue, the United States will accept 4,510, or less than half the number of refugees during the last year of the Trump presidency. The International Rescue Committee has urged Biden to sign a presidential determination that would lift the current cap and allow 62,500 refugees to enter the United States in the second half of this fiscal year.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“The death of Prince Philip, the husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, triggered mourning rituals across the country over the weekend as sporting events observed silences and regular television programming was interrupted to broadcast commemorative tributes (leading to some complaints from the viewing public).
The mourning is not only reserved for the United Kingdom—on one of Vanuatu’s islands, Tanna, hundreds of members of a local tribe have long venerated Prince Philip as akin to a god, and are preparing to mourn his passing.
Although it’s unclear how the Prince Philip Movement began, it is believed to have taken root in the 1970s—given life by the royal couple’s visit in 1974. Key to the movement is the belief that Prince Philip is one with the tribe, and fulfilled a prophecy of a tribesman who had found a powerful wife overseas and ‘would return some day, either in person or in spiritual form,’ Kirk Huffman, an anthropologist, told the BBC.
Five of Tanna’s tribal leaders met Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in 2007 and pressed him on when he would return to them. ‘When it turns warm, I will send a message,’ he is reported to have replied.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Lives Lived: His famous clients included Marlon Brando, Magic Johnson, Morgan Freeman and Britney Spears. But he chose not to defend O.J. Simpson. Howard Weitzman has died at 81.” Read more at New York Times
“Ant Group, the financial-technology giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, will apply to become a financial holding company overseen by China’s central bank, overhauling its business to adapt to a new era of tighter regulation for internet companies.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The White House is selling President Biden's $2.2 trillion infrastructure plan by projecting how much it will help each state — starting with Kentucky and California, Axios' Sarah Mucha reports.
Why it matters: Tagging the homes of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) puts them on the defensive — and warns other Republicans they'll have to explain their votes on this bridge or that highway.
Republicans plan their own offensive, Jonathan Swan reports:
"Described as both a 'jobs' plan and an 'infrastructure' plan, the proposal undermines both," reads a memo from the Senate Republican Conference. "'Biden’s Partisan, Job-Crushing Slush Fund' spends just 5% of the total $2.7 trillion on roads and bridges."
The big picture: The House and Senate are coming back from recess today for a busy session, as Democrats work to pass the president’s infrastructure bill — or at least ‘make real progress’ — by Memorial Day.
One White House tactic: Publishing report cards for each of the 50 states outlining the ‘cost of inaction’ on the package.
Go deeper: White House California fact sheet ... White House Kentucky fact sheet ... Republican infrastructure memo. Read more at Axios
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