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National

Asia Argento, who accused Harvey Weinstein of rape in Ronan Farrow's October exposé in The New Yorker, delivered a searing speech during the Cannes Film Festival's closing ceremony on Saturday, calling out the festival itself for its complicity in sexual harassment and abuse in the film industry.

"I was raped by Harvey Weinstein. ... This festival was his hunting ground."

"Even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who still need to be held accountable for their conduct against women, for behavior that does belong in this industry — does not belong in any industry or work place." 

"You know who you are. But most importantly, we know who you are, and we're not going to allow you to get away with it any longer." 

What we’re watching: Asia Argento’s Cannes speech on Harvey Weinstein

Asia Argenton on stage during the Closing Ceremony at the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival

Asia Argento during the Closing Ceremony at the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Business

Media sexual misconduct

Media

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Donald Trump Jr. participated in an August 2016 meeting at Trump Tower that included suggestions that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates wanted to help his father win the 2016 presidential election, according to a New York Times report.

Why it matters: The meeting is "the first indication that countries other than Russia may have offered assistance to the Trump campaign," per the Times.

Who was there: Erik Prince, the founder of private security firm Blackwater, arranged the meeting. It also involved George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman with ties to the UAE, and Joel Zamel, an Israeli social media specialist who wanted to pitch his firm's work to the Trump campaign. (Nader also assisted Prince in assembling another international get-together in the Seychelles.) White House adviser Stephen Miller, known for his strong views on immigration, was also in Trump Jr.'s office when the meeting began.

The big takeaway: There's no evidence that the Trump campaign actually worked with Saudi Arabia or the UAE — which would be illegal under federal law — though top campaign officials were reportedly not worried about the meeting. In that way, it's comparable to Trump Jr.'s prior Trump Tower meeting, where he, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort sat down with a Russian lawyer after being promised dirt on Hillary Clinton.

It's also unclear if the Trump campaign utilized Zamel's social media pitch, which "specialized in collecting information and shaping opinion through social media" at Psy-Group, his company staffed with former Israeli intelligence officers — though Trump Jr. "responded approvingly" at the meeting.

Trump Jr.'s response to the Times: “Prior to the 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. recalls a meeting with Erik Prince, George Nader and another individual who may be Joel Zamel. They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested and that was the end of it.”

"The revelations about the meetings come in the midst of new scrutiny about ties between Mr. Trump’s advisers and at least three wealthy Persian Gulf states. Besides his interest in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, Mr. Mueller has also been asking witnesses about meetings between White House advisers and representatives of Qatar, Saudi Arabia’s bitter rival."

"Mr. Nader explained to Donald Trump Jr. that the two crown princes [of Saudi Arabia and the UAE] saw the elder Mr. Trump as a strong leader who would fill the power vacuum that they believed Mr. Obama had left in the Middle East, and Mr. Nader went on to say that he and his friends would be glad to support Mr. Trump as much as they could, according to the person with knowledge of the conversation."

"Mr. Nader was also in discussions with Mr. Prince, the former head of Blackwater, about a plan to get the Saudis to pay $2 billion to set up a private army to combat Iranian proxy forces in Yemen."

Worthy of your time: Read the full piece by the New York Times.

NYT: Trump Jr. heard pitch on Saudi, Emirati support for 2016 election

It's another Trump Tower campaign meeting with foreign connections.

Politics

Mueller investigation

World

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

China's air force announced in a statement on Saturday that it conducted take-off and landing training for nuclear-strike capable bombers on unidentified islands in the South China Sea, per The Guardian.

Why it matters: The South China Sea — and who exactly controls it — is one of the most hotly contested issues between the United States and China, and the U.S. has threatened consequences for increased activity in the area.

The U.S. response: Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement: "China’s continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea only serves to raise tensions and destabilize the region.”

The big picture: A third of world trade passes through the area — and billions of barrels of oil are beneath the seabed. China's claim, which lies within a boundary it calls the "nine-dash line," includes about 80 percent of the South China Sea. An international tribunal has rejected the scope of that claim, but its ruling is unenforceable and China ignores it.

