Middle East Conflict Widens as Iran Attacks Israel [Full News Memo]

Historic skyscraper considered in OKC, Scotland halts puberty blockers for minors, Tesla layoffs, NBA gambling violation, and Trump's hush money trial.

P.S. In this week’s memo:

• Iran Attacks Israel Igniting Broader Tension in Middle East

• NPR Senior-Editor Uri Berliner Resigns After Publishing Essay Criticizing the Organization’s News Coverage

• Trends: Billionaires Building Doomsday Bunkers

• GetSmart: 🧊 The Luxury Hotel Made of Ice 🧊 

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Newsbites

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Historic Skyscraper Considered: Oklahoma City (MSA population 1.4M ) is moving closer to approving plans to build the “The Boardwalk at Bricktown”, a proposed 1,907-foot skyscraper that would surpass the One World Trade Center (1,776 ft.) as the tallest building in the U.S. On Wednesday, the city planning commission recommended the Oklahoma City Council greenlight the removal of the height restrictions and move forward with the project. 

More: The project is led by developer Scot Matteson and AO Architects (photos).

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Scotland stops puberty blockers: The main clinic that specifically treats transgender youth in Scotland announced it will pause all new prescriptions of puberty blockers for kids under 18 years old. The news comes following a report from England's National Health Service which concluded that the effectiveness of “transition” treatment for minors is “remarkably weak.” The following statement from the clinic is found on its website: “While this pause is in place, we will continue to give anyone who is referred into the Young People Gender Service the psychological support that they require while we review the pathways in line with the findings.”

More: England also limited puberty blockers on April 1 for minors. More countries and policy makers around the west are beginning to look more seriously into the scientific data regarding transition treatment for minors.

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Tesla Layoffs: In a memo to employees this week, Elon Musk announced Tesla will lay off 10% of its global employee base, or about 15k people. Musk said that in the process of the company’s rapid growth over the past few years there had been “duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas.” He added that in order to prepare for the next phase of growth it was “important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity.”

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Trump Hush Money Trial: The 12 jurors for Trump’s criminal trial in New York City have been finalized, according to Justice Juan Merchan. The court could hear opening arguments this coming Monday on Trump’s alleged hush money payments made to a porn star in 2016. Prior to finalizing the jurors, Merchan relieved two previously appointed jurors. Juror #2 said she was flooded with messages and media reports from family and friends after being selected. "I don't believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased," she said. Juror #4 may have lied about his criminal background and was removed as well. The jurors include 7 men and 5 women.

More: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump with “falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.”

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NBA Gambling Violation: The NBA decided to permanently ban Jontay Porter for violating the league’s rules around gambling. Porter, a bench player for the Toronto Raptors, disclosed information about his health status to a bettor before the team’s game on March 20. The bettor subsequently placed an $80k parlay wager to win $1.1M that Porter would underperform during the game. Porter played only 3 minutes - claiming he felt ill. Given the unusual size and profile of the bet, the winning payment was frozen and the online sports book notified the NBA, which then launched an investigation.

More: In the league’s press release, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, “There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition…which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment.”

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Main Stories

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Iran Launches 300 Drones and Ballistic Missiles at Israel Igniting Broader Tension in Middle East

“Whoever harms us, we will harm them.” - Israeli President Netanyahu

What happened?

On Sunday, Iran launched 300 drones and ballistic missiles at Israel. A small number of the missiles actually hit Israel, slightly damaging a military base in the southern region of the country. Dozens of drones and missiles were shot down by the U.S. and Israeli missile defense systems before they could cause any damage.

Iran claims they are responding to a suspected Israeli strike that killed two of their top generals. 

Although tensions between Iran and Israel have been present for decades, it was the first time Iran launched an attack from its own soil. In a video posted by President Benjamin Netenyahu on Sunday, he said, “We have determined a clear principle: whoever harms us, we will harm them.” 

The attack began with dozens of drones with the goal of overwhelming Israeli defense systems. 120 ballistic missiles, 30 cruise missiles and the remaining drones followed.

The attack risks elevating the current warfare in the Middle East between Hamas and Israel to a more global scale as more countries get involved. 

Israel responds

In the early hours of Friday, Israel launched an attack in Isfahan province of Iran where several military jets are located. The strike came just hours after the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told CNN that if Israel were to take military action against Iran their response would be “immediate and at a maximum level.”

The extent of the damage of the strike is still unknown, although Iranian state media says their infrastructure is stable and that it did not have a big effect.

In the days leading up to the counterstrike, President Netanyahu said:

“I thank our friends for their support for the defense of Israel… They also have all kinds of suggestions and advice, I appreciate it, but I want to make it clear: We will make our own decisions, and the state of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”

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NPR Senior-Editor Uri Berliner Resigns

A number of public disagreements among staff and employee separations at major news organizations has raised questions about free speech, journalistic integrity, and coverage fairness. The latest is Uri Berliner, a 25-year veteran senior-editor at NPR.

Amid this trend, the rise of social media and internet news outlets has given ostracized journalists a platform to tell their stories and made it easier for them to leave and start their own enterprises, a major shift for the news media landscape.

Uri Berliner, National Public Radio (NPR)

Uri Berliner resigned this week after he was suspended for five days without pay for publishing an essay in which he detailed his experience at NPR and criticized the organization’s coverage of certain events over the past eight years, in particular: