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☆ U.S. Loses Key Case on Rights to H.I.V.-Prevention Drugs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Rebecca Robbins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A federal jury in Delaware on Tuesday found that the federal government did not have an ownership claim to lucrative drugs to prevent H.I.V. The Trump administration brought the lawsuit in 2019 in part because of concern over the high price Gilead was charging. The two versions of the drug — Truvada and the newer Descovy — have generated huge profits for Gilead. Lawyers for the federal government had argued that Gilead had violated three government patents that protected the concept of using Truvada to prevent H.I.V. The patents were granted to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for inventions stemming from experiments they conducted on monkeys in the mid-2000s.

☆ Confused about the debt ceiling? Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

What is the debt ceiling? Unlike a credit card, though, the expenses were already approved by Congress, so the debt ceiling does not pertain to new spending. The debt ceiling was last raised in December 2021 by $2.5 trillion, capping the limit at $31.381 trillion. If Congress does not agree to lift the debt ceiling, the government will not have money to pay its bills and will default on its debt. The White House has remained steadfast that it is Congress's responsibility to raise the debt ceiling without conditions, as was done three times under the Trump administration.

☆ What is Title 42 and what happens next at the border?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Here are answers to some key questions about Title 42, what’s happening on the ground and what could happen next. Migrants encountered under Title 42 have been either returned to their home countries or sent back into Mexico. What will happen at the border after Title 42 is lifted? Advocates say for many of those who were expelled under Title 42, the situation has been dire. The Title 42 border restrictions were controversial from the moment the Trump administration announced them.

Trump was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil trial after a years-long legal battle with E. Jean Carroll. Carroll's trial was the first time Trump has confronted sexual misconduct allegations at trial. "In the general, it would repel swing voters," Roe predicted, though he declined to weigh the potential damage because the election remains 18 months away. When it comes to hitting Trump on the verdict, Roe said 2024 candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Whereas he suspects that others like Trump administration alumni Nikki Haley "still want Trump voters to come their way," so they'll be less inclined to alienate MAGA supporters.

☆ Pulitzer Prizes: 2023 Winners List
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

PUBLIC SERVICEAssociated PressThe Pulitzer committee honored the A.P. for the work of Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Lori Hinnant, citing their “courageous reporting from the besieged city of Mariupol that bore witness to the slaughter of civilians in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”Finalists Austin American-Statesman, in collaboration with the USA Today Network; The Washington PostBREAKING NEWSStaff of The Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times won for “revealing a secretly recorded conversation among city officials that included racist comments,” followed by additional coverage exploring racial issues in local politics. Finalists Staff of The New York Times; Josh Gerstein, Alex Ward, Peter S. Canellos, Hailey Fuchs and Heidi Przybyla of PoliticoINVESTIGATIVE REPORTINGStaff of The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal was honored for “sharp accountability reporting on financial conflicts of interest among officials at 50 federal agencies.”Finalists Joaquin Palomino and Trisha Thadani of the San Francisco Chronicle; staff of the Star Tribune of MinneapolisEXPLANATORY REPORTINGCaitlin Dickerson of The AtlanticMs. Dickerson’s work was a “deeply reported and compelling accounting of the Trump administration policy that forcefully separated migrant children from their parents,” the committee said. Finalists Duaa Eldeib of ProPublica; Terrence McCoy of The Washington Post

☆ What the End of a Pandemic-Era Health Order Will Mean for the Southern Border
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Eileen Sullivan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Two months ago, the Biden administration said that on May 11, the public health crisis designation would end. In effect, officials said, this meant that the use of Title 42 would come to an end, too. (The Biden administration sought to end the use of the public health order in the past year, but was stopped twice by the courts. Since it has been in place, Title 42 was used about a third of the time. Under Title 42, people could also cross as many times as they wanted without facing steeper penalties.

