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It’s Tax Day 2024,

And on days like today Alaska and New Hampshire are looking pretty good! Federal (and most state) income taxes are due today. State taxes can have a major impact on how much Americans pay overall every year.

• States at play: Looking at different forms of taxes in states (like income, property, and sales taxes), WalletHub calculated how much individuals’ income goes to taxes in each state. New York has the highest tax burden!

• For people not ready to file: If you are one of the 19 million people the IRS expects to file for an automatic six month extension, here’s information on that (NOTE: there’s no extension on payments, so if you think you owe $$, pay today).

  • There are other extensions too — like if you live in a federally declared disaster area or were affected by the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.

Good news: This year’s refunds are looking (on average) over 4% higher than 2023! Check the status of your refund here.

Have a good one,

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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🇮🇷 IRAN LAUNCHES HISTORIC DIRECT ATTACK ON 🇮🇱 ISRAEL WITH 300+ DRONES & MISSILES

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In an unprecedented attack, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles toward Israel Saturday night. With help from allies, including the US, UK, France, as well as Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Israel was able to intercept 99% of the weapons before they landed.

• BY THE NUMBERS: Israel says Iran fired 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles.

  • Some of the strikes reached the ground, and one damaged a military base in Israel’s south. That is in addition to all the debris from rocket and drone parts that rained down. A 7-year old Arab-Israeli girl sustained serious injuries to the head by shrapnel.

    • However, Israel’s defense system, along with help from allies, prevented serious and widespread damage — which was Iran’s goal. Roughly 50% of Iran’s missiles and drones failed to launch or crashed on their own.

The US, UK, France and Jordan intercepted over a hundred of the Iranian drones and missiles headed to Israel.

• WHY JORDAN? While the Kingdom has criticized Israel’s war in Gaza most recently, the country does not want a wider regional war or Iranian drones flying over its air space.

• WHERE THE DRONES WERE HEADED: Some drones brought down in Jordanian airspace were reportedly headed toward Jerusalem, which houses the holiest Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious sites.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
Israel, a country of about 10 million people, told residents to go to bunkers in the middle of the night on Saturday for several hours into Sunday before giving the all clear.

• Senior Biden administration officials said Sunday it was clear Iran’s attack on Israel was intended to cause significant damage and death–in the hundreds or possibly thousands.

  • One US official said that if the assault had been successful, “this attack could have caused an uncontrollable escalation of broader regional conflict.”

• IRAN SAYS ‘WE’RE DONE’: After launching the missile and drone barrage, Iranian leaders declared that their retaliation against Israel was over, signaling that they were not seeking to start a wider war.

HOW WE GOT HERE
On April 1, a meeting of top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) commanders who coordinate the various terror groups attacking Israel were meeting at a consulate annex near the Iranian embassy in Syria. Israel caught wind of the meeting, and given that these guys have planned deadly attacks on Israel and were planning more, decided to strike at them, killing two top IRGC commanders and 13 officials overall. Though, notably, Israel has never officially acknowledged the attack.

• For Israel, October 7th changed the calculus. Specifically, that containment of neighboring threats doesn’t work and that going after junior partners like Hamas and Hezbollah is sufficient. The new strategy: attack the mastermind behind regional chaos: Iran.

• For the Iranian regime, these commanders were heroes who were technically killed on “Iranian soil” since it was a diplomatic complex. Iran vowed that it would retaliate against Israel—and it appears hardliners won out with the massive show of force Saturday. Some US and Israeli officials were expecting something smaller and more proportional.

  • A reminder that Iranian rulers have a vision of an all Islamic-led Middle East led by their ideology, free of all American influence and one where Israel is destroyed and replaced with Palestine. Hence the regime mottos: “Death to America” and “Death To Israel.”

UNPRECEDENTED
This weekend’s drone and missile barrage was a major escalation in regional tensions — Israel and Iran have attacked each other’s assets since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, but Tehran has never directly attacked Israeli soil.

• Iran also has funded the “axis of resistance,” terror groups who aim to take out Israel, which includes the Palestinian group Hamas; Hezbollah in Lebanon; the Houthis in Yemen; various Shi'ite armed groups in Iraq and Syria. The Houthis and Hezbollah joined the attack on Saturday.

WORLD LEADERS WEIGH-IN
The G7 unilaterally condemned the Iranian attack against Israel yesterday after leaders met to discuss next steps. The group vowed support of Israel, should further support be needed. However, President Biden says the US won’t support an Israeli counter-attack on Iran over fears of widespread war in the Middle East.

