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Israeli media is reporting Sunday that Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander could be released by Hamas as early as Monday, after direct engagement between Hamas and Washington.

"After Hamas confirms that it will release Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, which it is reportedly doing as a gesture of goodwill to US President Donald Trump during his visit to the region this week, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid says US special envoy Steve Witkoff will arrive in Israel tomorrow to facilitate the process," The Times of Israel reports.

Witkoff will "finalize the details ahead of the release of Edan Alexander, according to a source familiar with the matter," Ravid wrote on X.

Donald Trump had previously been urged to use his influence to free Edan Alexander and the other hostages while meeting with victims' families, via The Telegraph

Trump will travel to the region, stopping in the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. Surprisingly, and apparently without official Israeli knowledge or input in behind-the-scenes US-Hamas diplomatic engagement on the issue, Hamas has formally confirmed the release is coming, but without saying exactly when.

Hamas announced Sunday that the decision to release Alexander comes after recent talks with US officials and "intensified efforts to achieve a ceasefire, open border crossings, and allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.”

Importantly, the Palestinian group which has warred against Israeli going back to the terror attack of Oct.7, 2023, has also said it is ready to resume intensified negotiations.

Hamas says it is ready to establish a mutually "agreed prisoner exchange, and enable Gaza to be administered by an independent professional authority."

President Trump could be readying a big announcement on the prospect of Gaza peace as he gets ready to depart for the region in Air Force One.

All of this, interestingly enough, comes amid unverified reports of a new rift between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump. While US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has denied the accuracy of the claims, the below widely circulated last week: 

President Trump has “cut contact” with Netanyahu, slamming the Israeli PM and his allies for acting “arrogant” and trying to push him around. Trump reportedly feels disrespected and manipulated by Netanyahu.

It’s been months since the last hostage exchange, with no new meaningful progress from this Administration to bring them all home.

Ahead of @POTUS Trump’s trip to the Middle East, I’m urging him to prioritize the release of 21-year-old Edan Alexander, the last surviving American… pic.twitter.com/JnGqqNtw0J

This new breakthrough where Hamas is willing to release the Israeli-American suggests that Israel may have been cut out of US-Palestinian talks.

If true, this would be a huge blow to Netanyahu. He's facing growing domestic pushback, and accusations that he is intentionally prolonging the war, at the expense of the safety of the remaining living hostages.

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Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

While coming in much stronger than expected, the latest employment data confirmed what we already suspected: the economy is slowing. The reason the employment data is so important is that without employment growth, the economy stalls. It takes, on average, about 200,000 jobs each month to keep up with population growth, which ultimately keeps the economy growing. That is because, as discussed in last week’s #BullBearReport, the consumer comprises about 70% of economic growth. To wit:

“There is currently no evidence that the economy is slipping into a recession. However, if you want to know if an economic decline will evolve into a recession, there is one key factor to consider: consumer spending. Consumer spending comprises nearly 70% of the GDP calculation, and everything else, from business investment to imports and exports, is a function of the consumer’s “demand.” In other words, if the consumer is slowing down or contracting spending, businesses will not “invest” in expansion projects, increasing employment, or buying more products for resale. That relationship is shown in the chart below, which compares PCE to employment and private investment.”

However, most crucially, consumers can not consume without producing something first. Production must come first to generate the income needed for that consumption. The cycle is displayed below.

Here is the most critical point. Not all jobs are equal.

“For a household to consume at an economically sustainable rate, such requires full-time employment. These jobs provide higher wages, benefits, and health insurance to support a family. Part-time jobs do not.”

While the media touts the ‘strong employment reports,’ such is mostly the recovery of jobs lost during the economic shutdown. However, the reality is that the full-time employment rate is falling sharply. Historically, when the rate of change in full-time employment dropped below zero, the economy entered a recession.

Notably, given the surge in immigration into the U.S. over the last few years, the all-important ratio of those employed full-time relative to the population has dropped sharply. As noted, given that full-time employment provides the resources for excess consumption, that ratio should increase for the economy to continue growing strongly. However, full-time employment has decreased since the turn of the century as automation, technology, and offshoring have risen. While President Biden recently touted strong employment growth in his SOTU address, full-time employment as a percentage of the working-age population failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

Notably, sharp downturns in full-time employment have been coincident with recessionary onsets.

No Recession, But Slower Growth Coming

The latest employment data put to rest recession concerns, at least for now. Employment growth remains strong enough to support economic growth and quell concerns that CEOs are withdrawing from the job creation process. However, compensation continues to decline as economic demand slows.

