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“President Biden supports a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the president backed a cessation in hostilities but didn't make an explicit demand to end the fighting, as civilian casualties in the conflict continued to rise.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The Republican-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Monday denounced an ongoing audit of the 2020 election vote as a ‘sham’ and a ‘con,’ calling on the GOP-led state Senate to end the controversial recount that has been championed by former president Donald Trump.
In a fiery public meeting and subsequent letter to state Senate President Karen Fann, the board members said the audit has been inept, promoted falsehoods and defamed the public servants who ran the fall election.
Calling the process a ‘spectacle that is harming all of us,’ the five members of the board — including four Republicans — asked the state Senate to recognize that it is essential to call off the audit, which officials have said is only about one-quarter complete.
‘It is time to make a choice to defend the Constitution and the Republic,’ they wrote. ‘We stand united together to defend the Constitution and the Republic in our opposition to the Big Lie. We ask everyone to join us in standing for the truth,’ they added, using a term that refers to the false claim that the election was stolen.
Read the Maricopa County officials’ letter
In a calculated show of unity, they were joined by Maricopa’s other elected officials: the sheriff, a Democrat; and the Republican county recorder, who leads the elections office.
‘Our state has become a laughingstock,’ the county officials wrote. ‘Worse, this ‘audit’ is encouraging our citizens to distrust elections, which weakens our democratic republic.’
The pushback by Maricopa County officials amounts to their most vehement protest yet of the recount, which began in late April and is being conducted in Phoenix by a private Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas, whose chief executive has previously echoed Trump’s false allegations that fraud tainted the 2020 election.
Jointly, the county officials agreed that they would refuse to attend a meeting that had been called Tuesday by Fannto discuss what she had termed ‘serious issues’ with the vote that Cyber Ninjas claims to have identified.
‘I will not be responding to any more requests from this sham process. Finish your audit and be ready to defend what you’re finding in a court of law,’ Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers (R) said at the public meeting.
Supervisor Bill Gates (R) said at Monday’s meeting that no county official would attend Fann’s meeting.
‘This board was going to be part of a political theater broadcast on live stream by OAN,’ he said, referring to the pro-Trump news outlet One America News, whose hosts have been covering the audit while some have also simultaneously raised private donations to pay for it. ‘We’re not going to be a part of that.’
Mike Philipsen, a spokesman for Fann, said in an email that the Senate president had not seen Monday’s meeting in Maricopa and that she would respond to the county officials at her meeting Tuesday.” Read more at Washington Post
“The Supreme Court will review a Mississippi law limiting abortion rights.
The law seeks to ban the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. It has previously been invalidated by lower courts that cited the Supreme Court precedent established by Roe v. Wade in 1973. In that case, the high court ruled women had a constitutional right to choose an abortion before fetal viability. Fetuses are generally considered to be viable after around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Mississippi is one of several Republican-led states that have pursued more aggressive abortion regulations in recent years. The Supreme Court has shifted further to the right after former President Donald Trump appointed three justices to the bench. The state has argued that viability is an incorrect standard, saying lawmakers had legitimate interests in protecting fetal life from the outset. An abortion facility in Mississippi urged the court not to hear the case, arguing that the ban extended well before the viability period and violated the core tenet of the the high court’s abortion-rights precedents. The court has largely upheld abortion rights since the Roe decision, but typically by the narrowest of margins. The Supreme Court will consider the case during its next term, which begins in October.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The National Nurses United union president is criticizing CDC guidance that vaccinated people can largely forego masks, saying it's confusing and could endanger health care workers. One problem? It relies on an honor system in which unvaccinated people still mask up. At least one local leader has already said such a system just isn’t working. President Biden says there will be enough Covid-19 vaccine supply for every American adult by the end of this month, and his administration is pledging millions more vaccine doses to other countries on top of the 60 million already committed. We’re also learning more about a coronavirus variant first detected in India that has now gone global. The B.1.617 is a ‘variant of concern,’ which means it could be more transmissible, cause more severe disease or evade tests and treatments. Experts think the variant is driving the recent waves of infection in India.” Read more at CNN
“A report being released Tuesday will show that COVID-19 infections are down in all 50 states , President Joe Biden said. The report comes after news that the pace of new coronavirus infections fell to pre-surge levels last weekend. The U.S. reported 232,489 cases in the week ending Sunday, which is a few thousand less than what it did in the week of Sept. 12, the day before the fall surge got underway and turned into a disastrous winter. The U.S. continues to report about 600 deaths a day, roughly one-fifth the pace seen in January. “ Read more at USA Today
“ATLANTA — Georgia’s sweeping new overhaul of election laws threatens the fundamental right to vote, freedom of speech, and the separation of powers, says a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
The lawsuit against the secretary of state and the members of the State Election Board was filed in federal court in Atlanta by county election board members, individual voters, election volunteers, nonprofit organizations, and a journalist. It joins a half-dozen other legal challenges, asking a judge to declare parts of the new election law unconstitutional and to prohibit the state from enforcing them.
