US judge blocks Biden-backed rule expanding gun background checks

 A federal judge on Sunday blocked the Biden administration from fully implementing a new rule that would require gun dealers to obtain licenses and conduct background checks when selling firearms at gun shows and online.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo temporarily restrained the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' rule from being enforced in Republican-led Texas or against members of several gun rights groups.

"I am relieved that we were able to secure a restraining order that will prevent this illegal rule from taking effect,” Texas Attorney General Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which is defending the rule in court, did not respond to a request for comment.

Kacsmaryk, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, issued his ruling ahead of the rule taking effect on Monday in response to a lawsuit by Texas, gun rights advocates, and three other Republican-led states.

The lawsuit challenged a rule finalized last month that Democratic President Joe Biden's administration said would affect more than 23,000 unlicensed dealers and tens of thousands of gun sales annually by closing the "gun show loophole."

Under the rule, those selling weapons at gun shows, other venues and over the internet are subject to the same requirements as gun stores to check the backgrounds of potential buyers.

Kacsmaryk in his ruling agreed with the plaintiffs that the rule's provisions contradicted the text of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a 2022 law that broadened the category of gun sellers required to obtain licenses.

He faulted the rule for not allowing people who buy or sell firearms for personal protection from being considered eligible for a statutory exemption to the licensing requirement for people who buy or sell guns for a "personal collection."

Kacsmaryk said that resulted in "the absurdity that the statute's safe harbor provision provides no safe harbor at all for the majority of gun owners."

Gun rights groups whose members are covered by Kacsmaryk's order include the Gun Owners of America, which boasts 2 million members.

The judge, though, found Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah failed to establish they had standing to challenge the rule and he declined to block its enforcement in their jurisdictions. His order remains in effect until June 2 pending further litigation.

Kacsmaryk is the lone active judge in Amarillo, helping make his courthouse a favored venue for conservative litigants challenging federal government policies during Biden's administration.

He has ruled frequently in their favor, most prominently last year when Kacsmaryk suspended approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the pill to remain on the market while it considers the case.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-judge-blocks-biden-backed-030843345.html

Mirum LIVMARLI Data Showcased at ESPGHAN Annual Meeting

 - Seven abstracts highlighting ALGS and PFIC data, including three oral presentations

- Long-term extension data from Phase 3 MARCH-ON PFIC study presented at plenary session and selected among the highest scoring abstracts

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240518739027/en/

Former Ukrainian MP Blew Whistle On Burisma's Connections To Terrorism

 by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Former Ukrainian MP Andrey Derkach, who’s reviled by the Biden Administration for sharing dirt about Hunter Biden’s Burisma corruption scandal with Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani ahead of the 2020 elections, just gave a very important interview to Belarus’ BelTA where be blew the whistle even louder. According to him, the $6 million bribe that was paid in cash to shut down the investigation into the First Son’s scandal eventually found its way to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and its military-intelligence agency.

Derkach claimed to have proof of the secret court order that divided these funds between those two, with the first investing its portion into building up their country’s drone army while the second financed terrorist attacks like the assassination of Darya Dugina, which he specifically mentioned in the interview. These allegations expand upon the ones that he shared earlier this year regarding the real-world impact of Hunter’s corruption scandal, which were analyzed here at the time.

On the subject of Ukrainian assassinations and terrorism, Derkach said that the CIA and FBI actually condone these actions despite their public claims to the contrary, but he warned that this immoral policy will inevitably ricochet into the US itself. In particular, he cited FBI chief Christopher Wray’s testimony to Congress last April where he said that law enforcement officials fear that Crocus-like attacks are presently being plotted against their country.

About that, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Ukraine’s military-intelligence service GUR is the chief suspect of Russia’s investigation into what became one of the worst terrorist attacks in its history, thus meaning that the portion of Burisma’s $6 million bribe that made its way into their hands likely financed part of it. In other words, the third-order effect of Hunter’s corruption scandal is that it was partially responsible for the brutal murder of innocent civilians halfway across the world some years later.

