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Friday, April 19, 2024

4/19 WAKE-UP CALL: Israel Strikes Back


Israel, early Friday morning local time, launched missiles in a retaliatory strike against Iran, a senior U.S. official told ABC News. The missile launches follow Iran's attack last Saturday, where the country sent a volley of more than 300 uncrewed drones and missiles toward targets throughout the country, Israeli military officials previously said. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.

Iran's attack came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's war cabinet have met several times since the Iran strikes, and as ABC News previously reported, at least two strikes were previously aborted.

⛽OIL PRICES JUMP: Oil prices jumped more than 3% on Friday after Israel carried out a military strike on Iran, triggering fears of an expanding war in the Middle East. Israel carried out a limited military strike against Iran and is currently assessing the strike’s effectiveness and damage caused, a source familiar with the situation told NBC News. The operation was carried out in the early hours of Friday morning local time. Both oil benchmarks pared gains after initially jumping over 3% on news of explosions in Iran.

➤TWH PUSHES LONG-SHOT DEAL: VThe White House is pushing for a long-shot deal that presses Israel to accept a new commitment to Palestinian statehood in exchange for diplomatic recognition by Riyadh, U.S. and Saudi officials said. The Biden administration is offering Riyadh a more formal defense relationship, help acquiring civil nuclear power and a renewed push for a Palestinian state—a package that U.S. officials say is in the final stages of negotiations. Israel has long sought normalized relations with Saudi Arabia, its most powerful Arab neighbor. The deal could mean a diplomatic breakthrough for President Biden amid his re-election campaign. Meanwhile, more aid is getting into Gaza, but not enough to avert a looming famine. Separately, Iran could work on building nuclear weapons if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities in retaliation for Tehran’s Saturday assault, a senior Iranian official warned.

➤ANTI-ISRAEL STUDENTS ARRESTED: Jewish students at Columbia University applauded the removal of anti-Israel protesters who were camping out in tents on campus Thursday – claiming the unruly demonstration made them fear for their safety. 

“It makes me feel safer. It makes me feel like the administration is finally implementing their policies and the truth is, today of all days, it looks like everyone who supports their cause — the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas cause — came out of the crevices and it’s a lot of people,” sophomore Jonny Lederer told The Post. Cops decked out in riot gear moved in and arrested more than 100 protesters Thursday after Columbia president Minouche Shafik gave the green light for cops to clear the encampment from the Upper West Side campus. Some of the arrested protesters even had to be carried away to waiting NYPD corrections buses.

➤SPEAKER RISKING JOB:  House Speaker Mike Johnson is risking his job for the Ukraine aid he once opposed. The approximately $60 billion for Kyiv is part of a broader package including aid to Israel and Taiwan, as well as a TikTok crackdown, that is set for a final vote on Saturday. With a 218-213 margin in the House, Johnson will likely have to rely heavily on Democratic votes. The Senate could take up the measure next week. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) last month filed a motion to force Johnson out of the speakership but didn’t force a vote. Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.), joined the effort this week and said the speaker should step down. Johnson has said he’s not resigning.

➤MOLINARO BREAKS 11TH COMMANDMENT: Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., accused his fellow Republican lawmaker, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., of holding Congress "hostage" after she called to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Greene last month introduced what’s known as a “motion to vacate,” which, if passed, would boot Johnson from the speakership. The effort picked up steam this week after Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced he supports it, calling out Johnson shortly after he unveiled a plan to deliver foreign aid to U.S. allies.  But Greene's push drew condemnation from many Republican lawmakers, especially after the House was frozen for weeks after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted last year.  

➤FBI WARNS OF CHINESE HACKERS: Chinese government-linked hackers have burrowed into U.S. critical infrastructure and are waiting "for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow," FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Thursday. An ongoing Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon has successfully gained access to numerous American companies in telecommunications, energy, water and other critical sectors, with 23 pipeline operators targeted, Wray said in a speech at Vanderbilt University. China is developing the "ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing," Wray said at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. "Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic." Wray said it was difficult to determine the intent of this cyber pre-positioning which was aligned with China's broader intent to deter the U.S. from defending Taiwan.


