Category: Breaking

NBC Montana  Sophia Ferst remembers her reaction to learning that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade: She needed to get sterilized. Within a week, she asked her provider about getting the procedure done. Ferst, 28, said she has always known she doesn’t want kids. She also worries about getting pregnant as the result of a sexual assault then being unable to access abortion services. “That’s not a crazy concept anymore,” she said. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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The Associated Press Denmark will tax livestock farmers for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming. The aim is to reduce Danish greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels by 2030, said Taxation Minister Jeppe Bruus. As of 2030, Danish livestock farmers will be taxed 300 kroner ($43) per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030. The tax will increase to 750 kroner ($108) by 2035. However, because of an income tax deduction of 60%, the actual cost per ton will start at 120 kroner ($17.3) and increase to 300 kroner by 2035. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Axios The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a rare series of sanctions against Boeing after the aerospace giant “blatantly” violated federal investigative regulations, the board announced Thursday. Why it matters: The investigative agency said it was coordinating with the Department of Justice’s fraud division, which is investigating whether Boeing breached its obligations under a 2021 settlement to avoid criminal charges stemming from two fatal crashes. Driving the news: The agency alleged that a Boeing executive disclosed non-public investigative information during a media briefing on Tuesday. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Fox News An illegal immigrant from Turkey is accused of raping a 15-year-old New York girl in his car after threatening to beat her with a pipe, according to local reports. Sakir Akkan, 21, forced the girl into his green Toyota Prius on May 14 but was not captured until June 18, the Albany Times-Union reported. Border Patrol agents arrested him in November 2023 at the U.S.-Mexico border in California and released him into the interior, according to the paper. Then he obtained a New Jersey driver’s license and a car and settled in Troy, New York.   READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Breitbart President Joe Biden’s aides are reportedly furious CNN will not live fact-check former President Donald Trump during Thursday’s debate. The debate is “not the ideal arena for live fact-checking” Trump, CNN political director David Chalian told the New York Times on Monday. Chalian later told the Associated Press that debate hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, extreme Trump critics, can correct an “egregious” misstatement from either candidate “that needs to be checked or the record needs to be made clear,” but he claimed Tapper and Bash are “not here to participate in this debate.” READ THE FULL STORY            

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Fox News Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board offered scathing testimony during a hearing Tuesday marking the conclusion of their investigation into the catastrophic February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy accused Norfolk Southern railroad of interfering in the federal probe on multiple occasions.  She claimed a Norfolk Southern contractor lied when he said he did not keep written records on temperatures within the tanker cars – which were carrying the caustic vinyl chloride that was later burned off or had spilled into the local aquifer. READ THE FULL STORY          

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Center for Immigration Studies The U.S. government is withholding the names of two illegal alien Jordanian nationals, one of whom illegally crossed the Southwest Border, who on May 3 tried to ram a box truck into the Quantico Marine Corps base, citing as grounds that their personal privacy outweighs “minimal” public interest in knowing who they are, according to a government letter responding to the Center for Immigration Studies’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The second illegally present Jordanian in the truck overstayed a student visa. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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The Associated Press  A judge on Tuesday struck down a Montana law that defined “sex” in state law as only male or female, finding that it was unconstitutional. District Court Judge Shane Vannatta in Missoula ruled the law, passed last year, violated the state constitution because the description of the legislation did not clearly state its purpose. Transgender, nonbinary, intersex and other plaintiffs challenged the law, similar to ones passed in Kansas and Tennessee, because they said it denies legal recognition and protections to people who are gender-nonconforming. Vannatta did not address that argument, simply finding that the bill’s title did not explain whether the word “sex” referred to sexual intercourse or gender, and did not indicate that the words “female” and “male” would be defined in the body of the bill. READ THE FULL STORY           

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Washington Examiner A new poll shows voters from swing states trust former President Donald Trump to protect America’s democracy more than President Joe Biden.  The Washington Post/Schar School released a survey Wednesday that found 38% of voters across six swing states favored Trump to handle threats to democracy, compared to 29% who backed Biden. The poll was conducted across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  A similar PBS poll conducted earlier this month showed 29% of voters found preserving democracy to be their top priority, coming barely under 30% who said inflation was their top concern.  READ THE FULL STORY                   