Last December, China ramped up its military presence in the sea while the U.S. focused its interests in the region on dealing with North Korea's nuclear provocations.

At the start of 2018, the Pentagon's National Defense Assessment noted China's presence in the South China Sea as one of the greatest threats facing American security interests.

In March, a security firm announced that it noticed Chinese spies hacking computer systems at U.S. engineering and maritime firms, particularly those with interests in the sea.

Earlier this month, China deployed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles on several of the outposts it built in the Spratly Islands in the sea.

Another issue: Similarly, China and Japan both lay claim to islands they believe essential to their security interests in the East China Sea.

This month, Beijing and Tokyo established a military hotline this month to ensure a close working relationship as tensions surrounding U.S. trade and foreign policy grew.

China lands nuclear-capable bombers in the South China Sea

The training exercise could inflame one of the biggest issues between the U.S. and China.

A PLA Navy fleet in the South China Sea. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images

South China Sea

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

Two new cover stories in TIME and The Atlantic argue that the United States is increasingly becoming divided into two distinct classes: those whose days are increasingly affected by systemic issues that drive inequality — like crumbling infrastructure and subpar public education — and those at the top who can ignore it all. 

Why it matters: The promises of the American Dream are out of reach for many citizens as the income threshold for true comfort has stretched higher and higher in recent decades thanks to both politics and economics, transforming — and, arguably, destroying —  the middle class that has long served as the nation's backbone.

The stories: Steven Brill writes in TIME that citizens "with average incomes have been left to fend for themselves" while Matthew Stewart highlights the new American middle class in The Atlantic — the 9.9% who lie between the top 0.1% and bottom 90%.

The protected: Brill defines them as those who took advantage of the American Dream throughout the middle of the 20th century and "were able to consolidate their winnings, outsmart and co-opt the forces that might have reined them in, and pull up the ladder so more could not share in their success or challenge their primacy." 

For them, the "new, broken America works fine" as they "don't need government for much."

The unprotected: Brill says they're the vast majority of Americans who "may be independent and hardworking, but they look to their government to preserve their way of life and maybe even improve it."

Without "a tax code that tempers the extremes of income equality and makes economic opportunity more than an empty cliché," it can be impossible for them to survive.

Looking to the future, "the unprotected need the government to provide good public schools so that their children have a chance to advance."

The new "middle" class: According to Stewart, the 9.9% is "the new aristocracy" — the "lawyers, doctors, dentists, mid-level investment bankers, MBAs with opaque job titles, and assorted other professionals" that insist they are middle class.

To break into this group in 2016, it took $1.2 million — and $2.4 million if you wanted to sit comfortably in the middle. 

They've shut out the rest of the world, believing that they "don't have any privilege at all," tending to "conflate the stress of status competition with the stress of survival." 

But, but, but: Both men think there's hope for the future — both from inside and outside America's upper classes.

Brill sees an inflection point when people "see that we need leaders who are prepared and intelligent, who can channel our frustration rather than exploit it, and who can unite the middle class and the poor rather than divide them," allowing the country to "[lay] the groundwork for the feeling of disgust to be channeled into a restoration." 

And Stewart believes that his "new aristocracy" has to look within to move forward: "We need to peel our eyes away from the mirror of our own success and think about what we can do in our everyday lives for the people who aren’t our neighbors."

40% in the U.S. can't afford middle-class basics.

Millennials blame boomers for ruining their lives.

What we're reading: The destruction of the American Dream

Two cover stories argue that today's America is increasingly becoming divided into two distinct classes.

An attendee holds an American flag at a United States naturalization ceremony

An attendee holds an American flag at a United States naturalization ceremony. Photo: Paul Marotta/Getty Images

Future

Economic inequality

"F.B.I. agents sent an informant to talk to two [Trump] campaign advisers only after they received evidence that the pair had suspicious contacts linked to Russia during the campaign," the N.Y. Times reports:

Details: "The informant, an American academic who teaches in Britain, made contact late that summer with one campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos."