That’s already scandalous enough, but Derkach shared even more details about the other indirect consequences of this cover-up into the First Son’s illicit activities, adding that some GUR-linked figures have been connected to the Western narrative about September 2022’s Nord Stream terrorist attack. He regards that story as a distraction from the US’ complicity, the view of which was elaborated upon here at the time that it entered the discourse, but lauded the CIA for the lengths it went to cover up its role.

In his view, the CIA might very well have sent a highly trained Ukrainian diving team to the Baltic Sea exactly as the Western media reported, though only to plant fake bombs. In his words, “when a cover story is made, it is done quite well. We shouldn’t belittle the experience of the CIA or the experience of MI6 in preparing cover operations. They have quite a lot of experience in using proxies, in using cover stories to form a certain position in order to dodge responsibility. This is actually what happened.”

Looking forward, Derkach expects Ukraine to attempt more terrorist attacks against Russia, which the US public is being preconditioned to accept via the CIA’s various leaks to the media. While many might lay the blame for all this on Zelensky’s lap, Derkach believes that it’s actually his Chief of Staff Andrey Yermak who’s running the show, albeit as a Western puppet. Nevertheless, he’s also convinced that the West is indeed preparing to formally replace Zelensky, but doesn’t yet know when or with whom.

Altogether, the importance of Derkach’s interview is that he’s a former veteran Ukrainian politician who still retains a lot of sources inside the regime, having served in the Rada for a whopping 22 years from 1998-2020. While his homeland charged him with treason after he fled to Russia in early 2022, which followed the US charging him with election meddling on behalf of that country in September 2020, the argument can be made that these are politically driven attempts to intimidate a top whistleblower.

The dirt that Derkach shared about Hunter’s Burisma corruption scandal, not to mention its newly revealed third-order effects that led to the brutal killing of civilians halfway across the world after part of his company’s bribe made its way into GUR’s hands, made him an enemy of the US Government. They and their Ukrainian proxies will therefore always try to discredit him with sensational allegations, but everyone would do well to listen to what he says and then make up their own minds about it.

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/former-ukrainian-mp-blew-whistle-burismas-connections-terrorism

‘No sign of life’ as crews reach mangled helicopter that was carrying Iranian President

 Search crews reported “no signs of life” as they found the mangled helicopter that was carrying Iran’s hardliner President Ebrahim Raisi, the “Butcher of Tehran,” before it crashed in a remote region of the country on Sunday.

“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash … unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” an official told Reuters.

Raisi’s helicopter, which was also carrying other Iranian officials, was found around dawn on Monday morning in a mountainous area about 12 hours after it went down in hazardous weather.

With Raisi’s apparent death, all eyes have turned to what it might mean for Iran’s government.

Under Iranian law, the country’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would step into the role as president for a custodial period of 50 days, at which point an election must be held to choose Raisi’s successor.

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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, 63, was killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in a remote mountainous region at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan.Iranian Presidential Office
But the real succession drama would center around who steps up to be the Islamic republic’s next Supreme Leader, a role currently held by 85-year-old Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei.

Most pundits believed the likely competition to succeed Ali Khamenei comes down to a two-man race between Khamenei’s son Mojtaba and Raisi, Gabriel Noronha, a former US State Department advisor on Iran noted on X.

He pointed out that should no one step up to challenge the current Supreme Leader’s son, he would be all but assured to get the position, effectively making Iran a “hereditary monarchy – just in radical Islamic clothing.”

Raisi, 63, was returning home with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and local state officials through heavy clouds and dense fog after traveling to Azerbaijan to open a new dam with President Ilham Aliyev, the third the two nations have built on the Aras River.

State media reported the aircraft had experienced a “hard landing” and that rescue efforts were stymied due to severe wind and fog and the region’s rugged, unforgiving terrain.

Hours before announcing his death, state media reported the aircraft had experienced a “hard landing” and that rescue efforts were stymied due to severe wind and fog and the region’s rugged, unforgiving terrain.

“The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,” Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on state TV at the time.

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Raisi, 63, was once considered a strong contender to be next in line to be the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader.Getty Images

Iran’s official news agency INRA said Raisi was traveling in a convoy of choppers when theirs went down near the city of Jolfa, about 375 miles northwest of Tehran.

