Netanyahu:

We returned. We are here, and we will always, always stay here.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog pardoned former IDF soldier Elor Azaria, who was convicted in 2016 of killing a wounded Palestinian assailant in Hebron.

Herzog said the decision was made “in the spirit of these days” and reflected the importance of “repair, reconciliation and the ability to move forward.”

Source: Haaretz

INTERESTING: Trump left Camp David a day early Saturday night with no explanation.

The likeliest reason is the Iran situation.

Tehran sent seven conditions via Qatar and threatened "decisive war" if rejected, while U.S. embassies across the Middle East issued security warnings the same day.

U.S. B-1B Lancer bomber was filmed taking off from RAF Fairford tonight with full afterburners.

Afterburner takeoffs typically mean the jet is heavy — often indicating a full weapons load — though they can also happen on training runs.

Fairford has been the main base for Operation Epic Fury strikes on Iranian targets since March, with roughly a dozen B-1Bs still stationed there.

BIG: U.S. embassies across the Middle East issued coordinated security alerts today.

Event: Due to tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation.

Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise heightened vigilance and be aware of potential flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions.

🇮🇷 Iran – Do Not Travel; leave now
🇮🇶 Iraq – Do Not Travel
🇱🇧 Lebanon – Do Not Travel
🇸🇾 Syria – Do Not Travel
🇾🇪 Yemen – Do Not Travel
🇵🇸 Gaza – Do Not Travel
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia – Reconsider Travel
🇧🇭 Bahrain – alert issued
🇴🇲 Oman – alert issued
🇶🇦 Qatar – alert issued
🇰🇼 Kuwait – alert issued
🇯🇴 Jordan – alert issued

Ed Sheeran went solo in Philly after his entire support lineup quit over Macklemore's removal — then broke down on stage talking about Gaza.

At Lincoln Financial Field last night, Sheeran opened with a long statement. He apologized for "difficult decisions" and "mistakes," said he never wanted to be political but can't stay silent anymore:

"What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate."

He called October 7 and the Nova attack "horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain," said his heart is broken by civilian and children's deaths, and added:

"The systemic injustice we're seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked."

He acknowledged he's still "listening and learning because I do not know enough."

Reports say he wept before going into "Castle on the Hill."

BIG: Ukraine launched one of its largest drone waves on Moscow overnight.

Russia claims 1,600+ drones downed including 450 aimed at Moscow.

Strikes hit the Kapotnya oil refinery (Moscow's largest) and residential buildings, killing two in the Moscow region and forcing 400 evacuations.

Flight restrictions were imposed at Moscow airports.

📸 Moscow, today.

Q: What would you say to the Washington Post, who says there have been more service member deaths in Iran than have been accounted by the Pentagon?

Secretary Hegseth: It's always anonymous sources with those jokers.

It's a lie, it's a headline they want to try to make us look bad, the president look bad, and try to undermine the historic success we've had in that conflict.

Trump's meeting at Camp David was to deliberate and review Yemen strike options.

Source: CNN

Rep. Joe Wilson:

FREE YEMEN FROM IRAN!

Obama on Trump's press ban:

My imagination could not foresee some of the stuff that’s going on right now.

I’m trying to think what would have happened if I had said, "You know what, Fox News, get out of here." It’s unimaginable!

Zelensky said Ukrainian strikes hit a key Russian oil-industry facility and a logistics site in the Moscow region.

“These are billions of dollars supporting the war machine,” he said, adding that Ukraine used several long-range systems, including FP-1, RZ-100, Palianytsia, Liutyi, Flamingo and Pelican.

Obama on AI:

Currently, partners at law firms rely on a bunch of junior associates. They charge a lot of money for the time of those junior associates.

There’s a pyramid. The promise to the associates is they work their way up, and at some point they’ll be at the top of the pyramid and they can make some bank.

If you are investing in AI at a law firm — and they’re pretty expensive — the reason you’re making that investment is because it will allow you to do things without those associates.

And that’s at a fairly high-skilled, highly-trained job. So, the economic disruptions that will come at this speed, I think, are going to be profound as well.

Obama on AI:

If we are thinking about AI just in terms of how do we cure cancer or get better energy, you can do that without having agentic AI and having it just roaming free in the internet.

The reason you are doing that is because you have to market a product that people will pay money for. That’s a misalignment between what our society needs and the commercial imperatives that these companies are facing — not because necessarily they’re trying to do bad things, but because, you know, they’ve got to justify these valuations.

So, that’s one more reason why it is really important for us to have a competent government and a serious, bipartisan conversation around this issue, and we have to do it fast.

Obama on AI:

There’s the big science-fiction risk — these models get smarter than us, and they decide humans are fine, but not necessary. They start setting their own goals and the killer robots, you know, kill us, or we bow down to them.

I do not want to exaggerate that particular risk, but I will say there is a non-zero chance of that happening.

And the reason that’s a risk is not because the computer models are conscious necessarily. It doesn’t mean that they necessarily feel malice towards humans.

It’s just that if they start setting their own agendas, you may get a misalignment between what they want to do and what we want them to do. And that gap can be dangerous.

Obama on AI:

Government has to be regulating this.

I heard one of Trump’s main advisors on this make the argument that "the market’ll take care of it, these companies will solve the safety issues because they have every incentive to do so.

If it turns out to be dangerous, people will just sue them and, you know, they’re worried about financial liability."

That’s not how we treat airlines, or drug companies, or food companies. We now have 150 years of experience just letting the market do whatever it wants when it comes to things that deeply affect our health and our safety.

And so there’s no replacement for an effective government regulatory structure.

Obama:

The thing that strikes you when you travel around the country is that we are not as divided as our politics or our media would suggest.

When you’re on the ground, what’s striking is that people work together. And they extend grace towards each other in ways that you do not see in your doomscrolling.

Obama:

Even our adversaries often expect us to solve big problems that cross national boundaries.

And that’s something we should be proud of, but it’s also something we should feel some responsibility for. Because when we don’t get things right, when we’re not our best selves, the whole world gets a little dimmer.

And when we stand up for values like human rights or freedom of speech, or express concern and are proactive around issues like climate change, then not everybody goes along 100%, but the world leans into a better direction.

Obama:

What is striking when you watch it is just how contingent this whole experiment was. And it started, truthfully, with a bunch of rich guys not wanting to pay their taxes.

Democracy was not the beginning. It wasn’t the core animating principle at the start of the American Revolution.

There was frustration with the empire, and the colonists feeling as if they were being imposed upon. And it was a fairly narrow agenda.

And over time, what happened is that these actions, behind the initial actions like the Boston Tea Party, you start getting an articulation of this broader idea.

Obama:

I would argue that wealthy people in this country do not pay enough in taxes.

And the very ultra-wealthy oftentimes pay no taxes and have figured out how to game the system.

...But when I hear billionaires say they are moving to Florida, not because they love Florida — nothing against Florida, nice weather — but because they’re trying to avoid a state tax, which is a rounding error in their wealth.

There is a certain mentality there that says, "I should not have to give up anything."