Happy Tuesday! In the Indian state of Kerala, a man was apprehended last week after damaging a restaurant because his chicken fried rice didn’t contain enough chicken.
We can’t endorse the reaction—but we understand the impulse.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
Tim Cook To Step Down as Apple CEO
Apple announced on Monday that chief executive Tim Cook will resign on September 1, ending a near 15-year tenure that reshaped the company into one of the world’s most valuable firms. Cook, 65, joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations under Steve Jobs, brought in to repair a faltering supply chain that he would rebuild into a lasting competitive edge, and became CEO in August 2011, just weeks before Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer. In September, Cook will become the company’s executive chairman and be succeeded as CEO by John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. Over the course of Cook’s leadership, Apple’s market value grew from about $350 billion to $4 trillion, while annual revenue nearly quadrupled—from about $108 billion to more than $416 billion. Under Cook, Apple introduced the Apple Watch in 2015, AirPods in 2016, and developed a services business—encompassing the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, and Apple TV+—that now brings in more than $100 billion annually.
- Cook’s most lasting achievement may be Apple’s strategic push into China. The company assembles roughly 90 percent of its iPhones in China, and in his 2025 book Apple in China, Patrick McGee noted that Apple trained over 28 million workers in the country since 2008 and, by 2015, was investing roughly $55 billion annually there—a scale of capital and know-how that McGee argues surpassed the Marshall Plan and helped Chinese competitors narrow the gap with American consumer tech.
- Apple has been diversifying manufacturing away from China amid tariffs from the second Trump administration, moving more iPhone production to India and pledging $600 billion in U.S. investment over four years.
- This transition comes as Apple faces a tough moment in artificial intelligence: its AI systems and features lag behind rivals like Google, and in January the company inked a multi-year deal with Google, reportedly valued at about $1 billion per year, to license a custom Gemini model for a rebuilt Siri.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer To Leave Position
White House communications director Steven Cheung announced on Monday that Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer would depart for the private sector, with Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling slated to lead the agency in an acting capacity. Chavez-DeRemer confirmed her departure in a social-media post, describing her tenure as an “honor and a privilege.” Her exit follows accusations of misconduct, including an alleged affair with a member of her security detail and use of federal funds for personal trips. A whistleblower within the Labor Department filed a complaint in January, prompting an inspector general probe that was still ongoing at the time of her departure; Chavez-DeRemer was expected to be interviewed later in the week.
- Last week, the New York Times examined text messages from Chavez-DeRemer indicating she had been drinking during work hours.
- In February, the Times also reported that her husband, Shawn DeRemer, had been barred from entering the Labor Department’s headquarters after two women accused him of sexual assault. One incident was reportedly captured on security footage and criminally investigated.
- An attorney representing Chavez-DeRemer, Nick Oberheiden, stated on Monday that her departure did not arise from legal wrongdoing.
Trump Says He Probably Won’t Extend Iran Ceasefire
President Donald Trump continued to press Iran publicly, telling Bloomberg on Monday that it is “highly unlikely” he will extend the ceasefire that is set to end on Wednesday evening Eastern time. Trump told PBS News that once the ceasefire expires, “then lots of bombs start going off,” and although he told the New York Post that a U.S. delegation was en route to Islamabad for another round of Pakistani-facilitated talks, Iran has signaled it will not participate. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declined to say whether Iran would attend the Islamabad discussions, describing the Americans’ reported trip as “their own business.” Vice President J.D. Vance is slated to lead the U.S. delegation in Islamabad, but Reuters reported he had not yet left for Pakistan by noon Monday. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, tweeted that Iran “does not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” and warned that Tehran “has prepared new cards for the battlefield.”
- On Monday, Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet disclosed an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) network that planned attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in Azerbaijan, including the Israeli embassy in Baku and a synagogue in the capital. Azerbaijani authorities arrested members of the IRGC network and found them in possession of explosive drones and fragmentation charges.