"He also met repeatedly in the ensuing months with the other aide, Carter Page, who was also under F.B.I. scrutiny for his ties to Russia."

Intrigue: "The informant is well known in Washington circles, having served in previous Republican administrations and as a source of information for the C.I.A. in past years."

"The New York Times has learned the source’s identity but typically does not name informants to preserve their safety.

WashPost: "The Washington Post ... has confirmed the identity of the FBI source who assisted the investigation, but is not reporting his name following warnings from U.S. intelligence officials that exposing him could endanger him or his contacts."

P.S. "Mueller has subpoenaed a key assistant of long-time Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone," Reuters reports. "John Kakanis, 30, who has worked as a driver, accountant and operative for Stone.

Go deeper: Axios' David Nather, "Where the 'FBI spy in the Trump campaign' story came from."

FBI source met with 3 Trump advisers

"The informant, an American academic who teaches in Britain"

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

"Mortgage rates this week jumped to their highest level since 2011, signaling a shift from a period of ultracheap loans to a higher-rate environment that could slow home price appreciation and squeeze first-time buyers," The Wall Street Journal's Laura Kusisto and Christina Rexrode write (subscription):

Be smart: "A one percentage point increase in [mortgage] rates can lead to a reduction in home sales of 7% to 8%."

What happened: "The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.61% this week from 4.55% last week."

How it happened: "The spike this year has been faster than many economists predicted as a surging economy, the prospect of wage gains and a steep rise in prices for commodities such as lumber and gasoline stoke inflation worries."

Why it matters: "The jump this year reflects an abrupt departure from a long period of declining rates that began during the financial crisis. Rates bottomed out in late 2012 at 3.31%."

The fallout: "The concern among economists is that higher rates will prompt homeowners to keep their low-rate mortgages rather than trade up for better properties. As rates approach 5%, the risk of the phenomenon known as rate lock grows."

Mortgage rates hit 7-year high as ultra-cheap era ends

Mortgages

On Saturday morning, Prince Harry wed U.S. actress and activist, Meghan Markle in a wedding estimated to cost, in total, more than $40 million.

The big picture: The average wedding in Britain comes out to under $40,000, CNBC reports. But this is no average wedding, with almost $700,000 spent on food and drinks alone. 

Around 600 guests were invited to the service on Saturday, per The Sun. 

2,640 other guests — members of the public — have been invited to participate in the celebration on Windsor grounds.

Meghan's ring weighs an estimated 6.5 carats, Time reports.

If the ring has perfect diamonds, it could cost between $300,000-$350,000. If the diamonds used are mid-range, it's likely closer to $35,000-$40,000. 

$3.5 million is being spent by the municipal government in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to clean up litter, "pigeon-proofing statues and fixing potholes in the borough's roads, among others things," CNN reports. 

More than 100,000 people will be in Windsor, the New York Post's Page Six reports. 

Over 30,000 signatures are on a petition demanding that the government disclose how much taxpayer money is being put towards the event, CNBC reports.

There has been a 50% surge in searches for trips to London between May 11 and May 21, per Time. 

Locals are trying to get out: there was a 98% surge in searches for trips out out London.

Hotel prices in Windsor are up 11%; towns in the surrounding area saw a 45% spike in searches. 

The first ever African-American presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church will be giving the address at the wedding, Michael Bruce Curry from Chicago.

By the numbers: The royal wedding

All in all, the event will cost more than $40 million.

Flags bearing the image of Great Britain's Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle

Flags bearing the image of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

United Kingdom

Four hours before game time, Kensington Palace announces the couple's new titles: "Prince Harry thus becomes His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex, and Ms. Meghan Markle on marriage will become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand together, smiling. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand together in St. George's Chapel. Photo: Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Prince Harry lifts Meghan Markle's veil. Photo: Owen Humphreys - WPA Pool/Getty Images

British royal wedding pics du jour

Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland

Axios

Saturday's top stories