Americans moving abroad, dollar store shoppers, fear of flying: Catch up on the day's stories
👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! A rare 19th-century condom decorated with an erotic etching featuring a nun and three clergymen will go on display at a museum in the Netherlands. Believed to be made from a sheep's appendix, it's part of an exhibit on prostitution and sexuality.
Here's what else you might have missed during your busy day:
1️⃣ Fed up: Kevin and Jessica Cellura's problems with President Donald Trump's second term go well beyond the usual policy tussles and fierce disputes, so they decided to move to Morocco. They're part of a growing stampede of Americans who are relocating abroad or trying to obtain citizenship rights.
2️⃣ Bargain shoppers: More middle class and wealthy Americans are buying necessities at Dollar General, a discount chain with more than 20,000 stores — primarily in rural areas. That's good news for the company's bottom line, but it could be a warning sign for the US economy.
3️⃣ Persistent plague: In medieval Europe, the pandemic known as Black Death killed at least 25 million people in just five years. The disease is caused by bacteria that's been circulating among humans for at least 5,000 years. Scientists say they now know why.
4️⃣ Safe space: Max Comer never set out to become a social media star, but the aircraft mechanic's quirky videos help travelers feel less afraid to fly. He puts your mind at ease about things like those weird noises during takeoff and the 'smoke' coming from overhead vents.
5️⃣ Old-school cool: Buffalo, New York, is more than just a gateway to Niagara Falls. It's a city with a friendly and increasingly sophisticated mix of nightlife, culture, food and nature. CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer calls his hometown 'my happy place.'
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CNN's 5 Things newsletter is your one-stop shop for the latest headlines and fascinating stories to start and end your busy day. Sign up here. 🍅 Food fight! Thousands of people gathered in Colombia to throw tomatoes at one another during the Gran Tomatina Festival, which uses tomatoes that are overripe or otherwise not suitable to eat.
• South Korea's opposition leader Lee wins election as ruling party's Kim concedes• Ukraine strikes bridge connecting Russia to Crimea with underwater explosives• Musk blasts Trump's agenda bill as a 'disgusting abomination'
💰 That's how much richer the wealthiest 10 Americans got over the past year.
🦭 Back from the brink: Hunting and conflicts with fishermen brought the Mediterranean monk seal to the edge of extinction. Thanks to conservation efforts and legal protections, it's making a comeback.
Time is of the essence for these students.
An official who works at a research university on the East Coast
🎓 Chilling effect: Schools are scrambling to assess the impact of the Trump administration's order pausing new visa interviews for international students.
🧑⚖️ Trump privately complains that the Supreme Court hasn't stood behind his agenda. Which justice receives most of his ire?A. Samuel AlitoB. Neil GorsuchC. Brett KavanaughD. Amy Coney Barrett⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.
🏔️ On top of the world: Sherpa guide Kami Rita recently reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 31st time, breaking his own record. He first climbed the world's highest mountain — more than 29,000 feet — in 1994 and has been making the trip nearly every year since.
👋 We'll see you tomorrow.🧠 Quiz answer: D. Trump has directed particular ire at Barrett, his most recent appointee.📧 Check out all of CNN's newsletters.