As is always the case, as the economy slows down, employers begin to change the most costly aspect of any business – employment. Cutting full-time jobs is the most efficient way to protect earnings and profitability. However, employers tend to hang on to employees as long as possible, as good employees are expensive to train and hard to replace. Eventually, if the demand falls too much, full-time employees are sacrificed to protect profits. As such, a reasonably predictable cycle continues until exhaustion is reached.

While we are seeing declines in full-time employment as the economy slows, we are now also seeing cuts in temporary help, which, as shown, is consistent with slowing growth. The reason is that cutting temporary employment is the first step by business owners to reduce employment costs while hanging on to full-time, and mostly crucial, employees. However, as noted above, once temporary workers are exhausted, the next step will ultimately be full-time employees.

The latest employment data did not provide much support for the “recession” crowd in 2025. As such, Wall Street analysts are quickly reversing their recession calls for this year, and are becoming more focused on slowing economic growth. However, that assessment can certainly change promptly if personal consumption expenditures take a turn for the worse. As noted above, nearly 70% of economic growth is derived from consumption; therefore, if consumption declines, employment falls, reducing consumption and further employment declines. When it accelerates, that cycle is the foundation for recession outcomes.

Indicators We Are Watching

As noted, while the employment data is weak, there are certainly indicators we are watching closely to confirm whether “job loss” is accelerating. First, we pay attention to the Conference Board’s measure of CEO confidence. Since the October 2022 lows, CEO confidence has continued to improve, and as of Q1, it rose to 60 from 51 in Q4 of 2024. That confidence increased full-time employment as the outlook for economic growth was improving heading into 2025. However, this is a lagging indicator, and the results of the Q1 survey were taken in February before the market decline and tariff announcements. Later this month, we will get an update to see if sentiment has changed, which could give us clues about future employment reports.

The second indicator we are watching is the NFIB small business confidence index. Specically,.it is their “plans” to increase employment versus what they do. Notably, employment by small businesses, roughly 50% of the total employment in the U.S., has remained stagnant since the pandemic. However, small business owners were very optimistic about hiring post-pandemic, expecting sharp improvements in sales. However, that optimism is fading quickly.

The reason is that, as discussed at the opening of this discussion, employment is a function of the demand for goods and services that businesses supply. As shown, expectations for sales surged following President Trump’s election, but given that actual sales have failed to materialize, that optimism is fading rather quickly. Expectations for business owners are one thing, but without actual increases in sales, which drive revenue, there is little reason to increase full-time employment, which is why it has remained stuck at lower levels since 2020.

Conclusion

Given the importance of consumption in the economy and that employment (production) must come first in the cycle, attention to employment data, particularly full-time employment, is crucial to determining economic risk. The risk of a recession remains very low; however, that can change if something causes consumption to contract quickly. Aside from an unexpected, exogenous impact, investors should expect economic growth to continue to slowly weaken to a longer-term trend slightly less than 2% annually. Unfortunately, while not recessionary, that growth rate will make it hard for corporate profitability to remain at record levels.

Eventually, a valuation adjustment in the financial markets will reflect the reality of a slow-growth economy. However, that isn’t today. However, the risk of a decade of low returns as markets normalize for a slow-growth economy is steadily increasing.

Just something to consider.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appeared on NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday morning, emphasizing the Trump administration's urgent push to modernize the nation's outdated airspace communications infrastructure.

Secretary Duffy cited recent outages at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). He described the situation as deeply concerning and stressed the need to replace the legacy system, which still relies on copper wiring, not fiber optics. 

"We're having these glitches in the system," he said, adding, "So we slow it down and keep people safe. That's what we do." 

Secretary Duffy said air traffic is being deliberately slowed and may last for "several weeks" at EWR following a series of radar outages, including the latest incident on Sunday morning. A separate outage on Friday had already prompted a temporary ground stop at the airport.

Bloomberg adds more color about today's ground stop at EWR:

On Sunday, an FAA equipment failure prompted a temporary ground stop at Newark. Controllers briefly slowed arriving and departing flights due to a "telecommunications issue" at a Philadelphia air traffic control center that was implicated in last week's 90-second outage, according to the FAA's website.

"I'm concerned about the whole airspace," Secretary Duffy said, pointing out much of the "equipment that we use, much of it we can't buy parts for new. We have to go on eBay and buy parts if one part goes down. You're dealing with really old equipment."

The FAA's outdated and deteriorating infrastructure was well known during the Biden-Harris regime, yet little was done to address the looming crisis. Instead, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg prioritized woke initiatives—such as addressing so-called 'racist' infrastructure—over urgently needed modernization efforts of the nation's air traffic systems. 

