🌊 A Debate Offer He Can’t Refuse

Who says TikTok doesn’t have high-brow content?

In the words of Lee Corso… not so fast, Capitol Hill! Before we ban TikTok for its alleged CCP masterplan of corrupting the youth and harvesting their data, let’s not forget the dancing app’s virtues. Sometimes the platform elevates sophisticated, Michelin-star content. For example, a video on the brand-new account of our, ahem, new podcast We The 66 — in which one Max challenges the other Max to name the three words in the English language that start with “dw” — has over 4.7 million views. See, it’s not all junk — there’s some high-value stuff. Democracy dies in dwarkness!

–Max, Max, Jen, and Alex

KEY STORY

Who Killed Navalny?

The US intelligence community believes Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the killing of Alexei Navalny

• Navalny – Putin’s most prominent domestic political opponent – died in a Russian prison on February 16 at age 47. He reportedly collapsed after a walk

• While there has been widespread speculation that Putin ordered his killing, on Saturday, several outlets reported that US intelligence agencies believe the evidence – including the date of Navalny’s death – suggests Putin didn’t order the killing

• Some of Navalny’s allies disputed that finding, with one calling it “ridiculous”

Dig Deeper

• The intelligence agencies didn’t deny Putin’s culpability, but said a combination of classified intelligence, public facts, and the timing of the death – which came days before Putin’s re-election and overshadowed it – suggest Putin would not have ordered it

• One Navalny ally said that anyone who believes Putin didn’t know of the killing “clearly [does] not understand anything about how modern day Russia runs”

• A prominent Polish think tank director said, “The chances for this kind of unintended death are low”

KEY STORY

Biden vs. Trump

President Biden said he will debate Donald Trump

• The Biden campaign had been dodging the question of whether he would do so. Some of his supporters were urging him against it for fear of “platforming” or strengthening Trump

• On Friday, though, talk show host Howard Stern asked Biden if he will debate Trump. Biden replied, “I am, somewhere, I don’t know when, but I am happy to debate him”

• Trump responded that he will do so “ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE,” and proposed doing so that night at the courthouse where he’s on trial 

Dig Deeper

• Earlier in April, the five major TV news networks and the Associated Press published a letter urging the two candidates to debate

• Three debates are on the calendar, with the first scheduled for September 16

SPONSORED

VPN 🤝 Apple TV

Together with Surfshark

It’s finally here! Surfshark just launched Apple TV VPN app as the latest addition to its suite of VPN apps – included at no extra cost for all Surfshark users

• Similar to the websites you visit on the web, the videos or shows you watch can be tracked and used for data-hungry practices like targeted advertisements

• Surfshark’s VPN for Apple TV hides your IP address and encrypts traffic so you can watch content safely and avoid targeted ads

• And Roca's favorite feature: You can use the VPN to unlock your favorite shows abroad. The opportunities are endless, especially since Surfshark offers 3200+ servers in 100 countries!

Dig Deeper

• Setup is easy: Install Surfshark VPN dedicated Apple TV app via the App Store and connect!

• If you don't have one already, create your Surfshark account today and tap into the world's best shows securely

KEY STORY

TikTok: Rather Die Than Sell

Four sources told Reuters that ByteDance would rather shut TikTok down than sell it

• ByteDance derives most of its revenue from China-based apps. TikTok – which loses money – accounts for an estimated 25% of its revenue

• Sources told Reuters that ByteDance must protect the algorithms that power TikTok, because those are essential to other parts of ByteDance’s business. They said ByteDance would rather take the hit to its business by shutting TikTok than lose those algorithms

• Sources say it is likely impossible to sell TikTok without its algorithm

Dig Deeper

• Regardless of what ByteDance wants, China’s government has indicated it will not allow a forced sale to proceed

• “China will firmly oppose [a sale],” a government spokesperson said last year, adding that any sale “must go through” a government approval process

KEY STORY

Menthols Can Stay

The Biden administration delayed a ban on menthol cigarettes

• Since 2021, Biden had been preparing to ban cigarettes containing menthol, the minty chemical in peppermint which has a cooling effect on smoke

• Black smokers are nearly three times as likely to smoke menthols –which are shown to be more addictive than other cigarettes – as white smokers

• On Friday, the Biden administration announced it would suspend its efforts to ban menthols, in what some analysts called a bid to boost Biden’s electoral support among black voters

• Polls suggest that demographic is nearly six times as likely to support Trump as it was in 2020

Dig Deeper

• The ban had been labeled a "critical piece" of the government's plan to reduce cancer deaths. Many prominent black Americans supported it as a way to prevent cancer cases

• Others opposed it, either because they liked the cigarettes or because they feared a ban would create a black market resulting in crime, racial profiling, and other consequences

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

📈 Driven by AI-related demand for cloud services, Alphabet’s (Google’s owner) and Microsoft’s combined market cap rose by $250B+ on Friday

🛍️ Personal consumption expenditures – the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric – rose to 2.7% in the year to March, higher than the 2.5% in the year to February and the 2.6% economists had predicted

🇮🇱 Israel’s government said it would delay its planned attack on Rafah if Hamas agrees to release some hostages. Hamas has said it is considering the deal

🌐 The Biden administration restored “net neutrality,” which prevents internet service providers from charging companies or consumers more for faster or slower broadband internet

✈️ A Delta Boeing 767 flight from New York to LA lost an emergency slide shortly after takeoff. It returned to New York and was removed from service for an evaluation

🎓 An ex-DEI employee at the University of Minnesota sued the university after it fired her for posing in front of a flag with swastikas on it

COMMUNITY

We founded RocaNews because we wanted news companies to give us just the facts – not tell us what to think. That inspires us to do the “Roca Votes” story each week, in which we summarize a controversial topic and see how Roca Nation feels about it.

