Happy Tuesday! On a Wall Street Journal podcast last week, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol explained that a $9 latte is “a really affordable premium experience” and that customers prize “a moment of connection with a barista.” The customers, for their part, would happily skip all that for a $4 coffee.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
Iran Strikes Boats in Strait of Hormuz
Fighting resumed in the Persian Gulf on Monday as Iranian missiles and drones struck multiple vessels and a port in the United Arab Emirates, while also targeting U.S. Navy ships that were escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. In a news briefing, Admiral Brad Cooper, the commanding officer of American forces in the region, said the U.S. military had aided two U.S.-flagged ships in transiting the Strait of Hormuz, successfully defended against both drone and missile attacks, and destroyed six Iranian fast boats. Cooper added that the U.S. was reaching out to the several hundred merchant vessels currently in the Persian Gulf to begin guiding them through the strait. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Trump is facing mounting pressure from Republican allies—including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who said Iran had “absolutely” violated the ceasefire—to authorize new strikes on Tehran, though the president has so far signaled he prefers to press ahead with diplomacy and avoid drawing the U.S. deeper into the conflict.
- Emirati officials said Iranian missiles and drones had hit an oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz with no injuries reported aboard and said three people had been injured in a separate drone attack on an oil facility in the port of Fujairah.
- A fire also broke out on a South Korean-operated merchant vessel in the strait, though Korean officials said the cause of the blaze was still under investigation.
Alito Pauses Restrictions on Mail-Order Abortion Drug
Justice Samuel Alito on Monday issued an administrative stay, pausing a lower court ruling that would have barred the Food and Drug Administration from allowing the abortion drug mifepristone to be distributed by mail as the Supreme Court decides whether to weigh in. On Friday, the 5th Circuit—widely considered one of the most conservative in the country—ordered the FDA to reinstate its requirement that mifepristone be distributed only in person, siding with the state of Louisiana, which argued that mail availability undermined the state’s near-total abortion ban. After two mifepristone manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, requested an emergency stay from the Supreme Court, Alito ( who oversees emergency matters from the 5th Circuit) granted the request in a pair of brief orders, giving Louisiana until May 7 to respond.
- The administrative stay will be in place through May 11.
- The justices have already rejected a 2024 challenge to the FDA’s expanded mifepristone rules, including mail distribution, saying the challengers—a group of pro-life doctors and medical organizations—lacked standing.
Modi’s Party Wins West Bengal for First Time
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won control of the state of West Bengal on Monday, the first time the Hindu nationalist BJP has won the influential state, home to more than 100 million people. The BJP secured 206 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly, up from 77 seats in 2021 (the BJP’s previous best), ending 15 years of rule by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its leader, Mamata Banerjee, who has been one of Modi’s most prominent critics. With the victory, the BJP now controls 22 of India’s 36 states and territories, along with majority coalitions in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the national legislature’s lower and upper houses.
- Banerjee claimed Monday that the BJP had “looted” more than 100 seats, accusing the Indian Election Commission of colluding with the BJP.
- In the lead-up to the election, over 9 million voters were removed from state voter rolls, with the Election Commission citing duplicate registrations, address changes, and deaths.
- Citizens of West Bengal have claimed that their names have been removed from lists, stopping them from casting votes in the election. Rights activists and election observers argue the purges disproportionately affected Muslim voters, who traditionally support the TMC.
Florida Approves New Redistricting Map
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new state congressional map into law on Monday, redrawn with the goal of changing the makeup of the state’s congressional delegation from a 20-8 Republican-to-Democrat ratio to 24-4. The district map was approved last Wednesday by Florida’s state legislature, which was called into a special session in April by DeSantis to draw new congressional boundaries. Almost immediately after its passage, a group of voters and a civil rights group sued to block the map, arguing that it violated a pair of constitutional amendments adopted by voters in 2010 that prohibit maps designed to help or hurt political parties or incumbents.
- DeSantis argued that the state’s population growth since 2020 and the recent Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais made redrawing the map a necessity.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York announced a plan on Monday to redraw the state’s legislative seats to favor Democrats before the 2028 election.
HHS Goes After Claimed Overprescription of Antidepressant Medications
The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday said that it would take action against what it characterizes as the overprescription of antidepressant medications, announcing that it would launch educational initiatives, inform providers on how to be reimbursed on non-pharmacological care for psychological conditions, and urge doctors to reduce “unnecessary initiation of psychiatric medications.”
- On Monday, Reuters reported that White House officials have pressed Kennedy to back away from his campaign to reduce access to and government support for vaccines in favor of less politically divisive changes to government food and nutrition policy and the approval of new therapies for diseases.
- President Donald Trump selected Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News contributor, as his next pick for surgeon general of the U.S. following the withdrawal of Casey Means’ nomination last week.
