Italy, Hillary Clinton, Leslie Jones: Your Thursday Briefing

MALMO, Sweden — It’s time for many people to don sequins and spangles — and for others to pick up protest banners and Palestinian flags — for Saturday’s final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest. The competition that pits nations against one another for pop music glory is reaching its conclusion in the Swedish city of Malmo, with Croatia and Switzerland among those tipped to take the trophy, and Israel at the center of a political storm. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Hours before the final, Dutch contestant Joost Klein was dramatically booted out by organizers over a backstage incident.

Donald Trump addressed the press outside the courtroom and with nothing much to say, he read off a propaganda-style Jonathan Turley article supporting him. Diminished Don is so mentally challenged that in one sentence he says he is going to be speaking a lot at a rally and then the next sentence he says he's muzzled because of the gag order.

“This is fine,” says the doggie in the burning coffee shop (emphasis mine): There’s A GOP Plan For An Execution Spree If Trump Wins The White House Buried on page 554 of the plan is a directive to execute every remaining person on federal death row — and dramatically expand the use of the death penalty. […] Last year, a coalition effort by conservative groups known as Project 2025 released an 887-page document that lays out policy goals and recommendations for each part of the federal government.

Advocates of holding fossil fuel giants accountable for their significant contributions to the climate emergency welcomed Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's Thursday announcement that she intends to sue the polluting industry. "Big Oil knew decades ago that their products would cause catastrophic climate change, but instead of doing the right thing they lied about it," declared Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity.

Xi Jinping has changed China fundamentally. He has kept the same political system that Chairman Mao Zedong created when he founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Mao governed China with “Mao Zedong Thought,” which he introduced in 1945. Deng Xiaoping put that aside when he took power in 1978 and unleashed the “reform and opening up” era.

Opinion | H5N1 Already Killed Millions of Birds. Humans Share the Blame. The New York TimesUS government announces new financial incentives for farms to stem the spread of bird flu in dairy cattle CNNBird flu, pandemic risk, transparency, planning | News | Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health HSPH NewsDairy farmers resist CDC push for PPE against bird flu virus - STAT STAT