Extra, Extra
Waterways and Means: “After more escalatory rhetoric and attacks, President Trump said the United States was renewing its shipping blockade of Iranian ports, and would charge a 20 percent fee on goods passing through the Strait of Hormuz.” Tehran’s top diplomat responds: “POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service. Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20% is of course too much. We will be fair.” Here’s the latest from the NYT U.S. and Iran Edge Toward War Again, and The Guardian.
+ Proof of Life: With a weird newspaper-grasping photo, Mitch McConnell signaled the world that he’s still alive. He’s not the only political leader who’s been MIA. Iran’s supreme leader is dead or comatose. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. “The funeral procession became less a display of regime strength than a reminder of its uncertainty: the new supreme leader, Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, was nowhere to be seen. His absence overshadowed the entire affair.” (Makes you wonder who exactly we’re negotiating with…)
+ Subpoena Armada: “The Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several journalists for The New York Times, after the news outlet reported this week on security concerns involving President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One.”
+ Do Not Merge: “A group of states is preparing to file a lawsuit to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery as soon as this week, according to four people briefed on the plans, a legal challenge that would create a major obstacle for one of the biggest media mergers in history.”
+ Jive Talking: What could make all those political texts even worse? How about them asking you to continue the conversation with AI?
+ You Cannot Be Siri-ous: “At every level, from members of its technical staff to its chief hardware officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information … As a natural result, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.” Apple sues Open AI, accusing it of stealing trade secrets. (Luckily for OpenAI, they didn’t steal any of trade secrets about SIRI…)
+ There’s No Fixing the Fixer: Michael Cohen Helped Convict Trump. Now, He’s Making Nice Again.
+ Sam Neill: One of the most recognizable (and consistently excellent) actors, Sam Neill, Leading Man in ‘Jurassic Park,’ Dies at 78.
+ Timing is Everything: Jannik Sinner has never won a match longer than 3 hours in 50 minutes. Yesterday, he won the Wimbledon championship over Alexander Zverev in 3:47. Linda Nosková defeated Karolína Muchová in the Women’s final. 50 Parting Thoughts From 2026 Wimbledon.