‘Liberty requires at least three essential things — an unfettered right to vote, freedom of speech, and the meaningful separation of powers,’ the lawsuit says. ‘This lawsuit is necessary to preserve individual constitutional rights, and constitutional government, against the attacks that (the law) makes on these three pillars of liberty.’” Read more at Boston Globe
“Securing networks | Biden is proposing to pour billions of dollars into improving the U.S.’s cybersecurity defenses, an area of heightened concern after the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline. The cash is included in the roughly $2 trillion infrastructure package and will help state and local governments modernize their energy systems and boost grid resilience in high-risk areas.” Read more at Bloomberg
“ORLANDO — Joel Greenberg, the former confidant of Representative Matt Gaetz, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Orlando to a range of charges, including sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl, as part of a plea deal that will require him to help in other Justice Department investigations.
The deal was an ominous development for Gaetz (R-Fla.), who is under investigation into whether he violated sex trafficking laws by paying the same 17-year-old for sex. Although Gaetz’s name was not mentioned in court, Greenberg has told investigators that he witnessed Gaetz have sex with the girl and that she was paid. Gaetz has denied ever paying anyone for sex.” Read more at Boston Globe
“WASHINGTON — President Biden’s carefully worded statement on Monday supporting a cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians came amid growing pressure within his own party for the United States to take a more skeptical stance toward one of its closest allies.
Mr. Biden’s urging of a halt to the fighting — tucked at the end of a summary of a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — followed a drumbeat of calls from Democratic lawmakers across the ideological spectrum for his administration to speak out firmly against the escalation of violence. It reflected a different tone than the one members of Congress have sounded during past clashes in the region, when most Democrats have repeated their strong backing for Israel’s right to defend itself and called for peace, without openly criticizing its actions.
The push is strongest from the energized progressive wing of the party, whose representatives in the House, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have drawn attention in recent days for accusing Israel of gross human rights violations against Palestinians and of operating an ‘apartheid state.’ But their intensity has obscured a quieter, concerted shift among more mainstream Democrats that could ultimately be more consequential.
Though they have no intention of ending the United States’ close alliance with Israel, a growing number of Democrats in Washington say they are no longer willing to give the country a pass for its harsh treatment of the Palestinians and the spasms of violence that have defined the conflict for years.” Read more at New York Times
“Fifteen unions that represent law enforcement officers across the US have endorsed a policing plan that includes an unprecedented shift in the way unions protect bad police officers. Under the plan, law enforcement officers and those in adjacent professions would be encouraged to act as "active bystanders" and intervene when another union member is doing something wrong. Meanwhile, a North Carolina DA is set today to reveal the findings of a state investigation into the police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. What bodycam footage of the April incident, in which deputies shot and killed Brown, actually shows is in dispute. In South Carolina, two deputies involved in the in-custody death of Jamal Sutherland in January have been fired.” Read more at CNN
“The US is investigating two cases of a mysterious illness that affected White House officials late last year. The cases are consistent with ‘Havana Syndrome,’ an inexplicable combination of sensory experiences and physical symptoms that have sickened more than 100 US diplomats, spies and troops around the globe. One of the latest incidents began after the 2020 election when an NSC official passed through a White House gate. Now, the government has revealed it’s investigating a second, more serious case from weeks later near another White House entrance. The intelligence community still isn't sure who is causing the strange array of nervous system symptoms or if the episodes can even be called ‘attacks.’” Read more at CNN
“The White House released the tax returns of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses, restoring a tradition that was broken by former President Donald Trump.” Read more at USA Today
“Another ex-federal official is acknowledging the possible existence of UFOs, weeks before a report on the phenomena is expected to be sent to Congress.” Read more at USA Today
“Robert A. Durst has been trailed by the suspicions of investigators in several states over his possible involvement in three deaths that stretch back 40 years.