☆ We Hit the Debt Limit. What Happens Now?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | Ashley Wu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

Pass a timely deal Fail to reach an agreement Raise the debt limit Default on debt Congress can ... The debt limit was raised this way three times during the Trump administration and dozens of times during past presidencies. But House Republicans have made clear that they want stipulations in the form of spending cuts attached to this next debt limit increase. Pass a timely deal Fail to reach an agreement Potential market volatility Temporary suspension Delay the debate Raise the debt limit Default on debt Congress can ... DefaultRaise the debt limit Default on debt Potential loss of trust in U.S. bonds Default on debt Potential loss of trust in U.S. bonds Raise the debt limitMany on Wall Street think that the worst-case scenario would play out if the government missed an interest payment, leaving it in default on its debt.

☆ Five ways the rich save big on estate taxes, from putting houses in trusts to buying offshore life insurance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Thanks to tax cuts made during the Trump administration, Americans can give or hand down nearly $13 million in assets without paying federal estate tax. Currently, individuals and married couples can gift or bequeath $12.92 million and $25.84 million, respectively, before a 40% federal estate tax kicks in. Private-placement life insurance, or PPLI, can be used to pass on assets from stocks to yachts to heirs without incurring any estate tax. The assets in the trust are treated as premiums, and if structured correctly, the benefit and assets in the policy are bequeathed free of estate tax. These trusts pay a fixed annuity during the trust term, which is usually two years, and any appreciation of the assets' value is not subject to estate tax.

☆ Seven waiting at bus stop in Texas bordertown killed when struck by vehicle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Ken Dilanian | Corky Siemaszko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A section of the Border Wall is under construction just south of the UT-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College campus next to the Rio Grande River. The 20-foot high concrete and steel wall is being built in sections throughout south Texas. Seven people waiting at a bus stop in a Texas border city were killed and a dozen more were injured early Sunday when a vehicle rammed into them in what investigators believe was an intentional act, officials said. The victims were at a stop located near a Catholic Charities facility in the city of Brownsville when they were struck, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News. One of the injured was airlifted to Valley Baptist Medical Center in nearly Harlingen, the department said.

☆ Opinion: Vladimir Putin’s anxious time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. He imagines a boy sitting “upon the high and giddy mast” of a ship tossed by wind and waves. “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” concludes the king in Shakespeare’s play. Russia said that President Vladimir Putin was the intended target of a foiled Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin, an allegation Ukraine denied. The unfortunate monarch who was the last to own the original St. Edward’s Crown, King Charles I, was convicted of treason and beheaded on January 30, 1649.

☆ Trump says he's 'pleased' to see Vivek Ramaswamy was even with Pence and ahead of Haley in a recent poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The former president said he was "pleased" to see entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy doing so well. A political newcomer, Ramaswamy performed very well in a recent poll. "I am pleased to see that Vivek Ramaswamy is doing so well in the most recent Republican Primary Poll, CBS YouGov," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. RealClearPolitics' more raw average has Ramaswamy in fifth behind DeSantis, Pence, and Haley respectively. In response to Trump's praise, Ramaswamy senior adviser Tricia McLaughlin told Insider, "We're 10 weeks in and just getting warmed up."

"The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency marks a tremendous transition for our country, for public health, and in my tenure as CDC Director," Walensky wrote to President Joe Biden in her resignation letter. "We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter," Biden said in a statement. "For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations," she told CDC staff last summer. Public health experts said Walensky wrestled with political and technical challenges during her tenure. "Dr. Walensky was put into place at the CDC at a time when the agency was basically captive to politicians which clearly hampered her ability to lead," he said.

☆ Biden: Say goodbye to job growth and low unemployment if the debt ceiling isn't lifted
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned that the low unemployment rate in Friday's jobs report could disappear if House Republicans do not increase the debt ceiling soon. "Just today they're reporting 250,000 new jobs," Biden said at the White House. Lifting the debt ceiling is necessary for the government to cover existing spending commitments already approved by Congress and the president. Congress lifted the debt ceiling three times under the Trump administration without conditions. Biden will meet with the four top congressional party leaders at the White House next week and try to reach a deal.

