Your morning briefing. All the news you need to start your day.

On today's podcast:

(1) Democratic lawmakers accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of using the US Justice Department to target enemies of President Donald Trump and bungling the release of files on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during a fiery hearing Wednesday.

(2) Donald Trump’s tariff policies suffered their strongest political blow yet with the Republican-led US House passing legislation aimed at ending the president’s levies on Canadian imports.

(3) The British Prime Minister has labelled comments on immigration made by Manchester United's Co-Owner Jim Ratcliffe as 'offensive and wrong'. A spokesperson for Number 10 also called on the billionaire boss of Ineos Chemicals to apologise for the remarks made during an interview with Sky News. During the conversation Ratcliffe said the UK couldn't sustain its current population growth.

(4) French President Emmanuel Macron returned to his “Made in Europe” push on the eve of a key European Union meeting, putting him at odds with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over how best to tackle Europe’s economic woes.

(5) WhatsApp said Russia’s government has moved to “fully block” its popular encrypted messaging service in the country as part of an effort to drive adoption of a new, state-sponsored app.

Podcast Conversation: In Defense of Fakes: A Provocation