🌊 A Reconciliation at the Vatican

Happy Belated Roca Day 🌊

Five years ago yesterday, we had the idea for RocaNews. You all have since enabled this idea to become one of the fastest-growing news companies in the country with a daily readership in the millions. Max F wrote a beautiful retrospective on the anniversary — and our early days — in our We The 66 newsletter yesterday. Big News still thrives off of dividing and scaring people. We can’t go on like this. Down with Big News and here’s to many more years ahead!

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Epstein Accuser Dies

Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most outspoken victims, died by apparent suicide

• ​​Giuffre was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to work for Jeffrey Epstein when she was 16 years old. She later accused Epstein of trafficking her to England’s Prince Andrew when she was 17

• Giuffre’s reported suicide comes weeks after she was hospitalized for a serious car accident in Australia, where she lived. In a post after the crash, she said she had suffered kidney failure and that doctors had given her “four days to live,” but she was discharged after a week

• She added, “I'm ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time,” a reference to her children

Dig Deeper

• On Friday, Giuffre’s family announced that she had died from suicide. Police said that they did not suspect foul play

• In a statement, Giuffre’s family wrote, “Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors”

• It added, “Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure”

KEY STORY

Pope’s Funeral + Trump/Zelensky Meet

Over 250,000 people attended Pope Francis' funeral in Rome on Saturday

• In the coming weeks, cardinals will begin the process of selecting Francis’ successor in the “conclave,” during which 135 eligible cardinals vote to choose the next pope. That process must start by May 10 and typically takes less than one week, but can take significantly longer

• On the funeral’s sidelines, Trump held his first meeting with Zelensky since their public dispute in the Oval Office in February

• The White House said the meeting was “very productive,” while Zelensky posted on X that it was a “very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results”

Dig Deeper

• The White House called the Trump-Zelensky meeting “very productive,” while Zelensky posted on X that it was a “very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results”

• Shortly after it, Trump tweeted, "Maybe [Putin] doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?' Too many people are dying!!!"

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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KEY STORY

Wisconsin Judge Arrested

The FBI arrested a Wisconsin judge for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant escape a courtroom

• Per court documents, on April 18, Judge Hannah Dugan learned that plainclothes federal agents were in her courtroom, preparing to arrest an illegal immigrant who had been arrested for domestic abuse. After learning of the agents’ presence, Dugan demanded they leave and then escorted the migrant through an exit door. The agents then chased and arrested him

• On Friday, Dugan was arrested. In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel posted a picture of her in handcuffs and the text, “No one is above the law”

Dig Deeper

• The arrest drew mixed responses

• Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D.) criticized the Trump Administration for “[undermining] our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor,” while Attorney General Pam Bondi said the arrest sent a “strong message” that the administration will prosecute judges for obstructing justice

KEY STORY

Vancouver Attack

A man drove a car into a crowd in Vancouver, killing at least 11 and inflicting Canada’s worst mass-casualty event since 2020

• The incident took place when thousands of people were gathered at a Filipino community festival

• Police quickly deemed the incident an isolated event, said the driver acted alone, and ruled out terrorism as a motivation. The police chief said that a 30-year-old Vancouver man had been arrested and that police had formerly had “substantive contact with him over mental health issues”

• The attack came less than two days before Canada’s national elections

Dig Deeper 

• Today, Canada will hold elections to elect a new prime minister. Polls currently suggest that Canada’s Liberal prime minister, Mark Carney, is the favorite to defeat the Conservative Party’s Pierre Poilievre

• Poilievre had a 25-point lead until earlier this year, when President Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric, along with the resignation of PM Justin Trudeau, apparently triggered a substantial shift away from the Conservatives

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

💣 An explosion at Iran’s largest port killed over 40 people and injured 1,200, per Iranian state media

⚽ Liverpool sealed its 20th Premier League title after a dominant 5-1 win against Tottenham

🇧🇷 Former Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello, who held the office from 1990 to 1992, was arrested on Friday after being sentenced on corruption charges

📰 French conservative leader Jordan Bardella told French newspaper Le Parisien that he will be the right-wing National Rally party’s presidential candidate in 2027 if Marine Le Pen is ineligible

🇨🇳 China lifted tariffs on select US goods that China would face difficulty sourcing elsewhere, including chipmaking equipment, airplane engines and parts, and medical products

What does Roca Nation think?