- Saphier is notable for having publicly supported vaccines in the past, in contrast to the views of Kennedy, and has criticized the ways in which changes to the vaccine schedule made under Kennedy have been communicated.
Last week, in a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, two of the most powerful figures in technology faced off in a trial that could remake the most consequential company in artificial intelligence. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is suing the world’s leading AI firm, OpenAI (which he co-founded), along with two of its fellow co-founders, CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman.
After a federal judge dismissed Musk’s fraud claims last week, the tech mogul’s suit against OpenAI boils down to a basic accusation: that Altman and Brockman accepted his seed money on the promise that OpenAI would remain a charity dedicated to safe artificial intelligence, then “looted” it by spinning up a for-profit arm that swallowed the nonprofit’s assets. Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, is named as a co-defendant for allegedly aiding and abetting that breach.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has split the trial into a liability phase, expected to wrap by May 21, and a remedies phase. The nine-person jury’s verdict will be advisory, with Gonzalez Rogers making the final call.
The case is playing out at a time when Musk and the world’s most powerful AI company are both pursuing likely-record-breaking initial public offerings this year and competing to dominate the nascent AI space—while trashing each other along the way.
Two days before the trial was set to begin, Musk texted Brockman to gauge interest in settling the case. When Brockman proposed that both sides drop their claims, Musk replied: “By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America.” He added, “If you insist, so it will be.”
Today’s Must-Read
In Other News
Today in America
- The U.S. military struck another accused drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean, killing two people aboard. The Trump administration has so far killed at least 188 in this campaign.
- Court records show that the Justice Department requested the names of every person who worked to administer the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, including county election staffers and volunteer poll workers.
- A new report from the Homeland Security Department Inspector General’s Office found that a lack of agency security protocols allowed employees to download “high-risk apps” on their smartphones, including video streaming, online gaming, social networking, and other apps “associated with foreign adversaries.”
- Plainclothes Secret Service agents returned fire at an armed gunman near the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., after the suspect fired at the officers. A bystander was shot and taken to the hospital but the injuries were not serious.
- The New York Times reported that the Trump White House is considering enacting regulatory oversight of AI technology through an executive order, including a plan to require all new AI models to undergo a government review process before their release to the public.
Around the World
- Russian forces launched a missile attack in the northeastern Ukrainian town of Merefa, targeting residential homes and commercial businesses, and killing seven civilians.
- A motorist killed two people and injured several others after driving at high speed into a crowded pedestrian shopping area in central Leipzig, Germany.
- Austria expelled three Russian diplomats in response to an array of satellite dishes installed on diplomatic buildings in Vienna, which Austrian government officials said could potentially be used for espionage and surveillance.
- The leaders of a pro-separatist group in Alberta, Canada submitted 302,000 signatures, more than enough to trigger a province-wide referendum asking voters: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”
- The Taliban-led Afghan government said Pakistani forces launched attacks in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Kunar, killing three people and injuring 14 others. Pakistan’s Information Ministry denied the claims.
On the Money
- Apple filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court to pause a 9th Circuit decision in its antitrust fight with Epic Games after the court returned the case to a California district court to set a commission rate on external app transactions.
- Elon Musk settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ending its case against him for alleged securities violations linked to his delayed disclosure of his initial 5 percent stake in Twitter in 2022. Musk agreed to pay $1.5 million, while not acknowledging any guilt or wrongdoing. The settlement is pending a judge’s approval.
- Amazon announced that it would begin allowing third-party businesses to store and transport goods through its Amazon Supply Chain Services network, presenting a potential alternative to shipping through United Parcel Service and FedEx.
- Palantir beat analyst estimates in its first-quarter earnings, reporting $1.63 billion in revenue and quadrupling net income to $870.5 million.
Worth Your Time
- “Why the A.I. Job Apocalypse (Probably) Won’t Happen” (New York Times)
- Roman Anin reports on a leaked EU intelligence report on Vladimir Putin’s growing fear of an assassination plot or coup, and the heightened protection regime now surrounding the Kremlin. (Important Stories)
- Roger Pielke Jr. on the official death of RCP8.5—the most extreme IPCC emissions scenario—and what its removal from the next assessment cycle means for climate research. (The Honest Broker)
- Matt Levine breaks down GameStop’s offer to buy eBay for $56 billion. (Bloomberg)
- David Oks on why airline companies often struggle to maintain profitability in the commercial air industry. (Substack)
- Vogue on its editors’ favorite looks from last night’s Met Gala, plus every outfit on the carpet.
Presented Without Comment
The Verge: The Creator of Roomba Is Back With a Furry Robot Companion
Also Presented Without Comment
The Independent: Some Children Are Drawing on Fake Moustaches To Bypass Online Age Checks, Report Finds