Read the Wrap below and let us know: How should Columbia respond to a student who said “Zionists… need to not exist?” Our Wrap has the full context. Please read the full story below and reply to this email to let us know what you think!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

💨 Vape me, sub: A substitute teacher admitted to providing a vape to a seventh-grade student at an Oklahoma middle school so the student would “be her friend”

🌳🫂 Trees need hugs, too: A master’s student from Ghana at Auburn University set a world record by hugging 1,123 trees in one hour at Alabama’s Tuskegee National Forest

🚔 Your a** is grass: Indiana authorities arrested a 53-year-old man they claim shot his neighbor following a dispute over mowing grass

🕶 Hater shades: A Mexican man claimed victory over Cartier after a site error let him purchase two pairs of earrings for $28 instead of $28,000. “War is over. Cartier is complying,” the man wrote on X

Born-again passenger: A 101-year-old woman keeps getting mistaken for a baby because of a glitch with American Airlines’ booking system, which is unable to process a birth date so far in the past

ROCA VOTES
In Their Own Words

One of the biggest stories this week was the protests at US colleges.

On some of the US’ most prestigious campuses, students demanding that their universities “boycott, divest, and sanction” Israel clashed with police; forced the cancelation of classes; and threw graduation ceremonies into doubt.

The most newsworthy protests may have been at Columbia, where Jewish students alleged harassment and threats by protesters camping out in the campus’s main quad.

Those students said they didn’t feel safe going to class, prompting a group of senators to urge New York’s governor to call in the National Guard.

Protesters denied that they were menacing anyone.

Last Thursday night, a video of one of the protest leaders, Khymani James, who uses “he, she, they” pronouns, went viral.

In January, Columbia opened an investigation into James for writing, “Zionists in my DM wanting to meet up and fight. I don't fight to injure or for there to be a winner or a loser. I fight to kill.”

James – who this week led a news conference about the protesters’ demands – had livestreamed his hearing with the investigation panel. Here’s some of what he said then.

Investigator: Do you think that there's a serious weight in taking someone else's life?

James: I think there is a serious weight in taking someone's life. And at the same time, I think that taking someone's life in certain key scenarios is necessary and better for the overall world…And so just like that, during the Haitian Revolution, the Haitian slaves had to kill their masters in order to gain their independence. These were masters who were white supremacists. What is a Zionist? A white supremacist…There should not be Zionists anywhere. Zionists are Nazis.

James: A lot of people agree that Hitler needed to die in order for world order to move forward and in order to establish some inkling of world peace. And so if we can agree as a society as a collective that people need to die if they have an ideology that results in the death of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions – if there are people like that who exist, shouldn't they die?

James: Why would we want people who are supporters of genocide to live? I'm confused. Zionists, along with all white supremacists, need to not exist because they actively kill and harm vulnerable people. They stop the world from progressing…And so be glad, be grateful that I'm not just going out and murdering Zionists.

James: They don't deserve to live comfortably, let alone Zionists don't deserve to live the same way. We're very comfortable accepting that Nazis don't deserve to live. Fascists don't deserve to live. Racists don't deserve to live. Zionists, they shouldn't live in this world.

James: The existence of Nazis, white supremacists, Zionists, these are all the same people. The existence of them and the projects they have built, i.e. Israel, it's all antithetical to peace. It's all antithetical to peace. And so, yes, I feel very comfortable, very comfortable calling for those people to die.

James: And with that being said, Khymani is signed out. See you in New York real soon.

Early Friday morning, as the video went viral, James posted a statement on X.

“On Thursday, a video of me taken back in January began to circulate online. What I said was wrong. Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without qualification.”

“Here is what I wish I had said in the video that is circulating of me: 1. I affirm the sanctity of all life and the movement for liberation. This applies to all people… 2. Zionism is an ideology that necessitates the genocide of the Palestinian people. I oppose that in the strongest terms. 3. All people deserve to be safe from physical harm. Palestinians have been subjected to decades of brutal violence and now genocide by Israel. The Israeli government and military should be held accountable for their actions.”

It’s unclear whether the university is taking any action against James, who, in a 2021 interview, had said his “ultimate destination is Congress.”

That leads us to this week’s topic: How should Columbia respond to James? Should the school suspend them, expel them, issue no discipline, or something else?

Reply to this email to let us know what you think!

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

We hope you enjoyed your final April weekend, Roca!

We have some exciting and original content in the works over the next month, from on-the-ground reports around the world to domestic and investigative stories. As always, send us any requests. We love to hear from you!

— Max, Max, Alex and Jen