U.S. weapons: In an interview with CNN, President Biden said he will stop the U.S. from sending some weapons to Israel if Israel goes ahead with its plan for a full-scale military assault on the city of Rafah in Gaza. Biden acknowledged that U.S. weapons have been used by Israel in strikes that have caused civilian casualties. Biden said that the U.S. is not walking away from protecting Israel’s security but it is walking way from giving Israel the ability to attack civilian areas of Gaza.
Nuclear control: Sierra Nevada Corporation, the defense industry firm that has a contract to provide the U.S military with five airplanes that would be used as command and control centers for U.S. nuclear weapons, has purchased five Boeing 747 airliners from South Korea’s Korean Air. The former airliners would be converted to the command and control aircraft. The price for the airliners was $675 million. In the event that command and control centers on the ground are targeted in a nuclear attack, control of U.S. nuclear weapons would be transferred to crews on the airplanes.
Brian Wilson: A judge in Los Angeles has ruled that Beach Boys’ founder Brian Wilson’s publicist and manager should become his conservators, following the death of his wife who had been making decisions on his behalf. Wilson suffers from what has been described as a major cognitive disorder and is incapable of making decisions for himself. Wilson has been taking medication to help control the effects of his dementia.
Haitian children: UNICEF, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, says that malnutrition is a major problem affecting tens of thousands of children in Haiti as gang violence continues to disrupt life in that country. UNICEF reports that in March more than 16,000 children under five years old received care for malnutrition and that almost 30,000 children had been screened for malnutrition in March alone. UNICEF said the situation is especially severe in the capital Port-au-Prince where coordinated attacks by gangs have paralyzed the city.
Campus demonstrations: Police early today removed a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Pennsylvania. Police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, took down an encampment at MIT. On the University of Arizona campus, police used tear gas when moving against a pro-Palestinian tent city. Martha Pollack, president of Cornell University in Ithaca, where pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been taking place on campus, announced that she is retiring in December.
Trump trial: Stormy Daniels pushed back against attacks from Donald Trump’s Attorney Susan Necheles during her testimony yesterday in the hush money trial. Necheles accused her of making up the story about her sexual encounter with Trump and Daniels responded that if she had made up the story it would have been a lot better. Trump’s legal team asked Judge Juan Merchan to declare a mistrial in the case and also to lift part of the gag order against Trump so that he can talk about Daniels. Judge Merchan rejected both motions.
