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1:50 PM ET, May 8, 2026

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 Top Items: 
David A. Lieb / Associated Press:
Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Democrats' redistricting plan, dimming party's midterm hopes  —  The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a voter-approved Democratic congressional redistricting plan, delivering another major setback to the party in a nationwide battle against Republicans …
RELATED:
New York Times:
In Huge Blow to Democrats, Virginia Court Strikes Down House Map  —  The decision is a major victory for Republicans, wiping away a measure approved by voters to allow Democrats to gain as many as four House seats in the midterms.  —  Virginia's top court on Friday struck down a congressional map drawn …
Khaya Himmelman / Talking Points Memo:
Virginia State Supreme Court Strikes Down Dem Redistricting Proposal  —  In a major loss for Democrats on Friday, the Virginia state Supreme Court rejected, in a 4-3 decision, the state's recently approved redistricting proposal, which could have given Democrats four additional congressional seats …
Andrew Solender / Axios:
House Dems despondent over “sickening” Virginia decision  —  House Democrats fell into a state of anguish on Friday after the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a congressional map that would have netted them as many as four seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
Ian Millhiser / Vox:
The glaring error in the Virginia Supreme Court's gerrymandering decision
Louise Radnofsky / Wall Street Journal:
Virginia Supreme Court Deals Blow to Democrats' Midterm Hopes
Discussion: Bloomberg and The Daily Caller
ABC News:
Tennessee passes new congressional map that splits state's only majority-Black district
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
The simple statistical error Republican Supreme Court justices used to gut the VRA  —  The Court says vote dilution can be proven only after “controlling” racial polarization for partisan polarization.  This is a nonsensical and impossible test … The six Republican-appointed justices …
Discussion: The Downballot
The Guardian:
Supreme court's Voting Rights Act ruling cited misleading data from DoJ  —  Exclusive: Data in justice department filing quoted by Samuel Alito in his opinion relied on unusual methodology, a Guardian analysis has found  —  The claims Samuel Alito, a supreme court justice …
New York Times:
Trump's Latest Tariff Setback Looms Over China Talks  —  For the president, a major legal defeat could undercut his leverage as he prepares to head to Beijing next week for high-stakes trade negotiations.  —  A day after a federal court ruled against President Trump's latest global tariffs …
Discussion: NPR, NewsMax.com and Al Jazeera
RELATED:
Oren Cass / New York Times:
Is Trump About to Invite In the Biggest Predator in the World?  —  “If you look at my old speeches when I was young, very handsome,” President Trump said while announcing his “Liberation Day” tariffs last year, “I'd be on a television show.  I'd be talking about how we were being ripped off.”
Discussion: Raw Story
Catherine Bouris / The Daily Beast:
MAGA Rep Accused of Brutally Beating GOP Senator's Daughter  —  FAMILY TRAUMA  —  Rep. Max Miller was elected in 2022 and previously served in the Trump administration.  —  A MAGA congressman has been accused of years of physical abuse against his ex-wife, the daughter of a prominent Republican senator.
Liz Essley Whyte / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Planning to Fire FDA Commissioner Marty Makary  —  The doctor, a MAHA advocate, has had a tumultuous tenure that has included clashes over vaping, abortion and vaccine policy.
Discussion: MedPage Today
The Economist:
Secret document reveals Russia's plans to aid Iran  —  Unjammable drones would be used against American forces, according to proposals seen by The Economist  —  There are many reasons why America's war on Iran has been failing.  One of them is the effectiveness of Iranian drones.
RELATED:
Joshua Yaffa / New Yorker:
For Putin, Problems (and Paranoia) Keep Mounting
Discussion: HuffPost and NewsMax.com
Julia Ingram / CBS News:
Thousands of asylum-seekers abandon their cases as ICE seeks to deport them to nations they aren't from  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  Willian Yacelga Benalcazar's asylum case followed what had become a similar pattern in immigration courts across the country: After telling a judge …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Trade Court Rules Trump's 10% Global Tariff Is Illegal  —  A panel of federal judges found that President Trump could not legally impose the tariff on most imports.  —  A panel of federal judges on Thursday found President Trump had violated the law when he imposed a 10 percent tariff on most U.S. imports …
RELATED:
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Stephen Miller's closed system of white supremacy  —  PN is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  🔁 Subscribe to PN 🔁  —  Working in the Trump administration these days is no doubt a dream come true for Stephen Miller.
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Pentagon Releases Files on U.F.O.s  —  The initial files are murky images that show what could be anything.  The government said more would be released on a rolling basis.  —  The Pentagon released what it called “new, never-before-seen” files on U.F.O.s on Friday, hailing the step …
Gillian Tett / Financial Times:
Humans still matter more than AI in finance  —  Recruiting digital natives with critical thinking skills is going to be crucial  —  A few months ago a New York financier told me he had just experienced a “first”: his 2025 summer interns “were the first true AI natives I have seen”.
