Data Center Backlash Spreads Across Rural America

Trump Halts Iran Strike at Gulf Leaders' Request

Three Killed in San Diego Mosque Shooting Probed as Hate Crime

Trump Settles IRS Suit With $1.8B Weaponization Fund

NYC Press Passes for Mangione Supporters Draw Criticism

Data Center Backlash Spreads Across Rural America

Hill County, Texas, southwest of Dallas, passed what may be the state's first county-level moratorium on data center construction Tuesday, as the Commissioners Court voted 3-2 to impose a yearlong ban on data centers and power plants in unincorporated areas. County officials cited an influx of as many as eight planned data centers in the area, many of which would include their own power plants. "I'm not trying to break the law, I'm not trying to thumb my nose at the governor or the Legislature, but my constituents, my people, are literally begging for help right now, and I have no other mechanism but this," County Judge Shane Brassell, a Republican who voted for the moratorium, said Thursday. Texas has hundreds of data centers operating or in development, second only to Virginia among U.S. states. Opposition has spread across both Democratic and Republican-led regions, with a Missouri town last month ousting all four incumbent city council members who approved a data center and North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein highlighting that sales tax exemptions for data centers cost the state up to $57 million annually.

The trend has drawn commentary from prominent tech analyst Ben Thompson, who framed the resistance as a reversal of the political dynamics that shaped globalization. Thompson observed that when American factories closed and jobs moved to China, affected workers and Rust Belt communities had no formal say in decisions that upended their lives, leaving many to relocate or struggle with addiction. Building data centers, by contrast, requires permits and local approvals, giving residents a veto that globalization never afforded. Thompson cautioned that this does not mean opponents are well-informed about data center economics or the broader impact of artificial intelligence, but it explains why communities sidelined by earlier waves of economic disruption are now exercising leverage they never had.

Politico / Stratechery

Trump Halts Iran Strike at Gulf Leaders' Request

President Trump said Monday he would hold off on a planned U.S. attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders to make room for negotiations with Tehran over a prospective deal to end the war. In a social-media post, Trump said he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other U.S. military officials not to proceed with the attack, which he said had been scheduled for Tuesday. He warned he had "further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large-scale assault of Iran, on a moment's notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached." Trump said the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates asked him to hold off because "serious negotiations are now taking place." A day earlier, he had warned that the "clock is ticking" and that if Iran did not engage on peace negotiations "there won't be anything left of them." Speaking to reporters Monday, Trump called the prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough "a very positive development, but we'll see whether it amounts to anything."

WSJ

Three Killed in San Diego Mosque Shooting Probed as Hate Crime

Three people were killed Monday at the Islamic Center of San Diego in a shooting authorities said they were investigating as a hate crime. Police Chief Scott Wahl said two teenage gunmen are believed to have killed three men, including a security guard, at the mosque, and one of the shooters was a teenager whose mother had reported him missing hours earlier. Shortly after officers arrived at the scene, they found a landscaper a few blocks away who appeared to have been shot in the helmet and is expected to recover. The two suspects were located a short distance from there with self-inflicted gunshot wounds inside a vehicle stopped in the middle of the street. Earlier that morning, the mother of one suspect had told police she believed her son was suicidal and that he was missing along with her vehicle and several of her weapons, and that he was traveling with a companion, both dressed in camouflage. Wahl said the mother had also found a note her son left containing "generalized hate rhetoric" but no specific threats toward the mosque or any other location.

WSJ

Trump Settles IRS Suit With $1.8B Weaponization Fund

The Trump administration on Monday created a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate alleged victims of political "weaponization" as part of a settlement of a lawsuit President Trump had filed against his own government over the mishandling of his tax records. The agreement resolves a suit in which Trump had sought $10 billion from the Internal Revenue Service, arguing the agency should have done more to prevent a former contractor from leaking his tax returns to the media. Under the terms of the deal, Trump will receive an apology but no direct financial payment. Instead, the Justice Department will administer a pool of money that can disburse payments to those who claim to have suffered "weaponization or lawfare" by the U.S. government. The formal governance structure for the fund has not yet been published.

Reuters

NYC Press Passes for Mangione Supporters Draw Criticism

Three self-described supporters of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, were issued city press credentials by Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration ahead of a key hearing in Mangione's case Monday. The three women, Abril Rios, Ashley Rojas and Lena Weissbrot, received the passes in connection with online content they have produced documenting the upcoming trial. Speaking from the steps of a Manhattan courthouse with her city-issued press pass visible, Rojas said, "F—k Brian Thompson. That's all I want to say. F—k Brian Thompson. F—k his mom." Mangione's case has attracted an online following of supporters who frame his alleged actions as a political statement against the healthcare industry. The decision by City Hall to credential individuals openly hostile to the murder victim has prompted criticism from conservative media outlets covering the proceedings.

New York Post

MAY 19 1967: SOVIETS RATIFY TREATY BANNING NUCLEAR WEAPONS FROM OUTER SPACE

The Soviet Union formally approved a United Nations–brokered treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons and military bases in outer space and on other celestial bodies. The agreement, already endorsed by the United States, Great Britain and dozens of nations, marked an early step in limiting the nuclear arms race during the Cold War.

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Sources

1. Politico / Stratechery (Ben Thompson)
2. WSJ
3. WSJ
4. Reuters
5. New York Post