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CBS News The rule of thumb for people who are 55 and have another decade of work before reaching the traditional retirement age is to have already socked away about eight times their salary in their retirement accounts. But the median savings of today’s 55-year-olds is just $50,000, far from enough to fund a secure old age, according to a new study. In fact, only 1 in 5 people who are 55 years old have $447,000 or more saved for retirement, or eight times the average U.S. salary, Prudential Financial’s 2024 Pulse of the American Retiree Survey found. The report jibes with another recent study on Gen X’s retirement readiness, which found half of those surveyed believe it would take a “miracle” for them to be able to retire. The new findings come as the oldest members of Generation X, or people born between 1965 to 1980, are now entering their pre-retirement years, giving them a short period in which they can shore up their savings before stepping back from work. But many who are already lagging behind those savings milestones may end up unprepared — at least financially — for retirement, given that it would likely be difficult, if not impossible, to…

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New York Post What if a never-before-seen asteroid barreling in our direction was likely to strike Earth? That’s the hypothetical scenario NASA astronomers tested with a recent simulation in which officials attempted to plan for an asteroid that had a 72% chance of hitting Earth in just 14 years. After the theoretical timeline was posed to a group of nearly 100 government representatives in April, NASA found that the best plan they made to counter the horrifying doomsday scenario had several “high-level gaps,” according to their presentation. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Washington Examiner A Washington state judge paused parts of a new “parents’ bill of rights” law after the American Civil Liberties Union and two other groups filed a lawsuit alleging it violates the state constitution. Initiative 2081 consists of 15 rights that parents are entitled to regarding their children’s educational experience in the state’s public schools. It went into effect on June 6. The ACLU of Washington, QLaw, and Legal Voice sued the state over the bill’s provision that granted parents the right to access medical and mental health information from schools about their children. Among those opposed to the legislation, there is a concern that sharing medical and mental health records with children’s parents will “out” them if they are questioning their sexual orientation. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Breitbart Mexican authorities arrested a former U.S. soldier who had allegedly been building explosives for the Gulf Cartel just south of the Texas border. The arrest had been kept largely under wraps as federal authorities built up the case against him, as he stands accused of manufacturing land mines and other explosives. Breitbart Texas confirmed with sources from Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office that in May, a group of federal officers arrested William Louis Anhert in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas. The arrest came during a raid at a camp used by the Escorpiones faction of the Gulf Cartel. During that raid, authorities arrested several Gulf Cartel gunmen and seized various explosive devices and components. Almost immediately after the arrest, Mexican authorities flew Anhert to Mexico City, where he has been held while awaiting trial on various federal charges tied to Mexico’s weapons and explosives laws. According to Mexican authorities, Anhert is a U.S. military veteran. However, details of his military career were not released. Anhert, a U.S. citizen, is reportedly wanted in Colorado for sex-related crimes. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Axios  A Nevada judge on Friday dismissed the criminal indictments of six people for pretending to be electors in an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election, the AP reported. The case, brought by Attorney General Aaron D. Ford’s office, could be over on the grounds that prosecutors chose the wrong venue to file it. The judge also called off the trial scheduled for January. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Breitbart On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein stated that the tariffs on China that President Joe Biden announced are different from the approach of 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because Biden’s tariffs only apply to areas “where we import very little from China.” Bernstein said, “I think it’s the difference between the narrowly-targeted, very precisely-targeted tariffs that President Biden has put in place, in areas where we export – where we import very little from China. In fact, a little bit less than 4% of our imports, as regards to the recent announcement that the President has made. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Washington Examiner The main super PAC supporting President Joe Biden‘s 2024 reelection campaign was cut large checks recently from Michael Bloomberg, a group bankrolled by George Soros, and other left-wing megadonors, new records show. Future Forward, which can raise and spend unlimited sums to support Biden through advertising, hauled in $39.5 million in May, with roughly half of the money, $19 million, coming from ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The super PAC also received $5 million from the Soros-backed Democracy PAC and $6.6 million from James Simons, an investor who died one week after his donation, among other cash transfers, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The haul comes one month after a Washington Examiner report on a mysterious and newly formed group linked to Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias funneling more than $2 million to Future Forward in April. But Future Forward, which has an affiliated nonprofit organization routing cash to the super PAC’s coffers, is also facing scrutiny from Democratic activists — some of whom say it is sitting on a large war chest but has taken limited steps to promote Biden’s agenda and platform. READ THE FULL STORY 

