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☆ Alaska Airlines was named America's favorite airline for the 2nd year in a row — months after a hole blew in the side of one of its planes
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The airline topped the American Customer Satisfaction Index, despite its infamous panel blowout in January. Overall, US air travel customers were happier than last year with their experiences. The airline comfortably topped the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index with a score of 82, a one-point improvement compared to 2023. Allegiant registered a four-point rise in overall customer satisfaction, making it one of the fastest climbers this year. By collating this information, the American Customer Satisfaction Index says it provides a "definitive measure of passenger satisfaction."

Persons: —, Allegiant, Max, Kyle Rinker, Jonathan W Organizations: Alaska Airlines, Service, American Airlines, Allegiant Air, Delta, United Airlines, Boeing, Portland International, Johnson, International Air Transport Association Locations: Alaska

☆ Inside the Crisis at NPR
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NPR employees tuned in for a pivotal meeting late last year for a long-awaited update on the future of the public radio network. After many tumultuous months, marked by layoffs, financial turbulence and internal strife, they signed in to Zoom hoping to hear some good news from NPR’s leaders. What they got instead was a stark preview of the continued challenges ahead. For the past two weeks, turmoil has engulfed NPR after a senior editor assailed what he described as an extreme liberal bias inside the organization that has bled into its news coverage. The editor, Uri Berliner, said NPR’s leaders had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace” — at the expense of diverse political viewpoints, and at the risk of losing its audience.

Persons: Daphne Kwon, Uri Berliner Organizations: The New York Times, NPR Locations: America

☆ Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar again in the spotlight fighting the conservative Supreme Court on abortion
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —For the fourth time since she became the federal government’s top Supreme Court advocate, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar is arguing an abortion-related case. When Prelogar argues before the Supreme Court, she is arguing in front of several alumni of the US Office of the Solicitor General. She also clerked for her current boss, Attorney General Merrick Garland, when he was a DC Circuit judge, before her Supreme Court clerkships. She went on to litigate Supreme Court cases for private firms and worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Likewise, the abortion case Prelogar argued last month could have significant consequences for federal power.

Persons: Elizabeth Prelogar, Prelogar, Department’s, Biden, ”, Stephanie Toti, she’s, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Kagan, Obama, John Roberts, George H.W, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Roe, ” Prelogar, General Merrick Garland, Robert Mueller’s, Beth Brinkmann, Clinton, Brinkmann, Prelogar’s, Court’s Roe, Wade, –, Roberts, Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, ” Toti, “ That’s Organizations: CNN, Miss Idaho, NPR, Emory University, Harvard Law School, DC Circuit, litigate, The Justice Department, Idaho, Labor, Center for Reproductive Rights, Food and Drug Administration, Justice Department, Republican Locations: Bush, Texas, ” An Idaho, Idaho

☆ E.W. Scripps exploring sale of Black-culture broadcast network Bounce TV
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Scripps , one of the largest local TV broadcasters in the U.S., has hired a financial advisor to evaluate inbound interest in acquiring Bounce TV, its over-the-air network geared toward African Americans, according to Scripps CEO Adam Symson. Symson declined to comment on the names of the bidders or the potential price for Bounce TV. He added a platform such as Bounce TV could also serve as a landing spot for a catalog of Black creators. Scripps officials began telling Bounce TV employees about the inbound interest on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the communications. Bounce TV, which debuted in 2011, is a free over-the-air network that broadcasts a combination of syndicated shows, movies and original content.

Persons: Tanika Ray, Alyson Fouse, Kym Whitley, Yvette Nicole Brown, Tisha Campbell, Adam Symson, Symson, Scripps, they're, Johnson, Deji LaRay Organizations: London West Hollywood, Beverly, Scripps, Paramount Global, BET Media Group, CNBC, TV, BET Locations: Beverly Hills, West Hollywood , California, U.S

☆ Trump’s immunity case is another reminder that all roads now lead to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

