Musk vs. Altman, Gaza Aid, and Animal Kingdom Face-Offs

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The US plans to begin airdropping aid into Gaza in coming days.

President Joe Biden announced the decision Friday, a day after more than 100 Palestinians were reportedly killed and hundreds of others wounded during a string of events involving Israeli troops at an aid delivery route. Conflicting reports describe the cause of the incident and the subsequent casualties; the United Nations and European Union are pushing for an independent investigation.  

Editor’s note: In Friday’s digest, we mischaracterized the chaotic scene in Gaza City described above. The number of deaths and injuries attributable to gunfire versus the crowd surge was at the time, and remains, unclear. See an overview here.

Thousands gather for Navalny's funeral in Moscow.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was laid to rest in Moscow Friday, drawing thousands of his supporters to pay tribute. Navalny died two weeks ago in an Arctic prison while serving multiple sentences for charges including extremism. Prison officials have claimed the 47-year-old died of sudden death syndrome, a catch-all term for various causes of cardiac arrest. 

Fashion icon and New York designer Iris Apfel dies at 102.

Apfel, a self-described "geriatric starlet," was known for her eclectic style and oversized glasses (see photos). She had nearly 3 million followers on her Instagram, was the subject of a 2014 documentary called "Iris," and once had her clothes featured in an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Between 1950 to 1992, Iris owned an international textile firm with her late husband, Carl, and helped restore the White House for nine presidents. The cause of her death wasn't disclosed.

CVS, Walgreens to begin selling abortion pill mifepristone. 

The pharmacy chains will start dispensing the pill as soon as next week in a phased rollout in states where it is legal. Mifepristone has been around for more than 20 years and is one of two drugs used for medically induced abortions. The Supreme Court will consider a lower court ruling this spring that weakened the Food and Drug Administration's 2016 and 2021 decisions to make the abortion pill widely available.

CDC officially ends five-day COVID-19 quarantine guidance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer requires people to stay at home for five days after testing positive for COVID-19. The agency said people don't need to quarantine if they have been fever-free and without symptoms for at least 24 hours and take precautionary measures, like wearing a mask. The new guidance is similar to recommendations for other common viruses, like the flu. 

Boeing in talks to buy fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems.

The Wichita, Kansas-based Spirit AeroSystems was previously owned by Boeing until a spin-off in 2005. Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems have been under scrutiny for a door panel blowout during an Alaska Airlines flight in January and quality issues surrounding Boeing 737 Max models. Spirit AeroSystems is also considering selling its Northern Ireland business, which supplies parts to Boeing's rival Airbus. 

New slug species discovered off southwest coast of UK.

The new slug species, named Pleurobranchaea britannica, is between two and five centimeters long and is a type of side-gill sea slug. The slugs were first found in 2018 and 2019 by researchers from the UK and Spain but identified as a new species only recently, according to an announcement Friday.