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Politico Former President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that foreign students who graduate from college in the United States should receive a green card so they can stay in the country. “You graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma a green card to be able to stay in this country, and that includes junior colleges too,” Trump said in an episode on the All-In podcast, which is hosted by several venture capitalists. He floated the idea after being asked by a host if he would promise to “give us ability to import the best and brightest around the world to America.” The former president has used harsh rhetoric about illegal immigration, oftentimes at campaign rallies, and recently criticized President Joe Biden on his efforts to decrease the number of migrants crossing the border illegally. READ THE FULL STORY 

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Center for Immigration Studies DHS has publicly released a report captioned “Parole Requests” it sent to Congress back in December. It‘s only current through the end of last June but skip the boilerplate and go to a chart on page 10 that shows that in the first ninth months of FY 2023, DHS paroled in nearly 870,000 facially inadmissible aliens with no legal right to be here — one roughly every 28 seconds. That brings total Biden paroles to about two million, all under a restrictive authority Congress decreed be used only on a “case-by-case basis”. Did I mention they can all get work permits and Social Security numbers? If this sounds like a completely separate immigration system, divorced from the one Congress created, you’re right. Congress’ Authority Over Immigration, and the Executive’s Limited Parole Power. The Center has explained the many flaws in Biden’s various parole schemes ad nauseam, but to understand why nearly all these releases violate the law, it’s important to go to the language of the parole statute itself, section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). It states, in pertinent part, that the DHS secretary may: “in his discretion parole into the United States temporarily under such conditions as he may…

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Breitbart The Internal Revenue Service has reviewed some one million claims for coronavirus pandemic-era Employee Retention Credit (ERC) tax breaks representing $86 billion and declared the “vast majority” are at risk of being improper. Congress established the program during the coronavirus pandemic as an incentive for businesses to keep workers on the payroll but it quickly became a magnet for fraud. Demand for the credit soared as Congress extended the tax break and made it available to more companies. Aggressive marketers dangled the prospect of enormous refunds to business owners if they would just apply, AP reports. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Reuters U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that makes it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to have guns, handing a victory to President Joe Biden’s administration as the justices opted not to further widen firearms rights after a major expansion in 2022. The 8-1 ruling, authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, overturned a lower court’s decision striking down the 1994 law as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.” The law was challenged by a Texas man who was subject to a restraining order for assaulting his girlfriend in a parking lot and later threatening to shoot her. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had concluded that the measure failed the Supreme Court’s stringent test set in 2022 that required gun laws to be “consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation” to comply with the Second Amendment. READ THE FULL STORY         

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Breitbart Former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden in six swing states, Emerson College polling found, while Biden managed to tie Trump in Minnesota, a state that has voted for the Democrat nominee since 1976. The poll represents one of the first published surveys after a Manhattan jury convicted Trump on 34 counts in his business records trial in May. Compared to Emerson polling from April, the survey also shows that Trump’s lead in swing state polling remains mostly unchanged post-conviction. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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New York Post China has been buying up strategically placed farmland next to military installations across the US, raising national security fears over potential espionage or even sabotage. The Post has identified 19 bases across the US from Florida to Hawaii which are in close proximity to land bought up by Chinese entities and could be exploited by spies working for the communist nation. They include some of the military’s most strategically important bases: Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) in Killeen, Texas; Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California, and MacDill air force base in Tampa, Florida. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Reuters TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance on Thursday urged a U.S. court to strike down a law they say will ban the popular short app in the United States on Jan. 19, saying the U.S. government refused to engage in any serious settlement talks after 2022. Legislation signed in April by President Joe Biden gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 of next year to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a ban on the app used by 170 million Americans. ByteDance says a divestiture is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hold oral arguments on lawsuits filed by TikTok and ByteDance along with TikTok users on Sept. 16. TikTok’s future in the United States may rest on the outcome of the case which could impact how the U.S. government uses its new authority to clamp down on foreign-owned apps. READ THE FULL STORY 

