Trump Admin Policy That Could Help Tobacco Industry Came After Big Donation From Tobacco CompanyReynolds American, a tobacco company, gave $5 million to a Trump-back super PAC just before the administration unveiled new policies that could give the tobacco industry a major boost.The new rules would allow tobacco companies to sell flavored vapes, something previous administrations have tried to limit — including President Donald Trump's administration in his first term.The New York Times reports the donation came April 30, and two days later, two lobbyists and an executive from Reynolds, along with representatives for another tobacco company, had lunch with Trump at one of his Florida golf clubs. New guidance on flavored vapes was issued by the Food and Drug Administration less than a week later.Read more at The New York Times:Latest Live UpdatesState Department Issues New Travel Guidance Amid Ebola Outbreak In Congo, UgandaThe State Department issued new travel restrictions amid an Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda.The department shared an alert Thursday that said American citizens and lawful permanent residents traveling to the U.S. within 21 days of being in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan may only enter the country through Washington Dulles International Airport in the D.C. area. Travelers will go through an enhanced public health screening as a precaution due to the Ebola outbreak.Read the full notice here:NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani To Launch Twitch Series, Polygon ReportsNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to launch a streaming series on Twitch on Thursday called "Talk With the People," Polygon first reported.Mamdani will answer questions that viewers can submit via the streaming show's chat, beginning at 4 p.m. ET Thursday. “With the launch of ‘Talk with the People’ we’re bringing City Hall to the platforms where New Yorkers already are — speaking directly with the people,” Mamdani told Polygon in a written statement.“By launching the country’s first recurring cross-platform stream hosted by an elected official, where I’ll answer New Yorkers’ questions live on Twitch, we’re opening up a direct line of conversation between our government and the people, especially younger generations who’ve been ignored for too long.”U.S. Jobless Claims Fell To 209,000 Last WeekWASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans filed for jobless aid last week as layoffs remain low despite a number of uncertainties that continue to cloud the economy.U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 16 fell by 3,000 to 209,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 213,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.Despite historically low layoffs, the labor market appears to be stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state. That’s kept the unemployment rate low at 4.3%, but left many of those out of work struggling to find new employment.Spencer Pratt Says He Became A Republican Due To Death Threats During Reality TV Show FameLos Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt during an interview on Wednesday shared that he joined the Republican Party in response to numerous death threats he and his family received during his fame in the entertainment industry.“When I was a hated reality star, I got so many death threats,” Pratt told CNN's Elex Michaelson. “I had so much security and police, and what did they tell me to do? Get a gun.”The ex-reality TV star also argued Los Angeles is “dangerous if you’re hated,” adding that both he and his wife, Heidi, eventually sought "CCWs," or permits to carry concealed weapons, and bought firearms.He added that Republican support for concealed carry rights influenced his ties to the GOP.“The only people that supported a CCW was a Republican,” Pratt said.Pratt, a registered Republican who has said he voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, is running as an independent in the nonpartisan race for mayor of Los Angeles.Throughout his campaign, he has sought to distance himself from the MAGA movement and cast himself as a nonpartisan candidate able to lead a staunchly liberal city with a long history of Democratic governance.Trump, Netanyahu Had Tense Call Over Next Steps In Iran: ReportsPresident Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a tense call about next steps in Iran on Tuesday, according to Axios and CNN, which cited anonymous sources. While Trump reportedly signaled that he was open to negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu urged a resumption of military action. The conversation underscored the two leaders’ divergent views on how to move forward with the war, CNN noted. The White House and the prime minister's office declined Axios’ request for comment on the story. Read more from Axios: Colorado Democratic Party Rebukes Governor After He Granted Clemency To Trump AllyThe Colorado Democratic Party censured Gov. Jared Polis (D) on Wednesday for commuting the sentence of Trump ally and election denier Tina Peters. Polis, who granted clemency to Peters last Friday, said she’d been given an “unusually harsh sentence” that was based on her speech rather than the severity of her crimes. His decision also followed significant public pressure from the president over Peters’ case. “FREE TINA!” President Donald Trump posted earlier this year. Nearly 90% of the central committee of the Colorado Democratic Party voted to formally rebuke Polis, according to The New York Times. Previously, Democrats had argued that Polis should deny Peters’ clemency requests and suggested that she still posed a threat to elections. Peters, a former Mesa County clerk, had been sentenced to nine years in prison over her efforts to breach election systems in order to prove unsubstantiated fraud allegations. Polis' office did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment about the censure. Read more from The New York Times: Trump May Sign AI Executive Order On Thursday: ReportsPresident Donald Trump may sign a new executive order on AI oversight as soon as Thursday, CNN and Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. As part of the order, AI companies would voluntarily allow the U.S. government to review advanced models before their release, enabling officials to screen for potential security risks. Trump is set to sign an executive order at 3:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, according to a schedule the White House shared with the press. That schedule did not specify the content of the order. The White House declined to comment for CNN’s story, while a spokesperson told Reuters that discussion of AI policy details was "speculation."Read more at CNN: Photo Of The Day: Ebola Cases, Deaths Continue To ClimbA woman cries as Red Cross workers carry the coffin of a person who died of Ebola at a health center in Rwampara, Congo, on Wednesday.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 51 cases have been confirmed in Congo’s northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. To date, there are 139 suspected deaths and almost 600 suspected cases, The Associated Press reported.But “the scale of the epidemic is much larger,” he said.UN Votes To Support Strong Action On Climate Change, Including ReparationsThe U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to support strong action to limit climate change despite recent diplomatic efforts by the United States to have the measure withdrawn.The 193-member world body approved a nonbinding resolution endorsing the landmark advisory opinion by the U.N.’s top court last July that called failure by countries to protect the planet from climate change a violation of international law.Read more from The Associated Press:Blanche Now Claims DOJ Will Factor In Police Assaults When Making Slush Fund PayoutsAfter refusing to answer a question about the matter Tuesday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday that the actions of rioters who injured federal officers while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, will be considered when deciding whether they receive taxpayer dollars as part of the Trump administration's $1.7 billion "anti-weaponization fund." "One of the factors the commissioners have to consider is what the claimant did," Blanche told CNN's Paula Reid. "The claimant would have to say, 'I assaulted a cop and I want money.'"Members of the commission determining payouts have yet to be announced. “Whether the commissioners will give that person money – that claimant – it’s up to them. But that’s one of the factors they have to consider,” Blanche continued.At a Senate hearing just a day earlier, Blanche declined to say whether the money from the fund would be paid out to Jan. 6 rioters who'd been convicted for assaulting officers.“There’s no limitation on the claims,” he said.Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said earlier Wednesday he plans to introduce an amendment that would bar child sex offenders and criminals who assaulted police officers from receiving any money from the fund. See All Updates