News From Around the Web
#10 Jury Selection Set to Begin in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Criminal Federal Trial - Alli Rosenbloom for CNN, Breanna Morello, TMZ, Oli London, Benny Johnson/John Rich, and ABC News on X
Jury selection in the federal trial that will determine the future for Sean “Diddy” Combs is set to get begin Monday, nearly seven months after the once-highly influential pop culture figure was indicted for racketeering conspiracy, transportation to engage in prostitution and sex trafficking, crimes that the government claims spanned over two decades. Combs has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Combs, who has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest, and his lawyers will report to a Manhattan Federal courthouse for a trial – that will not be televised – with opening statements expected to begin on May 12. If convicted on all charges, Combs faces up to life in prison...
#9 Trump Orders Feds to Reopen Alcatraz to House ‘America’s Most Ruthless and Violent’ Criminals - Greg Wehner for Fox News, Salty Goat/Donald J. Trump, Coraky Caiman, Bonchie, Baddie, and Eric Matheny on X
President Donald Trump is calling for the notorious prison and now historical landmark, Alcatraz, in San Francisco, California, to be rebuilt larger and reopened to house the country’s most ruthless and violent criminals. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post on Sunday evening. "REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!" the president said. "For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. "When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm," Trump continued, adding that it's supposed to be this way. "No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets."
#8 Trump Says Non-US Movies to Be Hit With 100% Tariffs - Peter Hoskins and Maia Davies for BBC, Reel Anarchy, Love My 7 Wood, Anime News Centre, and Doug Brinkkman on X
US President Donald Trump says he will hit movies made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs, as he ramps up trade disputes with nations around the world. Trump said he was authorising the US Department of Commerce and Trade Representative to start the process to impose the levy because America's movie industry was dying "a very fast death". He blamed a "concerted effort" by other countries that offer incentives to attract filmmakers and studios, which he described as a "National Security threat". His remarks could spell a "knock-out blow" to the industry, one union warned, where filmmakers have for years left Hollywood for destinations like the UK and Canada in search of lower costs...
#7 We Could Soon Be Seeing Empty Shelves Everywhere. Here's Which Items Might Disappear First - Monica Torres for Huff Post, Miles J. Varghese, Jasper Truth, Health Ranger, Zach Vorhies, Jeff Lee 2020, and Grok on X
Because of President Donald Trump’s trade war against the world, American consumers may soon start start seeing shortages on their everyday household goods and accessories. In the past few weeks, Trump has imposed massive import taxes on many U.S. trading partners ― including an astonishing 145% tariff on Chinese goods ― only to abruptly change or suspend some of these tariffs. However, Trump’s chaos is already starting to freeze supply chains. U.S. businesses are cancelling or postponing shipment orders from China. Just last week, the executives for major retailers Walmart, Home Depot, and Target reportedly told Trump in a meeting that shoppers are likely to see empty shelves and higher prices in the next few weeks if he doesn’t roll back his tariff plans...
#6 More Than 15,000 USDA Employees Have Taken Trump Financial Incentive to Leave - Leah Douglas for Reuters, Joe Mauro, The Hill, Helen Van Patterson Patton, and Maximus Ultra Magamus on X
More than 15,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture employees have taken one of the Trump administration's two financial incentive offers to leave the agency, according to a readout from a USDA briefing with congressional staff seen by Reuters.The sum represents about 15% of the USDA's total workforce. President Donald Trump's administration has offered federal employees several months of pay and benefits if they opt to leave their jobs as part of his effort with billionaire ally Elon Musk to shrink the federal workforce...
#5 Student Loan Collections Restart May 5 - Melissa Chan for NBC News, AKM, Credit Coach Jeremy Deysach, bridget Ann, and Paul A. Szypula on X
The federal government on Monday will resume collecting defaulted student loan payments from millions of people for the first time since the start of the pandemic, officials said. The Trump administration said it would collect the debt through a Treasury Department program that withholds payments through tax refunds, wages, and government benefits. The U.S. Education Department has not collected on defaulted loans since March 2020. Of the nearly 43 million people who owe money, only a little more than a third have made regular payments, the agency said. In the last five years, student debt has grown to $1.6 trillion, officials said. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said taxpayers would now be saved from shouldering that cost...
#4 ‘He Needs to Resign’: Democrats React With Quiet Shock to Damning John Fetterman Profile - John Bowden for Independent, Anthony LeMasa/Brendan Hartnett, Extremely Careless, Raquel/Manu Raju and KnightRider on X
When Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was hospitalized for depression in 2023, many on Capitol Hill celebrated it as a moment of courage and a willingness to be open about mental health struggles. Now, a startling picture of relapse and its associated cost is being associated with him after a deeply sourced profile on Fetterman was published Friday in New York Magazine’s Intelligencer by reporter Ben Terris. Democrats on Capitol Hill have yet to comment. But the shock from the profile’s reporting was evident across social media and on political talk programs. “He needs to resign,” The Bulwark’s Jonathan Last, a supporter of the senator who wrote that he “was the first person to suggest that John Fetterman could run for president”, said on The Secret Podcast with co-host Sarah Longwell.
#3 Berkshire Shares Fall as Buffett Names Abel CEO of $1.16 Trillion Empire - Reuters, The Kobeissi Letter, Maxwell Meyer, Brew Markets, William Green, and Kintsugi Investing on X
Berkshire Hathaway shares fell 2% in premarket trading after famed investor Warren Buffett said he would step down as CEO of the $1.16 trillion conglomerate after leading it for 60 years. The company's board voted unanimously to name Vice Chairman Greg Abel as president and CEO starting next year and Buffett as chairman, it said on Monday. The decision to hand over the reins to Abel was first announced by Buffett at Berkshire's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday. Berkshire, which owns railroads, insurance companies, and an ice-cream maker, has been planning for decades for the eventuality when Buffett, 94, who has run the company since 1965, is no longer there...
#2 FBI, DEA Targeted for Broad Funding Cuts in Trump Proposal - Suzanne Monyak and Justin Wise for Bloomberg Law, Breanna Morello, Sarah N. Lynch, Sen Corey Booker, DOGEai, and K J Gillenwater on X
The Trump administration wants to slash Justice Department funding by nearly 8%, including cuts to the FBI and other law enforcement offices, as part of an across-the-board push to cut federal government spending. In its so-called “skinny” budget, released Friday morning, the White House suggested that Congress provide $33.2 billion to the Justice Department in fiscal 2026, which begins Oct. 1, down from its current funding level of $36 billion. Many of the proposed cuts target units and programs the White House claims were “weaponized” during the Biden administration. The FBI would see a $545 million decrease to its current $10.6 billion budget under the proposal, as part of the White House’s stated plans to “reform and streamline” the agency...
#1 NIH Closes Experimentation Labs Accused of Brutally Killing Thousands of Beagles for 40+ Years - Alexandra Koch for Fox News, Benny Johnson, Emily Kopp, White Coat Waste, Steve Gruber, and, Breitbart News on X
National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Jay Bhattacharya recently announced on Fox News that the agency closed its last in-house beagle laboratory on the NIH campus. The announcement comes just days after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk posted on X that he would investigate funding beagle experiments. A report from the White Coat Waste (WCW) project detailed the lab's history of allegedly pumping pneumonia-causing bacteria into more than 2,000 beagles’ lungs, bleeding them out, and forcing them into septic shock for deadly experiments...
