Israel's Violent Spring | Tribe of Two Saves Rainforest

New Israeli airstrikes on Gaza today added 10 people to the death toll from one of the Holy Land’s worst weeks of violence in seven years. At least 126 people have been killed in Gaza, including 31 children. Regular rocket barrages fired by Hamas, which controls Gaza, have killed a 6-year-old boy among seven Israelis. What didn’t happen? A Friday Israeli ground invasion, reportedly a ruse that exposed Hamas fighters in defensive tunnels to concentrated bombardment. Today Palestinians commemorate the “Nakba,” or “catastrophe” of Israel’s 1948 creation that resulted in an estimated 700,000 Arabs being displaced, so further conflict is likely.

Sources: AP, NYT

2. Coming Up: OZY Fest Returns

After a heat wave- and pandemic-induced hiatus, OZY Fest is back today! And you can participate from anywhere in the world — for free, through tomorrow night. OZY co-founder Carlos Watson welcomes a host of luminaries, from Dr. Anthony Fauci to funnyman Maz Jobrani to author Malcolm Gladwell, from singer-songwriter H.E.R. to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton. And anyone seeking the exclusive access offered by VIP tickets will also be supporting historically Black colleges and universities via OZY Fest partner the United Negro College Fund. Register here to feed your mind and help #ResetAmerica.

Sources: OZY

3. The Battle for Brett Kavanaugh’s Vote

The jury’s still out. When Justice Brett Kavanaugh took his Supreme Court seat, there was a seeming battle for his soul — or at least his votes, according to new reporting in The Atlantic. Justice Elena Kagan became his lunch buddy, and her liberal colleagues were supportive after his gut-wrenching Senate confirmation battle with its sexual assault allegations. Fellow sufferer (and conservative) Clarence Thomas also sought to mentor Kavanaugh, the magazine’s McKay Coppins writes, while fellow Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch has a long-standing personal feud with Kavanaugh. All that intrigue raises the question: Will this newcomer toe the party line?

Sources: The Atlantic, Law & Crime

4. Facebook Loses Court Bid to Move EU Data to U.S.

They’re feeling frustrated. Ireland’s High Court rejected Facebook’s procedural arguments against national privacy regulators Friday, meaning they can block the social network from sending Europeans’ data to servers in the United States. The Data Protection Commission’s decision is still provisional but has far-reaching implications, possibly costing cloud computing, advertising and social media businesses billions of dollars. If it finalizes its decision, Facebook and other tech giants with European headquarters in Ireland — including Alphabet, Apple and Twitter — might have to isolate their EU data, and perhaps stop service until that can be arranged.

Sources: WSJ (sub), Reuters

5. Also Important …

China says it has landed a spacecraft on Mars that will deploy a rover to explore a northern region called Utopia Planitia. DarkSide, the hacking group whose ransomware attack took down a major U.S. fuel pipeline, says it is shutting down because of pressure from American authorities. And Rep. Elise Stefanik, an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, easily won the No. 3 House leadership position Friday after the ouster of Trump critic Rep. Liz Cheney.

In the Week Ahead: Despite failing a drug test after winning the Kentucky Derby, Medina Spirit will be allowed to run in the Preakness in Baltimore today. Voters in Chile will choose from among 1,300 candidates to seat a 155-member Constitutional Convention on Sunday. And on Friday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit the White House.

Vote for an OZY Genius!! We’re pleased to congratulate the 25 finalists for this year’s OZY Genius Awards! Ten winners will each receive a grant of $10,000. Meet the finalists and vote for your favorite OZY Genius until Sunday, May 16, 2021, at 6 p.m. EST. A jury will select the awardees, but we’ll separately unveil the People’s Vote winners — your voice counts!

Today's the day! The one-of-a-kind festival of great entertainment, interactive experiences and the biggest conversations is coming to a screen near you. Where else could you hang out with Dr. Fauci, Sevyn Streeter, Tig Notaro, Condoleezza Rice, Mark Cuban, Malcolm Gladwell and more? Join us for a virtual celebration of bold change and big ideas, today and tomorrow. Register now.

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They’re out of the woods. Brazilian loggers and other businesses that exploit and lay waste to the Amazon rainforest have lost a critical legal battle to an Indigenous tribe. A federal court last month allowed FUNAI, Brazil’s agency protecting such tribes, to preserve 600,466 acres from commercial use, Al-Jazeera reports. That’s to maintain the traditional existence of Pakui and Tamandua — the last two members of the Piripkura tribe. FUNAI has this month and half of June to demarcate a tribal area, pitting them, and the two Piripkura men, against land grabbers in one of Brazil’s most violent areas.

Sources: Al-Jazeera

2. Vaccines, Variants and Aversion

They still work. That’s this week’s boost for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which produced antibodies that could defeat — in the lab, at least — the worrisome COVID-19 mutations found in India, where researchers’ preliminary AstraZeneca prognosis is similar. But getting shots into arms remains challenging: Norway won’t use AstraZeneca over rare blood clot concerns and the U.N. is urging wealthy nations to share doses with poor nations before giving them to less vulnerable children. Meanwhile, wary Americans are warming up, with a new survey showing those opposed to immunization has dropped from 26% to 18% since February.

Sources: NPR, The Guardian, BBC, Washington Post

3. Can This Bunny Killer Cure Cancer?

It’s 99.9 percent fatal. Since the 1880s, myxoma has ravaged rabbit populations. Grant McFadden, 71, spent two decades discovering how the virus does this without sickening humans, and the Arizona State University researcher now thinks it could kill cancer cells without harming patients, OZY reports. The idea is so promising that his company, OncoMyx Therapeutics, has raised $25 million. Cancer strikes 40 percent of Americans, and McFadden is one of them, having survived thyroid cancer. Now he aims to take his personal passion for myxoma treatments, which have worked against lung cancer cells in the lab, to clinical trials.

Sources: OZY

4. Streaming Services Are Caring About Sharing

They’ve created a monster. Netflix allows subscribers to create separate viewing profiles, no doubt helping entice some of its 200 million global subscribers. But now it and its competitors face an estimated $3.5 billion in losses from password sharing. So they’re trying to discourage the practice of hooking up BFFs — done by a majority of Gen Zers — without alienating anybody. Netflix now prompts users to provide an emailed or texted verification code, but viewers can choose to do so “later.” And with rivals like Disney+ eying their users, they may not want to push it further.

Sources: AP

5. Secretary Pete and the Politics of Cycling

He’s pedaling uphill. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was caught pulling a bike out of an SUV and riding a short distance to work. But “Mayor Pete'' is known to be a bona fide cyclist and two-wheeling supporters were quick to back him, writes cycling journalist Eben Weiss. The question is, why is cycling such a partisan thing, and so difficult for politicians to embrace? That may remain a mystery, but what’s clear is that Buttigieg has his work cut out for him, trying to convince the nation to spend another $2 trillion to revive and modernize the country’s infrastructure.

Sources: Outside, The Verge

If you’ve watched the Oscar-winning Moonlight or If Beale Street Could Talk, you’ve experienced the magic of a Barry Jenkins film. And now you have another chance with his new series, The Underground Railroad. The thoughtful filmmaker joins Carlos to discuss his creative process and the childhood that made him in this can’t-miss episode of the show.

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