Good Tuesday morning! International prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leaders; Why more moms go part-time; and FDA clears Musk’s Neuralink to implant its brain chip in a second person.

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Good morning,

Students who braved the rain at the UMass Dartmouth got more than some encouraging words from the commencement speaker. Billionaire Robert Hale gifted the 1,100 graduates $1,000 each, but there was a catch. 

• 💰 An envelope with $500 was for them to keep, while another $500 was to be given to someone in need.

  • He told them that he and his wife “want to give you two gifts. The first is our gift to you. The second is the gift of giving.”

• Hale, a tech CEO and co-owner of the Boston Celtics, has done this before! Back in 2021, he made Quincy College graduates the same deal.

Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

🎉 PS: Happy birthday Mosheh 🎂

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⚖️ PROSECUTORS TARGET ISRAEL & HAMAS FOR WAR CRIMES

The chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court is applying for arrest warrants for several Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The accusations stem from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent 7 month war in Gaza. Prosecutor Karim Khan said, “Nobody is above the law.”

It's the first time the International Criminal Court (ICC) has targeted a leader of a close US ally. President Biden responded by calling the arrest warrants “outrageous,” while Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said charging Israeli leaders alongside Hamas terrorists “reprehensible.”

THE CASES
Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, along with Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are being accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

• HAMAS: Charges include extermination, rape, sexual violence, and the taking of civilian hostages on October 7th. They are accused of using torture, cruel treatment, and sexual violence against hostages in captivity.

  • The ICC prosecutor said, "It is the view of my office that these individuals planned and instigated the commission of crimes on 7 October 2023, and have through their own actions, including personal visits to hostages shortly after their kidnapping, acknowledged their responsibility for those crimes.”

• ISRAEL: Netanyahu and Gallant are being accused of using starvation as a weapon of war, including holding humanitarian aid, willfully killing civilians, and extermination.

  • Khan said, Israel has “every right” to get hostages back, but he says "completely closing the three border crossing points, starting October 8, 2023 for extended periods” and “arbitrarily restricting the transfer of essential supplies" were unlawful.

INSIDE ISRAEL: Israeli officials across the political spectrum— even those who despise Netanyahu— condemned the ICC action equating Israel’s response with the massacre of October 7th. They argue that they have made humanitarian aid available and responsibility for any shortages in Gaza lie with lackluster UN distribution or Hamas theft.

Israeli War cabinet minister, and potentially the next PM, Benny Gantz said, "Placing the leaders of a country that went into battle to protect its citizens, in the same line with bloodthirsty terrorists - is moral blindness and a violation of its duty and ability to protect its citizens."

WHAT’S NEXT
A panel of three judges will decide whether to issue the arrest warrants and allow a case to proceed. The timeframe can vary, with the ruling expected to come within weeks to months.

• How an arrest would work: If warrants are issued, those named could be arrested only if they travel to one of the court's 124 member nations. The ICC does not have its own police force, so member nations’ law enforcement is used to apprehend those charged. Defendants must be present for the ICC to try them.

• Israel and the US are among the countries who are not members of the court — they view it as biased. Hamas is also not a member of the ICC, but the court claims to have jurisdiction because the Palestinian Authority (PA) is a member. Though the PA also doesn’t have control of Gaza, leading to jurisdictional questions.

  • ICC Critics argue that the body is singling out Israel despite having never filed warrants for war crimes committed by Kim Jong Un, China, the Taliban, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, the Iranian regime, and others.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin received an ICC arrest warrant in 2023 over the taking of Ukrainian children during the war. He has avoided traveling to countries where he thinks he might be arrested since then.

Bottom line: Given the unlikelihood that any of the five individuals the ICC named are ever arrested, this appears to serve as little more than a verbal slap on the wrist.

⏰ THE PART TIME WORKER BOOM AMONG MOMS

More people are turning to part-time work than ever before in the US — and moms are helping drive the trend.

THE NUMBERS
New US labor department numbers show that more Americans are working under 35 hours/week. And it’s not high school teens or retirees taking the lead, but rather working-age women.

• In March, there were a record 29.2 million part-time employees, about 17% of the workforce — the biggest slice of the job market since 2020.

• That same month, the rate of employed women with a child under age 5 rose to nearly 70%.

  • What’s helping boost that number: Part-time work. Around a fifth of working moms are choosing part-time options as childcare costs soar.

    • Childcare costs in the US grew at more than double the rate of last year’s inflation.

WORKING MOMS
Full-time work or being full-time stay-at-home is no longer a black and white phenomenon. Mosheh talked with Neha Ruch, founder of Mother Untitled, about redefining working stay-at-home motherhood, the price of childcare and career ‘downshifting.’