- According to U.S. Central Command, American forces have now blocked 27 vessels either leaving or approaching a Iranian port since the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz began on April 13.
- Arsenio Dominguez, head of the United Nations’ maritime agency, announced a plan to evacuate approximately 800 vessels stranded in the Persian Gulf, though it can only be activated after fighting ceases and the strait is free of mines.
Japan To Sell Weapons Abroad
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, speaking at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, indicated that the government has moved to discard the five-category cap that previously restricted sales of most Japanese-made weapons to foreign nations. Previously, Japan allowed only the sale of search-and-rescue gear, warning systems, transportation, surveillance, and mine-clearing tools. “In an increasingly perilous security environment, no single nation can safeguard its own peace and security alone, and partners that support one another in defense equipment are essential,” Takaichi tweeted on Monday. Yet, while this shift marks a stark departure from Japan’s postwar pacifist stance, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara clarified at a press conference on Tuesday that “there is absolutely no change in our commitment to the path and fundamental principles we have followed as a peace-loving nation for over 80 years since the war.” The government will keep some restrictions, including prohibiting sales to parties at war, barring transfers to third-country entities, and enforcing rigorous screening. Takaichi added that Japan would only sell to nations that commit to using the equipment in accordance with the UN Charter.
- Officials noted that national-security concerns could broaden the list of exemptions.
- Officials and diplomats told Reuters on Monday that several countries have expressed interest in potentially buying arms from Japan, with early discussions suggesting a sale of used naval vessels to the Philippines, building on a principle agreement reached last July to transfer six Abukuma-class destroyer escorts.
- Poland has also reportedly shown interest in acquiring Japanese-made weapons.
Slovenian Prime Minister Can’t Form Government
Only a month after Robert Golob’s left-leaning Freedom Movement won a plurality in Slovenia’s parliamentary elections with 29 of 90 seats, he announced that he had been unable to assemble a governing majority and was likely to lead a party in opposition. Former Prime Minister Janez Janša and his right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party captured the second-most seats with 28, potentially setting himself up for a fourth stint as prime minister, replacing Golob who has served since June 2022. While Janša had secured a deal with the pro-Russian Resni.ca to elect its leader, Zoran Stevanović, as parliamentary speaker, he reiterated that he was not seeking to form a coalition with the two parties, a position he reiterated on Monday.
- Janša said his party was ready to participate in government, serve in the opposition, or pursue new elections, noting that all three options are favorable for the party—just not necessarily for Slovenia.
Yale University has long stood at the center of U.S. debates over higher education. William F. Buckley Jr.’s 1951 God and Man at Yale helped spark decades of conservative critiques painting universities as elitist, anti-American, and overly liberal. In 1967, Yale President Kingman Brewster’s reforms introduced the contemporary “holistic” admissions process, drawing Jewish publicschool students and ending Yale’s focus on New England prep schools. In 1974, the Woodward Report entrenched free expression as a core value at Yale, establishing how the university approaches campus speech.
Today, public faith in higher education is at a low point. Americans increasingly view universities as too liberal and too costly. Riding this wave, the Trump administration pressed elite institutions early in his term. Behind the scenes, the rise of AI adds another layer of pressure.
Colleges have responded in various ways—some resisting the administration’s efforts in court, some striking deals, others quietly shifting course. Yet last week Yale’s Committee on Trust in Higher Education released a 58-page blueprint for restoring public confidence in the U.S. university system. It calls for reforms in admissions, tuition, academic standards, and more.
“We believe the erosion of trust is real and urgent, and must be addressed,” write the report’s authors, a cross-section of Yale faculty, in the introduction. “We’ve framed our recommendations with Yale in mind, but we hope they may prove useful to others in higher education as well.”
But will these reforms truly restore faith in America’s top universities? And are the challenges Yale faces shared by other institutions of higher learning?
Today’s Must-Read
In Other News
Today in America
- Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an online portal enabling businesses to request refunds for duties that the White House imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a statute the Supreme Court ruled unlawful in late February.