CNN —The Supreme Court’s hearing Thursday on former President Donald Trump’s immunity claim will underline a historic power shift. Trump’s relationship has been complex with the court’s conservative majority – despite his instrumental role in establishing it. In sharp contrast, the court’s conservative majority has exerted its influence year after year, without interruption. “There is just much more intense vetting of Supreme Court justices,” said Pierson. “You can tell by the results of the court decisions over the past several years that it is fundamentally different.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, “, ”, Jeff Shesol, Franklin D, John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Paul Pierson, –, Barack Obama’s, Roberts, Joe Biden, Trump, they’ve, Michael McConnell, Jack Smith, Gore, outvoted, George W, Bush, MAGA, Michael Waldman, ” Waldman, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Nixon, Waldman, ” McConnell, McConnell, Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, David Souter, George H.W, Pierson, Obama, Brett Kavanaugh, Barrett, Cecilia Munoz, Biden, “ It’s, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Clinton, ” Shesol, FDR, Shesol Organizations: CNN, White House, GOP, Republican Party, Trump, Republicans, University of California, Democratic, House, White, Constitutional, Center, Stanford University Law School, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law, Senate, Republican, Federalist Society, Alabama, Electoral, Citizens, Constitutional Law Center, New, Great Society Locations: Berkeley, Manhattan, Florida, “, George H.W . Bush, Shelby County

☆ How the Israel-Gaza Protests Could Hurt the Democratic Party
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Protests over the Israel-Hamas war could also complicate this year’s convention and the Democratic messaging for President Biden, whom Republicans have eagerly cast as too indulgent of chaos and disorder in American society. Last week, Fox News and other conservative outlets repeatedly showed demonstrations that made the country seem on the edge: Columbia University sending in the police to arrest students on campus; protesters shouting “genocide!” at President Biden at a campaign stop; demonstrators chaining themselves to cars to block traffic, creating gridlock. “The whole Republican message is, ‘The world is out of control and Biden is not in command,’” said David Axelrod, the Democratic strategist and adviser to former President Barack Obama. “They will exploit any images of disorder to abet and support it.”

Persons: Biden, ’ ”, David Axelrod, Barack Obama, “, ” Organizations: Democratic, Republicans, Fox News, Columbia University Locations: Israel

After the Indiana Fever made Caitlin Clark the W.N.B.A.’s No. In exchange for Clark’s once-in-a-generation talent, the W.N.B.A. The simplest reason the W.N.B.A. isn’t paying Clark more is that the league brings in just $200 million annually and relies on the N.B.A. The N.B.A., by contrast, brings in about $10 billion.

Persons: Caitlin Clark, ”, Clark’s, Biden, Clark Organizations: Indiana Fever, Nike

☆ VW Workers in Tennessee Vote for Union, a Labor Milestone
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a landmark victory for organized labor, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee have voted overwhelmingly to join the United Automobile Workers union, becoming the first nonunion auto plant in a Southern state to do so. In a statement late Friday, the company said that the union had won 2,628 votes, with 985 opposed, in a three-day election. to organize the Chattanooga factory over the last 10 years were narrowly defeated. The outcome is a breakthrough for the labor movement in a region where anti-union sentiment has been strong for decades. won record wage gains and improved benefits in negotiations with the Detroit automakers.

Organizations: Volkswagen, United Automobile Workers, Detroit automakers, General Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: Tennessee, Southern, Chattanooga

Labor painsAfter a “summer of strikes” last year that stretched from Detroit to Hollywood, unions are on a roll, flexing their growing might. Friday will bring a new test of that power as workers at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee vote on whether to join the United Automobile Workers. Victory there would mark perhaps the first time a foreign carmaker’s U.S. plant became unionized and form a beachhead for organized labor in the anti-union South. But it could also resonate well beyond the car industry as President Biden cultivates labor in battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. A yes vote would be a big win for the U.A.W.

Persons: ”, Biden, Shawn Fain, they’ve Organizations: Volkswagen, United Automobile Workers, Big, Detroit carmakers, Toyota, Tesla, Automotive News Locations: Detroit, Hollywood, Tennessee, U.S, Michigan, Pennsylvania

☆ Washington wrestles with ‘new equation’ of direct attacks between Iran and Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Alex Marquardt | Katie Bo Lillis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Throughout the week, US officials had urged Israel not to retaliate for Iran’s unprecedented attack five days prior, when hundreds of missiles and drones were fired from inside Iran at Israel. US intelligence has long assessed that neither Iran nor Israel has any appetite for an outright war. Iranian officials have stated publicly that Iran’s policy toward Israel has changed. Then, on April 1, an Israeli strike on what Iran claims was an embassy in Syria killed seven officials, including two senior Iranian commanders. “Israel and Iran are going to be starting higher on the escalatory ladder for every future moment of conflict and that is incredibly dangerous,” said Panikoff.

