Month: May 2024

Axios President Biden laid out a plan to reach a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas and end the war in Gaza in a speech on Friday, offering details of the Israeli proposal for the first time. Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas reached a deadlock three weeks ago. Biden, CIA Director Bill Burns, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other senior U.S. officials have been personally involved in efforts to reach a breakthrough, but a deal remains elusive. The White House sees a hostage deal as the only viable path to a ceasefire and the potential end to a war that has become a political problem for Biden ahead of the presidential election. READ THE FULL STORY                   

CBS News About one in three Americans know someone who has died of a drug overdose, according to a new survey.  More than 2,300 adults responded to the survey, which was conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and published on Friday.  Thirty-two percent of responders said someone they knew died of a fatal drug overdose. For 18.9% of respondents, the person they knew who died “was a family member or close friend.”  READ THE FULL STORY             

Breitbart Vermont’s Republican governor has allowed the state to become the first to require oil companies to pay for “costs associated with climate change” without his signature, pushing the law through despite his hesitation about the policy. S.259, passed by Gov. Phil Scott (R) on Thursday, will establish a method to assess the responsibility for greenhouse gas-related costs of any entity that was engaged in extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil between December 31, 2019, and January 1, 2000. The law will create the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program at the Agency of Natural Resources, which will collect the money from the companies and allocate it to “climate change adaptive or resilient infrastructure projects in the state.” READ THE FULL STORY                     

New York Post A Kentucky high school allegedly withheld a graduate’s diploma when the student went off script during his graduation speech to preach his belief in Jesus. Micah Price received the green light to praise Jesus Christ in his commencement speech at Campbell County High School in Alexandria, Ky., on May 24, but followed his address with “urging other Christians to stand up.” “Class, before another word leaves my mouth, I must give the honor, the praise and the glory to my lord and savior Jesus Christ,” Price said to a packed Truist Arena at Northern Kentucky University. His oration received resounding applause from the audience before he continued with his holy message. READ THE FULL STORY                   

Fox News Former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have settled with the Justice Department over alleged privacy rights violations after the release of their disparaging text messages leveraged by former President Trump to challenge the Russia investigation during his presidency.  The settlement is still pending finalization and approval from a judge. A tentative agreement was filed Tuesday resolving Page’s 5-year-old lawsuit against the FBI for releasing text messages with Strzok — with whom she had an affair — that were critical of the former president. Strzok’s lawsuit seeking back pay and reinstatement remains unsettled.   READ THE FULL STORY                 

New York Post A man was stabbed in both legs by three men believed to be wielding a machete outside of the Times Square McDonald’s on Thursday afternoon, law enforcement sources said. The man, who was not identified, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital after the 1 p.m. attack, police said. He’s listed in stable condition. Cops are still searching for the three suspects, all men, who allegedly carried out the attack. READ THE FULL STORY                   

Washington Examiner Moderna and Pfizer are each in the process of competing for federal contracts to build a national stockpile of mRNA vaccines targeted toward the new bird flu amid mounting concerns it may be spreading among humans. Sources familiar with the discussions between the pharmaceutical giants and the Department of Health and Human Services report that the agency may agree to fund Moderna’s late-stage clinical trials of the bird flu vaccine to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.  The H5N1 strain of bird flu, or the highly pathogenic avian influenza, has been a growing problem in North America since 2022, but the problem has substantially increased following the infection of cattle herds across nine states since March.  READ THE FULL STORY