TOP STORIES

Tuesday, May 15

(Get this roundup directly in your inbox each weekday sign up for The Morning Email here .)

ISRAEL NOT RESPONSIBLE The White House has said Israel is not to blame for the 58 Palestinian protesters shot dead by Israeli troops on the Gaza border Monday an act of violence carried out while Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner led celebrations in Jerusalem for the relocation of the U.S. Embassy. More clashes are expected in the Palestinian territories today the 70th anniversary of the creation of Israel , which Palestinians call the Nakba, or catastrophe. [HuffPost ] [Tweet | Share on Facebook ]

THE CHINA HUSTLE Donald Trump s sudden desire to help Chinese phone manufacturer ZTE came just 72 hours after the Chinese government agreed to put a half-billion dollars into an Indonesian project that will personally enrich the president. [HuffPost ]

MUQTADA MAKEOVER Muqtada al-Sadr, the populist cleric who once led two uprisings against U.S. forces Iraq, has reinvented himself as a politician and is favorite to win the countrys parliamentary election. [Reuters ]

BLAKE NEWS Blake Farenthold has a new job. A month after the Texas Republican quit Congress amid an ethics committee probe into alleged sexual harassment, Farenthold landed a gig at a Texas port authority. His role? Lobbying Congress. [HuffPost ]

MELANIA HOSPITALIZED Melania Trump will spend the week in the hospital after surgery for a benign kidney condition. [HuffPost ]

REID SURGERY Harry Reid has also undergone surgery. The former Senate Democratic leader is being treated for pancreatic cancer, his family said. [HuffPost ]

WHATS BREWING

PRUITT PROTECTION AGENCY Scott Pruitt received an around-the-clock security detail from his first day at the Environmental Protection Agency over fears of a backlash against Trumps early policies. [The Washington Post ]

FOX PUNDIT OFF PISTE Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano likely shed a few viewers Monday defending the work of Robert Mueller during a segment calling for an end to the special counsels probe. [HuffPost ]

LEAKY BLINDERS Trump posted a confused tweet Monday claiming the recent slew of White House leaks are a fiction of the Fake News Media, while in the same tweet calling the leakers who he said do not exist cowards and traitors who will be caught. Got it. [HuffPost ]

LOIS LOST Margot Kidder, the actress who starred opposite Christopher Reeve in the Superman films, has died at age 69. Vanity Fair explains why Kidder was the definitive Lois Lane. [HuffPost ]

TOMI TAKEDOWN A genealogist looked at Tomi Lahrens family history to disprove the Fox News hosts comments about low-skilled immigrants. [HuffPost ]

ALL BETS ARE ON The Supreme Court has struck down a federal ban on sports gambling, paving the way for legalized sports betting across the United States. [HuffPost ]

BEFORE YOU GO