Persons: Biden, ”, Hossein, Israel’s, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Israel, Bill Burns, George W, “, Frank McKenzie, ” McKenzie, Maher Al Mounes, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Jonathan Panikoff, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Karim Sadjadpour, Qassem Soleimani, Iran —, Iran messaged, Donald Trump, stridently, —, McKenzie Organizations: CNN, Israel, Iran, US, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, CIA, Bush Presidential Center, Iranian, US Central Command, Getty, Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran’s, Carnegie Endowmernt Locations: Washington, Israel, Iran, Tehran, ” Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Dallas, Syria, Syria's, Damascus, AFP, Lebanese, Iran’s, Iraq

☆ Gaza Is Biden’s War Now - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Nicholas Kristof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Darfur and Gaza are very different, of course, but I recall the senator’s compassion and urgency — and I wonder, where has that Joe Biden gone? Gaza has become the albatross around Biden’s neck. Consider just one example of America’s fingerprints on this war under Biden’s leadership. The International Rescue Committee says that the near-fatal strike was caused by a 1,000-pound American-made bomb, dropped from an American-made F-16 fighter jet. And when an American-made aircraft drops an American-made bomb on an American aid group in an American-supported war, how can that not come back to Biden?

Persons: Joe Biden, George W, Bush, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Organizations: International Rescue, Committee Locations: Darfur, China, Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, United States, American

☆ Opinion | Here’s Something Southern Republican Governors Are Afraid Of
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Jamelle Bouie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last year, the United Auto Workers announced an ambitious plan to organize workers and unionize foreign-owned auto plants in the South. “When we return to the bargaining table in 2028, it won’t just be with the Big Three. is targeting 13 automakers — including Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, Volvo and Tesla — employing around 150,000 workers in 36 nonunion plants across the South. The mere potential for union success was so threatening that the day before the vote began, several of the Southern Republican governors announced their opposition to the U.A.W. “We the governors of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas are highly concerned about the unionization campaign driven by misinformation and scare tactics that the U.A.W.

Persons: ” Shawn Fain, ” Fain, it’s, “, ” Organizations: United Auto Workers, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, Volvo, Tesla, Volkswagen, Southern Republican Locations: Chattanooga , Tenn, Alabama, Georgia , Mississippi, South Carolina , Tennessee, Texas

☆ C.I.A. Director Blames Hamas for Stalled Peace Talks
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Julian E. Barnes | Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Negotiations for a cease-fire and the release of Israeli hostages have stalled because Hamas rejected the latest proposal put forth by Israel, Qatar and Egypt, the C.I.A. director said Thursday, putting the blame for a lack of progress in talks squarely on the group that led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. director and lead American negotiator, traveled to Cairo and pushed what he called “a far-reaching proposal” that Egyptian and Qatari negotiators took to Hamas. While Mr. Burns did not describe the details of that proposal, he said that so far Hamas has not accepted it. “It was a deep disappointment to get a negative reaction from Hamas,” said Mr. Burns, speaking at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

Persons: William J, Burns, C.I.A, ”, George W, “ Organizations: Hamas, Qatari, Bush Presidential Center, Sunday Locations: Israel, Qatar, Egypt, Cairo, Dallas, Gaza

☆ Opinion: Trump might have dozed off in court. Here’s how that could come back to bite him
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Opinion Elliot Williams | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Still, the question remains: Can Trump consistently stay awake through the long slog of a criminal trial? Still, it was a striking image that simulcast three individuals in one: a criminal defendant; one of the most powerful people on the planet; and a napping old man. Not everyone is so lucky when those around them fall asleep in court. A defendant whose liberty is on the line would be well advised to find out a way to stay awake. (Some judges might frown upon a defendant chewing gum in court, but sleep specialists have identified plenty of other ways to stay awake, some of them courthouse-friendly.)