5 Things PM is produced by CNN's Chris Good, Meghan Pryce, Kimberly Richardson and Morgan Severson.
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Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Germany assures Israel of support, but not without criticism
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday assured his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar of continued weapons deliveries, while calling for increased humanitarian aid for Gaza and slamming Israel's settlement policy in the occupied West Bank. "Germany has an obligation for the security and existence of the state of Israel and Germany is also committed to international law. These are two sides of the same coin," Wadephul said during a meeting with Saar in Berlin. Israel was under attack from terrorist organizations and Iran, meaning it was self-evident that the country must be able to defend itself, Wadephul said, adding that this was the reason why "Germany will continue to support Israel by supplying weapons." At the same time, Wadephul said the humanitarian aid reaching the Gaza Strip at the moment was "too little." He reiterated an "urgent request to allow humanitarian aid for Gaza in accordance with the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence and without restrictions." Second meeting in a month Wadephul last met Saar in Israel on May 11 during his first official visit after taking office. The meeting in Berlin came after Wadephul on Wednesday pledged further German arms deliveries to Israel during an address to parliament. Germany's top diplomat had caused concern within the German government for earlier comments to a newspaper in which he said arms deliveries to Israel were dependent on a legal review of Israel's military conduct in the Gaza Strip. On Thursday, however, Wadephul assured his Israeli counterpart of Germany's unwavering support. The German foreign minister even welcomed plans for the new aid distribution system operated by the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to be expanded and combined with the functioning distribution mechanism involving the UN and other international aid organizations. Saar called on Germany to be open to the new distribution mechanism, which has come under increasing scrutiny as it bypasses international aid organizations including UN efforts and faces accusations of endangering civilians. "This effort has the potential to release the Palestinian population from the chokehold of [Palestinian group] Hamas and to enable the end of this war," the Israeli minister said. There have been Palestinian reports that people looking to receive aid at the new centres were killed by Israeli shelling. The Israeli military and the US-based GHF have denied the accusations. While critics have accused the GHF of endangering civilians who have to make their way through the embattled Gaza Strip to reach the distribution centres, Saar said the new system allows aid to reach Gazans directly, without Islamist Hamas militants being able "to take advantage of the aid." "We believe that expanding it will help shorten the war," Saar said. Wadephul criticizes West Bank settlement policy Wadephul also found sharp words for Israel's expansionist settlement policy in the West Bank, calling the government's recent decision to approve another 22 settlements in the Palestinian territory "a violation of international law in this form." The German minister said the move obstructs the path to a two-state solution which envisions Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in two separate states, a vision that both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas reject. Wadephul also said calls from within the Israeli Cabinet for the annexation of the West Bank posed a "considerable risk for Israel's reputation." Visit to Holocaust memorial Earlier, the two ministers laid a wreath at the Holocaust memorial in central Berlin, which commemorates the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazi regime across Europe. "The fight against anti-Semitism, standing up for Jewish life in Germany and the commitment to the security and peaceful future of the state of Israel is and will remain our obligation," Wadephul said. The memorial "reminds us Germans to remember the victims, to honour the survivors and to learn the lessons from the crimes against humanity of the Shoah," he said. For his part, Saar said that 80 years after the end of the Holocaust, "the lessons seem to have been forgotten." "In Germany, there's an anti-Semitic incident once every hour," said Saar, referring to a report published by a monitor on Wednesday. Wadephul said he was "deeply" ashamed that the number of anti-Semitic offences in Germany has reached a new high, that Jewish residents no longer feel safe in the country and that they are advising their children not to speak Hebrew on the street. "And that is why the federal government will oppose all forms of anti-Semitism with clarity, rigour and consistency," he added.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US group distributing aid in Gaza reopens sites after delays
