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Chapter 1: What is the federal judge's ruling on the Trump administration's anti-weaponization fund?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. A federal judge is temporarily blocking the Trump administration's nearly $1.8 billion fund for people who claim they were targets of politicized prosecutions. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports the decision is in response to a lawsuit filed by a legal advocacy group.
In a two-page order, U.S. District Judge Leonid Brinkema bars the Justice Department from taking any further action to create the so-called anti-weaponization fund, including transferring money to the fund, considering any claims, or making any payments out of it. This temporary pause is necessary, the judge says.
in order to give the court time for a full briefing from both sides on the legal arguments before any funds are irreversibly paid out. The fund was created as part of a settlement agreement between the Justice Department and President Trump, who in return dropped his lawsuit against the IRS over his late tax returns.
Chapter 2: How is Israel planning to expand its control over Gaza?
The fund has faced intense backlash from Democrats as well as many Republicans. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
Israel says it's planning to expand its control over Gaza. NPR's Aya Batraoui reports the plan would increase the territory under Israeli control from roughly two-thirds of Gaza to about 70 percent.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of the Dow Jones crossing the 51,000 mark?
There's still no international peacekeeping force in Gaza and no disarmament agreement with Hamas. Instead, Israeli assassinations of Hamas commanders has ramped up, and Palestinian families say Israeli-backed local militias have pushed them to relocate closer to the coast. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an audience this week about the continued push.
The next step, he says, is to expand that control to 70 percent. He said Israel was tightening its grip on Hamas from every direction. Some members of his cabinet, like the defense minister, support displacing Palestinians from Gaza, or what they call voluntary migration.
Chapter 4: What changes are being made to Louisiana's congressional map?
Aya Batrawi, NPR News, Dubai.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 51,000 mark for the first time ever today. NPR's Scott Horsley reports stocks are trading higher as crude oil prices inch down.
Speculators in futures markets are betting that oil will soon start flowing again through the Strait of Hormuz, but businesses that actually use oil say falling futures prices don't reflect the actual risk to supplies. ExxonMobil warned this week that physical stockpiles of oil are approaching record low levels, and unless they're replenished, oil prices could spike again in the coming weeks.
AAA says retail gasoline prices in the U.S.
Chapter 5: How are federal judges responding to Trump's executive order on voting by mail?
dipped about 3 cents a gallon overnight. but the average price of $4.39 is still about $1.40 higher than before the U.S. launched its war with Iran. The U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly last month. The Commerce Department says exports and imports both increased in April, but exports grew more. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
On Wall Street, the Dow was up 342 points. This is NPR. Republicans in Louisiana have approved a new congressional map that could help the party pick up a House seat in this year's midterm elections.
Chapter 6: What is the upcoming increase in the price of Forever stamps?
The move comes after the Supreme Court struck down the state's redrawn map, which had carved out a second-majority black district. Louisiana lawmakers quickly redrew district lines, eliminating the recently created congressional district. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has rejected an attempt to stop an executive order from President Trump calling for redistricting voting by mail.
NPR's Hansi Lowong reports that another judge in Massachusetts is preparing to rule on the same order in the coming weeks.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols found it's too early for an emergency ruling that would buy key parts of an order that the Trump administration has not carried out yet. Rob Weiner of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is representing some of the challengers.
It was predominantly an issue of timing, and we'll have to continue fighting through the coming days.
Trump's order calls for the federal government to create lists of adult U.S. citizens in each state. It also calls for banning the U.S. Postal Service from delivering mail-in ballots to anyone not on those lists. USPS is a financial supporter of NPR.
Separately, a federal judge in Boston is preparing to rule on claims that the president's directives violate the Constitution, which gives power to state legislatures and Congress, not the president, to set federal election rules. Anzila Wong, NPR News.
The price of a Forever stamp is set to increase by $0.04 this summer. The U.S. Postal Service has proposed raising the cost from $0.78 to $0.82 beginning July 12. This is NPR News in Washington.
This week on Consider This, the president trading massive amounts of stock and settling lawsuits with himself. One legal expert calls it epic corruption in plain sight. There really needs to be a moment of reform and reconstruction after the wreckage of the current moment. A view of that moment and what reform could look like on Consider This.
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