President Biden is pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show restraint and prevent a wider regional war. There is also that ongoing war in Gaza that is now more than 6 months old.

• Some Israeli war cabinet members had urged an immediate retaliatory strike, but that was called off due to the success of the Israeli defense shield and after Netanyahu spoke with Biden.

  • Biden reportedly told Netanyahu, "You got a win. Take the win.”

US ASSISTANCE
It’s important that Biden has said the US has Israel’s back, but will not assist in any offensive response. That limits Israeli counter-attack options.

• The US has numerous bases including aircraft carriers that would put Israeli jets in much better position to strike back.

• BUT COULD $ BE COMING?: Over in the US House of Representatives, the attacks seem to have galvanized support for stalled aid packages for Israel. House Speaker Mike Johnson said yesterday that he will try to advance funding this week for Israel, as well as for Ukraine and US allies in Asia.

WHAT’S NEXT
Israel knows they’re walking a fine line: they want to deter Iran from striking again, but they don’t want to hit back so hard that this becomes all out war. The country’s war cabinet has been authorized to respond to the attack and met on Sunday.

• Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said that the confrontation with Iran was “not over yet.”

• War cabinet member Benny Gantz said that Israel needs to “build a regional coalition and exact a price from Iran, in a way and at a time that suits us.”

  • Israel will likely respond to what Iran INTENDED to happen, not what actually happened given the success of the missile defense.

• WHAT COULD ISRAEL TARGET? They may hit drone factories, air defense sites, IRGC sites. And then there is the big one, Iran’s nuclear bomb development sites. But those would be very tough without US help and special bombs that can go deep underground. That’s where Iran is building their nuke program. They learned lesson from Syria and Iraq, who each built nuclear reactors mainly above ground. Israel destroyed Iraq’s in 1981 and Syria’s in 2007.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Trump’s first criminal trial begins today: Here is what to watch (PBS)

📌 Supreme Court tackles Jan. 6 obstruction charge with Trump case looming (NBC NEWS)

📌 Texas county at center of border fight is overwhelmed by migrant deaths (WASHINGTON POST)

📌 RFK Jr. says he has ruled out Libertarian run for president (ABC NEWS)

📌 Multi-day severe weather threat this week for Northeast and Central US (CNN)

📌 Biden closes gap on Trump but third-party candidates pose danger, polls show (GUARDIAN)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Attacker in stabbing rampage at Sydney mall kills 6, wounds 9-month old baby (NBC NEWS)

📌 Italy’s prime minister says surrogacy ‘inhuman’ as party backs steeper penalties (CNN)

📌 West Bank sees biggest settler rampage since war in Gaza began as Israeli teen’s body is found (AP)

📌 Drones are crowding Ukraine’s skies, largely paralyzing battlefield (WASHINGTON POST)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Bird flu is spreading to more farm animals. Are milk and eggs safe? (AP)

📌 Oil seen opening up after Iran's attack on Israel, but further gains may depend on response (REUTERS)

📌 How to get rid of NYC rats without brutality? Birth control is one idea (ABC NEWS)

📌 A pet octopus upends a family’s life and destroyed their home after giving birth to 50 babies (DAILY MAIL)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Payouts, winnings for Scottie Scheffler, each golfer from $20 million pool (CBS SPORTS) The landline’s not dead (at least at the Masters) (NY TIMES)

📌 Sofia Vergara goes Instagram official with new boyfriend as she recovers from 'major knee surgery’ (FOX NEWS)

📌 No Doubt reunites at Coachella for the first time since 2015 — with special guest Olivia Rodrigo (PEOPLE)

📌 ‘Golden Bachelor’ host Jesse Palmer breaks silence on Gerry Turner’s shock divorce (NY POST)

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

🗓 ON THIS DAY: APRIL 15

• 1865: President Abraham Lincoln died nine hours after being shot the night before by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre.

• 1947: Jackie Robinson made his official MLB debut with the Dodgers, becoming baseball’s first Black major league player.

• 1955: McDonalds’ first franchise restaurant was opened in Des Plaines, Illinois by Ray Kroc.

• SONGS RELEASED: 1986: Janet Jackson’s ‘Nasty;’ 1996: No Doubt’s ‘Don’t Speak;’ 1997: Hanson’s ‘MMMBop.’ (Listen to today’s Mo News Podcast for what the word actually means)