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Axios  A slim majority of Americans (52%) support efforts to preserve the legacy and history of the Confederacy, while 44% oppose such efforts, a new poll finds. As Juneteenth gains popularity as a national holiday, most Americans still support keeping alive the “Lost Cause” myth, which arose after the Civil War and romanticizes the Confederate uprising, ignoring slavery as its root cause. The “Lost Cause” popularity persists even after the 2020 murder of George Floyd prompted cities and states to remove Confederate monuments and names of former Confederates from schools amid a racial reckoning. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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ABC 3340 A non-sanctuary city — that’s what one county in Pennsylvania discussed at a Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday night that disappointed some residents. East Hempfield Township supervisors said the resolution they proposed would “protect residents and businesses located within the township from illegal immigration.” However, some residents disagreed, arguing that some of the language used in the resolution was unnecessary. After an edit was made, the Board of Supervisors passed the resolution in a 3-2 vote. So, what was the edit? It was to scratch out anywhere in the resolution that says “sanctuary city.” READ THE FULL STORY                   

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New York Post Left-leaning billionaire George Soros is trying to recruit the Democrat-controlled Federal Communications Commission to help fast track his takeover of the nation’s second-biggest radio network. Soros, 93, pumped $400 million into Audacy in February, a network which reaches 165 million monthly listeners and includes a handful of conservative shows from hosts including Sean Hannity, Dana Loesch, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and Erick Erickson. But their influence is likely to be muted if the billionaire takes over and imposes his agenda, as has happened with other media acquisitions.   READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Fox News A pro-family California organization is warning that a proposed state constitutional amendment to eliminate the traditional definition of marriage from state law could potentially open up “Pandora’s box” to legitimize polyamorous, incestuous and child marriages. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 (ACA 5), which aims to repeal Proposition 8’s language that states marriage is only “between a man and a woman,” was introduced by Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymember Evan Low to protect same-sex marriages. If passed, in its place, the state constitution would provide that, “The right to marry is a fundamental right.” However, the California Family Council (CFC), a conservative advocacy group, believes the wording of ACA 5 is too open-ended and will lead to the normalization of non-traditional marriage structures that could harm children’s development. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Fox News Democratic strategists and advisers to President Biden are revealing concerns about the campaign’s direction and leadership with just months to go before the election in November.  A Democratic strategist who communicates with the Biden campaign said that he doesn’t know what plan Biden’s inner circle has to beat former President Trump — if any.  “It is unclear to many of us watching from the outside whether the president and his core team realize how dire the situation is right now, and whether they even have a plan to fix it,” the strategist told Axios. “That is scary.” READ THE FULL STORY 

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Washington Examiner The primary race between House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) and Virginia state Rep. John McGuire remains too close to call, but both candidates are refusing to back down as the ballot certification process is likely to drag on for weeks. Good, who is trailing by 321 votes as of Wednesday afternoon, expressed confidence his campaign could still prevail in the race, indicating he would wait until votes are certified before deciding whether to concede — a process that could take several weeks. His latest statement comes as McGuire holds 50.3% of the vote compared to Good’s 49.7%. “This race remains too close to call,” Good said in a post on X. “We are in a period where the law provides a process for evaluating the accuracy of all the vote totals from election day to ensure everyone can have full confidence in the certified results. Provisional ballots and mail-in ballots are also still to be counted.” READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Fox News Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., blocked a Democratic attempt on Tuesday to force a vote in the Senate on a bump stock ban, which would restore the federal rule recently struck down by the Supreme Court.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., revealed on Sunday that Democrats would attempt to force a vote on legislation to ban bump stocks, which are firearm accessories that assist in firing weapons in more rapid succession.  “The Senate can help restore this public safety rule, and next week, it will try. As majority leader, I have the ability to allow a unanimous consent vote, and we’ll see just what Republican MAGAs do: Will they allow it to go forward, or will they cower to MAGA and hurt the American people?” he said during a news conference, reported by CBS News.  READ THE FULL STORY                 

