Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft Directors Decided Bill Gates Needed to Leave Board Due to Prior Relationship With Staffer — Company's board members began investigation in 2019 into woman's allegations of prior sexual relationship with Bill Gates; Mr. Gates's spokeswoman says decision to leave board in 2020 wasn't related to the matter
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New York Times:
Long Before Divorce, Bill Gates Had Reputation for Questionable Behavior — Melinda French Gates voiced concerns about her husband's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and a harassment claim against his money manager. — By the time Melinda French Gates decided to end her 27-year marriage …
Discussion:
The Week, TheBlaze, Althouse, BroBible, TMZ.com and New York Post, more at Techmeme »
The Daily Beast:
Jeffrey Epstein Gave Bill Gates Advice on How to End ‘Toxic’ Marriage, Sources Say — BROMANCE … A person who attended meetings at Epstein's townhouse says Gates enjoyed holding court there. — Bachelor sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein gave Bill Gates advice on ending his marriage …
Discussion:
National Review, New York Post and Eschaton
Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Biden administration approves $735 million weapons sale to Israel, raising red flags for some House Democrats
Power Up: Biden administration approves $735 million weapons sale to Israel, raising red flags for some House Democrats
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and The US Sun
Ben Smith / New York Times:
How a Jeopardy! Contestant's Hand Gesture Became Part of a Conspiracy — How hundreds of “Jeopardy!” contestants talked themselves into a baseless conspiracy theory — and won't be talked out of it. — It is an ironclad rule of the private Facebook group of past “Jeopardy!” …
Axios:
Episode 9: Trump's war with his generals — Axios' “Off the rails” series documents the end of the Trump administration, from election night 2020 through the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol. — One important piece is only now beginning to emerge: Former President Donald Trump's last-minute bid …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Morning Shots, The Week, The Time of Monsters, Mediaite and Raw Story
AT&T:
AT&T's WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. Creating Standalone Company by Combining Operations to Form New Global Leader in Entertainment — Companies with Shared Values, Complementary Assets, and Iconic Brands and Franchises, Will Offer the Most Differentiated Content Portfolio in the World
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill, Deadline, TechCrunch and The Verge
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Los Angeles Times:
AT&T to spin off HBO, other WarnerMedia assets in a huge deal with Discovery. What went wrong? — Three years ago, AT&T Inc. marched into Hollywood with big ambitions to be a 21st century media colossus, connecting its booming cellphone business with legendary media properties — HBO …
Ed Hammond / Bloomberg:
AT&T Is Preparing to Merge Media Assets With Discovery
AT&T Is Preparing to Merge Media Assets With Discovery
Discussion:
CNN, CNBC, New York Times, Ad Age, The Week, Mediaite, The Verge, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, The Hill and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »
David Siders / Politico:
Teflon Joe muddies GOP's midterm strategy — When the National Republican Senatorial Committee sought to attack four vulnerable Senate Democrats in a series of new ads this spring, President Joe Biden was nowhere to be found. Instead, the NRSC juxtaposed photographs of the senators …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, NPR, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Bloomberg
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CNN:
US investigates second suspected case of mystery ‘syndrome’ near White House — (CNN)Two White House officials were struck by a mysterious illness late last year — including one who was passing through a gate onto the property — newly revealed details that come as investigators …
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
For Trump, Hamas and Bibi, It Is Always Jan. 6 — There are many ways to understand what is happening today between Hamas and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, but I prefer to think about it like this: They are each having their own Jan. 6 moment. — Just as a mob was unleashed …
RELATED:
Jacob Magid / The Times of Israel:
US for 3rd time blocking Security Council joint statement calling for ceasefire — diplomats tell ToI — NEW YORK — For the third time in a week, the US is blocking a joint statement from the Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, two diplomats involved tell The Times of Israel.