Whether this reflects mismanagement or intentional negligence remains up for debate—but after four years of woke warriors in the White House, the consequences are undeniable: the entire airspace network is in crisis.

An urgent fix is needed, and that's precisely what Secretary Duffy and his team are now racing to deliver.

Duffy on the air traffic control system: "The lights are blinking, the sirens are turning ... what you see in Newark is gonna happen in other places across the country."

Good luck, air travelers! pic.twitter.com/8woxmSYzvo

Nationwide Problem

Twice in two weeks, air traffic controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport lost all communication with aircraft - brief breakdowns that halted flights, triggered mass delays, and revived deep-seated concerns about the frailty of America’s air navigation infrastructure.

The air traffic control tower at Newark Liberty International Airport again lost radar access early Friday. A similar incident occurred on April 28. Photo by Bryan Smith/ZUMA Press Wire

No lives were lost, but for 90 seconds on April 28 - and again during a radar outage Friday - controllers at one of the nation’s busiest airports were effectively flying blind. The incidents rattled controllers, pushed already strained staffing to a breaking point, and highlighted what aviation leaders call a system overdue for a fundamental overhaul.

"There is a shortage of controllers nationwide, but not to the degree it’s occurring at Newark," said Jeff Guzzetti, a former FAA and NTSB investigator. "Newark has always been the worst in terms of air traffic staffing and modernizing its equipment."

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy cited "decades of underinvestment," and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the FAA "really a mess." The Transportation Department’s inspector general reported that 20 of the 26 most critical U.S. airports fall below the minimum staffing threshold for controllers, The Guardian reports. At Newark, some controllers who say they're traumatized by the latest breakdown, have taken leave—exacerbating already severe shortages.

The Trump administration responded Thursday with a sweeping modernization proposal. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy unveiled a plan to replace "antiquated telecommunications" with fiber, wireless, and satellite systems at more than 4,600 sites nationwide. "We are blessed to have a president who actually loves to build and knows how to build," Duffy said.

The plan was met with cautious optimism. Airlines and the air traffic controllers’ union endorsed the initiative, while the Modern Skies Coalition, a group of industry stakeholders, said it was encouraged by the department’s prioritization of safety. Yet some aviation experts questioned whether this plan will succeed where previous efforts have failed.

Robert W Mann Jr, an aviation industry analyst, said that for 40 years there have been FAA reauthorizations approved by Congress, but they haven’t fixed the problems. “Unless you do it right, it doesn’t make a difference what you spend,” he said. “You won’t have solved the root causes.”

Nonetheless, Mann said he remained confident about airline safety. He said: “There’s a primacy in this business. Whether you’re working at airlines or the FAA, safety is the first thing.”

Mann said that days when an airport faces severe understaffing of air traffic controllers or a crush of airplanes eager to take off as bad weather lifts, there will often be delays to ensure safety. “I’m not worried about safety,” Mann said, “but I might be worried that my flight will be four hours’ late.” -Guardian

Thursday’s announcement did not include a price tag, though the House Transportation Committee estimates a full system overhaul would cost at least $12.5 billion. Duffy acknowledged it could run higher.

Beyond the hardware, the human element is equally strained. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says the U.S. needs more than 14,300 fully certified controllers. Today, the system has fewer than 10,800, with over 2,000 trainees still working toward full certification - a process that can take up to three years at high-volume airports like JFK and Newark.

Aging Infrastructure

The system’s shortfall dates back more than four decades. "The natural rhythm of the system broke down and we never fully recovered," said Georgetown labor historian Joseph McCartin, referencing President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 mass firing of striking controllers. "We’ve improved over time, but the FAA still has grave difficulty staffing facilities."

Guzzetti noted that the FAA still uses outdated software and facilities reliant on copper wire and even floppy disks. "It’s all coming to a head now," he said. A 2023 Government Accountability Office report warned that 51 of the FAA’s 138 ATC systems are unsustainable.

Meanwhile, a tragic January crash involving a commercial jet and army helicopter near Washington National Airport, which killed 67 people, remains under investigation. President Trump drew sharp criticism for blaming the accident on DEI policies before findings were released. On May 1, another army helicopter forced two commercial jets to abort landings at Reagan.

Despite this troubling backdrop, Mann expressed confidence in the industry’s safety culture. "I’m not worried about safety," he said, "but I might be worried that my flight will be four hours’ late."