Persons: Elliot Williams, Donald Trump, Trump, Maggie Haberman, Thursday’s, Pope Benedict XVI, Silvio Berlusconi dozed, George W, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, snoozing, “, it’s, ” Organizations: CNN, Justice Department, Twitter, Trump, The New York Times, “, Italian, Bush Presidential, Supreme, Union Locations: Raben, Manhattan, United States, Malta

☆ A US Navy transport ship deployed to help operate the floating port in Gaza returned home after an engine fire
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Konstantin Toropin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A US Navy ship deployed to help build a floating pier in Gaza returned home after an engine fire. USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo deployed to transport equipment to operate the temporary port. AdvertisementAn M1A1 Abrams tank is off-loaded from the USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo off the shore of Pohang, Republic of Korea. AdvertisementUSNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo and USNS Pililaau anchor off the coast of Pohang, Republic of Korea. Australian dock workers secure USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo while members of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Australian Defence Force begin offloading.

Persons: John P, Bobo, —, Pat Ryder, Cpl, Mark W, Stroud, MV Roy P, Baldomero Lopez, Sal Mercogliano, Military.com, Frank S, Besson, Joshua Fulton, Mercogliano, horrendously, I've, You've, Scott Reel, Ryder Organizations: US Navy, USNS, Service, Navy, Pentagon, Army, MV, sealift, Naval Beach, USNI News, U.S . Navy, Marine Corps, Australian Defence Force, Defense Department Locations: Gaza, Jacksonville , Florida, Pohang , Republic of Korea, Tenerife, Africa, Azores, Souda, Greece

☆ CIA director warns Ukraine could lose war with Russia by the end of the year unless US sends more aid
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Katie Bo Lillis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —CIA Director Bill Burns on Thursday warned that unless US sends more military support, Ukraine could “lose” the war against Russia by the end of the year. His comments mark one of the starkest warnings to date from the Biden administration on the stakes in Ukraine as Congress debates whether to approve a long-delayed aid package to Kyiv. In an effort to satisfy divided factions of the GOP, some of whom support and some of whom oppose aid for Ukraine, he has split the legislation into separate bills and the Ukraine aid portion is expected to come up for a vote on Saturday night. That would still be deemed “a loss.”Burns detailed the dire need for basic ammunition that Ukraine faces on the battlefield. He recounted two battalions — 2,000-plus man units — that had “15 artillery rounds per day” and “a grand total of 42 mortar rounds,” respectively.

Persons: Bill Burns, “, Biden, Burns, —, George W, ” Burns, ”, Putin, Mike Johnson Organizations: CNN, CIA, US, Senate Intelligence Committee, — “, Bush, Israel, GOP, Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, — “ Ukraine, Israel, Moscow, Crimea, Ukrainian, Russian

☆ Booming construction of AI data centers is creating constraints on the power grid. These 6 stocks are set to profit from the demand for better infrastructure, according to Bank of America.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It called this strategy "The AI trade after the trade" and identified 50 stocks that could fall under this category. It takes massive data centers to train and distribute LLMs for public use. An April 17 note from Bank of America led by Thomas Thornton, the head of research marketing, estimates that data centers under construction will initially increase power usage from these facilities by 50%. For the electrical and thermal equipment needed to run data centers, investors can look to Vertiv (VRT), according to Andrew Obin, a research analyst at Bank of America. As demand for data centers grows, these companies are experiencing increased pricing power, according to research analyst David W. Barden.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, there's, Thomas Thornton, It's, Andrew Obin, Michael Feniger, David W, Barden Organizations: Nvidia, AMD, Microsoft, Google, Business, Bank of America, Caterpillar

