Wednesday, May 22, 2024

​ May 22, 2024 Good morning, Welcome to the news for independent thinkers ​ Leading the News . . . ​ Trump declines to testify, final arguments begin Tuesday . . . Former President Donald Trump declined to testify Tuesday as the defense rested in his hush money trial, setting the table for closing arguments and deliberations after Memorial Day. Mr. Trump wasn't expected to take the stand, but hadn't ruled it out publicly. The former president is known for keeping people in suspense. State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan said closing arguments would take "at least a day" and jury instructions would take at least an hour. He told jurors that he didn't want to break up the process, so he dismissed the jury until after the holiday weekend. Washington Times​ Politics Biden hands out another $7.7B to students for debt relief . . . The Biden administration announced another massive round of student debt handouts Wednesday morning with $7.7 billion going toward clearing debt for more than 160,000 borrowers. Three categories of borrowers are covered in the latest handout: people receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness, people signed up for President Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education Plan who are also eligible for its shortened time-to-forgiveness benefit and people receiving forgiveness on income-driven repayment as a result of fixes made by the administration. Fox Business​ ​ It's the new form of buying votes: Using taxpayer, and not campaign, money. ​ Biden admin awarded $50M "Environmental Justice Grant" to anti-Israel group . . . The Environmental Protection Agency is facing congressional scrutiny for awarding a $50 million grant to the Climate Justice Alliance, a California nonprofit that has accused Israel of committing genocide and encouraged "solidarity protest actions" in opposition to the Jewish state. On its website, the Climate Justice Alliance highlights its "Free Palestine" actions as one of its three featured projects, which also includes environmental justice work and climate philanthropy. The group further states that a "free Palestine" is a "climate justice issue" and that the "path to climate justice travels through a free Palestine." Washington Free Beacon​ ​ Sister of House's top leftist defeated in congressional primary . . . Maxine Dexter won the Democratic Primary in Oregon's 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating a crowded field of progressives that included the sister of Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal. Susheela Jayapal, a former county commissioner, was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and several members of the far-left "Squad" House Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Fox News​ ​ Fani Willis lover Nathan Wade strolls into her primary victory party. . . Nathan Wade "shook" revelers at Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' primary election victory party Tuesday when he strolled into the event "all smiles." Wade, the former special prosecutor whose love affair with Willis resulted in him being forced to resign from the historic criminal case against former President Donald Trump, was among those gathered at an event space in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood to celebrate the district attorney's landslide win. "Well consider me shook," Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Tamar Hallerman wrote on X, after spotting Wade dressed to the nines. New York Post​ Can you help? Please consider a donation to Cut to the News. There's no big backer behind the scenes and no ads. We seek instead to continue entirely through the generosity of our subscribers. Will you help defeat liberal bias by supporting conservative-leaning journalism? Do you value the concise, vital information you receive every morning? Readers who give $50 or more, or who pledge $12 or more a month, will receive a coffee mug as a free gift. But no amount is too small. Please click here to donate. Thank you! ​ ​ National Security Illegal immigrants rush to border fearing Trump will soon be president . . . Migrants are coming to the US now because they fear President Biden could lose re-election in November and Donald Trump will shut the border. Colombian brothers Ricardo, 20, and Sebastian, 18, spoke with The Post after crossing the Arizona border illegally last week. They said they had been receiving assistance at the Yuma Regional Center for Border Health as they waited for a bus to the Phoenix airport, where they later caught a flight to New Jersey. "We think with the elections, it will be harder," Ricardo said. "We don't want Trump," Sebastian said. New York Post​ ​ Later caught a flight to New Jersey? What is going here? Are there travel agents at the border? ​ Putin starts tactical nuke drills near Ukraine . . . Russia on Tuesday announced it has started tactical nuclear weapons exercises near Ukraine, as Moscow again accused the West of being "provocative." The Kremlin's Southern Military District troops "are practicing combat training tasks of obtaining special ammunition for the Iskander operational-tactical missile system, equipping launch vehicles with them and covertly advancing to the designated position area in preparation for missile launches," Russia's defense ministry said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Politico​ International Norway, Ireland and Spain say they are recognizing a Palestinian state . . . Norway, Ireland and Spain said on Wednesday they are recognizing a Palestinian state, in a historic but largely symbolic move that deepens Israel's isolation more than seven months into its grinding war against Hamas in Gaza. Palestinians welcomed the announcements. Israel recalled its ambassadors to the three countries and summoned their envoys, accusing the Europeans of rewarding the militant Hamas group for its Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Associated Press​ ​ The world has been celebrating the Palestinian cause, and sometimes its terrorist leaders, since Yassir Arafat addressed the UN 50 years ago. Israel is more than used to this stuff. ​ Israeli hostage describes sexual assault, torture in Gaza . . . Amit Soussana, an Israeli lawyer, was abducted from her home on Oct. 7, beaten and dragged into Gaza by at least 10 men, some armed. Several days into her captivity, she said, her guard began asking about her sex life. Ms. Soussana said she was held alone in