Good morning. It's Thursday, Jan. 4, and we're covering one of the deadliest attacks in Iran in decades, details of a notorious sex trafficking case, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.
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At least 95 people were killed and more than 210 wounded yesterday after a pair of bombings at an Iranian cemetery in the southeastern city of Kerman. The attack took place during a memorial near the gravesite of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the former leader of the country's Revolutionary Guard. Soleimani was killed by a targeted US drone strike four years ago.
No group has claimed responsibility for the explosions, which reportedly were triggered 20 minutes apart. The attack—Iran's deadliest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution—comes amid spiraling tensions in the Middle East. Iran has long supported a network of Shia Muslim militant groups in the region, including Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the blasts come one day after an Israeli strike killed a Hamas leader in Lebanon.
Analysts say it is unclear whether the bombings were linked to the conflict in Gaza—Iran has grappled internally with attacks from antigovernment and Sunni militant groups. |
Names of numerous people who interacted with or had ties to deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein were released yesterday, detailed in newly unsealed documents produced from a 2015 lawsuit.
In the case, Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre accused Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell (serving 20 years in prison for sex trafficking) of defamation. Individuals, many of whom had previously been linked to Epstein, were referenced throughout emails, texts, depositions, and other materials presented during the suit.
See the full document release here. Those mentioned include retail mogul Les Wexner, Britain's Prince Andrew, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, and more. Both former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump appear—the former is listed more 50 times, including comments attributed to Epstein (see p. 147), while the latter is referenced four times in passing (see p. 184, 244, 278).
A handful of remaining names will be made public by Jan. 22, according to the judge. See an overview and timeline of Epstein's activities here. |
The gross US national debt surpassed $34T earlier this week for the first time, according to a Treasury Department announcement Tuesday, an increase of $1T since September and $14T since early 2020. The US currently adds roughly $5B to its debt each day, and recent estimates suggest the debt will reach $50T by 2033. See an explainer here.
The federal government will pay roughly $800B to service its debt this year amid higher interest rates—equal to approximately 18% of 2023 federal revenues. Close to $8T of the total debt is intragovernmental—debt the government owes itself, the bulk of which comprises trust funds that pay out Social Security, Medicare, and others.
Economists often compare a nation’s public debt to its gross domestic product—the total value of the goods and services produced—as an indicator of its ability to pay it down. US debt is currently approximately 123% of its GDP, one of the highest in the world. A congressional limit on federal debt was suspended in June until January 2025. |
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> SpaceX deploys first Starlink satellites with direct-to-smartphone capabilities; company says it will work with carriers to expand coverage, complementing its space-based Wi-Fi service (More) |
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> Markets close down (S&P 500 -0.8%, Dow -0.8%, Nasdaq -1.2%) as the tech-heavy Nasdaq notches fourth losing day in a row (More) |
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> At least nine state Capitols (CT, GA, HI, KY, ME, MI, MN, MS, MT) temporarily evacuate or delay operations due to bomb threats; no incidents reported, officials say threat was received via a mass email (More) |
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> Cracking the Case of Seven Doe
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