Asked for proof of his claim that Mr. Biden was personally directing the local cases against him, Mr. Trump pointed to purported ties between prosecutors and “Washington,” but provided no evidence that Mr. Biden had been involved in any of the hiring decisions, conversations or meetings that Mr. Trump cited. The writer E. Jean Carroll filed her first lawsuit against Mr. Trump in November 2019, accusing him of defamation. Faulty and irrelevant comparisonsWhat Mr. Trump Said“I got indicted more than Al Capone.”— in a rally in Ohio in MarchFalse. Mr. Hur described Mr. Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” who had “diminished faculties and faulty memory.” He did not declare Mr. Biden mentally incompetent to stand trial. Inaccurate attacks on judgesWhat Mr. Trump Said“Judge Juan Merchan is totally compromised, and should be removed from this TRUMP Non-Case immediately.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, President Biden, Trump’s, ”, Trump Said “ Biden, General Merrick B, Garland, Trump “, Biden, Mr, Doug Mills, Trump Said, Jack Smith, Merrick Garland’s, Fani Willis, Letitia James, Alvin L, Bragg, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo, —, James’s, Colangelo’s, Bragg ramped, Willis, Willis — Nathan J, Wade, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Kamala Harris, Harris, Crooked Joe Biden, James, Jean Carroll, Smith, Brittainy Newman, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, Letitia James ’, Hunt, PolitiFact, Trump Said “, Al Capone, Capone, Brad Schwartz, Hillary, Bill, Bush, Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Clinton, Bill Clinton’s, Taylor Branch, Branch, “, Barack Obama, George W, Bill Clinton, George H.W, Ronald Reagan, Robert K, Hur, Biden’s, Juan Merchan, Loren, Loren Merchan, Merchan, Merchan’s, Justice Merchan, Ahmed Gaber, Arthur F, Justice Engoron, Engoron Organizations: New York, Democratic Party, Trump, Justice Department, The New York Times, The, White House, Trump . Credit, New York Times, American People, Biden Administration, Prosecutors, Mr, Manhattan, Washington, Fox News, New, Times, White, Counsel’s Office, Supreme, Black, Trump Organization, Democrat, Companies, Exxon Mobil, Trump Foundation, Trump University, Associated, National Archives, Records Administration, TRUMP, Twitter, Credit Locations: Manhattan, Georgia, Trump ., Washington, New York, “ Washington, Fulton County ,, Russian, New, Ohio, Fla, South Carolina, Trump’s Florida, Beach

☆ Colleges Warn Student Demonstrators: Enough
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The 100-year-old annual honors convocation at the University of Michigan is typically a decorous affair, with a pipe organ accompanying golf-clap applause. This year’s event was anything but. Protesters rose from their seats, and unfurled banners with “Free Palestine” written in red paint. They shouted, “You are funding genocide!”Unable to continue with the ceremony, university officials cut it short, as hundreds of disappointed students and their parents stood up and walked out. Two days after the honors convocation, the university’s president, Santa J. Ono, issued a stern rebuke: Enough.

Persons: “, Santa J, Ono Organizations: University of Michigan Locations: Santa

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. The painting followed me from Amherst to my first job in New York, and on to London and Delhi. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. I’m especially moved by those first moments of validation by which an artist comes out to himself, as it were. It’s this, the inexorability of the correspondence between an artist and the world, that gives those first steps their magical quality.

Persons: Naipaul, Neil Shah, James Wood —, Zack, who’d, ”, Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna, Elders ”, I’m, ” Gustave Flaubert, “, ” Zack, it’s, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Gauguin, Salman Rushdie, Somerset Maugham, Kathryn Bigelow, Philip Glass, Arundhati Roy, Booker, Joseph Conrad, Conrad, Jacques, ” Conrad, brimming, ’, ’ ”, Clarice Lispector, Benjamin Moser, ” Lispector, Maugham, eludes, Jan van Kessel, Elder, — Pieter Bruegel, —, Rebecca West —, “ Black Lamb, J.R, Hammond, Wells, Rebecca West ”, sloughed, Henrik Ibsen’s, Rosmersholm ”, Karan Mahajan, Salman Toor, what’s, ” Hemingway, Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar, Harold Bloom, Ravi, Uday, René Daumal, Rasa ”, ” Anoushka, Norah Jones, Norah, I’ve, “ Raphael, Rachel Cusk, Italy ”, Perugino, Raphael, Cusk, J.M, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Márquez, Thomas Pynchon’s, James Joyce, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Marcel Proust’s, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Read, Emma Kehlbeck, Quinton Kamara Organizations: Amherst College, Elders, Fayerweather, ”, Google, Sunday Times, Somerset, Yugoslavia, The, “, . Locations: Delhi, ”, Massachusetts, Italian, Topeka, Kan, Amherst, New York, London, Patagonia, New Delhi, Torrens, Cambridge, Polish, Ukrainian, Brazil, Flemish, Victorian England, “ H.G, Fairfield, United States, “, East, Lahore, Europe, America, Texas, Side, Manhattan, India, Italy

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. No one captured the massive cultural and economic disparities of my life in Delhi (and his in Lahore) like Toor. But quite unbeknown to me, Toor’s life in New York had opened up a new vein of material. Not everyone who sees a Michelangelo can go off and paint a Michelangelo.”THERE ARE SO many ways to begin.