a child's bedroom, chained by her left ankle. Sometimes, the guard would enter, sit beside her on the bed, lift her shirt and touch her, she said. He also repeatedly asked when her period was due. When her period ended, around Oct. 18, she tried to put him off by pretending that she was bleeding for nearly a week, she recalled. Around Oct. 24, the guard, who called himself Muhammad, attacked her, she said. New York Times​ ​ Terrified passengers describe Singapore Airlines turbulence drama . . . "Everyone seated and not wearing seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling, some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it," Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student, said. "There were a lot of spinal and head injuries." Another passenger, Andrew Davies, recalled how those with medical training were desperately trying to render aid — including to the 73-year-old British man who died on board after authorities say he suffered a heart attack. "My heart goes out to the gentleman who lost his life and his poor wife. Awful experience," Davies tweeted. New York Post​ Money Risky bonds join the Everything Rally . . . The premium that investors demand to hold debt from sub-investment-grade companies instead of relatively safe Treasurys has shrunk to near pandemic-era lows, a sign of dwindling worries about an economic slowdown that would cause a big jump in defaults and bankruptcies. Low-rated debt has been swept up in a broad market rally fueled by signs of cooling inflation and hopes for interest-rate cuts. Attracted by yields around 8%, investors have added a net $3.7 billion into junk-bond funds so far this year, according to Refinitiv Lipper—the first inflows in that period since 2020. Wall Street Journal​ Culture Studies show severe mental health, suicide risks of transgender surgeries . . . . A new report says those who had trans surgeries are many more times likely to commit suicide. And in Sweden, an extensive 30-year-long study concluded that suicide rates increase after gender-transition surgeries, rising to at least 20 times the suicide rate of the general population. A report from the U.K. last year found that over a third of children who were prescribed puberty blockers and hormone drugs suffered worsened mental health. And a study from Finland discovered that those who identify as transgender typically manifest "many more common psychiatric needs" than the general population, but that gender-transition procedures don't alleviate or cure those mental health issues. Daily Signal​ You should also know On campus, a new social litmus test. Zionist or not? . . . Some Jewish students say they've been dropped by old roommates and sorority sisters and ostracized from campus clubs and teams because of their views — which are sometimes assumed. This fall, a Barnard College sophomore named Sophie Fisher reached out to her freshman year roommate to catch up over coffee. The two had been close enough that the roommate had come to the bar mitzvah of Ms. Fisher's brother. Over Instagram, Ms. Fisher's roommate wrote to her that they couldn't be friends anymore because she had been posting in support of Israel since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7. New York Times​ ​ Colon cancer risk soars in the young . . . In the 1990s, doctors began seeing a rise in the number of otherwise healthy people under 50 being stricken with cancer, especially colorectal cancer. Three decades later, scientists expect the number of early-onset colon cancer sufferers will double by 2030 in what some have labeled an 'epidemic'. Junk food, plastic pollution and the over-use of antibiotics are some of the factors theorized to be behind the rise in early onset cancers, but the evidence is inconclusive. Daily Mail​ ​ Former media exec doesn't like it when squatter takes over his home . . . A former top television executive is warning others about California's squatters laws after he lost millions of dollars in rent and property damage because of a squatter, according to a new report. "The laws in California are crazy. I tell everyone all the time, 'Do not rent your home. In California, you have no rights whatsoever,'" Steve McPherson recently said. "My family was terrorized by this man. He held our home hostage for months without paying rent. He sold my furniture, broke into our wine cellar and ransacked our home," McPherson recalled. Fox News​ ​ ​Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Parmesan — chef says common Italian dishes are not actually Italian​ ​ Giant snakes running rampant in Peurto Rico . . . Boa constrictors and pythons are running rampant in Puerto Rico as the massive, invasive species are popping up in less hospitable areas across the island — swallowing livestock, pets and native birds along the way. Locals have desperately tried to quell the snakes' surging population since the issue first arose more than a decade ago, but the beasts have only pushed deeper into and claimed larger swathes of the island. New York Post​ ​ California will would make it impossible to drive a car . . . California could eventually join the European Union in requiring all new cars to alert drivers when they break the speed limit, a proposal aimed at reducing traffic deaths that would likely impact motorists across the country should it become law. A bill in the California Legislature - which passed its first vote in the state Senate on Tuesday - would require all new cars sold in the state by 2032 to beep at drivers when they exceed the speed limit by at least 10 mph. Washington Times​ ​ Come on. Everyone knows the speed limit is actually a speed minimum. If someone is going the speed limit, they need to get out of the way, not be rewarded. Guilty Pleasures Watch the moment furious passenger cheats Ryanair's bag fees by breaking his suitcase to fit . . . A frustrated passenger has been filmed snapping the wheels off his suitcase to avoid having to pay extra luggage costs. With every airline having different carry-on allowances, it's easy to take the wrong-sized bag aboard a plane. When boarding a Ryanair flight from Palma Airport to the Costa del Sol, Daniel was told he would have to pay an extra $75 to bring his red suitcase onboard. So he made a game-changing decision. The Sun​ ​ Please remember to donate if you can. It's our only source of funding. Thank you. ​ Help CTTN reach more people by forwarding it to your family and friends! 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