Today's Headlines: Vanity Fair excerpted a bombshell book alleging that in 2017, MBS and MBZ gave Jared Kushner a $750 million slush fund (reportedly stolen from a charity) to influence his father-in-law, with the Russians and the Dutch allegedly knowing for years after the Dutch flipped a dark web hacker working for Russia who handed over screenshots from a live feed of Kushner’s phone showing the fund and an Israeli account holding a billion dollars, and while the UAE allegedly funded it on the condition that Jared push Trump to kill the Iran deal (which happened a month later) and the money reportedly went to mercenary groups, a warlord, and a hitman, Kushner and his lawyers dispute all of it and are threatening to sue, which backfired when Simon & Schuster released the book two days early. Speaking of awkward legal positions, a federal judge ordered Trump to sit for a deposition in his defamation suit against the BBC over how it edited his January 6th speech in a 2024 documentary that never aired in the US, the first time one of his media lawsuits has forced him into discovery, and he’s trying to wriggle out of it. Meanwhile, Musk admitted on HIS little social media app that he cut off Starlink in Ukraine, blaming a loophole he says was Ukraine’s fault (they dispute that), and Reuters reports that both the Biden and Trump administrations have previously haggled with him over turning Starlink on or off. Over in Europe, more than 400,000 people protested in France for a second weekend, starting peacefully and getting less so, with demonstrations also in Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, Turin, and Milan, and in Albania government buildings were set on fire with 2,500 police deployed, and while it’s unrelated, fire also nearly destroyed Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in the Bavarian Alps in an arson attack, with a 33-year-old arrested who showed signs of mental illness, though prosecutors are checking for a political motive. Back home, midterm ad spending has passed $10 billion and is projected to hit a record $11.5 billion, with the Texas Senate race alone topping $500 million (much of it Elon’s), followed by Ohio at $450 million and Maine at $200 million, and Obama campaigned in Cleveland with Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton, while on the other side, the Trump DOJ sued Alaska to preemptively delay certifying results if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, citing the two Dan Sullivans on the ballot even though Alaska’s Supreme Court already let the second one stay, with Trump saying “I’m the one that said do it” and AG Todd Blanche defending it by saying “there could be a crime.” Elsewhere, strongmen are having a rough time, as Serbia’s Vucic conceded to the Students’ List after 14 years, Lula beat Bolsonaro’s son in Brazil’s runoff, and Israel votes tomorrow with Netanyahu reportedly begging Trump for more vocal support. Finally, Apollo’s chief economist found “zero payoff” from AI in productivity outside the Mag 7, and even there it’s mostly those companies paying each other, while the rest of corporate America is pulling back and treating token spending as a cost center. Resources/Articles mentioned: Vanity Fair: The Art of the Deal: Jared Kushner’s Hacked Phone Revealed His Secret Negotiations—Including More Than $700 Million in Transfers | Vanity Fair WSJ: Trump Must Sit for Deposition in BBC Lawsuit, Judge Orders NBC News: Elon Musk says SpaceX closed Ukraine Starlink ‘loophole,’ while Kyiv denies breaching terms Reuters: US has for years asked Musk to alter Starlink service in Ukraine, Middle East, sources say NPR: Soldiers guard center of Milan as thousands of protesters march in cities across Europe AP News: A fire devastates the Eagle's Nest retreat built for Hitler in Germany. A suspect is detained Time: Midterm Ad Spending Has Surpassed $10B. Where Is the Money Coming From? C-Span: Fmr. President Obama Campaigns with Ohio Democratic Candidates in Cleveland | Video PBS: Trump says he ordered suit to block Alaska Senate results if GOP loses WaPo: Todd Blanche defends DOJ lawsuit over Senate election in Alaska AP News: Serbia’s strongman leader Vucic concedes defeat to student-led movement in seismic political shift AP News: Brazil votes in a tense Lula vs Bolsonaro runoff with US influence over Latin America at stake Axios: Scoop: Netanyahu presses Trump for more support ahead of tight Tuesday election Bloomberg: AI Provides ‘Zero Payoff’ to S&P 493 Outside Tech, Apollo Economist Says Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices