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Friday, April 5, 2024

4/5 WAKE-UP CALL: Biden...U-S Support Hinges on Protecting Civilians


President Biden called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden also urged Israel to take immediate steps “to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers” and indicated that the U.S.’s assessment of Israel’s actions will determine Washington’s policy on Gaza, according to the White House. Israel didn’t immediately comment. The call came days after seven aid workers from José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen were killed. 

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday released the results of an investigation into a missile strike that killed several World Central Kitchen aid workers in the Gaza Strip. IDF investigators said the incident "should not have occurred" and that the authorities who approved the strike were mistakenly convinced they were targeting Hamas operatives. Two officers, a brigade fire support commander and brigade chief of staff, will be dismissed from their positions.  "The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures," the IDF said. 

Separately, Israel scrambled GPS signals as it braces for a possible retaliation by Iran or one of its allied militias—a reprisal for a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria that killed a senior Iranian general and six other military officials.

➤ISRAEL BRACES FOR IRAN ATTACK:  Israel braced on Thursday for the possibility of a retaliatory attack after its suspected killing of Iranian generals in Damascus this week, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would harm "whoever harms us or plans to harm us." His comments came after Israel's armed forces - stretched by nearly six months of war in the Gaza Strip and on the Lebanese front - announced they were suspending leave for all combat units, a day after they said they were mobilizing more troops for air defense units. The possibility of Iran retaliating for Monday's presumed Israeli air strike on Iran's embassy compound in Damascus has raised the specter of a wider war, though two Iranian sources said Tehran's response would be calibrated to avoid escalation. "For years, Iran has been acting against us both directly and via its proxies; therefore, Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, defensively and offensively," Netanyahu said at the start of a security cabinet meeting late on Thursday.

➤JUDGE REJECTS TRUMP'S FIRST AMENDMENT SHIELD:  The Georgia judge in Donald Trump’s election interference case on Thursday rejected his argument that the First Amendment shielded him from racketeering charges because his unfounded claims of widespread election fraud were political speech. Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, argued the charges should be dismissed because Trump was speaking about politics as president. Sadow argued that even if Trump made false statements as alleged in the indictment, he must be protected for a robust political debate. But Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee ruled that the First Amendment doesn’t protect speech that is part of a crime – and that a jury must decide whether it was in Trump’s case. “The allegations that the Defendants’ speech or conduct was carried out with criminal intent are something only a jury can resolve,” McAfee wrote.

➤STOCKS TUMBLE:  Major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply after Fed officials suggested interest-rate cuts might not be imminent. The S&P 500 dropped 1.2%; both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite pulled back 1.4%. Meanwhile, the detection of avian influenza in dairy cows has spooked cattle markets on fears it will hurt consumer demand for beef or restrict exports, analysts say. Speaking of beef, a grocery list of common items that cost $100 in 2019 would today set you back 36.5% more, a WSJ analysis of NielsenIQ data found.

➤SPOTIFY STOCK SURGES: Spotify is planning another subscription price hike, according to a Bloomberg News report that cites people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg says the streaming service plans to raise prices by about $1 to $2 per month by the end of April in five markets, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Pakistan, with a U.S. price hike set to follow "later this year." This would be the second U.S. price hike within the past year for Spotify, which raised the monthly rate for its individual Premium plan from $9.99 to $10.99 in July.

➤RETURN SCAMS PLAGUE AMAZON SELLERS: A surge in scam returns is plaguing Amazon sellers. People regularly ship junk back to merchants (example: used soap bars) and claim they are returns, often with little to no penalty, according to sellers who say Amazon’s policies favor customers. It’s just one sore point in what has often become a contentious relationship. An ongoing FTC lawsuit against Amazon deals in part with how the company treats its sellers, and Amazon faces new competition for its merchants from other e-commerce firms. The company said that it had no tolerance for fraudulent returns and invests significantly in fraud detection and prevention.


