Some 24 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, including nine children, leading the United Nations to hold an urgent security council meeting on the matter. Monday saw weeks of tensions over the planned eviction of Palestinians from their homes near East Jerusalem boil over, with hundreds wounded after Isareli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hamas responded by firing over 200 rockets at Jerusalem, though there were no reported casualties, which prompted the Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President Joe Biden is now under pressure from left-leaning members of his party and activists to offer harsher condemnation of Israel.    

Sources: Haaretz, Al Jazeera, NYT

2. China Fears Crisis Amid Slow Population Growth

The Asian giant is still growing, but at the slowest rate in decades, according to census results released today. The data show a growth rate of 5.4 percent, the lowest since the 1960s. Due to fears over China’s rapidly aging population, the Communist Party scrapped the “one-child policy” in 2016, but it’s failed to produce a baby boom. The country is also concerned about the decline in the working-age population, a problem Japan and other rich nations also face. India — which has some 1.38 billion people — looks set to overtake China by 2025.

Sources: AFP, AP, NYT

3. School Shooting in Russia Leaves 11 Dead

At least 11 people have been killed at a school shooting in Russia, many of them children, after two gunmen opened fire today. One of them, a 19-year-old, has been apprehended, after the shooting in the city of Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan republic some 430 miles east of Moscow. Footage showed two children leaping from a third-floor window at the school as gunshots rang out. At least one teacher was reported to have been among those killed and several people have been hospitalized. School shootings are relatively rare in Russia, and the motive for the attack is still unclear. 

Sources: The Guardian, BBC

4. Fears Gas Prices Could Rise if Colonial Hack Not Fixed

The FBI has confirmed that DarkSide, a hacking group possibly based in Russia, is responsible for the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline. The hack saw the main supplier of fuel to the U.S. East Coast shutdown. “So far, there is no evidence from our intelligence people that Russia is involved,” President Biden said yesterday, while DarkSide posted a statement saying it was not connected to any foreign government. Colonial said it should be mainly back up and running by the week’s end, but gasoline prices are expected to rise if it’s not back online within a few days.

Sources: WSJ (sub), MarketWatch, BI

5. Also Important …

A U.S. Coast Guard ship fired warning shots after Iranian fast boats came close to it in the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon has said. An almost 10-foot deep escape tunnel has been found at an Australian migrant detention centre near Perth. And Melinda Gates began to look into getting a divorce from Bill Gates in 2019, after reports about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein surfaced.    

Coronavirus Update: Dr. Anthony Fauci has joined calls for India to institute a nationwide lockdown as another 3, 745 deaths were reported on Monday. The U.S. FDA has authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds. 

We Asked, You Answered: 

Should rich nations share vaccine capabilities with poorer countries? 

Absolutely, YES!  No nation or corporation or private individual should ever be allowed to keep the formulae for critical medicines and life-saving vaccines to itself.

— Constantine Kortesis, Honor, Missouri.

The United States should not “give” anything to anyone. We work and pay taxes for the betterment of the United States, not anybody or anything outside the borders of the United states.  

— Norman W. Karr Jr., Placerville, California.

Today on ‘The Carlos Watson Show’: Carlos is joined by famed cardiologist and TV personality, Dr. Mehmet Oz. The self-help figure shares what inspired him to get into medicine and the lessons he learned from Oprah, plus reacts to the controversies he has faced. And he and Carlos get into it about who the real NBA GOAT is. Don’t miss it! 

Not so Golden anymore. NBC has said they won’t screen next year’s ceremony, Netflix is boycotting it, and Tom Cruise has given back his three awards. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is under fire all round for a lack of diversity and alleged unethical behavior, including members accepting payments or gifts from producers and studios. An investigation by the Los Angeles Times found the body has no Black members and overlooked several Black-led films in its ceremony this year. The HFPA has vowed reforms in the coming year, including hiring a chief diversity officer. 

Sources: Variety, Forbes, Deadline

2. Verse Case Scenario: Chinese CEO’s Post Sees Stocks Crash

Poetry, Communism and commerce have proved to be a costly cocktail for one of China’s biggest companies. Shares in Meituan plummeted after its boss shared a poem on social media suspected of being critical of President Xi Jingping. The food delivery firm’s billionaire CEO Wang Xing posted the Tang Dynasty verse “The Book Burning Pit” but quickly deleted it. Taken as a veiled criticism of the government, the poem post sent shares tumbling as much as 9.8 percent in Hong Kong on Monday. Meituan is the second company after Alibaba to be scrutinized in China for monopolistic practices, and is facing an antitrust probe. 

Sources: South China Morning Post, BBC

3. Space Odyssey: NASA Returns From Asteroid With Samples

It’s a rocky return. A NASA spacecraft is headed back to Earth with a cargo of test material after two years spent collecting samples from the asteroid Bennu. Now the fragments are returning Earthside so scientists can study how asteroids are formed. The spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, has to circle the sun twice to get home, a journey of about 1.4 billion miles. The mission has already garnered NASA some valuable insights, including finding that there was water ice locked in Bennu’s rocks. The spacecraft is on course to enter Earth’s orbit in September 2023, when it will drop its sample capsule in Utah.

Sources: Space.com, SciTechDaily, CNN

4. Miniature Da Vinci Drawing Set to Smash Sale Records

$16.7 million for 2.8 inches of history. That’s the price a tiny drawing of a bear’s head by Renaissance master Leonardo Da Vinci is expected to fetch at auction, setting a new record. Christie’s auction house says the minute silverpoint sketch on light pink paper is “one of less than eight surviving drawings by Leonardo still in private hands,” and could beat the 2001 sale of his “Horse and Rider” which sold for more than $11 million. The bear drawing will be displayed at Christie’s in New York from Saturday, and will then go under the hammer in London on July 8. 

Sources: Reuters, CNN

5. A Pee-culiar Tale About Kentucky Derby Winner’s Drugs Test

Cancel culture or possibly a urinating stable hand. Bob Baffert, whose Kentucky Derby-winning horse Medina Spirit faces disqualification over allegations of doping, says one of the two is to blame. The horse tested positive for double the legal amount of steroids over the weekend. “This America is different. It was like a cancel culture kind of a thing so they’re reviewing it,” Baffert told Fox News, adding that he thought a stable hand took cough medicine and then peed on some hay, which the horse later ate, resulting in a positive drugs test. The Churchill Downs race track has said if the results are upheld it will strip Medina Spirit of the prize. 

Sources: The Guardian, AP

OZY Fest is Back! TED or Coachella? Why not both?! This May 15-16, join us for a virtual celebration of bold change and big ideas at OZY Fest. Find out why CNBC calls it “the new SXSW” by spending a weekend with game-changers and change-makers who are ahead of their time and worthy of yours — from Dr. Anthony Fauci and Condoleezza Rice to Sevyn Streeter, Tig Notaro, Mark Cuban, Kat Cunning and more. Don't miss out — register now.

Ahead of OZY Fest this weekend, tell us (in one sentence) what question you'd ask Dr Anthony Fauci if you had the chance? Write to pdbvoice@ozy.com with your name, city and state.