This week in Los Angeles, the murder trial in one of those cases is set to resume with the same jury despite an extraordinary 14-month hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Durst — the eccentric 78-year-old real estate scion who became the subject of books, movies and television specials — is accused of the execution-style killing of a close confidante, Susan Berman, at her Beverly Hills, Calif., home in December 2000. His trial had only just begun last year when the pandemic forced the courts to close down.
His lawyers called the 14-month delay the longest adjournment in U.S. history featuring the same jury. They argued that the jurors could have forgotten information from the start of the trial, discussed the case with others or watched television programs about the case. Before the trial’s suspension, however, it was the defense that asked for an adjournment because of public health concerns.” Read more at New York Times
“Andrew Cuomo was paid $5.1 million for his pandemic book.
The Democratic New York governor was paid $3.12 million in 2020 for his book ‘American Crisis,’ and is owed another $2 million in the coming years, tax filings show. The governor's net income from the book in 2020 was about $1.5 million. He donated $500,000 of the proceeds to the United Way of New York State to assist with Covid-19 relief and vaccination efforts. The book’s production is under investigation by state lawmakers as part of an impeachment investigation into Cuomo's conduct. Senior aides to the governor reviewed a draft of the manuscript at the Executive Mansion during weekend sessions, and a copy of the manuscript was printed using a state printer. Lawmakers from both parties have accused Cuomo of profiting from the pandemic, which has seen more than 40,000 New Yorkers die from Covid-19. Cuomo has said his memoir was meant to offer lessons on how to respond to the pandemic.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The world has a stark choice — stop developing new oil, gas and coal fields today or face a dangerous rise in global temperatures. As Grant Smith reports, that’s the assessment of the International Energy Agency, the organization that has spent four decades working to secure oil supplies for industrialized nations, in its new road map for achieving global net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The goal is ‘perhaps the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced,’ said Executive Director Fatih Birol.” Read more at Bloomberg
Oil pumping jacks at sunset in Russia.
Photographer: Bloomberg Creative Photos/Bloomberg Creative Collection
“Parler is back in Apple's App Store, and the company has a new CEO.
The company named George Farmer, a prominent U.K. conservative, as the new chief executive and said the app had been let back into Apple's App Store after being removed in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Farmer, who previously worked in financial services, is married to Candace Owens, a conservative author and commentator known for being a loyal Trump supporter. In its return to service, Parler executives said they had rebuilt the platform with new community guidelines to be ‘viewpoint neutral.’ To satisfy Apple's rules, Parler said it will exclude certain types of content from its iOS app that could be otherwise viewed on the web-based version.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“39 million — The number of families set to receive payments under the recently expanded child tax credit from the Internal Revenue Service starting July 15. Congress expanded the annual maximum credit from $2,000 to $3,600 per child between the ages of 6 and 17 and up to $3,600 for children under age 6. Tens of millions of households will receive monthly payments of up to $250 per child between age 6 and 17 and up to $350 for children under 6.
$169 billion — The amount of net debt held by AT&T at the end of March. The company has agreed to spin off its WarnerMedia assets into a new combined venture with Discovery. AT&T's $81 billion acquisition of WarnerMedia in 2018 made it the most indebted non-financial company in the U.S., but executives say the unwinding of the deal will help it to pay down the debt ahead of schedule.
