| | | The FBI named U.K. citizen Malik Faisal Akram as the armed attacker at a synagogue standoff in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday. A surveillance flight from New Zealand has reached the island of Tonga after heavy ash and smoke from Saturday’s oceanic volcanic eruption finally cleared. University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel announced his early resignation over allegations of inappropriate interactions with a subordinate. And DirecTV will drop the conservative cable news outlet One America News Network after an internal review, said a spokesperson for the company. All this and more in today’s Presidential Daily Brief. | | |
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| IMPORTANT | 1 - Antisemitism from Abroad Man who held four hostages at a synagogue outside Dallas is identified The FBI has named Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old U.K. citizen, as the attacker in a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday. Akram, whose brother confirmed that he had suffered from “mental health issues,” held four hostages for 10 hours at Congregation Beth Israel before being shot and killed by police. Akram gained access to the temple by pretending to be homeless and called for the release of a Pakistani national. Charlie Cytron-Walker, the congregation’s rabbi and himself a hostage, said they are all “alive today” because of previous active shooter and security training which prepared them to “act and flee.” (Source: BBC) |
| | | 2 - More Calamity Assessment The race is on to assess damage from a massive undersea volcanic eruption As Ash and smoke from Saturday’s volcanic eruption cleared, New Zealand was able to send a surveillance flight to the island nation of Tonga to assess the damage. Communication with the island have been difficult due to the destruction of undersea internet cables and limited phone service, but there are no reports of deaths or injuries due to the eruption. The undersea eruption caused tsunami waves across the Pacific all the way to Santa Cruz, California. Satellite images of the eruption showed a giant plume of ash and gas and its sonic boom was heard as far away as Alaska. (Source: AP) |
| 3 - UMich in a Sitch University of Michigan president to resign over alleged affair with subordinate An anonymous complaint last month accusing University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel of inappropriate interactions with a subordinate and a “sexual affair” has led to his early resignation. The university’s board of regents released 118 pages of emails from Schlissel to an unidentified employee made in recent years that included a New Yorker article titled “Sexual Fantasies of Everyday New Yorkers” and his comment, “just for fun.” Former university President Mary Sue Coleman will replace Schlisser when he steps down in June, a year before his contract expires, while the university seeks a new president. (Sources: NBCNews, NPR) |
| 4 - When Right is Wrong DirecTV says it will drop far-right news network DirecTV has announced it will drop One America News Network after “a routine internal review,” according to a spokesperson for the cable company. One America News Network, which gained viewers during the presidency of Donald Trump, has been widely criticized for supporting conservative conspiracy theories and falsehoods, most notably that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. AT&T, a majority owner of DirecTV, has faced calls to drop the network for some time, but neither AT&T nor DirecTV has indicated a reason for terminating the company’s contract, stating the decision was based on business needs. (Source: NPR) |
| 5 - Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: Storms pummel the southern and eastern U.S. The south got an icy blast Sunday that left tens of thousands without power and is expected to blanket the Midwest and eastern states today. (Source: NBCNews) Novak Djokovic exits Australia. After a tense back and forth, the tennis star’s permission to stay and compete in the Australian Open was finally and irreversibly revoked. (Source: ABCNews) Prince Harry fights for protection. The prince is seeking a judicial review, saying his private security team can’t match what’s needed for a planned visit to the U.K. (Source: BBC) |
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| | | Watch Condoleezza Rice "Know Your Strengths" |
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| INTRIGUING | | | 1 - From Far East to Deep South Tesla says it will source graphite from Mozambique instead of China For years, Elon Musk’s electric car company Tesla has relied on China for the graphite used in its lithium-ion batteries. But Musk surprised the world by signing a new deal with the Australian company Syrah Resources, the owner of graphite mines in Mozambique and graphite-processing plants in Vidalia, Louisiana. Tesla, which is based in Austin, Texas, will buy 80% of the Vidalia plant’s graphite starting in 2025, provided the material meets its standards. Tesla’s reliance on China has long been criticised due to environmental concerns at some mines and China’s human rights abuses and reliance on forced labor. (Source: AP) |
| 2 - Metaverse Makeover Beauty companies keep with the times by going online In-person makeup try-ons is just one of the countless time-honored rituals upended by the pandemic. In an effort to restore some of the fun, cosmetic giants have turned to virtual reality to help customers imagine how products will actually look on their face. L’Oréal led the way in 2018 with its purchase of the augmented reality company ModiFace to create virtual try-on tools that allow users to create customized lip colors and experiment with makeup shades. Now Maybelline, Madison Reed and NYX Professional Makeup have entered the virtual “beauty tech” space, which may permanently change how the industry works. (Source: Axios) |
| 3 - Smooth Operations Planes will start landing differently in order to reduce emissions In a bid to reduce aircraft emissions, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it will modify standard landing procedures for some planes. Most planes now land using the stair-step method, where engines are powered off and on to descend in step-like increments. The FAA will now require some planes to descend using the new 42 Optimized Profile Descents (OPD), which puts the engine at a near idle to smooth out the landing in a sloping pattern. The FAA introduced OPDs at select airports in 2021 and this year even more will be added. (Source: ABCNews) |
| 4 - Dead Man Walking An American man is found alive in Glasgow after faking his own death Nicholas Rossi, 34, wanted in Utah on rape charges, was reported dead by several media outlets in February 2020 after he announced he had only weeks to live due to late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Rossi was discovered over the weekend by Scottish police on a ventilator at a hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, where he was admitted with COVID-19 under the alias Arthur Knight. Rossi, who is on Interpol’s red list, was also wanted by the FBI for racking up over $200,000 in debt on credit cards obtained in his foster father’s name. (Source: BBC) |
| 5 - For Love and Football Atlanta Falcons cheerleader and boyfriend take the next step at finals game Benjamin Ajani began cheering for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 2020, becoming part of a wave of openly gay male NFL cheerleaders that began in 2018. On Sunday, Ajani’s boyfriend Dominic Williams decided to celebrate their relationship and his cheer team by springing a surprise proposal on Ajani after the national anthem at the Falcon’s end-of-season game. The newly engaged couple celebrated with the cheer team and with Freddie Falcon, the team mascot. “I’ve always had a dream that it would happen this way,” Ajani said in an interview with NBC News. (Source: NBCNews) |
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