5 Takeaways From Ron DeSantis’s First Campaign Trip

He swung back at Donald Trump. He vowed to vanquish the “woke mob” and turn the country into mega-Florida. He had normal encounters with voters that didn’t become memes.

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Trump Lawyer’s Voice Memo Could Be a Key in the Classified Documents Inquiry

M. Evan Corcoran recorded recollections of his legal work last year for Donald Trump. The recording is now in the hands of prosecutors, unnerving some aides to the former president.

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The Exclusive, Elusive World of Real Tennis

“If you wanted to design a game that was going to put people off from playing it,” one court tennis enthusiast said, “you would probably design a real tennis court.”

from NYT > Sports https://ift.tt/mFW1iLz

Welsh billionaire Michael Moritz criticised over anti-drug posters

by usa news24 BBC News A Welsh billionaire has been criticised over a "misguided" poster campaign aimed at heavier enforcement of laws against drug users and dealers on the streets of San Francisco. Michael Moritz is a funder of Together SF, whose poster campaign called for an end to open-air drug markets and more city-sponsored recovery programmes. The posters were graffitied and some have labelled the campaign "misguided". Sir Michael and Together SF have been contacted for comment. Sir Michael was born in Cardiff and moved to the States after graduating from Oxford in 1974. He made his fortune after investing in tech start ups such as Google and PayPal. Some online have claimed the Together San Francisco project was "shaming" drug and Narcan (a brand of anti-opiate drug naloxone) use and calling for the "criminalisation of poor people". The alleged graffiti artists wrote: "Under the cover of night, with the Frisco fog as our accomplice, a crew of friends vandalised over 10 of the right-wing, pro-police 'Fentalyfe' street poster installations." The anonymous blog posters claimed they painted messages such as "Narcan saves lives", "cops kill people" and a message against Mr Moritz. In February, Sir Michael wrote an article for the Financial Times saying San Francisco "bans plastic straws but permits plastic needles". He also claimed the Californian city saw more deaths from drugs than Covid between 2020 and 2022 and said any attempt to combat the city's problems would be "fruitless" without handling drug problems. Man arrested for opening hard drugs store in Canada US gallery owner who hosed homeless woman arrested Profile: Michael Moritz Sir Michael also wrote that the drug fentanyl - a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin - had turned many of the blocks of the city into "zombie zones". "Beyond the shocking waste of potential, the drug use and homeless tents consume an enormous part of San Francisco's annual $13.95bn (£11.1bn) budget," he said. "Direct city spending on homelessness has risen from about $200m (£160m) for the fiscal year 2016 to $680m (£543m) this year."

Biden says debt ceiling deal averted 'economic collapse'

By Chloe Kim BBC News President Joe Biden has said raising the US borrowing limit averted "economic collapse", in his first Oval Office address to the nation. He pledged to sign the bill into law on Saturday after it cruised through Congress with bipartisan support. The Democratic president voiced rare praise for his Republican counterparts, saying they "operated in good faith". He said a US default on its $31.4tn (£25tn) debt by Monday's deadline would have been "catastrophic". Speeches to the nation from the Oval Office are typically reserved for major crises, such as war or natural disasters. The White House said Mr Biden's decision to make his remarks there underscored the gravity of the situation if the debt ceiling had not been raised at the last minute. For weeks the White House and Republicans debated details of a deal, and there was scepticism about whether the package would actually be finalised before the US government ran out of money on 5 June. The bill passed 63-36 in the Senate on Thursday night, a day after it easily cleared the House of Representatives. The president praised congressional leaders, including Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. "They acted responsibly, and put the good of the country ahead of politics," said Mr Biden, who is running for re-election in 2024. The deal suspends the debt limit until 1 January 2025 and caps non-defence spending, while expanding work requirements for food and healthcare assistance, amongst other provisions. Full funding for the medical care of military veterans would also increase, in line with what President Biden had sought. The legislation will result in $1.5tn in savings over a decade, the independent Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday. Though it was largely a bipartisan bill, there were Republicans who said the deal did not go far enough with cuts while some Democrats said it went too far.

Donald Trump recorded while talking about classified document he had on Iran, report says

Federal officials have an audio recording of former President Donald Trump discussing he had a classified Pentagon document about a possible attack on Iran, CNN reported, citing multiple unidentified sources. The recording is of a July 2021 meeting at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, according to the outlet. The attendees included multiple people working on an autobiography of Trump’s previous chief of staff Mark Meadows, in addition to aides for the former president. The report comes as the former president’s attorneys are seeking a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland about the Justice Department investigation of classified documents found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and private club. Garland named Jack Smith to oversee investigations into Trump, including whether the former president mishandled classified documents and whether he obstructed justice by defying a subpoena to return documents he took from the White House. Trump has denied wrongdoing in the investigation. Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, told USA TODAY in a statement, "Leaks from radical partisans behind this political persecution are designed to inflame tensions and continue the media’s harassment of President Trump and his supporters." The former president on Truth Social on Wednesday also criticized federal prosecutors and accused them of seeking to interfere with the 2024 presidential race. Trump announced his reelection bid last year. Trump’s remarks on the recording suggest he wanted to share the information but was aware of restrictions following his presidency, CNN reported.

Trump search warrant: FBI took top secret files from Mar-a-Lago - BBC News

Republican Kevin McCarthy’s razor-thin speakership faces its biggest test since he grabbed the gavel in January as his debt deal with President Joe Biden comes up for a vote Wednesday. McCarthy and the president came to an agreement during an hour-and-a-half phone call just days before the United States ran out of money to pay its bills. The plan raises how much the government can borrow until 2025, which was Biden's top priority during talks with Republican leaders. It also freezes annual discretionary, non-defense spending for two years while delivering $2.1 trillion in other domestic spending cuts GOP lawmakers wanted. "Republicans are changing the culture and trajectory of Washington—and we’re just getting started," the speaker said in a Memorial Day tweet.