Boeing Passenger Flight Crash Leaves 250 Dead in India
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Chart of the week: For American consumers, just 6.8% of their total expenditures went toward food at home in 2023, the lowest percentage of any country. For perspective, it was 11.6% in Germany, 14.7% in Italy, and 25.7% in Mexico.
BREAKING:
Israel launched a series of large strikes at Iran Thursday night targeting nuclear bases, senior military officials, as well as Iranian nuclear scientists (video). Moments after the strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Netenyahu said, "If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time...This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival.” Earlier on Thursday, President Trump publicly opposed a preemptive strike from Israel, saying he believed a nuclear deal with Iran was still possible. Netenyahu said the operation, named Operation Rising Lion, will continue for “as long as it takes.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” he continued. “Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel."
President Trump posted this morning, saying, “Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to “make a deal.” They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!”
A school shooting in the Austrian town of Graz on Tuesday left 10 people dead, most of whom were students between the ages of 14-18. The shooter, a 21-year-old male, took his own life after carrying out the attack. He had previously attended the same high school, although he did not graduate. The chancellor of Austria (pop: 9M) declared three days of national mourning. It is one of the deadliest lone-shooter attacks in Europe in recent years.
“End of Amateur Sports”: Division I colleges and universities can now pay student athletes directly following a landmark settlement with the NCAA. Starting July 1, there will be a “revenue share” model by which colleges can elect to share up to 22% of the revenue they generate in ticket sales and media deals with players. The amount each college can spend will be capped at $20.5M in year one, with the cap growing over time. In total, it’s estimated athletes could receive around $1.6B in new compensation and benefits per year. While colleges can choose not to participate, it is expected that most will, given the payments will be a powerful recruiting incentive. On top of the “revenue share” payments, athletes can continue earning money from “name, image, and likeness” (NIL) brand deals.
More: The settlement is the result of a class action lawsuit filed by players and conferences against the NCAA, which had prohibited schools from paying student athletes.
Drug overdose deaths dropped sharply in 2024 according to the most recent CDC data. After increasing for the better part of ten years, overdose fatalities fell 27% in 2024, to 80,391. This came after a more moderate 3% decline in 2023. The decline was even more pronounced among younger adults and teenagers. Despite the positive reversal, drug overdose levels are still significantly above where they were in 2015. Researchers are trying to identify what led to the drop in 2024, with some pointing to greater availability of naloxone, which reverses an overdose, and more educational awareness. A more sober assessment is that record overdose deaths in recent years have already wiped out a large cohort of people susceptible to drug use.
More: Others hypothesize that drug use has shifted from deadly ones like synthetic opioids to less deadly ones like psychedelics and cannabis.
RFK Jr. fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) this week. The role of the ACIP is to develop recommendations on how vaccines should be used to control diseases in the U.S. and the specific age ranges vaccines should be used on. Kennedy said the move is a “major step towards restoring public trust in vaccines." He immediately appointed 8 new specialists to the panel. Key appointees include Dr. Robert Malone, who was an outspoken critic of the mRNA covid vaccine, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, who opposed covid restrictions and testified in lawsuits against vaccine makers.
More: Kennedy said on X that the appointees would not be “ideological anti-vaxxers,” but instead “highly credentialed physicians and scientists.”
Boeing Passenger Flight Crash Leaves 250 Dead in India
What happened?
On Thursday, an Air India passenger flight headed toward London crashed just minutes after take-off in the western city of Ahmedabad, India. Apart from a single passenger who miraculously survived, the remaining 241 people on the flight perished. On board were 169 Indian citizens, 53 UK citizens, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian.
The plane crashed down into a densely-populated residential area, with the main body of the aircraft striking a hostel for medical students, killing around ten more people.
Bystander footage shows the aircraft struggling to maintain altitude, with the tail of the plane eventually dipping lower than the nose. An explosion of flames and black smoke billowed from the crash site across Ahmedabad, which is one of the wealthiest cities in India (photos of the crash site).
The aircraft only reached an altitude of 625 feet before it began to falter and descend. The pilots sent a Mayday call to air traffic control less than a minute after take-off.
The plane model was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which until Thursday, had an accident-free track record. Previous Boeing accidents in recent years have typically involved the 737 or 777 jet models.
The specific plane that crashed on Thursday had been in operation for about 12 years. Large commercial jets typically have a lifespan of 20-30 years, depending how many miles are flown.
John Barnett, the Boeing whistleblower who died from reported suicide in April 2024, had raised concerns over the 787 Dreamliner production and quality control processes while he was working at the Charleston, South Carolina, factory.
At this point it’s not clear what caused the crash. India’s aviation safety commission will lead the investigation, with help from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA.
Miraculously, one man survived
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national who was returning from visiting family in India, was in seat 11A and survived the collision. While Ramesh sustained minor injuries to his face, chest, and feet, he was walking around shortly after the crash. Talking to reporters, Ramesh said, “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise... it all happened so quickly.”
National Guard, Marines Deployed to LA Amid Anti-Deportation Riots
What’s going on?
Riots erupted in Los Angeles after the Trump Administration ordered an immigration raid in the city. With a similar look and feel to the Black Lives Matter riots in Minneapolis in the summer of 2020, cars were set aflame (video), stores looted (video), and thousands of protestors confronted lines of National Guard and police (video). A defining image of the events were some protestors waiving the Mexican national flag. Around 400 people have been arrested by the LAPD in the past five days.
Mayor Karen Bass has instituted a curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., affecting about one square mile and 100,000 residents.
The chaos broke out last Friday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out raids in three different locations in LA that have a high Latino population. Dozens of illegal immigrants were arrested in those raids. The protests and riots have continued for more than six days and spread to several other cities across the U.S.
Two particular areas became the flashpoints of the riot assembly in LA:
Federal building downtown: Dozens of people arrested by ICE were being held at a federal building in downtown LA. Thousands of protestors gathered around the building which was spray painted with phrases, “death to Amerikka,” and “F***k ICE.” Hundreds of police and National Guard lined the building throughout the days to ensure no entry (video).
Home Depot parking lot: Another early hotspot was a Home Depot in Paramount where ICE launched raids targeting workers at Home Depot and Ambiance Clothing Store. As word got out that raids were beginning, protests emerged to try and stop the police and things began to get violent. Over 40 people were arrested during those particular raids.
Troops sent in by Trump Administration
As the riots increased, President Trump and Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered 2,000 National Guard Troops and 700 U.S. Marines to LA to help patrol the situation, despite California Governor Gavin Newsom not requesting help.
Newsom, a top potential Democrat presidential nominee for 2028, said Trump was “using brave American soldiers as props in his political performance. It's unconstitutional, it's immoral, and it's putting innocent lives at risk.”
The Governor filed a motion for a restraining order on the president's power to send in federal troops. On Thursday, a judge sided with Newsom, granting the state of California back its temporary authority over the National Guard.
Trump responded on Thursday saying, “Los Angeles was safe and sound for the last two nights. Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the L.A. Police in a position to effectively do their job.”
Protests spread around country
The protests have spread to dozens of cities across the U.S. including large demonstrations in New York City, Austin Texas, and Seattle, among others. Below is a map showing the locations where significant protests and some riots have taken place:
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