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Former President Donald Trump addressed a crowd Saturday at the American Freedom Tour, a "celebration of faith, family, unalienable rights and God-given American freedoms."

Sophia Kunthara / Crunchbase News : Postscript, which helps Shopify merchants reach customers via SMS, has raised a $65M Series C led by 01 Advisors and says it now works with 8K+ Shopify brands   —  SMS marketing startup PostScript has raised $65 million in a Series C round of funding, the company said Wednesday.

DHS this week announced a move to allow Afghan civil servants who worked during the Taliban regime to be exempted from terror-related restrictions.

Hillary Clinton shut down any speculation that she may launch another bid for the presidency, saying that any future campaign would be "out of the question."

Rest of World : Despite a cratering crypto market, many traders in Latin America still see crypto as a way to circumvent unstable or stagnant economies where they live   —  Caught between rocketing inflation and a cratering crypto market, many stick with Bitcoin.  —  • MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Katie Britt and Mo Brooks are slated to face off in Alabama on Tuesday in a contentious race for the Senate to replace retiring Sen. Richard Shelby.

Democratic Rep. Val Demings of Florida, who's challenging GOP Sen. Marco Rubio,calls defunding the police ‘crazy’ in new ad, but Rubio slams her past comments on issue

Katie Schoolov / CNBC : Police and retailers say robberies are on the rise due to the ease of reselling goods online, and Amazon, Facebook, and eBay are not doing enough to stop it   —  How organized retail crime is fueled by stolen goods on Amazon and Facebook Marketplace  —  Over the past year …

Drake surprised fans with the release of his seventh studio album "Honestly, Nevermind" on Friday. The album receieved mixed reviews from listeners.

Freya Pratty / Sifted : Proximie, whose AR tech enables surgeons to virtually collaborate during surgeries, has raised a $80M Series C, bringing its total funding to $129M   —  Proximie, which was founded in 2016, states its mission as saving lives by creating a “borderless operating room”.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., predicted the House and Senate will flip into Republican control after the 2022 midterms while touting the GOP as the "party of inclusion"

Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte was vacationing in Italy when he declared a 'state of disaster' this week over the sever floods that struck Yellowstone.

A bill introduced by Republicans would reimburse Texas for the costs of Operation Lone Star.

Juror says Amber Heard had 'crocodile tears' on the stand and called Johnny Depp more believable in her first interview after the actor won his bombshell Virginia defamation trial.

Rep. Michael Guest told Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that he must address "leftwing violent extremist attacks" lodged by Jane's Revenge against pro-life centers.

Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post : The White House launches a task force to examine if existing federal laws adequately address online gender-based violence and suggest changes by the end of 2022   —  Group will create recommendations for governments, companies and schools to address the link between online harassment and violence in the wake of mass shootings

Kim Kardashian admitted during the season finale of "The Kardashians" that people would question why she remained with Kanye West if they knew the details of their relationship.

At a Senate committee hearing, Dr. Anthony Fauci saidthere is "not enough data" to show whether COVID-19 booster shots lowered death or hospitalization rates for kids.

Financial Times : Sources: BlockFi was among the groups that liquidated at least some of the positions in Three Arrows, which failed to meet margin calls this past weekend   —  BlockFi was among a clutch of firms that liquidated the Singapore-based group's positions  —  Three Arrows Capital failed to meet demands …

New York Times : Internal Kraken comms and interviews with five workers: some staff accuse CEO Jesse Powell of fostering a hateful workplace and dozens are considering quitting   —  Jesse Powell, who leads the crypto exchange Kraken, has challenged the use of preferred pronouns, debated who can use racial slurs and called American women “brainwashed.”

Ryan Gosling is set to star as Ken in the first live-action adaption of "Barbie." His co-star, Margot Robbie, will take on the title role.

Republican Mayra Flores, who won a Democratic controlled open congressional seat in Texas, says her victory sends a ‘strong message’ to Democrats

Bloomberg : In a note to staff, Spotify says it will slow hiring growth by 25%; Spotify hired 2,000+ staff from 2019 to 2021 bringing its headcount to 6,617; stock up 7%+   —  Spotify Technology SA will slow hiring growth by 25%, the latest sign of how fears of a recession are weighing on the economy.

A New Jersey Democratic state senator is pushing for legislation to replace the "offensive language" of "alien" and "illegal alien" from state statutes with the term "foreign national."

President Biden has nominated Jerry Blackwell to be a federal judge for the District of Minnesota. Blackwell was a prosecutor in the Derek Chauvin murder trial.

More than a dozen Long Island children were injured during a school field day in Wyandanch Park on Tuesday, when an inflatable slide tipped over, police said.

Kate Beioley / Financial Times : UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal backs the CMA's right to find that Meta's purchase of Giphy may harm competition, ruling against all but one appeal by Meta   —  CMA may have to look again at decision as result of Facebook parent's one successful challenge at tribunal

Hunter Biden bragged about his influence over his father's political dealings in a leaked recording recovered from his laptop.

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch : Redfin says it's laying off 470 staff, about 8% of its workforce, and Compass is laying off ~10%, or ~450, as housing demand softens amid rising interest rates   —  Says Redfin CEO: 'I said we wouldn't lay people off unless we had to.  We have to.'  —  The housing market has taken a huge hit …

Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac : Sources: Apple plans to refresh its entry-level iPad with a USB-C port instead of Lightning, an A14 chip, 5G, and an improved display, likely coming in 2022   —  Earlier this year, 9to5Mac exclusively reported that Apple was working on a new generation iPad Air to have the M1 chip and 5G support …

K-pop boy band BTS said Tuesday via a video announcement that the group would be going on a hiatus to allow the members time to focus on their solo careers.

Amber Heard says she stands by every word of her testimony -- after a jury rejected her claims that Johnny Depp physically and sexually abused her.

Jeff Bridges admitted love from his fans "probably saved" his life as he battled COVID and cancer simultaneously. "The Big Lebowski" actor is now cancer free.

"Jurassic World: Dominion" closed off its opening weekend on a high note, with $398 million globally in box office sales.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., torched House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and "Squad" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., over blocking the bill giving police protection to Supreme Court justices and their families.

Muyao Shen / Bloomberg : A look at Ethereum staking service Lido Finance, which holds 4M+ ETH or 32% of the total staked, raising centralization-related security concerns about Eth2   —  A cryptocurrency project touted as helping to democratize the Ethereum blockchain is coming under criticism for potentially taking …

The Duchess of Cambridge first attended the event in 2008 while she was dating her future husband. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge married in 2011 at Westminster Abbey.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19 just days after meeting with President Biden in Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas.

Christina Aguilera performed her biggest hits in sparkling bodysuits during an electric show at the Los Angeles Pride music festival with Mya and Paris Hilton.

Retired Gen. John Allen resigned his post as president of the Brookings Institution as his role in a 2017 dispute related to Qatar is under federal probe.

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch : Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America: startups in the region have raised $2.8B in Q1 2022, up 67% YoY and up 375% compared to Q1 2020   —  Welcome to The Interchange, a take on this week's fintech news and trends.  To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

Queen Elizabeth II is now the world's second-longest serving monarch, having recently celebrated a Platinum Jubilee event with members of the British royal family.

The National Rifle Association released a statement Sunday regarding the bipartisan group of senators who announced they reached a tentative deal on a gun control framework.

Robert Burnson / Bloomberg : Google agreed to pay $118M to settle a pay discrimination lawsuit with about 15,500 female employees, according to the lawfirms representing the women   —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google agreed to pay $118 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit with about 15,500 female employees, lawfirms representing the women said in a statement.

Taylor Swift explained her process of making "All Too Well: The Short Film" to fans at the Tribeca Film Festival Saturday before performing several of her songs.