Weekly News Roundup - 4/5/24
The World Central Kitchen worker deaths galvanize pressure on Israel to stop killing civilians; Florida's abortion law; Yellen in China
Welcome to the 13th weekly news roundup of 2024. The archive for all weekly news roundups is here. If you notice stories or issues you’d like to see mentioned in these roundups, let me know. In 2024, the Border Stalkers Substack is featuring one news update a week, and one book a month, with weekly posts on each book. The book of the month schedule is here.
Big Stories This Week
Seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed by the Israeli military in airstrikes on Monday night in Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces admitted it had made a "grave mistake" and dismissed two military officers, but the incident brought new levels of outraged attention to what WCK Founder Jose Andres called "indiscriminate killing" by the Israeli government. Andres penned a poignant op-ed Wednesday titled simply, "Let People Eat." Israel's support from key allies has been slipping for weeks, and this costly mistake has accelerated the Netanyahu government's isolation. President Biden said Tuesday that "this is not a stand-alone incident. This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed." Late in the week, Biden told Netanyahu that future U.S. support would be conditioned on whether Israel improves its regard for civilian casualties and if it permits more food and aid into Gaza, prompting quick concessions from the Israeli leader.
Tuition costs at "a number of private colleges" in the U.S. have surpassed $90,000 a year, the Associated Press reported this week.
The Florida Supreme Court cleared the way for a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, but also approved a ballot question in the fall election in which the state's voters could remove restrictions on abortion. The ruling raises questions about whether the abortion issue could make Florida, which has drifted into red state territory in recent years, more competitive in the showdown between Biden and Trump.
One month after stating it would field a third-party presidential candidate, the independent group No Labels reversed course and said it would not do so after all, saying that no "credible" candidate had emerged.
The U.S. economy continued to improve, but uncertainty remained about whether the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates any time soon.
Week in Review
Friday, March 29
Financial markets are closed for Good Friday observances.
Saturday, March 30
AT&T discloses a massive data breach of current and former and customer Social Security numbers, and resets passwords for millions of users.
Sunday, March 31
Christians celebrate Easter, in memory of Christ's resurrection from the dead and victory over death. In Rome, Pope Francis leads 60,000 celebrants in an Easter mass and makes a plea for peace in war-torn parts of the world, especially Ukraine and Gaza.
Monday, April 1
Seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen are killed in airstrikes at night. WCF says they were in clearly marked vans and had coordinated their movement with the IDF. The deaths, Politico writes, "sparked a series of fierce reactions at the highest levels of government — and an unusually sensitive response from Israeli leaders who, till now, have become accustomed to hand-waving away questions about their scorched-earth military campaign."
Israel also conducts an airstrike on Iran's consulate in Syria, killing two Iranian generals, five other officers, and 12 people in all. It is in retaliation for Iran's support of groups launching missile attacks on Israel, but experts note that it is a "major escalation," and Iran vows to retaliate.
The Florida Supreme Court clears the way for a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, but also approves a ballot question in the fall election in which the state's voters could remove restrictions on abortion.
Truth Social, Trump's social media company, lost $58 million in 2023, it reveals in an SEC filing. Shares of the stock drop precipitously, wiping out all of the former president's gains.
Trump posts a $175 million bond in New York to prevent the seizure of some of his assets in a fraud case, while he appeals the ruling.
Health officials announce that a person in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu after working closely with cows who were infected by the virus.
Tuesday, April 2
A Wall Street Journal survey shows that if the presidential election were held today, Donald Trump is leading President Biden in six of seven key swing states and would likely win.
Wisconsin voters approve a measure to ban private money from supporting election administration, in response to a $500 million donation made by Meta Founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla's foundation during the 2020 election. That money was donated to help elections run smoothly during the pandemic, after Congress failed to allocate enough money for the task. And accusations that the donations skewed results in favor of Democrats fell apart under close examination.
Egg producers in Texas and Michigan find bird flu in some of their chickens. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., destroys around 3.6% of its total flock to prevent the virus from spreading.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signs a law passed by the legislature, lowing the conscription age from 27 to 25, as the army seeks to boost its numbers in the third year of Russia's invasion.
Wednesday, April 3
Taiwan suffers the strongest earthquake in 25 years, a 7.4 on the Richter scale concentrated on its eastern coast. At least 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 are injured.
The Biden administration cancels federal education loans for those "who have paid their loans for 10 years and borrowed $12,000 or less," according to the president.
The Nebraska legislature rebuffs an attempt by Republicans to award all its electoral college votes to the statewide winner, rather than by congressional district. This change would likely deprive President Biden of one vote in the Electoral College, which could be consequential in the event of a razor close contest. Gabe Fleisher has details here. If you really want to nerd out on this, read
.
Thursday, April 4
President Biden tells Israeli PM Netanyahu that future U.S. support for Israel is conditioned on stronger protections for civilians and increased aid and food allowed into Gaza. Biden "made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps," the White House said of the 30-minute phone call, which the New York Times called "tense." The Israelis announce plans for new aid routes.
Israel dismisses two senior officers and reprimands three others for their role in the rocket attack on a convoy that killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen.
No Labels announces it will not field an independent presidential candidate after all. “No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down," No Labels CEO Nancy Jacobson says.
Average U.S. mortgage rates stay just under 7% for another week, with a small increase.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen begins a five-day trip to China, seeking to build on what The Dispatch describes as "a year of slowly improving U.S.-China ties." But Yellen takes a harder edge toward China's manufacturing sector ahead of the trip, warning that "we don’t want to be overly dependent and they want to dominate the market," and, "we’re not going to let that happen.”
Friday, April 5
The latest jobs data for March shows that employers added just over 300,000 new jobs the previous month, far above the forecast of 200,000 that was expected. A moderate increase in wage growth is another good sign that inflation is being held in check.
The U.S. stock market rebounds after a more than 500-point drop on Thursday, which came in response to remarks by a Federal Reserve official that interest rate cuts might not be as urgent or even necessary this year.
An earthquake, 4.7 on the Richter scale, shakes Lebanon, NJ, about 45 miles west of New York City. The 2011 earthquake that rattled the Washington, D.C. area was 5.8 on the Richter scale.
Interesting Reads:
Liz Shuler Wants AI to Reinvigorate the Labor Movement, by Tom McGrath for Politico Magazine
The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust: Many Americans seem to have found no alternative method to build a sense of community, by Derek Thompson for The Atlantic
Why Immigration Is Now the No. 1 Issue for Voters, by Tarina Parti and Michelle Hackman for The Wall Street Journal
How to Worry about Artificial Intelligence, by Yuval Levin for National Review
Zelensky: ‘We are trying to find some way not to retreat’, by David Ignatius for The Washington Post
The Intensification of Christianism, by Andrew Sullivan for The Weekly Dish
How stopping squatters became a hot conservative crusade by David Weigel for Semafor
RFK Jr. Turns Left: His choice of running mate shows the independent’s growing danger to Democrats, by Chris Stirewalt for The Dispatch
Colleges are lawyering up to avoid becoming the next Harvard, by Hailey Fuchs for Politico
Cage Fighting Is the Key to Trump’s Reelection Campaign, by Sam Eagan for The New Republic
Inside a G.O.P. Plan to Encourage Early Voting Despite Trump’s Attacks, by Nick Corasanti for The New York Times
I can’t believe Ron DeSantis is right about this, but he is, by Kara Alaimo for CNN