The Full Belmonte, 4/7/2024
THE LATEST NEWS
Israel-Hamas War
“The Israeli military said it had recovered the body of a hostage who was abducted from a kibbutz on Oct. 7 and held in Gaza.
A wild spinach-like plant has become a lifeline in Gaza at a time when most food is largely unavailable or expensive.
Protests over the Biden administration’s handling of the war have complicated the Democratic Party’s ability to campaign in an election year.
More International News
At the Afghan border. Elise Blanchard for The New York Times
For years, hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled to Pakistan to escape war. Now, many have returned home after the Pakistani government ordered them to leave.
Russia recruited convicts to the army and pardoned them for their service in Ukraine. Some former inmates have committed new crimes.
Thirty years after the genocide in Rwanda, ethnic divisions persist under President Paul Kagame, who is accused of repression.
The Ecuadorean police arrested a politician who had taken refuge in the Mexican Embassy there. Mexico called the arrest a violation of its sovereignty.
New York
Next to a highway in the Hamptons. Anna Watts for The New York Times
Some laborers in the Hamptons who are unable to afford housing spend winter living in the woods. Read one man’s story.
New York City agreed to pay more than $28 million to the family of a man who experienced brain damage after he tried to hang himself in a Rikers Island jail as correction officers stood by.
Solar Eclipse
In Mexico. Henry Romero/Reuters
Would-be gazers are on the move across North America to witness the total solar eclipse tomorrow. Street parties are planned and some cities have canceled school.
Enter your viewing destination here for a cloud forecast.
Other Big Stories
A little-known data firm has helped drive up patients’ bills and earn billions for insurers, a Times investigation found.
A Times analysis has found that dozens of major U.S. bridges lack shields to block wayward ships.
UConn will face Purdue in the men’s basketball national championship game after it defeated Alabama, 86-72.” [New York Times]
Trump campaign announces record $50.5 million haul at Florida fundraiser
Former President Donald Trump arrives for a fundraising event on April 6, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Donald Trump’s campaign said it raised $50.5 million at a Saturday fundraiser in Florida, a staggering sum as the former president’s political operation scrambles to close its big financial gap with President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
The haul announced by the campaign and top officials with the Republican National Committee far eclipses the $26 million that Biden reported collecting recently at a star-studded gathering in New York City that featured former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The Trump total from the ‘Inaugural Leadership Dinner’ at the Palm Beach, Florida, home of billionaire investor John Paulson sets a record for a single fundraising event.
‘It’s clearer than ever that we have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5,’ Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement.
Heading into the fundraiser Saturday night with his wife, Melania Trump, the former president boasted that “this has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people, they want to contribute to a cause of making America great again.”
The closed-door event signals that some of the GOP’s biggest donors are rallying behind Donald Trump as the general election showdown with Biden swings into gear.
An array of wealthy GOP figures were billed as event “co-chairs,” including hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah; oil tycoon Harold Hamm; hotelier and space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow; and casino mogul Steve Wynn, according to an invitation obtained by CNN.
The price tag for the fundraiser ranged from $250,000 per person for those serving on the “host committee” to $824,600 per person to serve as a “chairman.” Perks for those contributing at the top level included dinner seating at Trump’s table.
But Trump has lots of ground to make up in the fundraising race.
Biden and the Democratic Party on Saturday announced raising more than $90 million in March and entering April with some $192 million in available cash in their war chest.
The Trump campaign and the RNC announced raising a combined $65.6 million in March and said they closed the month with $93.1 million in cash on hand.” [CNN]
Connecticut outlasts splashy Alabama, setting up a heavyweight final
“GLENDALE, Ariz. — Connecticut, the Secretariat of the past two NCAA men’s basketball tournaments, could not subject Alabama to one of those familiar Connecticut stretch runs that conjure a jockey looking back over his shoulder trying to see if he can spot somebody back there. Yet it did show Saturday night that it could win through another method: a steady, poised climb to an 86-72 nod.
With that, it became not only the first defending champion to reach a Final Four since 2007 but also the first to reach a national title game since Florida turned up opposite Ohio State way back then. Further, it arranged a daydream of a Monday night at the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium, where 74,720 turned up for the semifinals that also saw the breakthrough of similarly towering Purdue.
It meant the tournament, so often fiendish with its knack for upsets and its patent disregard for regular season consistency, got out of the way and allowed a final between two teams that hovered (with Houston) above the whole four-month season and will bring fat, healthy records to Monday night: the 36-3 of Connecticut and the 34-4 of Purdue.
The Huskies held up their end despite the sight of repeated Alabama swishes from three-point range, as the Crimson Tide started 8 for 11 by halftime and 9 for 13 soon thereafter before tailing off to a more human 11 for 23. That made Alabama (25-12) viable in a game that stood at 57-56 with 12 minutes to play and 67-61 with eight. For window dressing, though, the No. 4 seed from the West Region did not match the 13 points Miami ended up trailing Connecticut in last season’s Final Four, the closest any team has come in 11 tournament games across the 2023 and 2024 brackets.
One thing did ring familiar, though: the beautiful chemistry of Connecticut’s collaborative basketball. It showed in a final box score that had guard Stephon Castle at 21 points and five rebounds, big man Donovan Clingan at 18 points and five rebounds, Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer at 14 points, and all-American Tristen Newton at 12 points with nine mighty assists.
Steadily, that broke through, even against the 24 points from Crimson Tide second-team all-American Mark Sears and the 19 points and 15 rebounds from banging, breakthrough big man Grant Nelson….” Read more at Washington Post
Stephen Strasburg, MVP of the 2019 World Series, retires from baseball
Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, the MVP of the 2019 World Series who spent his entire career with the franchise, retired from baseball. News of his retirement has not been announced by the Nationals or Strasburg’s agent but was posted on MLB’s transactions log Saturday.
The decision by Strasburg, 35, to walk away caps a 13-year career that, in many ways, mirrored the rise of the franchise, from National League East bottom-dweller to World Series champion — and to its current state in the midst of a rebuild.
The retirement, long expected, also brings some clarity on his contract — a seven-year, $245 million deal inked in December 2019, after the team’s World Series triumph. Strasburg, who pitched just 4⅔ innings since undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in 2021, is expected to be paid the entirety of his contract. He agreed to defer some of his remaining salary, according to a person familiar with the matter. The extent of those deferrals is not known….” Read more at Washington Post
A ticket sold in Oregon has won the nearly $1.33 billion Powerball jackpot
“A Powerball ticket sold in Oregon has won the nearly $1.33 billion jackpot – the fourth-largest jackpot in the history of the game, according to Powerball….” [CNN]
“Lives Lived: Kate Coleman was a left-wing writer who documented Bay Area counterculture in the 1960s and ’70s. She made enemies with exposés that were critical of the Black Panthers and the environmental movement. Coleman died at 81.” [New York Times]
THE WEEK AHEAD
What to Watch For
“A total eclipse crosses over North America tomorrow.
Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is expected to begin this week.
The House of Representatives is expected to deliver impeachment articles against the homeland security secretary on Wednesday. The Senate could quickly dismiss them.
South Korea will hold parliamentary elections on Wednesday.
Biden is hosting a leaders’ summit on Thursday with the prime minister of Japan and the president of the Philippines.
Coachella begins on Friday.” [New York Times]