Biden Expresses Support for Israel – President Biden said he supports Israel’s right to defend itself as terrorists from Gaza sling thousands of missiles into Israel, in the largest rocket barrage on the Jewish state in history. Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and urged him to seek a truce with the Palestinians, a prospect which Israel has so far rejected. Netanyahu told him that Israel will do what it must to ensure that Hamas suffers a severe setback and learn their lesson not to fire rockets into Israeli territory. Biden also reportedly sent a letter to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, urging him to help resolve the crisis that boiled over this week between Israel and the Palestinians.
Border Crossings Tick Up – The US Customs and Border Control agency announced that border crossings had ticked up again in April, with well over 150,000 arrests or detentions being made. On the plus side for the Biden administration, the increase in crossings was only 4%, the lowest increase in illegal crossings into the United States of Biden’s presidency. It’s not much of a win, but Biden and his administration will take what they can. Overall, the crisis at the border is still ongoing, despite the lack of media attention and the reality that President Trump’s policies worked far better than Biden’s, who said his approach is more humane.
CDC: Vaxxed? Drop the Mask – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that fully vaccinated Americans no longer have to wear face coverings, regardless of whether they are indoors, outdoors, or in close proximity to each other. The announcement came after piles of evidence showing that vaccinated individuals are at little risk of becoming infected and do n0t pose a significant risk to others as far as transmitting the virus to them. However, Dr. Fauci said that children who are not eligible to receive a vaccine will still be required to wear a face mask, especially when indoors, despite the science showing that children are overwhelmingly unaffected by COVID-19 and don’t pose a high risk of infecting others either.
Liz Cheney Booted – Rep. Liz Cheney was ousted from her position as the number 3 Republican in the House of Representatives after frustration among Republicans over her incessant bashing of former President Trump and his supporters who claim the election was stolen, boiled over. Rep. Elise Stefanik of upstate New York, an ardent defender of President Trump, was elected by a wide margin to replace Cheney in as GOP conference chair, but said she will only serve one term in the position. Cheney said following her ouster that she will do whatever it takes to ensure that Donald Trump is not the GOP nominee for president in 2024.
Jobless Claims Drop – Initial unemployment benefit applications dropped to 473,000, the lowest mark since the beginning of the pandemic. The number comes with a backdrop of sharply overestimated job gains numbers, showing a disconnect between a rebounding economy and more people gaining employment. Republicans point to President Biden’s and Democrat’s massive spending bills, which include provisions to pay unemployed people an additional $300 a week besides for their regular unemployment check, as the reason why so few Americans took jobs in April despite millions of jobs being available.