Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of "moral legitimacy" to something akin to "a landlord seeking rent," Singapore's defense chief said on the sidelines of an international security meeting. read more
Emergency crews are responding to a crash involving a Delta Air Lines plane that arrived Monday at Toronto Pearson Airport from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. read more
At least 49 cases have been confirmed. Health officials -- who are scrambling to get a handle on the vaccine-preventable outbreak -- suspect 200 to 300 people may be infected. read more
President Trump said he is personally keeping an eye on Elon Musk's conflicts of interest between his private interests at companies like SpaceX and Tesla, and DOGE. The president then said he didn't know if Musk had met India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, as a private citizen or as a special government employee. read more
President Donald Trump's drive to shake up the U.S. government drove out a rising star in conservative legal circles: A career federal prosecutor who once clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. read more
Group protests Elon Musk's cost-cutting outside Tesla dealership in Palo Alto
www.nbcbayarea.com
...Dozens of people lined the streets outside of the Tesla dealership in Palo Alto Sunday. ...
Related...
US presented Ukraine with a document to access its minerals but offered almost nothing in return
apnews.com
... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he directed his ministers not to sign off on a proposed agreement to give the United States access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals because the document was too focused on U.S. interests.
The proposal, which was a key part of Zelenskyy's talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday, did not offer any specific security guarantees in return, according to one current and one former senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks.
Zelenskyy's decision not to accept the proposal, at least for now, was described as "short-sighted" by a senior White House official.
"I didn't let the ministers sign a relevant agreement because in my view it is not ready to protect us, our interest," Zelenskyy told The Associated Press on Saturday in Munich.
The proposal focused on how the U.S. could use Kyiv's rare earth minerals "as compensation" for support already given to Ukraine by the Biden administration and as payment for future aid, the current and former senior Ukrainian officials said, speaking anonymously so they could speak freely.
Zelenskyy insists on security guarantees
Ukraine has vast reserves of critical minerals that are used in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries. The Trump administration has indicated it is interested in accessing them to reduce dependence on China but Zelenskyy said any exploitation would need to be tied to security guarantees for Ukraine that would deter future Russian aggression.
"For me is very important the connection between some kind of security guarantees and some kind of investment," the Ukrainian president told AP. ...
Another New York federal prosecutor resigns over DOJ order to dismiss Eric Adams case
abcnews.go.com
... Hagan Scotten, the assistant United States attorney for Southern District of New York, blasted Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove in a letter one day after acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon resigned over her refusal to follow through with the Justice Department's request.
"In short, the first justification for the motion -- that [former U.S. Attorney] Damian Williams's role in the case somehow tainted a valid indictment supported by ample evidence, and pursued under different U.S. attorneys is so weak as to be transparently pretextual," Scotten wrote. ...
"The second justification is worse. No system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives," he added.
Scotten, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and clerked under Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh before he was appointed to the Supreme Court, chastised the president and the administration.
"I can even understand how a Chief Executive whose background is in business and politics might see the contemplated dismissal-with-leverage as a good, if distasteful, deal," he wrote.
"If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me," he added. ...
Full text of the letter is here (PDF): static01.nyt.com
Related...
DOJ moves to drop Eric Adams charges after 7 prosecutors resign
www.axios.com
... The Justice Department on Friday evening moved to drop bribery and fraud charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.[emphasis mine]
Why it matters: At least seven prosecutors resigned this week rather than obey a DOJ order to withdraw the indictment, with some criticizing department leadership for making the decision for political rather than legal reasons.
- - - Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove reportedly pulled the DOJ's remaining public integrity prosecutors into a room and warned them that if one didn't agree to file the motion dismissing the charges within an hour, they could all be fired.
Driving the news: Two prosecutors ultimately did file the request with Judge Dale E. Ho asking for a dismissal of the case "without prejudice," meaning the charges could later be reinstated.
- - - The request, signed by Bove, argues the indictment interferes with the mayor's ability to do his job ...
Update ...
Trump administration wants to un-fire nuclear safety workers but can't figure out how to reach them
www.nbcnews.com
... The individuals, who work in an agency that oversees the nation's nuclear stockpile, had been fired on Thursday and lost access to their federal government email accounts.
National Nuclear Security Administration officials on Friday attempted to notify some employees who had been let go the day before that they are now due to be reinstated " but they struggled to find them because they didn't have their new contact information.
In an email sent to employees at NNSA and obtained by NBC News, officials wrote, "The termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel." ...
@#2 ... I guess all Republicans in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, and the other Red States are doing fabulously well ...
Which states get more federal money than they send
www.axios.com
[article has a good, interactive, chart]