Al Jazeera:
Iran says seized tanker in Gulf of Oman, as US ‘disables’ two ships  —  Latest claims come hours after US and Iran exchanged fire in Strait of Hormuz, threatening ongoing push for ceasefire.  —  Add Al Jazeera on Google  —  Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) …
RELATED:
Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Did Amazon just deliver a blow to Josh Shapiro's White House dreams?  —  There are many hurdles facing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro if he truly hopes to make the transition from a popular governor, seemingly cruising toward reelection this November, to a Democratic presidential contender in 2028.
Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:
Anti-woke Vivek Ramaswamy confronts racism in his run for Ohio governor  —  Vivek Ramaswamy built a political brand casting racism as an obsession of Democrats.  As a Republican running for Ohio governor, he's facing racism on the right.  —  Summary  —  CINCINNATI — Vivek Ramaswamy …
Julie Bosman / New York Times:
Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Rob Sand Is Worrying Iowa Republicans … At a recent stop at a brewery in Des Moines, Rob Sand, a Democrat running for governor, didn't hold back about what the matter with Iowa is.  —  The state has among the worst economies of all 50 states in the country, he said.
Discussion: Raw Story and Radio Iowa
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
Exclusive: The Dems' New Plan for When Mass Deportation Fails  —  “Trump bad” or “No more mass deportation” just won't cut it.  —  AMERICANS MAY BE REJECTING the execution of Trump's mass deportation program, but if Democratic candidates want to have a shot at sustained electoral and governing success …
Alex Roarty / NOTUS:
Thomas Massie Is Really In Danger of Losing His Seat  —  Allies of the occasional Trump adversary acknowledge his race is tightening, just as Trump's intraparty dominance reemerges.  — Copy  —  Republican Rep. Thomas Massie's lead in his primary later this month is slipping …
New York Times:
We're at the Dawn of the Ozempic Era — and It's Really Weird  —  This is an edited transcript of “The Ezra Klein Show.”  You can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts.  —  Here's a number from a KFF poll that actually shocked me when I learned it: One out of eight American adults is taking a GLP-1.
Discussion: Deseret News
Elina Shirazi / Charleston Daily Mail:
New DHS chief already humiliated as insiders make demeaning ‘queen’ comparison... and nasty infighting over Kristi Noem's replacement begins  —  When Markwayne Mullin attempted to install his personal pick to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement inside the Department of Homeland Security, the White House shot it down immediately.
Discussion: Raw Story and PunchUp
Dave Collins / Associated Press:
Judge rules Trump administration's cancellation of humanities grants was unconstitutional  —  The Trump administration's cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants to scholars, writers, research groups and other organizations was unconstitutional, and the Department …
Fox News:
Trump admin releases highly anticipated files documenting UFOs, ‘extraterrestrial life’  —  Release includes Apollo operator transcripts describing ‘jagged, angular fragments’ seen from the spacecraft  —  FIRST ON FOX — The Trump administration on Friday released a batch of “never-before-seen” …
Samuel Chamberlain / New York Post:
AOC mocked after she claims no one can ‘earn a billion dollars’: ‘Her entire salary is stolen from people’  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been roundly scorned after she claimed on a podcast this week that the idea anyone can earn their way to billionaire status is a “myth.”
Zachary Faria / Washington Examiner:
The Los Angeles fires are just the latest example of left-wing violence  —  The Los Angeles fires caused some $150 billion in damages and killed at least 12 people.  Now, we know that it was likely yet another act of left-wing political violence.  —  The man arrested and charged with setting …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Mark Olalde / ProPublica:
Trump Exempted Some of the Nation's Biggest Polluters From Air Quality Rules. All It Took Was an Email.
United States Department of State:
Passport Revocations Due to Significant Child Support Debt
Alex Nguyen / The Texas Tribune:
By threatening public safety grants, Greg Abbott exerts control over Texas cities
Dan Raby / CBS News:
Marjorie Taylor Greene claims Trump said her family deserved death threats after split over Epstein files
Discussion: Salon, Raw Story and Mediaite
Financial Times:
‘Blissful ignorance’: Milken elite bask in glow of roaring markets
 Earlier Items: 
Reuters:
UK's Labour Party suffers heavy early losses as Reform gains in elections
Catherine Rampell / The Bulwark:
The ‘America First’ Corporate Graveyard
Discussion: Raw Story
Carol Leonnig / MS NOW:
Kash Patel ordered polygraphs of more than two dozen members of his team, sources say
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Meta invests $900M into Indian fintech Cred for a ~20% stake, and plans to appoint Cred founder Kunal Shah as the leader of WhatsApp, replacing Will Cathcart

Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Valve Steam Machine review: much smaller than PS5, surprisingly smooth, and navigable with any modern gamepad but very expensive and needs manual configuration

Ben Fritz / Wall Street Journal:
Google invests in independent movie studio A24 as part of a new AI partnership; sources say Google is investing ~$75M, roughly equal to Thrive's 2024 investment

 
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