80 million — The number of vaccine doses the U.S. said it would export by the end of June. President Biden said 20 million doses of vaccines made by Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson will be exported along with 60 million AstraZeneca doses. The number of vaccines the U.S. will export is five times more than any other country has shared, the president said.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“India’s COVID-19 toll. India’s total reported coronavirus cases crossed the 25 million mark on Tuesday, making it only the second country, after the United States, to record so many cases. The milestone comes as the country also reported its highest one day death toll as 4,329 people are reported to have died from the virus. Although the number of new recorded daily cases dropped below 300,000 for the first time since April 21 it may not point to a downward trend. World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan has warned that India’s high positivity rate in testing—around 20 percent—is a warning that the worst has not passed, especially because some parts of the country lack the infrastructure for mass testing.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Chile’s established political elite has been roundly rejected at the polls six months ahead of a pivotal presidential election, as the country turned to a progressive new generation to write the next chapter in its history.
Resounding victories for leftist and independent candidates saw rightwing politicians crash to a dismal electoral defeats alongside those with links to Chile’s transition to democracy.
Across two days of voting, Chileans cast votes for the 155 delegates who will write a new constitution to replace Augusto Pinochet’s 1980 document and the neoliberal model it enshrined.
People also voted for regional governors for the first time ever, as well as for councillors and mayors – with candidates backed by president Sebastián Piñera’s Chile Vamos coalition faring poorly in each case.
Crucially, with the government coalition’s list securing only 37 seats in the assembly, Chile’s traditional right-wing fell well short of the one-third bloc it had targeted to obstruct the inclusion of progressive articles the constitution.” Read more at The Guardian
“Myanmar sanctions. The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada imposed coordinated sanctions on Myanmar’s ruling junta on Monday, in the latest attempt to pressure the country’s military leadership. In announcing the sanctions U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said political and financial pressure on the junta would continue ‘as long as it fails to stop violence and take meaningful action to respect the will of the people.’
The United Nations General Assembly was due to vote today on a draft resolution calling for ‘for an immediate suspension of the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer of all weapons and munitions’ to Myanmar, but the move has now been delayed. More than 800 people have been killed since Myanmar’s Feb. 1 coup, the activist group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported on Monday.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“War in Tigray. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation in his native Tigray as ‘horrific’ on Monday as the conflict enters its seventh month. Roughly five million people are in need of humanitarian aid, Tedros said, adding that sexual violence is ‘rampant.’ On Friday the European Union condemned the Ethiopian government for using ‘humanitarian aid as a weapon of war,’ as it continues to block aid to the region. Ethiopia’s foreign ministry has denied any problems with aid access.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“The number of divorces in China dropped 70 percent in the first quarter of 2021, according to data published by the Chinese ministry of civil affairs. Marital bliss is unlikely the reason for the decrease, however. On January 1, China introduced a ‘cooling off’ period, making couples wait 30 days before finalizing their decision, with the petition voided if couples fail to show up for two appointments between 30 and 60 days after applying. Chinese media reported couples having difficulties finding appointments in Shenzhen, Shanghai, and other cities, which is likely to have contributed to the dramatic drop.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Lives Lived: As a top modeling agent in the 1960s and ’70s, Barbara Stone cultivated the careers of Cheryl Tiegs, Cybill Shepherd and even a young Martha Stewart. Stone died at 87.” Read more at New York Times
Photo: Christie's
“More than $1.3 billion in paintings was sold during New York’s May auction week, and just 10 paintings added up to $550 million, Bloomberg reports: ‘Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and Warhol still dominate the very pinnacle of prices.’ ‘The only exception is Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died at the age of 27 in 1988.’ His 1983 ‘In This Case’ sold for $93.1 million.
The top bid was $103.4 million for Picasso’s 1932 "Femme Assise Près d'une Fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)," shown above.” Read more at Axios