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CBS News Nvidia on Tuesday vaulted past Microsoft to become the most valuable publicly listed company in the world, highlighting its place at the forefront of Big Tech. Nvidia’s stock price rose nearly $5, or 3.7%, to $135.77, valuing the AI chip maker at $3.33 trillion, compared with $3.31 trillion for Microsoft and $3.29 trillion for Apple, which boasted the largest market capitalization until being surpassed by Microsoft earlier this year. A year ago, Nvidia’s market capitalization had just crossed the $1 trillion threshold.  The company’s stock, which has shot up more than 174% this year, was trading at more than $1,200 earlier this month until Nvidia completed a 10-for-1 stock split on June 7 in order to make the shares more affordable. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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The Associated Press Thailand’s Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to approve a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage, clearing the last legislative hurdle for the country to become the first in Southeast Asia to enact such a law. Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but has struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society largely holds conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life. The government and state agencies are also historically conservative, and advocates for gender equality have had a hard time pushing lawmakers and civil servants to accept change. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Washington Examiner Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) blasted Colorado’s Mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston (D), for sending immigrants to the state without notice. “We recently learned that the Democrat mayor of Denver has been sending illegal immigrants to Utah without proper notification or approval. This is completely unacceptable and follows on the failed catch-and-release policy of the Biden administration,” Cox wrote on X. “Every state has received illegal immigrants and Utah’s resources are completely depleted.” Last year, Michael Bernacke, the director of the Salt Lake City Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, designated Utah as a sanctuary state. At the time, Senate President J. Stuart Adams (R), then-House Speaker Brad Wilson (R), and Cox refuted the designation. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Fox News Officials this week removed the last traffic signs from a Los Angeles neighborhood to cleanse the area of its anti-gay past. The signs that read “No cruising. No U-turns. Midnight to 6 am” were posted around the Silver Lake neighborhood in 1997, with the intent to curb gay men from roaming the streets to hook up, The Los Angeles Times reported.  Just in time for PRIDE month, the signs were retired this week. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Breitbart At least six in ten older Americans may suffer from heart disease in the coming 30 years, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). The organization shared the news on its website on June 4. The AHA continued: The projected rise in heart disease and stroke – along with several key risk factors, including high blood pressure and obesity – is likely to triple related costs to $1.8 trillion by 2050, according to two American Heart Association presidential advisories published Tuesday in the AHA journal Circulation. One report looks at the projected increase in cardiovascular diseaserates in the decades ahead, while the other projects their total related costs. “The landscape of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. is seeing the arrival of a near-perfect storm,” Dr. Dhruv S. Kazi, vice chair of the advisory writing group, said in a news release. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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New York Post Attorney General Merrick Garland will not be prosecuted for contempt of Congress because his refusal to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview in his classified documents case “did not constitute a crime,” the Justice Department said Friday. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Justice Department official cited the department’s longstanding policy not to prosecute for contempt of Congress officials who don’t comply with subpoenas because of a president’s claim of executive privilege. The House voted Wednesday to hold Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the audio recordings of Biden’s interview with a special counsel, which the White House has accused Republicans of wanting only so they can chop them up and use them for political purposes. READ THE FULL STORY 

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ABC 13 News  Thousands of flight attendants hit the picket lines at 30 airports across the world. It comes as contract negotiations continue across the industry as summer travel ramps up. At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, about two dozen flight attendants hit the picket lines outside demanding change. Elizabeth Hibbard is president of the Association of Flight Attendants for Austin and Houston. She says 80,000 flight attendants from major airlines like American, United, and Alaskan are currently fighting at the bargaining table– and they’re tired of the corporate greed. The corporate bonuses, all the executive bonuses, and we have flight attendants on food stamps,” Hibbard said. “And we’re all making the same demands of our corporations: that they bring us deals now. READ THE FULL STORY 

