It’s Thursday, April 30. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Caitlin Flanagan’s inaugural piece for The Free Press. A Supreme Court ruling that could flip 30 House seats. Eli Lake on the star professor of the Iran war. And much more.
But first: Yet another attack on Jews in the UK.
Yesterday, we woke up to the news of yet another attack on Jews in the UK. On Wednesday morning in London, an alleged Islamist terrorist with a knife went hunting for Jews on a street in broad daylight. He stabbed two Jewish men before being tased and arrested by police.
It’s the latest in a disturbing string of attacks on British Jews. The growing threat to Jewish life in Britain is something I’ve experienced firsthand and have written about in these pages. It keeps getting worse. And Britain’s political leaders have offered little more than platitudes.
Britain’s Jews are losing patience with these hollow condemnations. One of them is Alex Hearn. Alex is a lifelong Labour Party campaigner who helped oust the party’s leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was found by an independent investigation to have been responsible for “unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination” against Jews. When Keir Starmer took over as party leader, and then became prime minister, Hearn was optimistic. Not anymore. Today he says he has lost faith in Starmer—who has time and again failed to rise to the challenge of Jew-hate in the UK. Read Hearn’s essay to understand what is happening to Britain’s Jews—and how they have been let down by the country’s leaders.
—Josh Kaplan
Our Newest Columnist: Caitlin Flanagan
The Free Press has a new columnist: Caitlin Flanagan! We couldn’t be more excited that Caitlin is now officially part of our band. She is, as Nellie Bowles put it in her introduction to Caitlin’s first column for us, “sharp, smart, lyrical, honest, poignant, and funny, surprising and contrarian in her thinking but not just to be contrarian for its own sake, and she’s equal parts kind and ruthless. Deeply Californian and deeply American (two different things), she’s everything you want in a writer.”
Her first column is on rising political violence—and the parallels between today and the era of political assassination in which Caitlin grew up. Caitlin will usually be behind a paywall, but her inaugural piece is free for everyone to read—as a special treat. Don’t miss it:
The Supreme Court today delivered a blockbuster redistricting ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, striking down the deliberate creation of majority-minority districts. Jed Rubenfeld breaks down this historic Voting Rights Act decision that some say could turn 12 to 20 House seats red.
University of Chicago professor Robert Pape has become one of the go-to talking heads making the case that Iran is winning the war. Eli Lake looks at Pape’s claims—and is unpersuaded. Read Eli on the star professor of the Iran war, and what’s wrong with his signature idea.
Filmmaker Charlie Curran is pushing the most extreme boundaries of how fast a professional movie can be made. Ryan Hassan shows how Curran uses AI to create short films in as little as 30 minutes. Curran’s Lego recreation of the Iran pilot rescue was live two days after it happened, going viral with millions of views. Forget all the griping over “AI slop”—Curran is showing Hollywood how to use AI to make real entertainment.
Sportswriter Wright Thompson has spent decades at ESPN covering the likes of Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. On this week’s episode of Old School, he and Shilo Brooks explore what that proximity to greatness has taught him: Does becoming the GOAT require rage, dysfunction, and “daddy issues”? Why do the most passionate fandoms emerge in poor, deindustrialized towns? And what is it about sports that feels so much like religion?
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Prosecutors revealed Cole Allen took a selfie in his hotel room 30 minutes before attempting to assassinate Trump at the WHCA dinner, showing him armed with a shotgun, pistol, knives, daggers, and ammunition. They’re seeking detention without bond, calling it “a planned attack of unfathomable malice.”
Elon Musk continued his testimony in an Oakland, California, court case that could determine the future of OpenAI. Musk is arguing that OpenAI should have remained a nonprofit. Sparring with an OpenAI lawyer who questioned his credibility and played up his connections to President Trump, Musk said that he “was a fool” to have provided OpenAI with early funding.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied the Iran war is a “quagmire” and called congressional critics the “biggest adversary,” while requesting a $1.5 trillion military budget as war costs hit an estimated $25 billion. Democrats grilled him on diplomatic isolation, civilian casualties, and whether Iran’s nuclear threat has actually been neutralized.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said he plans to stay on the board of the central bank when his term ends. The Justice Department dropped an often-criticized criminal investigation of Powell, clearing the way for the impending confirmation of successor Kevin Warsh. But Powell said he felt he had no choice but to stay until a probe into his management of the Federal Reserve was “well and truly over.”
Cheap Chinese cars are flooding into El Paso from Mexico, where they’re legally sold, with models starting around $10,000 versus the $51,000 U.S. average. Lawmakers are split—some cite national security risks from Chinese vehicle software, while Trump has signaled openness to letting Chinese automakers build plants in the U.S.
Two-thirds of babies under age two use screens despite government-issued guidance stating they have none at all, with some exposed up to eight hours daily. Researchers call for tech companies to fix misleading “suitable for all ages” content ratings, saying the burden shouldn’t fall on parents alone.
A United Airlines pilot reported that his plane may have hit a drone—described as “red” and “shiny”—at about 3,000 feet while approaching San Diego airport. The Boeing 737 landed safely with 54 people on board, and inspectors found no damage.
Should American society and American law be colorblind? How to best describe those who oppose the notion of colorblindness ?
Those Chinese spy cars should be forbidden in the US and confiscated when discovered.