Flight attendants’ union president Sara Nelson praised the dedication of frontline workers. "They should be commended for working in a system that’s crumbling," she said. "They’re like the nurses during Covid."

Duffy’s plan also includes incentives aimed at alleviating workforce shortages, including $5,000 bonuses for recruits who complete initial training. But industry officials stress that appropriations from Congress will be key.

"I hate to say we’re a canary in the coalmine," said Nelson, "but what happened in Newark is a sign of what will come in other airports if we don’t get the budget we need."

French media are on the defensive after journalists unexpectedly entered a train carriage carrying French President Emmanuel Macron, along with the German and British Prime Ministers, en route to Kyiv on Friday, which sparked a firestorm on social media with allegations of cocaine use by the top leaders.

"They [social media users] cite videos that allegedly show Emmanuel Macron discreetly hiding a strange white bag on the table," the French daily newspaper Libération said, adding, "And according to these accounts, Friedrich Merz even had a straw to use to take drugs. These conspiracy accusations fit with the narrative that Western elites are depraved and approach war unconsciously." 

When reporters entered the room, Macron was meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a train ride from Poland to Ukraine. 

The video.

NEW: French media is shutting down social media rumors that French President Emmanuel Macron was caught with a bag of cocaine during a trip to Ukraine.

The moment was caught during a train ride from Poland to Ukraine when reporters entered the room.

Macron was meeting with the… pic.twitter.com/RMoKQ5VkUt

Libération rushed to the defense of Macron and the Western leaders:

Several internet users, sharing posts favorable to Vladimir Putin, have claimed that the three men had used cocaine together. "Coke will decide World War III," one of them feigned concern.

Libération even suggested:

High-quality photographs and videos, such as those taken by the AFP or AP news agencies , show that the mysterious bag of white powder is actually a handkerchief rolled into a ball that was placed on the table before Keir Starmer arrived and the cameras entered the booth, where Macron and Merz were already seated. The straw looks more like a stirrer or a toothpick, which the German chancellor is said to have been fiddling with. This explains why the two leaders do not want these objects immortalized in the images of the meeting.

Maybe Libération's defense of Macron and the other Western leaders is accurate — perhaps it really was just a 'handkerchief' and a 'toothpick.' But the real red flag is the leaders' abrupt and suspicious behavior as they scrambled to cover up whatever was on the table when journalists unexpectedly entered the train carriage. 

Cocaine allegations come as no surprise, considering the leaders were inbound to visit this guy... 

Zelensky is visibly high as hell on MSNBC…

How much longer are we going to let this clown show go on?

This man is coked out of his mind while getting asked about the war he is losing. This is the guy Congress wants to give another $60 billion of our money to… pic.twitter.com/K0m06ZvRE9

This song seems appropriate... 

Cocaine or no cocaine. The optics here are not good. 

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Authored by Kevin Rusher via CoinTelegraph.com,

It’s a volatile world out there. This year, we’ve seen stocks take a wild ride as gold has pumped and crypto has been caught somewhere in the middle. Investors have dumped risk assets and scrambled for safe havens. Gold is leading the charge.

While gold is safe, it is not very hard-working. Unlike cash and treasuries, the yellow metal does not generate income. Now, more than ever, investors need to be able to earn yield on gold — particularly in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

The only way to make money from gold is to buy low and sell high. Most investors don’t tend to buy gold like this. That’s for good reason — over the long term, gold’s performance is typically consistent, if not without a few peaks and troughs here and there, as we have recently seen.

For example, after the 2008 financial crisis, the price of gold soared 148% but stagnated for nearly a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered another rally, and it's likely we will see gold hold, if not fall from it's new record high once markets revive. While it remains an excellent hedge, gold’s long-term track record is not a growth story.

Investors prefer US Treasurys or high-yield savings accounts as part of a balanced portfolio. While gold may outperform these assets in uncertain times, it offers a better balance of security and predictable income over the long term. 

The DeFi solution 

This is where DeFi brings innovation to the world’s oldest asset. DeFi can significantly modernize gold investing, offering the speed and transparency of blockchain-based transactions and the ability to earn returns.

Currently, though, most tokenized gold is much the same as holding it in an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Stablecoin giants like Tether and Paxos have launched gold-backed tokens, which they say are fully backed by physical, audited gold reserves, yet offer no yield.

Most DeFi investors prefer liquid, tradable assets like cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, which can generate attractive returns. Many would rather, for example, buy Tether’s USDt stablecoin and stake it, earning rewards while still maintaining ownership.

