🌊 Le Pen Is Off To The Pen

Roca’s had enough. Partisan news it is.

We considered making an April Fools joke in the intro, but reality has been sufficiently bizarre as of late. Even the April Fools jokes we’re seeing online are falling flat — none of them seem implausible. What would surprise you at this point? Maybe @Congress tweeting out that they passed a law? A live-action remake from Disney that doesn’t suck? A spring rain where your dad resists the urge to say, “We needed this”? Make the Mundane Normal Again. That’s our slogan this year.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

New Antibiotic Discovered

Scientists believe they have discovered a new, potentially revolutionary antibiotic molecule

• In an article published last week in the journal Nature, a team of scientists announced the discovery of a new antibiotic molecule found in a soil sample taken from a lab worker’s home garden

• When tested against a disease-causing gut bacterium, the molecule was found to be effective at killing the bacteria while also being safe for humans

• The molecule works differently from other common antibiotics in how it attacks bacteria, raising hopes that it could become a revolutionary new antibiotic

Dig Deeper 

• The new molecule, produced naturally by another bacterium, is different from other commonly-used antibiotics in that it targets bacteria’s ribosomes, which create proteins

• Since bacteria do not develop resistance easily to antibiotics that target the ribosome, the new antibiotic molecule may be a major discovery

• The researchers are now working on improving its efficacy as a potential drug, but note that further studies are necessary to verify the breakthrough and study its applications to medicine

KEY STORY

America’s Secret Role In Ukraine

A NYT investigation found that the US was far more involved in the war in Ukraine than previously known

• Per the NYT, US officials based in Germany regularly supplied Ukrainian counterparts with coordinates of Russian forces in Ukraine, calling them “points of interest” rather than “targets” to avoid the perception that the US was directing strikes

• The relationship deepened when the US supplied Ukraine with HIMARS mobile rocket launchers in 2022, causing Russian casualty rates to surge

• The article also detailed how the US crossed its own “red lines” by giving increasingly powerful weapons

Dig Deeper

• Yet the article also documented how discord between American and Ukrainian commanders, exacerbated by supply shortages and disagreements within senior Ukrainian leadership, led to problems on the battlefield

• That culminated in Ukraine’s failed 2023 counteroffensive, which cost the country dearly in troops, war materiel, and morale

• The article also documented how wartime pressures, coupled with the close US-Ukraine relationship, convinced the Biden administration to give Ukraine increasingly powerful weapons, repeatedly crossing “red lines” that the Pentagon had previously drawn to prevent a broader war

QUOTE OF THE DAY

ROCA’S SPONSOR

Don’t let a broken heater break the bank

Together with Money

Home repair costs have surged in recent years due to inflation and supply chain issues, making unexpected breakdowns a financial burden for homeowners

• Fortunately, a home warranty could help cover the repair and replacement of your home appliances and systems for a reasonable monthly fee

• Check out Money’s list of the Best Home Warranties and start protecting your essential appliances.

• See the list here!

KEY STORY

Top FDA Official Resigns

Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine official, resigned, citing disputes with HHS Secretary Kennedy on vaccines

• Marks had worked at the FDA since 2012 and led its vaccines division since 2016, including Pres. Trump’s first-term Covid-19 vaccine development initiative

• In his resignation letter, Marks said he had hoped to work with Kennedy on “concerns regarding vaccine safety,” but said, “It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary”

• An HHS official, meanwhile, said, “If Peter Marks does not want to get behind restoring science to its golden standard…then he has no place at FDA”

Dig Deeper

• Pharmaceutical stocks dropped upon news of Marks’ resignation, compounding worries that President Trump’s April 2 tariffs will include drugs, which are normally excluded from tariffs

• The S&P 500 biotech ETF – a grouping of shares of different pharmaceutical companies – dropped nearly 5% on Monday, while shares of vaccine-focused companies like Moderna and BioNTech dropped roughly 8% and 5%, respectively

KEY STORY

Le Pen Sentenced

A court banned France’s top conservative politician, Marine Le Pen, from running for office for 5 years

• Le Pen led France’s right-wing party National Rally from 2011 to 2021, bringing it into the mainstream. She was considered a frontrunner to replace French Pres. Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 pres. election

• On Monday, Le Pen was convicted of embezzling EU funds. She was given four years of house arrest and a five-year politics ban, barring her from running in 2027

• Le Pen is expected to appeal, but that process could take years. That means that, even if it were later overturned, the ban could stop her from running

Dig Deeper

• While Le Pen can appeal the conviction and the politics ban, the process can take years to conclude, meaning that – even if it were overturned – the appeal trial could extend beyond the 2027 presidential election.

