News From Around the Web
#1 ‘Leave Israel Today’: US Ambassador Advises Immediate Departure for Embassy Staff as Iran Tensions Rise - Money Control, Shanaka Anslem Perera, BRICS News, Travel.gc.ca, Mario Nawfal, and Breaking News on X
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged embassy staff on Friday to leave the country immediately if they wished to depart, citing security concerns, according to a report by the New York Times. In an email sent to US mission employees at 10:24 am local time on Thursday, Huckabee said those who wanted to leave “should do so TODAY” and advised them to secure seats on outbound flights from Ben-Gurion Airport as soon as possible, the New York Times reported...#2 Hillary Clinton Tells House Panel She ‘Had No Idea’ of Epstein’s Crimes - James FitzGeraldand and Nada Tawfik for BBC, GC Cox, Wendy Swenson/ML Smith, 30 Seconds, Onassis, ARISE NEWS, deborah green, and Sunshine on X
Hillary Clinton has told a congressional panel she had “no idea” about the criminal activities of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, while calling on lawmakers to compel Donald Trump to testify under oath regarding his past association with Epstein. Clinton spoke to reporters after spending nearly six hours behind closed doors before the US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which is investigating matters related to Epstein and his convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell...
#3 Lauren Boebert Reacts After Sending Hillary Clinton Photo to Benny Johnson - Dan Gooding for Newsweek/MSN, Jamal جمال, LimeriTweets / WoodyGuth3, Salty Cracker, PaulleyTicks, MJTruthUltra, and Art Candee on X
Representative Lauren Boebert took to social media Thursday afternoon to defend a photo she took of the closed-door deposition of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and sent to podcaster Benny Johnson. Boebert, a Colorado Republican, told reporters outside the House Oversight Committee hearing that she was not reprimanded for the photos she took, before posting on X that Johnson had done nothing wrong by sharing the image.
#4 Bill Clinton to Give Private Testimony to Congress About Epstein - Reuters/MSN, Washington Times Local, Amandasatiro, Lt. Cmdr S K Sharma, The Washington Times, and Fox News on X
Former President Bill Clinton is due to testify on Friday behind closed doors to a congressional panel about his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in what could be a tense confrontation between the former Democratic leader and President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans. Clinton's testimony, scheduled for 11 a.m. ET (1600 GMT), follows that of his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Thursday that she does not remember ever meeting Epstein and had nothing to share about his sex crimes...#5 The Hotly Contested Texas Senate Race Is Setting Spending Records Ahead of Tuesday’s Primary - John Hanna for AP, @amuse/Brandon Waltens, FOX SA, The New York Sun, Gary Chun, Lois Levine Fishman, and candegallo on X
Candidates and political groups are pouring money into Texas’ hotly contested U.S. Senate race at a record pace, partly fueled by Democrat James Talarico’s fundraising and allies of Republican Sen. John Cornyn trying to save his long career. Heading into Tuesday’s primary elections, the cost of advertising and reserved advertising time had topped $110 million, the most ever for a Senate primary, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. The heavy spending in Texas is a preview of the money that is expected to flood this year’s midterm elections across the U.S., with control of Congress at stake...
#6 FBI Subpoena of Phone Records Leaves Trump Chief of Staff ‘In Shock - Special Report Fox News, Politically Incorrect, George Wells, Fox and Friends, Micke Hjelm, and David M Cody on X
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was reportedly in shock after hearing that the FBI under former President Joe Biden subpoenaed her and current FBI Director Kash Patel's phone records in 2022 and 2023. Wiles — who ran President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign — reportedly told associates, "I am in shock," Axios reported on Thursday. Reuters first disclosed the subpoenas, which were issued during the Biden administration, while special counsel Jack Smith was investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
#7 Anthropic Refuses to Bend to Pentagon on AI Safeguards as Dispute Nears Deadline - Matt O’Brien for AP, Nick Baumann, Black Panther Capital, Aleph/sucks/Mikael Brockman, ThreatSynop, and NeoskepticsPhone
A public showdown between the Trump administration and Anthropic is hitting an impasse as military officials demand the artificial intelligence company bend its ethical policies by Friday or risk damaging its business. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei drew a sharp red line 24 hours before the deadline, declaring his company “cannot in good conscience accede” to the Pentagon’s final demand to allow unrestricted use of its technology. Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude, can afford to lose a defense contract. But the ultimatum this week from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posed broader risks at the peak of the company's meteoric rise from a little-known computer science research lab in San Francisco to one of the world’s most valuable startups...
#8 Sky Spies With Feathers - Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards for The HighWire, Kent Reynolds, Himal Jayasuriya, Glenn Diesen/The Indian DNA/Grok, and SciTech Era on X
Somewhere in Moscow, a pigeon is doing what pigeons do—flapping, gliding, showing off that smug “I own this city” energy—except this one is wearing a tiny backpack, carrying a camera, and taking directions from a neural implant. That’s the claim, anyway. A Russian neurotech firm called Neiry has been making headlines for a project called…#9 Ex-Nonprofit Boss Allegedly Swiped $1.2m Meant for Homeless Programs to Fund Lavish Lifestyle, DA Says - Stepheny Price for Fox News, Closeted News Junkie,
margaret melani, Naran Row-Spaulding, Bohiney News, and BKJN Annie on X
Millions of taxpayer dollars meant to help San Francisco’s homeless population were allegedly siphoned off by the longtime head of a city-funded nonprofit — money prosecutors said instead helped bankroll a luxury lifestyle. Gwendolyn Westbrook, 71, the former chief executive of the United Council of Human Services (UCHS), has been charged with nine felonies, including misappropriation of public funds, grand theft, and filing false California tax returns, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced Monday...
#10 Netflix, Paramount Shares Jump as Months-Long Fight for Warner Bros Ends - Dado Ruvic for Reuters/MSN, WTNH News 8, IBTimes UK, FOX26Houston, Daily Wire, and AlphaBronze on X
Netflix jumped more than 9% premarket on Friday as investors cheered its decision to exit the fight for Warner Bros Discovery, while Paramount rose about 10% on winning the race for some of the world's most prized TV and film assets. The end of the months-long bidding war put the focus back on the significant antitrust scrutiny that the Paramount-Warner Bros tie-up would face in the U.S. and Europe, including an active investigation in California. Warner Bros shares were marginally lower...