☆ Justice Thomas’s Friend Defends Failure to Disclose Tuition Payments by Harlan Crow
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — A Republican donor from Texas paid for two years of private-school tuition for Justice Clarence Thomas’s great-nephew, a gift that the justice did not disclose, a friend of the justice acknowledged in a statement on Thursday. The acknowledgment added detail to a report on Thursday by ProPublica, which last month documented how Justice Thomas had received gifts of luxury travel from the billionaire donor, Harlan Crow. The revelations, which also include the sale of the home of Justice Thomas’s mother to Mr. Crow, have raised questions over the justice’s ethical practices. In his statement, Mark Paoletta, Justice Thomas’s friend and a former official for the Trump administration, argued that the justice was not required to report the tuition. “This malicious story shows nothing except for the fact that the Thomases and the Crows are kind, generous, and loving people who tried to help this young man,” Mr. Paoletta wrote.

The election came after World Bank board members interviewed Banga for four hours on Monday. Biden congratulated Banga on his "resounding approval" to run the World Bank, which he described as "one of humanity’s most critical institutions to reduce poverty and expand prosperity around the globe." "Ajay Banga will be a transformative leader, bringing expertise, experience, and innovation to the position of World Bank President," Biden said. "The Board looks forward to working with Mr. Banga on the World Bank Group Evolution process, as discussed at the April 2023 Spring Meetings, and on all the World Bank Group’s ambitions and efforts aimed at tackling the toughest development challenges facing developing countries," the bank said. The World Bank has been led by an American since its founding at the end of World War Two, while the International Monetary Fund has been led by a European.

Banga, 63, was nominated for the post by U.S. President Joe Biden in late February and was the sole contender to replace departing World Bank chief David Malpass, an economist and former U.S. Treasury official during the Trump administration. Sources familiar with the process said they expect Banga to win the board's approval handily after several meetings with board members in recent weeks and a formal interview on Monday. One of the sources said Banga had impressed World Bank shareholders in recent weeks as a "true change maker" who will help accelerate reforms at the global development bank. The World Bank has been led by an American since its founding at the end of World War Two, while the International Monetary Fund has been led by a European. Banga, who was born in India and spent his early career there, has been a U.S. citizen since 2007.

☆ $59 Million, Gone: How Bikini Atoll Leaders Blew Through U.S. Trust Fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Pete Mckenzie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The golden sand of Bikini Atoll is laced with plutonium. In the 1940s and ’50s, the U.S. government used this coral reef, in the Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands, for testing nuclear weapons. In 2017, after a campaign by Bikini leaders for greater autonomy, the Trump administration announced that the government would lift withdrawal limits and stop auditing the main fund, then worth $59 million. Six years later, only about $100,000 remains, and the Bikini community is in crisis. He has defended some of the purchases as investments against climate change, as necessary to support isolated Bikinians and as attempts at revenue-generating projects.

☆ Ajay Banga: Indian American businessman is the new president of the World Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The election came after World Bank board members interviewed Banga for four hours on Monday. Biden congratulated Banga on his “resounding approval” to run the World Bank, which he described as “one of humanity’s most critical institutions to reduce poverty and expand prosperity around the globe.”“Ajay Banga will be a transformative leader, bringing expertise, experience, and innovation to the position of World Bank President,” Biden said. “It is a challenging moment, but it’s a moment where the World Bank remains more vital than ever, and where getting the evolution of the World Bank is absolutely critical,” the official said. “The Board looks forward to working with Mr. Banga on the World Bank Group Evolution process … on all the World Bank Group’s ambitions and efforts aimed at tackling the toughest development challenges facing developing countries,” the bank said. The World Bank has been led by an American since its founding at the end of World War Two, while the International Monetary Fund has been led by a European.

☆ The President, the Soccer Hooligans and an Underworld ‘House of Horrors’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Robert F. Worth | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

direction, and he chose not to.” Serwer speculated that Vucic has concluded the reforms required to join the E.U. The notion that Serbia can “balance” the West against Russia is largely a mirage, Bassuener said. One afternoon in Belgrade, I spent an hour talking to Boris Tadic, who served as Serbia’s president from 2004 until 2012, when he lost to Vucic’s party. Vucic, he said, had “helped put criminals in power” with the belief that he could control them. “What is the final outcome of your power if you’re going to destroy the foundations of society with hooligans and criminals?” he asked.

