Comment on Kerry to outline US assurances to Israel, Gulf to lawmakers

We all know what happened earlier this year when House Republicans and Leader Mike Johnson blew up the border bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators at Trump's behest. Negotiations stalled on that along with a host of other issues such as Ukraine aid, but they did finally manage to get the Ukraine aid passed along with funding for Israel and Taiwan. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was asked about all of that during an interview last month as reported by Politico: After finally getting 70 votes for a $95 billion aid package, including $60 billion for Ukraine, the two leaders now must work together to force the House to move — a task that could prove impossible.

New York Times: “Prosecutors never called Mr. Weisselberg to testify, because, although he knows the truth, he has not always told it. He is serving time in the Rikers Island jail complex after pleading guilty to perjury in an unrelated civil case involving Mr. Trump, the man he served for nearly half a century.” “The defense did not call Mr.

“The Biden administration is pressing European allies to back off plans to rebuke Iran for advances in its nuclear program as it seeks to keep tensions with Tehran from escalating before the autumn’s U. S. presidential election,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The U. S. is arguing against an effort by Britain and France to censure Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s member state board in early June, the diplomats said.

Wall Street Journal: “Intelligence disclosures about Russia’s interest in antisatellite weapons and satellite launches from China have energized U. S. efforts to defend its interests hundreds and even thousands of miles above the Earth’s surface.” “Defense companies are developing systems ranging from satellites that can chase other satellites in orbit to protecting ground stations that can beam signals to space.

Wall Street Journal: “Automakers are fixated on easing the practical concerns around electric-vehicle ownership, primarily high prices and charging hassles. But in the industry’s quest to persuade more Americans to consider EVs, a swath of the buying public could prove tough to convince: those opposed to EVs for political or ideological reasons.”

“Justin Trudeau is running out of time,” Politico reports. “He has trailed in polls by double digits for nearly a year, and the outlook for the once popular prime minister is so grim that some old guard Liberals have been grumbling that maybe he should just step down and give someone else a shot.” “To turn it around and win a fourth term, Trudeau has less than 17 months before he must hold an election and face off against an ascendant Conservative Party and its firebrand populist leader, Pierre Poilievre.”