GHF had said earlier that its sites would not open at their usual time due to maintenance and repair work. A US- and Israeli-backed organization distributing aid in Gaza said on Thursday it was reopening two distribution sites a day after shutting them following a series of deadly shootings close to its operations. The US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said only two sites in southern Gaza's Rafah area would operate on Thursday, after all sites were closed the day before for maintenance. GHF had opened three sites earlier in the week, and one of Thursday's sites was in a new location, it said. The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations including the United Nations for alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week. The UN has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine.m Meanwhile, Israel announced it had recovered the bodies of two dual nationality Israeli-American hostages from Gaza. Gadi Hagi and his wife Judy Weinstein-Hagi were killed and taken to Gaza after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war. Fifty-six hostages remain in captivity, with fewer than half believed to be alive. The Israeli military has intensified operations in Gaza since breaking a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in March, taking more territory with the government pushing to wipe out the Islamist militant group. At least 20 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Thursday, including four journalists in a hospital in the enclave's north, local health authorities said. The military said that it had targeted an Islamic Jihad militant who was operating a command-and-control center. The Hamas-run government media office says that 225 journalists in Gaza have been killed since the war began. The renewed military campaign has further isolated Israel amid mounting international pressure. On Wednesday, a US veto blocked a UN Security Council draft resolution, backed by the 14 other members, demanding an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" and full, unrestricted aid access to Gaza. Under global pressure, Israel allowed limited UN-led aid deliveries to resume on May 19. A week later, the relatively unknown GHF launched a new aid distribution system that bypasses traditional relief agencies. The GHF halted distributions on Wednesday and said it was pressing Israeli forces to improve civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its operations after dozens of Palestinians were shot dead near the Rafah site over three consecutive days this week. What exactly occurred remains unclear, but the Israeli military said its soldiers fired warning shots in each incident. GHF has said that aid was safely handed out from its sites without any incident. The American organization, which uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid to its distribution points inside Gaza from where it is collected, has said that it has so far distributed at least 7 million meals. The UN and international humanitarian groups refuse to work with the GHF because they say aid distribution is essentially controlled by Israel's military and forces the displacement of Palestinians by limiting distribution points to a few venues in central and southern Gaza. Navigating the Gaza Strip is dangerous, with unexploded rockets and shells making it hard for many to reach aid handout sites. For Palestinians in north Gaza, cut off from distribution points in the south, even that remains out of reach. Footage released by the GHF this week showed hundreds of Palestinians crowding its site in Rafah, collecting aid from piles of stacked boxes without any clear system of distribution. Muslims around the world will begin celebrating Eid al Adha from Thursday, a holiday typically marked by slaughtering livestock, but in Gaza food is scarce after nearly two years of war and Israeli siege. Israeli opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman accused the government on Thursday of arming Palestinian militias in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said later in a statement that Israel was acting "in various ways" on the recommendation of the security establishment. Netanyahu's office did not deny Lieberman's accusation. Israeli media reported that Israel had transferred weapons to Yasser Abu Shabab, a leader of a large clan in the Rafah area, now under full Israeli army control. Abu Shabab previously said that he was building up a force to secure aid deliveries into some parts of Gaza. Hamas security officials told Reuters Abu Shabab was wanted for "collaborating with the occupation against his people." They said Hamas forces had killed at least two dozen of his men before January in what they said were clashes with looters of aid trucks. On Wednesday, a Palestinian transport company contracted by UN agencies suspended operations indefinitely after an armed gang intercepted its aid trucks in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, killing one driver and injuring another.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'They're criminals, like ISIS': IDF reveals Gaza resident's testimony to COGAT officer
The IDF has revealed a recorded call where a Gazan resident testifies that Hamas has attempted to disrupt aid deliveries to a COGAT officer. The people who fired at civilians attempting to disrupt the distribution of aid were members of Hamas, a Gaza resident told a Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) officer in new recordings revealed by the IDF Thursday. 'They don't want the people to receive aid, they want to foil the plan so that the aid will go to them, allowing them to steal it. They've gone completely bankrupt," the Gazan resident said. Residents further testified that Hamas has been 'taking various actions to prevent Gazans from receiving humanitarian aid, including firing at IDF troops near distribution points and spreading false claims about mass casualties near those areas.' 'There were injured people, yes, seven, maybe eight dead. Not 30, and not 50,' the resident told the COGAT officer, adding that this was not the first time Hamas terrorists attempted to sabotage aid deliveries. 'They live on the aid… they want aid to come in through the United Nations and international organizations so they can steal it… I swear to you, they're criminals, like ISIS.' Gaza Resident Speaking With a COGAT Officer The US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said only two sites in southern Gaza's Rafah area would operate on Thursday, after all sites were closed the day before for maintenance following a series of deadly shootings close to its operations. The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations including the United Nations for alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week. The UN has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine.