• Their recent study found that about half of US mothers “are considering a downshift” or working less than 20-hours. Why? The cost of childcare, wanting to be active parents, and also the robust freelance economy.

• And when parents are ready to return to work full-time, Ruch argues that the playground is actually a great place to network. Around 90% of parents who “pause” working to raise kids eventually plan to return to the workforce.

• Check out Mosheh’s interview with Ruch on ‘Mo News: The Interview’ podcast on Apple or Spotify.

🧠 MUSK’S NEURALINK WILL TEST BRAIN CHIP ON 2ND PERSON AFTER SOME ERRORS

Elon Musk’s Neuralink will go ahead with implanting its brain chip in a second person after the FDA gave the startup the all-clear. It comes after the first participant, Noland Arbaugh, experienced worsening performance after most of the ultra-thin wires, implanted deeper into the brain, came loose.

TRIAL & ERROR 
Arbaugh, a quadriplegic with no movement below his shoulders, underwent the implantation of the Neuralink N1 brain chip in January. For the first time in eight years, he was able to easily play video and computer games — doing so by controlling a cursor on a computer screen with his mind.

• However, a month after the surgery, the device was no longer working as well — about 85% of the threads implanted in his brain were loose and stopped reading the electrical signals needed to function properly.

  • The threads that remain in place, along with some software changes, have helped him regain many of the device’s capabilities.

• The fix: For the second participant, the 64 external threads (thinner than a human hair) attached to the chip (the size of a quarter) will be implanted deeper into the brain. Last time, they were inserted about three to five millimeters into the brain’s motor cortex — which relays neural signals — but now it will be eight millimeters.

Neuralink hopes to implant a second participant sometime in June. About 100 people qualify, of the more than 1,000 quadriplegics who have signed up for the company’s patient registry.

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Almost 2 months after it destroyed Baltimore’s Key Bridge, the Dali cargo ship has been moved and docked (CNN)

📌 Republicans Ted Cruz and Katie Britt introduce bill to protect IVF access (CBS NEWS)

📌 Uber and Lyft say they’ll stay in Minnesota after legislature passes driver pay compromise (AP NEWS)

📌 Supreme Court Justice Alito sold Bud Light owner's stock amid conservatives’ 2023 boycott (NBC NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Britain slammed in inquiry for infecting thousands with tainted blood and covering up the scandal (AP)

📌 Former Iranian official partly blames US sanctions for the helicopter crash that killed its president (BI) Iranian women celebrate death of President Ebrahim Raisi, who led brutal crackdown on rights (NY POST)

📌 UK court rules Julian Assange can appeal extradition to US (AXIOS)

📌 Haiti's main international airport reopens nearly three months after gang violence forced it closed (ABC NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 OpenAI pulls its Scarlett Johansson-like voice for ChatGPT. She claims she denied them permission to use her voice and they copied it anyway (VERGE)

📌 Red Lobster files for bankruptcy, but restaurants will stay open (NBC NEWS)

📌 Spirit Airlines gets rid of change and cancellation fees, joining Frontier (CNBC)

📌 US pediatricians reverse decades-old advice against HIV-positive mothers breastfeeding (AP)

📌 Cannabis poisonings among older adults have tripled, study finds (CNN)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Donald Trump origin film ‘The Apprentice’ gets 8-minute ovation at its Cannes premiere (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) Trump vows to sue filmmakers over Ivana Trump rape scene (DEADLINE)

📌 Courteney Cox says late ‘Friends’ co-star Matthew Perry still ‘visits’ her after death (PAGE SIX)

📌 Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade gets married and shared dance with Dad (TMZ)

📌 Zac Brown's estranged wife fires back after country star granted temporary restraining order (FOX NEWS)

✓ Access the member-only Instagram with weekly deep dives and Q&A’s
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✓ Support Mo News and help us provide independent, non-partisan news coverage

🗓 ON THIS DAY: MAY 21

• 1927: American pilot Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight between New York to Paris. Five years later, Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to complete the solo, nonstop transatlantic flight.

• 1971: Marvin Gaye released his eleventh studio album ‘What’s Going On.’

• 1980: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was released in theaters.

• 2005: The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka, opened at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey.

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day.

The Rundown is the world’s largest AI newsletter, read by over 600,000 professionals from companies like Apple, OpenAI, NASA, Tesla, and more.

Their expert research team spends all day learning what’s new in AI and gives you ‘the rundown’ of the most important developments in one free email every morning.

The result? Readers not only keep up with the insane pace of AI but also learn why it actually matters.

Sign up with one click.