🧐 Today’s Question: Should dating be allowed at the workplace? Why/why not?

Replay to this email with your thoughts!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

📺 Talking Twins: Identical twins in Australia went viral for speaking in exact unison during a TV interview about a reported carjacking involving their mother

🖼 Tapestry Penis Count Rises: Historians are in a heated dispute over the number of penises in the centuries-old Bayeux Tapestry, which displays the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century

✉ $400,000 Titanic Letter: A letter written on the Titanic before it sank was sold for almost $400,000 at auction, far past its original estimate of $79,000

🏈 Draft Day Prank: The son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich took responsibility for a prank draft call to Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders during his unexpected slide to the fifth round of the NFL draft

🐩 Sausage Dog Survivor: A missing miniature dachshund was rescued on Friday after spending 529 days on an Australian island and is “doing really, really well,” according to wildlife rescuers

ROCA WRAP
Kardashian Heist

Paris

A trial is beginning in this city for the robbers accused of holding Kim Kardashian at gunpoint.

Paris, the glamorous French capital known for fashion, art, and luxury, attracts celebrities from around the world, particularly during its prestigious Fashion Week. Its upscale hotels and private residences offer discretion and exclusivity for high-profile visitors, though security can sometimes be compromised.

In October 2016, one of these luxury accommodations – the Hotel de Pourtalès – became the scene of a notorious robbery that would make headlines worldwide.

In the early hours of October 3, 2016, five men dressed as police officers allegedly burst into Kim Kardashian's suite, tied her up at gunpoint, and stole jewelry worth approximately $10M, including a $4M engagement ring from then-husband Kanye West. After binding Kardashian with zip ties and duct tape, the robbers fled on bicycles and on foot, leaving her in the bathroom where she managed to free herself.

Nearly nine years later, ten suspects – most born in the 1950s – are facing trial in Paris, earning them the nickname "the grandpa robbers" in French media. Two of the accused have confessed to the crime; the others have not.

One of the confessors later wrote in a memoir that he didn't realize who their victim was until seeing the news the next day, stating the Kardashian robbery was intended to be his "last job before retirement."

Despite their experience, the robbers made numerous amateur mistakes, including leaving DNA evidence at the scene and getting captured on Paris's extensive CCTV network. One thief also dropped a bag of jewels while fleeing on a bicycle, and a diamond-encrusted necklace was later found and worn by an unsuspecting passerby. Phone tracking also revealed that one suspect traveled to Antwerp, Belgium, a global diamond trading hub, although Kardashian's famous engagement ring was reportedly never sold as it was too recognizable.

Kardashian is expected to testify at the trial in mid-May. Perhaps this time, the criminals will recognize her.

ROCA VIDEO
The Real Candace Owens: From Bullied Teen to Conspiracy Queen

Over the last 15 years, Candace Owens has reinvented herself over and over and over again — each time more controversial, each time more influential. Today she's one of the biggest podcasters in the world, with a per-episode audience that beats primetime CNN and Fox. But she wasn't always this way. This video tells her story.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

We hope you all had a better weekend than Shedeur Sanders who plummeted from a possible fifth overall selection to the 144th overall pick in round five. To make matters worse, he had thrown a draft day party with “Legendary” plastered around the room and the next day got prank called by an Ole Miss fan pretending to be an NFL GM.

Let’s have a great week! Don’t let the Monday blues get to you. Excelsior!

–Max and Max