Trump Takes on DeSantis in Iowa

Former President Donald Trump plans to show up in Iowa for a rally on the same weekend that his rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, will be attending fund-raisers in the state.

Trump’s campaign says the trip has been planned for week, but it’s viewed as a sign of the intensifying competition between the two leading contenders for the Republican nomination for president.

Trump leads DeSantis by a large margin in polling nationally, and the first poll in Iowa covering all six Republican candidates shows the former President leading DeSantis there as well, 41% to 26%.

Epstein Private Calendar Reveals Top Officials

Jeffrey Epstein’s newly revealed private calendar showed scheduled meetings with a number of prominent people, including now-CIA Director William Burns, noted professor Noam Chomsky, as well as a college president and an Obama administration official, among others.

According to news reports, the meetings in the diary were arranged after Epstein served jail time in 2008 for a sex crime. The contents of the diary have not been shared publicly before.

The purpose of the meetings isn’t included in the documents, and those named said they met with Epstein because he was wealthy and connected, and not for potential liaisons.

300+ UFO Cases Still Unexplained, US Says

The U.S. government is currently tracking more than 650 potential UFO cases, officials tell Congress, and while none yet provide any evidence of aliens, at least half remain unexplained.

The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, tasked with investigating UFOs, has even released a video of one still-unexplained “anomaly.” (Watch it here)

Official interest in UFOs has grown since Congress passed a law last year protecting UFO whistle-blowers in the government. A half-dozen sources have since come forward with claims that they worked on government UFO programs.

➤ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she has no plans to run for US Senate in 2024, easing fears among Democrats that she might try to topple NY Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand from the left. (More)

➤ The North Carolina Supreme Court reverses itself and reinstates voter ID laws as well as keeping a GOP-led redistricting map in place. The decision to reverse come after the Court switched from Democrat majority to Republican majority in the last election. (More)

➤ A proposed bill would hike California teacher salaries rise by 50% over the the next 7 years. Though it’s unclear how the state would afford it, the proposed bill would create new funding targets for local districts in an effort to attract more and better teachers. (More)

➤ Colorado Coach Deion Sanders tweets that he’s “ashamed” of the NFL for choosing only one player, Isaiah Bolden, from an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) in this year’s draft. Bolden is a cornerback from Jackson State, an HBCU where Sanders had previously coached. (More)

➤ San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts is now the only player in baseball history to hit home runs in four different countries. WIth his homer this weekend in Mexico, he’s slugged round-trippers in the U.S., Canada, England and Mexico. (More)

➤ MMA fighter Nate Diaz is released on bond by New Orleans authorities after being charged with felony 2nd-degree battery in a street fight following a Misfits Boxing event. Diaz surrendered to police after an arrest warrant was issued. (More)

Market Report   Previous Week

➤ WalletHub ranks 11 US airlines from best to worst. Here are the worst 5:

1. Southwest Air
2. Frontier
3. American Airlines
4. Envoy
5. Jet Blue

➤ The war in Sudan threatens the supply of a key ingredient in soft drinks, cosmetics and other major consumer products. Sudan produces about 70% of the world’s supply of gum arabic, and there’s no easy substitute for companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola. (More)

➤ Facebook parent Meta’s virtual reality division lost nearly $4 billion last quarter, bringing total losses for the division to $30 billion since 2020. Critics are increasingly skeptical that 3-D virtual worlds will succeed as a business. (More)

➤ FDA officials approve use of the first orally administered “poop pill” to help people battling dangerous gastro-intestinal infections. Technically known as fecal microbiota transplantation, the procedure delivers human stool in pill form to fight off infections such as C-diff. (More)

➤ Octopuses display a type of brain wave that’s never been seen before, scientists say. The brain wave was found after researchers surgically attached electrodes to the brains of free-swimming octopuses, considered one of the most intelligent of non-mammal creatures. (More)

➤ Apple Inc.’s struggles with Siri continue, as new reports emerge of chaos and dysfunction within the teams working on Apple’s once cutting-edge and now faltering AI voice system. (More)

➤ Asia is struggling with record heat, as temperatures near 110 degrees in some areas. Record April temperatures have been recorded across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, as well as in China and South Asia. (More)

➤ A police sting fails when a California drug dealer escapes with 60 pounds of meth from the sheriff’s office. The dealer sped away with the drugs, valued at up to $200,000, before the officers could stop him. (More)

Today’s Trivia

When was the first reported UFO sighting in America?