☆ What Is Title 42? What It Means for Immigration and U.S.-Mexico Border
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Michelle Hackman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to keep Title 42 in place for now, some migrants at the Mexico-U. S. border want to wait for more news while others have decided to cross into the U.S. illegally. Photo: Jose Luis Gonzalez/ReutersThe pandemic-era border policy known as Title 42 is expected to end on May 11, the same day the public-health emergency declared for Covid-19 is set to expire. Title 42, first put in place by the Trump administration at the start of the pandemic, allows migrants to be quickly expelled at the southern border without a chance to ask for asylum.

☆ Title 42: Why the Biden administration expects a surge at the US-Mexico border next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Migrant surge expectedThe surge of migrants is expected because Title 42, the Trump-era policy that allowed the government to quickly turn away certain migrants at the border during the Covid-19 pandemic, is expiring. These deployments are not unprecedented in recent years, but this one is notable since it coincides with an expected surge of border encounters. Biden administration’s plan to discourage border crossingsThe administration has tried to discourage migrants from simply crossing the border and promised that people apprehended will be turned away and potentially barred from reentry. Anger from New York’s mayorTexas has been transporting thousands of migrants to cities like New York, Chicago and Washington, DC. “Governor Abbott sent asylum seekers to NY – Black mayor; to Washington – Black mayor; to Houston – Black mayor; to Los Angeles – Black mayor; to Denver – Black mayor.

☆ A Timeline of How the Banking Crisis Has Unfolded
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Madeleine Ngo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

March 9Gregory Becker, the chief executive of Silicon Valley Bank, urged venture capital firms to remain calm on a conference call. March 10In the biggest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed after a run on deposits . Regional bank stocks plunged after the unexpected seizure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank , with shares of First Republic tumbling 60 percent. The Treasury secretary believed the actions by the private sector would help underscore confidence in the stability of the banking system. April 28The Fed released a report faulting itself for failing to “take forceful enough action” ahead of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.

SummarySummary Companies Anthony Johnstone is Biden's seventh appointee to the courtConfirmation comes as Senate Democrats struggle to advance some judges(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Monday voted 49-45 to confirm law professor Anthony Johnstone to the 9th U.S. Historically, judicial nominees have needed so-called "blue slips" representing approval from their home state senators to be considered for confirmation. However, the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee under the Trump administration ended that practice for appeals court nominees. Health issues have kept Senate Judiciary Committee member Dianne Feinstein out of Washington since March, creating ongoing difficulties for Senate Democrats seeking to advance Biden's judicial nominees. Schumer on Monday said that the Senate will take up several other judicial nominees this week.

☆ White House banking headache won’t end with First Republic deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

JPMorgan Chase is buying most assets of the troubled First Republic Bank and assuming all of its deposits in a deal announced Monday that was arranged by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The independent agency’s new forced intervention is likely to fuel concerns about the overall health of the US banking sector. Biden’s new political headacheThe new concerns over the banking sector put the administration back in an unappealing position. Some progressive Democrats have balked at the idea that already mighty banks will get bigger by stepping in to snap up assets of troubled banks. On Sunday, he called for a shift in federal government policy to ensure all bank deposits.

☆ Biden to advocate the release of detained journalists at the White House correspondents’ dinner
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Megan Lebowitz | Peter Alexander | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden plans to use his remarks Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner to address press freedoms and the detainment of American journalists. At the 2022 dinner, Biden spoke for just under 15 minutes, cracking jokes at himself and the media. The history of the famed dinner stretches back to 1914, when the White House Correspondents' Association was established. Trump skipped all of the White House correspondents' dinners during his term. After comedian Michelle Wolf delivered a blistering 2018 dinner routine taking aim at the Trump administration, Trump tweeted that "the White House Correspondents' Dinner is DEAD as we know it."

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