Michigan primary: Organizers of the Democratic protest vote in the Michigan presidential primary are cheering having 100,000 voters select “uncommitted” instead of voting for President Biden. The protest was over Biden’s support for Israel in the Israel-Hamas war. The organizers had hoped that 10,000 people would show support for the Palestinians by voting “uncommitted” and instead got ten times that number of votes. In the Republican primary in Michigan, Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley as expected.
Pope ill: Pope Francis was taken to a hospital in Rome where he underwent tests after not feeling well following his audience at the Vatican this morning. The Vatican did not disclose details of the hospital visit. The Pope has been feeling weak for several days, apparently due to a mild case of the flu. He had canceled activities last Saturday and again on Monday.
Fires: The Texas panhandle north of Amarillo is experiencing seven wildfires today, with an estimated 500,000 acres burned in one fire in the Smokehouse Creek area. The Smokehouse Creek fire has grown to become the second largest in the state’s history. An unspecified number of homes have been destroyed. Flames also have spread across the Texas border into Oklahoma.
Hunter Biden: President Biden’s son Hunter was scheduled to testify today behind closed doors on Capitol Hill as House Republicans continue their investigation into him and his father. The Republicans had not produced evidence of wrongdoing. The Republicans went ahead with their investigation even though their prime source of information has been arrested for lying to the FBI. The informant, Alexander Smirnov, has admitted to having ties to Russian intelligence. The information he gave to the Republicans about the Bidens apparently was fed to him by Russian intelligence agents as part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Disney deal: The Walt Disney Company is joining with two entities in India in a joint venture to build a dominant entertainment company that expects to have 750-million television viewers in India. The joint venture is valued at $8.5 billion. Disney will license its content to the joint venture, which also involves Reliance Industries and Viacon18 Media. In addition to providing entertainment and sports programming to viewers in India, the joint venture would reach people of India heritage around the world. Disney CEO Bob Iger said, “India is the world’s most populous market, and we are excited for the opportunities that this joint venture will provide to create long-term value for the company.”