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Washington Examiner Social Security benefits could be shrinking as soon as 2035, according to actuaries for Social Security and Medicare.  More than 70 million people in the United States rely on Social Security benefits, but with a decreasing number of people buying into it combined with an aging population, the program could see cuts. The actuaries for Social Security and Medicare warned that if Congress does not fund the growing gap, the value of the checks could decline. Future beneficiaries of Social Security checks could receive $325 less per month 11 years from now in 2035. Medicare is expected to run dry by 2036 unless addressed by Congress.  READ THE FULL STORY                   

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The Federalist President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) sued a small Texas county for drawing its district map in a way that eradicated a sole Democrat-held county seat, arguing the map violates the Voting Rights Act (VRA). But the DOJ’s decision to sue the county could backfire and potentially flip Democrat-held congressional seats after the county called its bluff and went to court over so-called “coalition districts.”  Galveston County’s Precinct 3 is held by Democrat Stephen Holmes and has long been a Democrat stronghold. Until recently, the county lines had been drawn in such a way that they created a “coalition district,” according to Paul Ready, general counsel for Galveston County. A “coalition district” is a district in which no minority group could be a majority, but multiple minority groups are then combined to form a majority-minority district to increase the chances of electing a candidate preferred by the minority groups — often a Democrat, Ready explained to The Federalist. Galveston County’s brief to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, obtained by The Federalist, alleges that coalition districts “present political, not racial, alliances.” READ THE FULL STORY 

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Washington Times Senate Republicans rejected another Democratic election-year messaging bill on reproductive issues Thursday, this one focused on protecting access to in vitro fertilization. The text vote failed 48-47, a similar margin to last week’s unsuccessful Senate vote to begin debate on a bill to codify the right to contraception. Both measures required 60 votes to survive. Republicans say there are no serious efforts underway to strip away the right to contraception or in vitro fertilization (IVF) and Democrats are just trying to create a wedge issue for political purposes.  READ THE FULL STORY 

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Breitbart Elon Musk’s X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has announced plans to hide all users’ “likes” in an effort to “better protect your privacy,” a move that has sparked concerns about potential blackmail, abuse, and the inability to validate post engagement — making it easier than ever for bots to distort and disrupt the platform. The Register reports that the decision to make “likes” private, which was initially available only to Premium users last year, will now be applied to all X/Twitter users. The platform’s engineering team shared the news on their account, stating that the change would be implemented sometime this week. Once the switch is flipped, the Likes tab on user profiles will disappear, though users will still be able to see a list of posts they have personally “liked.” This change means that X/Twitter users will no longer be able to see who has liked a specific post or what posts a particular person has liked. However, users will still have access to metrics from their own posts and a full list of people who have liked their content. READ THE FULL STORY         

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Axios The White House on Wednesday did not rule out a possible presidential commutation for Hunter Biden after he was found guilty on all three charges in his federal gun trial. President Biden has ruled out a pardon for Hunter Biden, but a commutation could reduce any sentence that the president’s son faces while allowing his conviction to stand. Hunter Biden, convicted on Tuesday in his federal trial, faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000, although it’s unlikely he would receive the maximum sentence as a first-time offender. READ THE FULL STORY                     

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Washington Examiner President Joe Biden‘s average net approval rating hit a new low this week, five months before the 2024 election. Biden’s average approval equaled an administration low of 37.4% last weekend and on Wednesday, according to FiveThirtyEight. But his disapproval reached a new peak of 56.8% on Wednesday, leaving him with a net negative approval rating of 19.4 percentage points. “Biden just hit a new all-time low in approval (37.4%) at 538,” FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver posted on social media Monday. “Dropping out would be a big risk. But there’s some threshold below which continuing to run is a bigger risk. Are we there yet? I don’t know. But it’s more than fair to ask.” READ THE FULL STORY                   

