Weekly Review
After the Israeli Knesset voted 64-0 to limit the Supreme Court’s ability to overturn government actions, which opponents had said was the only check on the power of the right-wing majority, demonstrators took to the streets, banging drums, setting fires, and attempting to block access to the parliament, where police hit them with water cannons and what’s known as “skunk spray.”1 2 The nation’s largest labor union threatened a general strike, doctors in the Israeli Medical Association walked off work, and an estimated 1,000 military reservists resigned.3 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who critics fear may use the new law to interfere with his upcoming corruption trial, called the change “a minor correction” to the judiciary.4 In Niger, President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected in 2021 in the nation’s first nonviolent, democratic transfer of power as an independent state, was taken hostage by a group of soldiers calling themselves the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country.5 Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, who has been accused by Human Rights Watch of extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and summary trials, announced that he would hand over power to his son.6 7 Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he would not interfere with an investigation into his son, who was arrested on money laundering charges, and selected a former paramilitary leader, who has admitted to more than 300 killings and is accused of committing around 75,000 crimes, to serve as a peace manager in negotiations with armed groups.8 9 In Norway, the left-wing party leader Bjørnar Moxnes resigned after he was caught shoplifting a pair of Hugo Boss sunglasses from an airport, and the prime minister of Fiji declined an invitation to visit China, saying that he could not travel because he had tripped and hit his head on a door.10 11
The IRS announced that it would stop making surprise visits to homes and businesses, and a judge blocked a White House policy that required migrants to either get an appointment at an official point of entry or prove they had sought asylum elsewhere.12 13 Former President Donald Trump was hit with additional charges that accuse him of ordering the deletion of security footage in his classified documents case, and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy suggested that House Republicans might move to impeach President Joe Biden over the financial dealings of his son, Hunter.14 15 It was revealed that some of Hunter’s artwork had been purchased by a Democratic donor who was appointed to a prestigious board by his father’s administration, and a judge put the younger Biden’s plea deal to settle tax and gun charges on hold.16 17 Following Hunter’s resolution of a multi-year child support case, President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild for the first time, and the president’s dog was reported to have bitten seven people in a four-month span.18 19 Ninety-year-old Senator Diane Feinstein appeared to become disoriented during an Appropriations Committee hearing and had to be prompted by a fellow senator to “just say ‘aye,’” and the 81-year-old Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, became unable to speak during a press conference and had to be led away.20 21 A former intelligence official testified to the House of Representatives, without evidence, that the U.S. has operated a multi-decade program to reverse-engineer crashed UFOs and that non-human biological material had been recovered from the wreckage.22 “There’s a fixation on a lot of dumb shit,” said Senator John Fetterman, describing his first six months in Congress.23
Officials at an aquarium in Florida announced that a manatee named Hugh had died from injuries sustained while having sex with his brother.24 A South Carolina man was reported to have drowned in a lake after running away from deputies who were serving a warrant to someone else.25 A Colorado police officer was found guilty of two misdemeanors after placing a handcuffed woman in a patrol car that was parked on active railroad tracks and was subsequently hit by a train, and a volunteer at a Los Angeles anti–gang violence event was shot and killed.26 27 A West Virginia boxing promotion advertised a bout between 9-year-olds, and a Utahn was arrested after allegedly biting off a piece of her father’s ear. 28 29 Trader Joe’s recalled two kinds of cookies for potentially containing rocks and its Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup for potentially containing insects.30 It was announced that three restaurants at Disneyland would begin serving alcohol.31 “I would guess it’s a useful cocktail,” said a biologist who discovered that infusing old mice with the blood of young mice helped them to live longer.32 Sinéad O’Connor died at the age of 56, and the Catholic diocese of Syracuse agreed to pay $100 million to victims of abuse by priests.33 34 A co-founder of OceanGate said that he wants to take humans to Venus.35 —Jon Edelman
