Israel Is Running Low on Defensive Interceptors, Official Says
Israel is running low on defensive Arrow interceptors, according to a U.S. official, raising concern about the country's ability to counter long-range ballistic missiles from Iran if the conflict isn't resolved soon.
The U.S. has been aware of the capacity problems for months, the official said, and Washington has been augmenting Israel's defenses with systems on the ground, at sea and in the air. Since the conflict escalated in June, the Pentagon has sent more missile defense assets into the region, and now there is concern about the U.S. burning through interceptors as well.
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21 minutes ago
Minnesota shooting suspect started as a frustrated idealist, his writings show
Vance Boelter was preoccupied with societal problems and how he could fix them to serve the greater good, according to some of his previous writings and the man who worked with Boelter for more than a decade doing web design for a series of his projects. Before allegedly carrying out a "political assassination" on Saturday, Boelter was "clearly very religious, very passionate," and "devout, and sincere in his beliefs," said Charlie Kalech, CEO of the web design firm J-Town, commissioned by Boelter. But at that time, Boelter appeared to show no signs of the violent extremism of which he's now accused, Kalech said. Boelter is charged with killing Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. Allegedly posing as a police officer over Father's Day weekend, authorities said Boelter "shot them in cold blood" in an alleged early-morning rampage that launched a two-day manhunt. However, in the preceding years, Boelter seemed like a hard worker striving to make his ideas real, and sometimes, struggling to make ends meet. His fervent personality frothed with big, civic-minded ideas on how to "make the world a better place," Kalech said. In the professional relationship they had, Boelter was clearly "idealistic." "I think he sincerely believed in the projects that we worked on, that he was acting for the greater good," Kalech told ABC News. "I certainly never got the impression he saw himself as a savior. He just thought of himself as a smart guy who figured out the solution to problems, and it's not so difficult – so let's just do it. Like a call to action kind of person." Most of those grand-scale projects never came to fruition, and the last time Kalech said he had contact with Boelter was May 2022. But in planning documents and PowerPoint presentations shared with ABC News, which Kalech said Boelter wrote for the web design, Boelter detailed lengthy proposals that expressed frustration with what he saw as unjust suffering that needed to be stopped. Some of those projects were also sweeping, to the point of quixotic -- even for the deepest-pocketed entrepreneur. Boelter first reached out to Kalech's firm for a book he had written, "Revoformation," which Kalech took to be a mashup between "revolution" and "reformation." It's also the name of the ministry Boelter had once tried to get off the ground, according to the organization's tax forms. "It seemed to me like maybe he volunteered more than what was good for him. In other words, he gave too much away instead of worrying about earning money, because he didn't always have money," Kalech said. "It was never clear to me if the ministry really existed. Are there congregants? Is there a constituency? I don't know. Or was it like something in his head that he was trying to make? That was never clear to me." Kalech recalled that Boelter chose his firm for the work because they are Jerusalem-based, and he wanted to support Israel. Boelter's interest in religion's impact on society is reflected in a "Revoformation" PowerPoint that Kalech said Boelter gave him, dated September 2017. "I am very concerned that the leadership in the U.S. is slowly turning against Israel because we are losing our Judaic / Christian foundations that was [sic] once very strong," the presentation said. "I believe that if the Christians are united and the people who are leading this Revoformation are a blessing to Israel that it will be good for both Israel and the U.S." Over the years, Boelter would reach out with what appeared to be exponentially ambitious endeavors, Kalech said: "What he wanted to take on, I think, might have been bigger." Boelter wanted to end American hunger, according to another project's PowerPoint. And while the idea would require massive changes to current laws and food regulation, it appeared Boelter dismissed that as surmountable if only elected officials could get on board. "American Hunger isn't a food availability problem," the presentation said. "American Hunger is a tool that has been used to manipulate and control a vast number of American's [sic], with the highest percentage being people of color. This tool can and should be broken now, and failure to do so will be seen as intentional criminal negligence by future generations." "We should be embarrassed as a nation that we let this happen and have not correctly [sic] this injustice 100 years ago," one slide said. One slide how described how his own lived experience informed his idea, referring to him in the third person: "several times in his life Vance Boelter was the first person on the scene of very bad head on car accidents," and that he was able to help "without fear of doing something wrong" because he was "protected" by Good Samaritan law – which could and should be applied to food waste, the slide said. To keep an eye on which lawmakers supported the necessary legislation, "there needs to be a tracking mechanism," the presentation said, where citizens could "see listed every singe [sic] elected official and where they stand on the Law (Food Providers Good Samaritan Law)." "Those few that come out and try to convince people that it is better to destroy food than to give it away free to people, will be quickly seen for who they are. Food Slavers that have profited off the hunger of people for years," the 18-slide, nearly 2,000-word presentation said. "At least in his mind and on paper, he was solving problems," Kalech told ABC News. "He would think about things and then have a euphoric moment and write out a manifesto of, How am I going to solve this? And then bring those thoughts to paper and bring that paper to an action plan and try to implement it." The last project Kalech said Boelter wanted to engage him for was a multifaceted collection of corporations to help start-up and expanding businesses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, all under the umbrella "Red Lion Group." The 14-page, over 6,000-word planning document for the project outlined ideas for what Red Lion Group would offer: ranging widely from "security services" to agricultural and weapons manufacturing sectors, medical supplies, investment services, martial arts, oil and gas and waste management. Red Lion would also serve in media spaces: with "CONGOWOOD" Film Productions "to be what Hollywood is to American movies and what Bollywood is to Indian movies." Boelter was to have a 49% minority ownership of the group, with a business partner owning 51%. "The Africa thing, the Red Lion thing, we didn't really get into it, because it became pretty apparent pretty soon that he just didn't have the funds to go ahead," Kalech said – at least, as far as his web design services were concerned. "He was interested in doing good," Kalech said. "But moderation in all things, and when good becomes extreme, it actually becomes bad," adding that hurting anyone crosses a "red line." "The question one keeps coming back to is – what makes the seesaw tip? Like, he's good, he's good, he's good, he's acting for the greater good, he has all these good ideas, he's trying to engage community, serving on a government committee, he's engaging churches and places of worship, and then something happens, and he goes ballistic," Kalech said. "Who would do that? Someone who's absolutely desperate, just seeing that there's no other choice. That's the only thing I can imagine. But look, obviously someone like this is not operating on the same frequency as we are," Kalech said. "They're blinded by their faith, or their beliefs. And, you know, especially something like murder, it's so ironic, because that's one of the big 10."
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wall Street futures steady ahead of Fed's interest rate verdict
(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision, while the Israel-Iran conflict entered its sixth day, with new missile strikes launched from both sides. A Federal Reserve monetary policy decision is due at 02:00 p.m. ET where policymakers are widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at the 4.25%-4.5% range. Investors will focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments to gauge how he plans to combat the risk of rising prices, which remain a dominant concern for the central bank. The central bank is expected to balance the risk of slowing growth and higher inflation. "A lot has happened since their last meeting in early May ... given that uncertainty and the potential for fresh inflationary spikes, they're widely expected to keep rates on hold again," Jim Reid, global head of macro and thematic research at Deutsche Bank, said in a note. Money market moves show traders are pricing in about 46 basis points of rate cuts by the end of 2025, with a 56% chance of a 25-bps rate cut in September, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. With conflict escalating in the oil-rich Middle East, markets have been on edge over the possibility of a more direct U.S. military involvement in the Israel-Iran aerial war. A source familiar with internal discussions said U.S. President Donald Trump and his team were considering a number of options, which included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. At 05:37 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 89 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 16.5 points, or 0.28%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 75.5 points, or 0.35%. Initial jobless claims data is scheduled at 08:30 a.m. ET. Among premarket movers, shares of Tesla rose nearly 1%. Shares of stablecoin issuer Circle Internet rose 3.1% after the U.S. Senate passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
USA Today
23 minutes ago
- USA Today
US stock futures higher ahead of Fed interest rate announcement
US stock futures higher ahead of Fed interest rate announcement Show Caption Hide Caption Trump threatens Iran's leader in bid to halt strikes President Donald Trump threatened Iran's supreme leader with assassination as he pushed Tehran to end its retaliatory airstrikes on Israel. U.S. stock futures are higher ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement this afternoon. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady as it continues to observe the effects of President Donald Trump's tariffs. So far, tariffs haven't boosted inflation much and the job market has slowed, but not cratered, giving the Fed time to take a wait-and-see approach to tariffs and now the Israel-Iran conflict. Since Israel attacked Iran, oil prices have jumped to a near five-month high. Much of the world's oil comes from the Middle East, and if oil prices continue to climb or stay elevated for a while, that could ignite inflation. Along with the Fed's policy announcement, central bankers will release their economic forecasts. Economists expect the Fed to raises its inflation outlook, lower its economic growth forecast and keep the unemployment rate fairly low. Investors will also be looking to see how many rate cuts the Fed expects to implement this year and next. At 6:10 a.m. ET, futures linked to the blue-chip Dow rose 0.21%, while broad S&P 500 futures gained 0.27% and tech-laden Nasdaq futures added 0.35%. Cryptocurrency The Senate passed to regulate stablecoins, or a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable price, often by being pegged to a more stable asset like the U.S. dollar. The Senate's legislation requires dollar-pegged stablecoins to hold dollar-for-dollar reserves in short-term government debt or similar products overseen by state or federal regulators. The bill now goes to the House, which must decide whether it will take up the bill or negotiate a compromise. Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@ and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
