| | Good afternoon. Here’s what you should know today, July 5: |
| - A cooling U.S. labor market suggests September interest-rate cuts
- Changes on the Gaza battlefield revive Israel-Hamas cease-fire talks
- JPMorgan Chase warns customers to prepare to pay for checking accounts
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| | Thanks for reading What’s News! Look for the  to enjoy a free article on us—and share the link with a friend (or forward the whole newsletter!). |
| |  | President Biden speaking at a campaign rally Friday in Madison, Wis. PHOTO: NATHAN HOWARD/REUTERS |
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| 1. President Biden forcefully rejected calls for him to withdraw from the presidential race following last week’s disastrous debate performance. |
| After a rally in Wisconsin, Biden sat for an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, which will air in full tonight ( read for free), according to the network. Top Democratic lawmakers and donors have urged Biden to make his case directly to voters and stave off further calls for him to step aside as the Democrats’ nominee ahead of next month’s party convention. Meanwhile, the four court cases against Donald Trump that seemed poised to end his campaign instead made it stronger than ever. And the 2024 battleground map shows signs of possible expansion for the former president into traditionally blue states. |
| Jill Biden’s Dilemma: Is Pressing Ahead Still the Loving Thing to Do? (Read) For Embattled Biden, Union Members Aren’t the Reliable Support They Used to Be (Read) Sign Snatchers, Beware: That Campaign Poster Might Have an AirTag (Read) |
| 2. Slower jobs data helps build a case for the Fed to cut interest rates in September. |
| The U.S. added 206,000 jobs in June, slightly beating expectations and continuing a strong run, the Labor Department reported. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% last month, indicating slack in what has been a strong labor market. Other indications that the job market is continuing to cool include the smallest average hourly earnings gain since 2021, revised lower April and May job counts, and the entrance of more people into the labor market. A hot job market makes it more difficult for the Fed to lower rates; the central bank is also mandated to keep the job market as strong as possible without triggering inflation. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 closed out the week at fresh highs after the new data shored up confidence that the Fed can soon cut rates. |
| 3. Britain’s Labour Party won a landslide election victory. |
| Voters handed the center-left party one of the biggest parliamentary majorities in the nation's history. A strong showing by a handful of smaller parties, meanwhile, indicated voter discontent with mainstream politicians. The election was a particularly heavy repudiation of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. After meeting with King Charles III and officially being named prime minister, Labour leader Keir Starmer promised to fix Britain but warned it could take time. “No Drama Starmer,” as he is known, isn’t offering a vision of sweeping change and isn’t even particularly popular—yet voters flocked to him as a salve for post-Brexit chaos. |
| Politicians Usually Moderate When in Power. Britain’s Starmer Could Be Different. (Read) |
| 4. Sam Bankman-Fried’s family members were closely involved with his political-donation binge, according to emails seen by WSJ. |
| The FTX founder used stolen funds for more than $100 million in contributions ahead of the 2022 election. Two former FTX executives face prison time for their role in the operation. But others were also involved: Bankman-Fried’s brother and mother directed donations to politicians, while his father weighed in with tax advice, the emails show. A spokesman said Bankman-Fried’s father had no knowledge of alleged campaign finance violations. His brother’s “political fundraising supported like-minded policymakers,” and “there was nothing in any way inappropriate about” his mother providing the advice, said a lawyer who represents them both. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him of multiple counts of fraud. |
| 5. Negotiators suddenly resumed cease-fire talks in Qatar, shortly after Israel signaled it’s preparing to wind down major military operations in Gaza. |
| That unilateral shift in strategy has created an opening for both Israel and Hamas. Civilians in Gaza and Israel are increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress, international pressure continues to swell, and both militaries are battered and looking to regroup for future fights. Significant disagreements, particularly over the length of any cease-fire, stand in the way of a deal, but for both sides, conditions have changed. At the heart of the impasse in previous rounds of negotiations were Hamas’s insistence that Israel declare a permanent cease-fire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to do so or to accept any deal that enables the U.S.-designated terrorist organization to remain a military or governing power in Gaza. |
| He Won a Big Netflix Deal. Then Saudi Arabia Convicted Him as a Terrorist. (Read) Iran’s Election Features a Reformer, a Hard-Liner and a Crisis (Read) |
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| |  Follow coverage of detained WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich
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| The WSJ’s Evan Gershkovich is being wrongfully detained in Russia after he was arrested while on a reporting trip and accused of espionage—a charge the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny. Follow the latest coverage, sign up for an email alert, and learn how you can use social media to support Evan. |