☆ House Republicans have a wacky new plan to finally pass Ukraine aid
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementFor months, the House has been sitting on a bill that would provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and humanitarian funding for Gaza. But many, if not most, House Republicans are opposed to further Ukraine aid, and House Speaker Mike Johnson now has to deal with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's threat to call a vote on his ouster if he allows more Ukraine aid to pass. AdvertisementMany Republicans oppose Ukraine aid, while Democrats are increasingly skeptical of Israel aidJohnson's plan is aimed at addressing two separate pockets of opposition to the foreign aid package. After October 7, the Biden administration and Senate leaders insisted on tying Israel and Ukraine aid together, with the idea being that including Israel aid would incentivize Republicans to swallow more Ukraine aid. Johnson's plan is designed to allow progressive Democrats to vote against Israel aid, while hard-right Republicans can vote against the Ukraine aid — all while allowing the whole package to move forward.

Persons: Johnson, —, Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor, Israel •, they're, I'm, Democratic Sen, Chris Murphy, Biden, they've, Israel, Nancy Pelosi, George W, Greene, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Boehner, — Thomas Massie, Massie, Republicans —, Kevin McCarthy's, Abigail Spanberger Organizations: Service, Republicans, Senate, • Fund, Democratic, Georgia, @RepMTG Locations: Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, Gaza, Connecticut, Iraq, Russia, Virginia

☆ Front-line NATO countries will be staring down a 'battle-hardened Russia' able to more easily strike if Ukraine falls, war analyst warns
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

If Ukraine loses to Russia, NATO forces would face an emboldened Russian military, war experts say. AdvertisementIf Ukraine loses to Russia, NATO countries could consequently find themselves facing an emboldened, "battle-hardened" Russian army with a clearer path to war, an analyst argues. Able to overrun a defeated Ukraine, Russia would be threatening parts of the alliance that haven't faced a Russian threat since the fall of the Soviet Union. AdvertisementIn that dire scenario, "NATO troops, inexperienced in fighting modern mechanized war, would be staring down a battle-hardened Russian military, emboldened from its victory in Ukraine," Kagan wrote. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that helping Ukraine fight Russia today keeps NATO from having to fight it later.

Persons: —, Fredrick W, Kagan, haven't, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: NATO, Service, Soviet Union, Russia, PBS Locations: Ukraine, Russia, NATO, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Baltic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Soviet, Russian, Moscow, Kyiv

☆ Mike Johnson: Doing ‘the right thing’ may cost the speaker his gavel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —It took less than six months for Speaker Mike Johnson to reach his existential moment. His tiny majority means he can’t afford to lose more than one GOP vote to pass a bill on a party-line vote. But a GOP speaker dependent on Democratic votes will be seen by many Republicans as a tool of the minority party and would be on borrowed time. In this way, those who oppose Ukraine aid on principle could vote against it, allowing Democrats who support it to ensure its passage. These are important responsibilities,” Johnson told Tapper.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Ryan, John Boehner –, Johnson, ” Johnson, CNN’s Jake Tapper, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie of, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Greene, Chip Roy, Roy, ”, –, CNN’s Manu Raju, ’ Johnson, he’s, Tapper, “, Dan Crenshaw, CNN’s Raju, Johnson “, ” Trump, hasn’t, bankrolling, Dwight Eisenhower, George W, Bush, Vladimir Putin doesn’t, We’re, Putin, Xi, Lloyd Austin, Biden, he’d Organizations: CNN, Louisiana Republican, Republicans, Texas Rep, Democratic, GOP, White, Texas GOP, Lago, Trump, Senate, “, ”, House Defense Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Mexico, Kyiv, Washington, Texas, Mar, Trumpism, Europe, Iran, North Korea, British, Jordanian, Russia, Russia’s, United States

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