Perhaps this is why the market capitalization of gold-backed tokens remains modest. Tether Gold, the world’s most significant gold token, has a market capitalization of just under $835 million, for example, while Paxos Gold sits at around $799 million. Combined, this is equivalent to just 1% of the market cap of USDT. 

Unlocking income from the world’s oldest asset 

To unlock gold’s full potential, we need to take tokenization a step further by creating a DeFi ecosystem where tokenized gold is actively put to work — borrowed, lent and integrated into yield-bearing strategies.

One possibility is for companies such as gold miners is to issue tokenized versions of their reserves that can be turned into stablecoins that can then be staked to earn a yield. Leveraging protocols whose liquidity mechanisms enable the trading of stablecoins and real-world asset (RWA) tokens, holders could take advantage of further yield opportunities throughout the DeFi ecosystem.

Beyond the benefits of yield opportunities, blockchain technology means investors in tokenized gold can benefit from the flexibility of 24-hour trading, near real-time price discovery and near-instant settlement without compromising the stability of the asset. 

The future of gold investing

It is, perhaps, ironic that — just as governments worldwide are starting to put their stamp of approval on digital finance — gold is becoming a highly desirable commodity again. The public’s interest in it will grow as governments essentially ratify digital finance. At the same time, the appetite for gold in these uncertain times will also increase. 

DeFi could bring these trends together and kickstart a natural evolution in gold ownership that provides a solid bridge between traditional and digital finance. While gold inside traditional markets attracts investors looking for stability, DeFi brings opportunities that don’t compromise that stability, as it presents new and unique yield opportunities. 

Gold has captivated humanity for thousands of years. It’s the foundation of myths, the standard of wealth and the ultimate hedge against uncertainty. But in today’s financial world, it needs an upgrade.

Through integrating gold into the DeFi ecosystem, we could unlock its true potential — not just as a store of value but as an income-generating asset. The world’s oldest safe haven asset is finally on the brink of a digital evolution.

New details emerged on Sunday morning, revealing that the Trump administration could soon receive one of the most valuable gifts from a foreign government: a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar's royal family. The 747 will be retrofitted with communications systems and other equipment to transform into Air Force One.

ABC News cited people familiar with the transfer as saying that the royal family of Qatar's jumbo jet gift will be announced next week when President Trump visits Qatar for his Middle East tour—the first major tour of his second term. The tour will concentrate on business deals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Sources said the 747 will be transferred to the United States Air Force to meet the technical specifications required to fly the president and supporting staff members.

For months, President Trump has been overly frustrated with delays in Boeing's new Air Force One production timeline. 

Earlier this month, a Wall Street Journal report said the president commissioned defense contractor L3Harris Technologies to convert the luxury 747 into Air Force One, with a completion timeline by fall of this year. 

Frustrated With Boeing, Trump Reportedly Turns To L3Harris For "Interim" Air Force One Jet https://t.co/mI3uPaFKOM

In February, FOX Business' Edward Lawrence confirmed that Boeing had suffered global supply chain snarls that changed project timings and delayed the completion date to 2029. 

White House communications director Steven Cheung told FOX Business then: "It is ridiculous that the delivery of a new Air Force One airplane has been delayed for such a long time."

Also in February, the president toured the Qatari 747 at West Palm Beach International Airport and told reporters he was "not happy" with Boeing.

Considering that the U.S. president is not allowed to receive gifts from foreign governments, the 747 jet will be transferred to the USAF (U.S. Gov't), not Trump personally. Yet we're likely going to see a news cycle filled with misinformation and disinformation from deranged leftist journalists who claim this was a personal gift. 

ABC quoted sources that provided more color on the legality behind the gift:

Anticipating those questions, sources told ABC News that lawyers for the White House counsel's office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to accept the aircraft as a gift and later turn it over to the Trump library, and that it does not violate laws against bribery or the Constitution's prohibition (the emoluments clause) of any U.S. government official accepting gifts "from any King, Prince or foreign State."

Sources told ABC News that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump's top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be "legally permissible" for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump's presidential library before the end of his term, according to sources familiar with their determination.

The sources said Bondi provided a legal memorandum addressed to the White House counsel's office last week after Warrington asked her for advice on the legality of the Pentagon accepting such a donation.

. . . 

The plane will then be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation no later than Jan. 1, 2029, and any costs relating to its transfer will be paid for by the U.S. Air Force, the sources told ABC News.

The Qataris certainly outdid themselves ahead of welcoming the president. So, what will the Saudis and Emiratis offer? We suspect these countries will try to outdo one another when making deals with the president next week.

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