- The Justice Department is reportedly examining large U.S.-based meatpacking firms for possible criminal anticompetitive conduct, more than five months after Trump accused meatpackers of “driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation.”
- The Justice Department reportedly subpoenaed several former FBI and other intelligence officials to testify before a grand jury in Washington, D.C., as part of its probe into former CIA Director John Brennan.
- The State Department plans to host a second round of talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
- A home in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, exploded, killing an Amish woman and six of her children, ages 3 to 11. Officials are investigating, but a propane leak is a possible cause.
- FBI Director Kash Patel filed a lawsuit against The Atlantic—which published an article alleging he had regularly consumed alcohol while on duty and was frequently absent from important meetings—seeking $250 million in damages.
Around the World
- The Israeli military conducted two separate strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past two days: one targeting what it described as Hamas fighters preparing an imminent attack on Israeli troops, and another hitting a Hamas operative involved in weaponry production and repair.
- Police in Britain arrested a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy suspected of attempting to set fire to a Jewish synagogue in northwest London.
- Russian intelligence officers detained a German woman in Pyatigorsk, alleging she planned to attack a Russian law-enforcement facility with an explosive device hidden in her backpack, with Ukrainian intelligence allegedly guiding her actions.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned an Israeli soldier photographed striking a statue of Jesus in Southern Lebanon, announcing a criminal inquiry and vowing strict disciplinary measures.
- A gunman fired on tourists atop the Pyramid of the Moon at Mexico’s Teotihuacán ruins, killing a Canadian woman and wounding 13 others—including six Americans—before dying at the scene.
- Ugandan and Congolese forces carried out a joint operation against an Islamist militant camp in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, successfully rescuing at least 200 kidnapped civilians.
On the Money
- Elon Musk declined to appear before Paris prosecutors investigating X over allegations including the platform’s dissemination of deep fakes, child sexual abuse material, and Holocaust denial, as well as a suspected scheme to generate controversy around its Grok chatbot to boost the company’s value ahead of a planned June 2026 stock listing. The Justice Department recently told French authorities it would not assist the probe, calling it “politically charged.”
- Uber lost a second consecutive key trial over driver sexual misconduct, with a North Carolina federal jury awarding the plaintiff $5,000 after finding the ride-hailing company liable for a 2019 assault.
- Kuwait’s state-owned oil company informed customers it would be unable to fulfill crude and refined product orders even after the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
- The mineral mining and processing company USA Rare Earth will acquire Serra Verde Group of Brazil for roughly $2.8 billion in a mix of cash and stock, gaining its Pela Ema rare-earth mine in Goiás state.
Worth Your Time
- “California’s Blue Armageddon” (The Atlantic)
- From 2022: The podcast series, Gatecrashers, recounting the history of Jewish students at Ivy League universities, by Mark Oppenheimer (friend of TMD). (Tablet)
- Nicholas Decker argues that forcing price transparency in American health-care markets is unlikely to reduce patient costs. (Homo Economicus)
- Nate Cohn analyzes how the upcoming midterm elections could shift control of the Senate to Democrats. (New York Times)
- Maibritt Henkel on why the New York Times’s argument that delaying childbirth would rescue the U.S. birth rate doesn’t hold up. (The Argument)
- Declan Chidlow examines how China’s contained internet ecosystem—built on domestic substitutes to blocked platforms—differs from the global web used elsewhere. (Vale)
Presented Without Comment
Scientific American: Here’s What Happens When You Give Salmon Cocaine
Also Presented Without Comment
WTRF: Ohio Arson Suspect Shows Up to Police Interview With Burnt Eyebrows
Also Also Presented Without Comment
Guinness World Records: Lucky Rabbit Herbie Becomes Oldest of His Species After Doubling Life Expectancy
A fortunate rabbit named Herbie has earned a record after doubling his life expectancy. The lionhead rabbit was officially recognized as the oldest living rabbit at 15 years and 82 days old as of November 10, 2025.