• However, appealing the decision would put her two-year house arrest sentence on hold

• The National Rally’s president Jordan Bardella is well-positioned to take the party’s helm in 2027. A recent poll from the French Institute of Public Opinion found that “Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella largely dominate the candidacy preferences, with 42% and 43% of respondents respectively wanting them to run”

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

📱 Elon Musk’s AI company xAI bought his social media platform X for $45B in an all-stock transaction that valued xAI at $80B and X at $33B (+$12B in debt)

🏛️ The Supreme Court appeared likely to side with a Catholic charity that sued Wisconsin, alleging the organization should be exempt from taxation as a religious organization

📉 The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their worst quarterly losses since 2022 after a turbulent day of trading on Monday

🇺🇸 The Trump Administration deported 17 more alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador’s maximum security prison, known as CECOT, on Sunday night

🏫 The Trump Administration’s multi-agency Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is scrutinizing $255M+ in contracts with Harvard University, as well as $8.7B in multiyear grants

What does Roca Nation think?

🧠 Yesterday’s Question: Enough culture war/political hot topics: What was the highlight of your weekend?

🧐 Today’s Question: Pop star Chappell Roan says none of her friends who are parents with little kids seem happy. Is that true in your experience?

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

⛹️ No More Madness in March?: For the second time in tournament history, all four #1 seeds have reached the NCAA March Madness Final Four

🖼️ Antique Store Jackpot: A Pennsylvania woman bought a $12 drawing at an antique store that art experts say could be an original Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting worth up to $1M

👮 School Ban To Police Van: Parents of a nine-year-old girl were arrested by police in the UK after criticizing their daughter's primary school leadership in a WhatsApp group

🥸 Polish Politician’s Pseudonym Scandal: A Polish presidential candidate has been ridiculed after it was revealed he disguised himself as a fictional author on TV to promote his own book about 1980s gangsters

🇬🇧 Politicians To Influencers?: Labour members of the UK parliament are working with popular YouTubers to turn politicians into social media influencers

ROCA WRAP
Tesla Targets

Rome

A fire at a Tesla dealership in this city destroyed 17 cars and sparked a special police investigation.

Rome, Italy's historic capital, became the site of what appears to be a politically motivated attack against Tesla vehicles early Monday morning. The fire broke out around 4:30 AM local time at a dealership on the eastern outskirts of the city, destroying 17 vehicles and partially damaging the facility. Drone images revealed rows of charred Tesla cars in the parking lot. No injuries were reported.

Italy's special police unit Digos has launched an investigation into the incident and is reportedly examining the possibility that anarchists set fire to the cars.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the Rome fire with a single word on X: "terrorism." Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini expressed solidarity with Musk, writing, "Too much unjustified hatred against the Tesla car company. The season of hate and conflict must come to an end.”

But the attack in Rome was not isolated: On the same day, two Tesla stores in Sweden's Stockholm and Malmö were vandalized with orange paint, with police detaining four people. These incidents appear to be part of a pattern of vandalism targeting Tesla properties across several countries.

The attacks come as Musk has increasingly aligned himself with right-wing political movements, including several across Europe.

As Musk's technological empire intersects with his political activism, his companies' physical assets have increasingly found themselves caught in the crossfire.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Yesterday, almost in unison, we both said, “I am politic’ed out.” Indeed, the news cycle has been relentless for the last six months — so much politics, so much culture war, so much fighting. Why can’t there be sunshine and rainbows?

Well, we got sunshine and rainbows in our inbox yesterday evening with your answers to our question of the day. Your weekend highlights — which ranged from “I gave birth” to “happy hour at Chili’s” — reminded us of the bigger things in life and how news is largely just noise. So much to cherish in life.

–Max and Max