One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.

Both of the other helicopters in the convoy arrived safely at their destination.

Iranian state TV suspended regular programming after news of the crash, instead broadcasting mass gatherings around the country showing supporters solemnly praying for Raisi.

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Speaking at the UN General Assembly last September, Raisi slammed the presence of Western forces in the Middle East, declaring “the project to Americanize the world has failed.”AFP via Getty Images

Days after Iran’s failed missile and drone strike against Israel last month, Raisi rattled his saber at an annual military parade, threatening a “massive and harsh” response should Israel retaliate, and warning that if the country had wanted to carry out a bigger attack, “nothing would remain of the Zionist regime.”

Raisi is considered a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with many analysts believing he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation, which would have made him only the third man to ever hold the title.

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Raisi was sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 known as the “death committee.”IRANIAN PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history.

He was sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 known as the “death committee” at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

In 2022, to quell mass street protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by morality police for allegedly not wearing a hijab, Raisi unleashed a thuggish security crackdown on young people across the country that killed more than 500 people and saw more than 22,000 detained.

https://nypost.com/2024/05/19/world-news/no-sign-of-life-as-crews-reach-mangled-helicopter-that-was-carrying-iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi/

Saudi crown prince postpones Japan trip citing king's health, Tokyo says

 Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has postponed his visit to Japan scheduled to begin on Monday due to King Salman's health issue, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.

The de facto Saudi leader had been scheduled to meet with Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during trip scheduled for May 20-23.

Saudi Arabia's state news agency on Sunday reported that 88-year-old King Salman will undergo treatment for a lung inflammation.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Saudi-crown-prince-postpones-Japan-trip-citing-king-s-health-Tokyo-says-46770121/

China commerce ministry bans some US firms from import, export activities

China's Commerce Ministry said on Monday that it will prohibit some U.S. firms from importing and exporting activities related to China, including one selling arms to Taiwan, and forbid them from making new investments in China.

The ministry put General Atomics Aeronautical Systems on its unreliable entities list, saying it sold arms to Taiwan, according to a statement. It also included General Dynamics Land Systems.

According to state media, Boeing Defense, Space & Security was also placed on the list.

Senior executives of all three companies are prohibited from entering China, while their work permits will be revoked, along with their visitor and residential status, and the related applications they submit will not be approved, said the ministry's announcement, according to Xinhua news.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/China-commerce-ministry-bans-some-US-firms-from-import-export-activities-46770147/

10 US States With The Lowest Real GDP Growth

 While the U.S. economy defied expectations in 2023, posting 2.5% in real GDP growth, several states lagged behind.

Last year, oil-producing states led the pack in terms of real GDP growth across America, while the lowest growth was seen in states that were more sensitive to the impact of high interest rates, particularly due to slowdowns in the manufacturing and finance sectors.

In the following graphic, Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte shows the 10 states with the least robust real GDP growth in 2023, based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Weakest State Economies in 2023

Below, we show the states with the slowest economic activity in inflation-adjusted terms, using chained 2017 dollars:

Delaware witnessed the slowest growth in the country, with real GDP growth of -1.2% over the year as a sluggish finance and insurance sector dampened the state’s economy.

Like Delaware, the Midwestern state of Wisconsin also experienced declines across the finance and insurance sector, in addition to steep drops in the agriculture and manufacturing industries.

America’s third-biggest economy, New York, grew just 0.7% in 2023, falling far below the U.S. average. High interest rates took a toll on key sectors, with notable slowdowns in the construction and manufacturing sectors. In addition, falling home prices and a weaker job market contributed to slower economic growth.

Meanwhile, Georgia experienced the fifth-lowest real GDP growth rate. In March 2024, Rivian paused plans to build a $5 billion EV factory in Georgia, which was set to be one of the biggest economic development initiatives in the state in history.

These delays are likely to exacerbate setbacks for the state, however, both Kia and Hyundai have made significant investments in the EV industry, which could help boost Georgia’s manufacturing sector looking ahead.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/these-are-10-us-states-lowest-real-gdp-growth