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Popular Information:
Google, Deloitte, and Citigroup quietly collaborate with GOP group pushing voter suppression — Several large corporations that have recently issued public statements supporting voting rights — including Google, Deloitte, and Citigroup — are also funding and collaborating …
Bloomberg:
The World Economy Is Suddenly Running Low on Everything — A year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country and economies shuddered, consumers were the ones panic-buying. Today, on the rebound, it's companies furiously trying to stock up. — Mattress producers to car manufacturers …
Ben White / Politico:
Tax the rich? Executives predict Biden's big plans will flop — President Joe Biden wants to fund his $4.1 trillion infrastructure and family policy agenda with a huge pile of tax increases on corporations and the wealthy. The business community is dismissing the threat.
RELATED:
Sarah Ferris / Politico:
How Dems learned to stop worrying (mostly) and embrace tax hikes
How Dems learned to stop worrying (mostly) and embrace tax hikes
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
The Daily Beast:
Trump Has Blown Off Rudy Giuliani's Pleas for Help as Feds Circle — Giuliani appears to be in hot water, and his allies keep asking for Trump's help. But so far, the ex-president isn't willing to ride to the rescue of his one-time lawyer. — In the weeks since the feds raided Rudy Giuliani's apartment …
Discussion:
Hackwhackers and Raw Story
Edward-Isaac Dovere / The Atlantic:
Kamala Harris's Impossible Vice Presidency — Air Force Two is a smaller plane than Air Force One. The exterior is the same light-blue and white, but unlike the commander in chief's plane, the vice president's aircraft is open plan—from the back, you can see all the way to the front, where a small office doubles as a bedroom.
NBC News:
Should Joe Biden worry about soaring lumber prices? — WASHINGTON — If a tree falls in a Canadian forest and a logger has to drive 16 hours to haul it out, does it crush the U.S. president's economic agenda? — That improbable question may be on the minds of some in Washington …
Discussion:
Fox News
Brian Faler / Politico:
Piggy bank-filling payments for nearly 90 percent of kids will start July 15 — The federal government will begin sending monthly payments worth up to $300 per child to millions of Americans beginning July 15, in what is perhaps the most ambitious government initiative of the Biden administration so far.
Discussion:
NBC News, New York Times, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Insider, Forbes and Washington Times
Gino Spocchia / The Independent:
Photo emerges of Republican barricading chamber doors during US Capitol attack after he compared rioters to ‘tourists’ — ‘Do Georgians always barricade doors against normal, everyday tourists?’ one critic asked — A photo has emerged of Andrew Clyde, the Republican congressman who claimed …
Discussion:
Washington Post
Kat Rosenfield / UnHerd:
Will Democrats mask America forever? — After a full year of staying home, social distancing, and keeping our faces covered, last week's announcement from the CDC was the one many of us had been waiting for: fully vaccinated Americans were finally cleared to get back to normal.
Washington Post:
Chinese businessman with links to Steve Bannon is driving force for a sprawling disinformation network, researchers say — Guo Wengui, living in self-exile in New York City, is at the center of a digital web pushing election and covid falsehoods, according to Graphika research
Kevin Randall / Washington Post:
Social app Parler is cracking down on hate speech - but only on Apple devices — Shut down after the Jan. 6 riot, Parler is using a new artificial intelligence moderation system with more stringent standards for the App Store than other platforms. — When social media network Parler came …
Olivia Beavers / Politico:
Can McCarthy still discipline MTG? — GREENE HOUSE EFFECT: Even if Kevin McCarthy wanted to punish Marjorie Taylor Greene for her hallway antics last week, could he? — McCarthy (R-Calif.) no longer can deploy his most powerful weapon: removing her from her two committees.
Discussion:
The Hill
Scott McDonald / Newsweek:
Texas Reports Zero Deaths 2 Months After Biden Called its Reopening Plan as ‘Neanderthal Thinking’ — Texas Governor Greg Abbott caught heat from Democratic lawmakers when he announced on March 2 this year he would fully reopen the state by the next week. Mississippi lawmakers declared a similar reopening plan about the same time.
Hannah Nightingale / The Post Millennial:
CNN contributor tweets ‘The world today needs a Hitler’, has history of anti-Semitism — In a now deleted tweet, CNN contributor Adeel Raja posted Sunday that “the world today needs a Hitler.” … Join our mailing list to receive a daily email with all of our top stories
Discussion:
The Hill, Fox News, Twitchy, RedState and Newsbusters