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| MEMBER MESSAGE: MANSION GLOBAL BOUTIQUE | | Host and Housewarming Gifts |  | For the homeowner who has it all, creative presents that are practical and pretty. Read More | |
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| | ~40% | The share of shoppers surveyed between the ages of 25 and 34 who split more bulk groceries with friends, neighbors, roommates and family, compared with about a third for all shoppers, according to market-research firm Advantage Solutions. Joining warehouse stores like Costco and Sam’s Club is a way to save money when food prices are high. The retailers don’t love membership sharing, but both companies have reported net sales increases this year. (An alternative? Paying $10 for a tomato in the Hamptons.) |
| |  | Instead of removing a giant boulder on his Maine property, Chad Francis built a party barn around it. PHOTO: JESSICA WEBB FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL |
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| A Maine homeowner didn’t let a 25-foot-high boulder get in the way of his party barn. |
| Chad Francis had considered removing the granite mass from his 9-acre property, but instead built an entertainment area around it. The cavernous space is centered on the dramatically lit boulder that almost reaches the cathedral ceiling’s apex. A bar for serving guests drinks faces part of the giant rock; elsewhere, its crevices hide a sink, vanity and shower. Francis opted not to chisel the stone because he wanted it as natural as possible. |
| | | “The people who will be most impacted are the ones who can least afford to be, and access to credit will be harder to get.” | —Marianne Lake, CEO of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan Chase, warning customers to get ready to pay for their checking accounts and other services, if federal regulators enact proposed rules that would cap overdraft and late fees. Consumer advocates say banks don’t need to pass their costs on to customers, and most haven’t made good on these threats in the past. Some of the rules could be watered down or nixed, if Donald Trump is elected in November. |
| | - An Online Pharmacy Pledged to Make Prescriptions Easier. It Sent the Wrong Drugs Instead. (Read)
- China Reopened to Foreign Students. Americans Are Staying Away. (Read)
- WSJ’s Jason Zweig: Why Your Fund Manager Can’t Beat Today’s Stock Market (Read)
- Heard on the Street: Why the Walmart Model Doesn’t Work in Healthcare (Read)
- Baby, Can You Drive My Car? Not If It’s a Stick Shift (Read)
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| |  | ILLUSTRATION: RACHEL MENDELSON, ISTOCK (2), GETTY IMAGES (2) |
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| Spot when someone online is fake. |
| Personalized internet scams are on the rise, aided in part by realistic artificial intelligence-generated voices and faces. To protect yourself, prepare a prearranged code word with relatives or friends ahead of time, or ask the potential scammer questions that can’t be answered via social media, security experts say. With alleged job recruiters or potential dates, get names and descriptions of previous employers, schools they attended and people they know to cross-check with other sources online. (Spoiler alert: I’m real—or at least that’s what I tell Leigh.) |
| | | | What surprising dish can people bring to a holiday-weekend barbecue? |
| Check out the Il Totano Olivye salad from chef Harold Dieterle. It's an Italian-inflected take on a classic Russian potato salad that he created for Evan Gershkovich, the WSJ reporter wrongfully held in prison in Russia on a bogus espionage charge. Make it and share pictures on social media with the hashtags #CookForEvan and #IStandWithEvan. I know you asked for a surprising dish, and potato salad might not sound like one. But this recipe has oil-packed tuna, Castelvetrano olives and lots of dill. The marinated artichokes alone are a revelation. I've made it for two parties already, and minds were blown. |
| Any menu advice for hosting viewing parties while the Paris Summer Olympics are underway? French cuisine? Sports-themed food? |
| I love the idea of going French with your menu or gamifying it: French classics versus American ones. Make a big jambon beurre (ham and butter—but like, really, really good cultured butter) on a long baguette and cut it into party-size portions. Pop a toothpick with a French flag on there. Serve it alongside American-style grilled-cheese triangles. May the best sandwich win. |
| You've been a food editor for 21 years. How did you get interested in the topic? |
| Sometimes people mystify the work of a food editor. Am I a supertaster? Did I have an epiphany eating a tomato? I came to this beat the way a writer comes to any beat: I was interested and I made it my mission to learn everything I could about it. For a long time, working in restaurants was a sideline for me. |
| What's your least favorite thing to make or consume? |
| Smoothies. I still have all my own teeth and am not an invalid. Why do I need to have my food pulverized? My hot take is unpopular, I know. But I stand by it. |
| | | Boomers, honeymooners and celebrities are among the travelers who book trips based on Pokémon. That’s right. It’s not where the best U.S. national parks are or where they can find someone to swap homes with or even where they can get the most overseas bang for their soaring U.S. buck. These vacationers pick destinations where they can “catch” digital monsters. |
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Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.