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| Good morning. It’s Thursday, May 21, and we’re still trying to recover from the live TV train wreck that was last night’s finale of “Survivor 50.” Now let’s get to the news. | |
 | President Donald Trump’s allies are lining up to apply for his $1.8 billion legal fund. | - Like who? Jan. 6 rioters, George Santos and a man who waved a gun at racial justice demonstrators are eyeing the new settlement fund — see more potential applicants here.
- Pushing back: Two police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sued to block the fund. Democrats said they will investigate the fund if they retake the House.
- The Trump paradox: What’s good for him is weighing down his party.
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 | Trump officials said they can build a 250-foot arch without Congress’s approval. | | | Trump has targeted Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout on Columbia Island, for his planned arch. (The Post) | - Why? The officials argue that they don’t need approval from Congress because lawmakers authorized a somewhat similar project — more than a century ago — that was never built.
- In other Trump news: The president’s use of vulgar language, personal insults and self-aggrandizing rhetoric has increased in his second term, according to a new Post analysis.
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|  | The White House resisted letting an American man infected with Ebola return home. | - The details: The administration’s reluctance to bring doctor Peter Stafford to the U.S. delayed his evacuation and care, The Post reported. He was eventually taken to Germany.
- Ebola is raging through the Democratic Republic of Congo: This outbreak appears highly difficult to contain. There is no vaccine and there won’t be one soon — here’s why.
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 | Former Cuban president Raúl Castro was indicted in the U.S. yesterday. | | | Former Cuban president Raúl Castro during a speech in Santiago, Cuba, on Jan. 1, 2024. (Ismael Francisco/AP) | - Why? A federal grand jury alleges Cuban forces were acting on Castro’s orders when they shot down two civilian aircraft in 1996, killing four people including three Americans.
- It’s an extraordinary move: The indictment comes as the Trump administration is ratcheting up pressure on Cuba. But the U.S. charges are likely to remain symbolic.
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 | Elon Musk’s SpaceX revealed its finances for the first time. | - Why? The rocket company is set to debut on the stock market soon. According to filings made public yesterday, it has recorded $13 billion worth of losses since the start of 2023.
- The filings also shed light on Musk’s unusual contract: Part of his compensation will be granted only if SpaceX successfully manages to establish a human colony on Mars.
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 | It might feel like layoffs are soaring, but they’re not. | - Layoffs are grabbing headlines right now: But the actual numbers are pretty surprising. Layoffs in the U.S. are roughly at or below levels before the pandemic.
- However, big companies are slashing workers: Yesterday, Meta sent layoff notices to about 10% of staff. That follows cuts from firms including Nike, UPS and Amazon.
- If someone you know loses their job: Never say these five things.
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 | The final episode of “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert airs tonight. | | | A Post analysis shows hosts are telling more jokes about Trump, despite the president’s repeated calls to get them fired. (Illustration by Natalie Vineberg/The Post; Scott Kowalchyk/CBS News/Getty Images; Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg/Getty; iStock) | | Before you go … can marathons increase your cancer risk?
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