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Breitbart The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a middle school student who wore a T-shirt displaying the message, “There are only two genders.” As Breitbart News reported last year, middle schooler Liam Morrison of Nichols Middle School in Middleborough was asked to remove his “There are only two genders” shirt. The incident first occurred on March 5 when Liam Morrison was pulled from gym class and asked to remove his shirt because other students were allegedly complaining and did not feel safe, as first reported by WPDE. The seventh grader was told by a staff member that his shirt was “targeting a protected class.”  Morrison said he would not change his shirt, and the school called his father to pick him up. During a Middleborough Public Schools board meeting on April 13, Morrison shared his experience with the intention that the school district should show more support for students’ First Amendment rights. The video was picked up by Libs of TikTok and received more than 127,000 likes on Twitter. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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New York Post Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas failed in her challenge against rules that stop her from competing in elite women’s races because judges ruled she did not have standing to bring the case. The Court of Arbitration for Sport panel of three judges dismissed Thomas’ request for arbitration with the World Aquatics governing body, in a ruling released Wednesday. World Aquatics banned transgender women who have been through male puberty from competing in women’s races. It also created an “open” category for which transgender athletes would be eligible. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Fox News Mental health diagnoses in children have skyrocketed since the COVID pandemic — led by gender dysphoria and eating disorders, according to a new report. LexisNexis Risk Solutions analyzed medical claims data submitted between 2019 and 2023 for patients under age 18. Overall, mental health claims rose 83% among young people in that time frame.   READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Washington Examiner U.S. soldiers are overwhelmingly more likely to die by suicide than in combat, according to data from the Pentagon. A five-year study from the Defense Health Agency, from 2014 to 2019, found suicide as the leading cause of death among active-duty soldiers. Compared to 96 combat deaths over the period, 883 soldiers died by suicide — nine times more. The second leading cause of death was accidents, with 814 deaths. According to figures obtained by USA Today, the suicide rate among active-duty soldiers has climbed significantly since the end of the study in 2019, when the suicide rate was 28.8 per 100,000 soldiers. It rose to a record high in 2023, with 36.6 deaths per 100,000. The rate for 2024 is 31.8 per 100,000 through May, according to the outlet. So far, 55 soldiers have died by suicide this year. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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CBS News Medical debt will be stricken from credit reports in a change proposed by the White House that could help millions of Americans land a job, rent a home or obtain a car loan. Vice President Kamala Harris and Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, formally announced the proposal to take unpaid medical bills off the table in determining one’s credit worthiness in a news conference on Tuesday. The idea is to no longer “unjustly punish people for getting sick,” Chopra said. He noted the potential financial damage caused by one trip to a hospital emergency room, a debt “taken on unexpectedly and in a time of crisis.” READ THE FULL STORY 

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Fox 10 Governor Katie Hobbs is under investigation over her ties to the operator of group homes for foster kids. It comes after reports that a firm named Sunshine Residential Homes, Incorporated made six-figure donations to the Governor’s inauguration fund and the Arizona Democratic Party, just before getting a large rate hike from the state. The case was first reported and detailed by the Arizona Republic, and both the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office are looking into this. Sunshine Residential Homes, Incorporated runs group homes for foster kids, and is the only one out of dozens of operators that was approved for a rate hike during Gov. Hobb’s tenure. It’s a company already on the radar screen of state lawmakers like Republican State Senator TJ Shope. READ THE FULL STORY 

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The Associated Press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, setting the stage for what is expected to be a contentious speech at a crucial moment for the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Congressional leaders confirmed the date of the address late Thursday after formally inviting Netanyahu to come speak before lawmakers last week. It is the most recent show of wartime support for the longtime ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza. “The existential challenges we face, including the growing partnership between Iran, Russia, and China, threaten the security, peace, and prosperity of our countries and of free people around the world,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, along with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, said in the letter. “To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight America’s solidarity with Israel, we invite you to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.” READ THE FULL STORY      

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