➤FDA PLANNING TO DROP SPERM BAN: The FDA is planning to drop a ban on sperm donations from gay and bisexual men. Under the draft proposal, many prospective donors would be able to donate if they are at low risk of spreading HIV, according to people familiar with the agency’s deliberations. To reduce the risk of spreading pathogens including the virus that causes AIDS, FDA rules prohibit anonymous sperm donations by men who acknowledged having sex with other men in the past five years. The ban stems from the HIV epidemic in the 1980s, but medical organizations and gay-rights groups say HIV tests are now more accurate. 

⚾TIGERS LOSE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON: Colt Keith hit an RBI double in the 11th inning Thursday afternoon, sparking the Detroit Tigers to a 6-3 comeback win that extended their best start since 2016 and sent the New York Mets to their worst start since 2005. Gio Urshela added a two-out, two-run single for the Tigers, who will seek to match the 2016 team’s 6-0 start in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader. The twinbill was necessitated by rainouts Tuesday and Wednesday night. The Mets’ finally got in the win column with 2-1 win over the Tigers.

⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Tigers 6 Mets 3
  • Mets 2 Tigers 1
  • Royal 10 White Sox 1
  • Cardinals 8 Marlins 5
  • Guardians 4 Twins 2
  • Pirates 7 Nationals 4

🏀WOMEN'S FINALF FOUR TONIGHT: The women’s NCAA Final Four tips off tonight, with No. 1 South Carolina set to take on No. 3 NC State (7 pm ET, ESPN), followed by No. 1 Iowa facing No. 3 Connecticut (9:30 pm ET, ESPN). The Gamecocks enter their fourth consecutive Final Four undefeated, with the potential to become the 10th perfect national champion. The Wolfpack, led by Aziaha James, will play in its first Final Four since 1998. AP Player of the Year Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes will meet Paige Bueckers and the Huskies (see player comparison). Both teams boast offenses that ranked in the top 25 during the regular season.

The women’s tournament has captivated sports fans this year, marked by record-breaking viewership—the matchup between Iowa and LSU drew the highest number in women's college basketball history. Average ticket prices for the women’s Final Four exceed $2K, while the men's is around $1K—partly attributed to supply, with the women’s arena seating just under 20,000 and the men's seating around 70,000. On the men’s side, No. 1 Purdue takes on No. 11 NC State Saturday (6 pm ET, TBS), followed by No. 1 Connecticut versus No. 4 Alabama (8:50 pm ET, TBS).

⚾OAKLAND As ARE A TEAM W/O A HOME: The Oakland Athletics, who have operated on a shoestring budget since signaling their desire to leave their home city, will call a minor-league ballpark home for the next three seasons. A's owner John Fisher announced Thursday that his franchise will play the 2025-2027 seasons in West Sacramento's Sutter Health Park, home of the San Francisco Giants' Class AAA ballclub, in advance of an expected 2028 opening of their ballpark in Las Vegas. The agreement includes an option for a fourth year in the event the club's Las Vegas ballpark is not yet ready. The club still has several logistical hurdles to clear, most notably a suit from the Nevada teachers' union to block $380 million in public funds approved by the state legislature for the estimated $1.5 billion ballpark.


➤HUNKER DOWN: An "extremely active" hurricane season is likely, top forecasters from Colorado State University announced Thursday. In fact, the forecast includes the highest number of hurricanes ever predicted in an April forecast by Colorado State since the team began issuing predictions in 1995. Colorado State hurricane forecaster Phil Klotzbach, the author of the forecast, knows what the models show him about the hurricane season that starts June 1, but he's a bit incredulous it could really be that busy. "We're coming out with a very aggressive forecast: 23 named storms, 11 hurricanes and five major hurricanes," said Klotzbach, a senior research scientist in the atmospheric science department at Colorado State University. "And even that is so undercutting all the model guidance.

➤FRIDAY'S WEATHER MAP:



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