China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims and says only the island's people can decide their future. Earlier this week, a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said, opens new tab Volt Typhoon was in fact unrelated to China's government, but is part of a criminal ransomware group.

➤HOUSING UNDER PRESSURE: The U.S. housing market is under pressure as mortgage rates rise above 7% and uncertainty about real-estate agents’ commissions continues. The average rate on the standard 30-year fixed mortgage jumped by nearly a quarter percentage point to 7.1%, according to mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac’s lenders survey. Sales of existing homes in March posted their biggest monthly drop in more than a year, the National Association of Realtors said. In the luxury sector, buyers are back in control. In March, the share of $5 million-plus homes with asking price cuts was at the highest level since Realtor.com began collecting the data in 2017.

➤PENSION FUNDS PULLING AWAY FROM STOCKS: Pension funds are pulling hundreds of billions of dollars from stocks. They are shifting into bonds, private equity and private debt as major U.S. indexes set new records and interest rates are sky high. Funds are slowly adapting to a world of yield, where they can get sizable returns on risk-free assets. Moving out of stocks could mean surrendering some potential gains, but hold too much for too long and prices might fall. Pension funds target specific investment returns to fund future obligations, so they like taking less risk and staying on track toward those goals. Today, bond yields rose, and U.S. stocks mostly slumped.

⚾GIANTS 5 D-BACKS 0: Logan Webb allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings as the San Francisco Giants opened a four-game home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 5-0 victory on Thursday. 

Pinch hitter Wilmer Flores broke open a tight game with a two-run double in the eighth. LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. Mike Yastrzemski capped a four-run eighth with a two-run single, helping the Giants win a second straight game for just the second time this season. Webb was the star of the show after getting off to a rocky start in which he served up game-opening singles to Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll. The right-hander escaped damage by retiring the next three men he faced, stranding Marte at third, before setting down the Diamondbacks in order until issuing a one-out walk to Christian Walker in the seventh. Walker was quickly erased on a pickoff, and after Webb got Eugenio Suarez to ground out to third, he was done for the night, having walked one and struck out five.

⚾MLB SCORES

  • Rays 2 Angels 1
  • Giants 5 D-Backs 0
  • Guardians 5 Red Sox 4
  • Rangers 9 Tigers 7
  • Marlins-Cubs PP

⚾JUDGE DELIVERS:  Even as the New York Yankees started quickly, Aaron Judge's bat was quiet and it was highly noticeable until their first three-game losing streak. Judge delivered his biggest hit of the season Wednesday afternoon and the Yankees are hoping it sparks a major hot streak starting with Friday's visit from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees are off to a 13-6 start despite Judge hitting .183 with three homers and 17 RBIs and a .710 OPS. It is similar to two seasons ago when Judge hit one homer in his first 13 games before hitting an AL-record 62 homers but this time Judge is coming off last season's toe injury. On Wednesday, Judge delivered a two-run single in the ninth inning to cap a four-run comeback in a 6-4 win over the Blue Jays. Judge produced his key hit after going 1-for-12 during New York's three-game losing streak.

🏀CAITLIN CLARK HYPE GROWING: The Caitlin Clark hype keeps getting bigger, and even her future opponents are cashing in. The NCAA's all-time leading scorer is a few weeks from making her WNBA debut, and opposing teams are already making adjustments to get ready for one of the biggest attractions in all of sports. Some teams are moving games home games against Clark's Indiana Fever team to bigger arenas or generating even more hype with promotions to get more fans in seats for must-see games against the basketball star. Clark, whom the Fever selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, is on the verge of signing a new eight-figure with Nike and is expected to get her own signature shoe – one of a select few WNBA players with one

➤FRIDAY'S WEATHER:



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