Representative Haley Stevens, a Democrat from Michigan and US Senate candidate, speaks during the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Against the backdrop of polls showing declining Democratic support for Israel — especially among young voters — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s support for candidates is under intense scrutiny and is becoming a dividing line in contentious Democratic primaries from Michigan to New Jersey.
A poll released earlier this month by the Pew Research Center shows that Americans’ views toward Israel are trending negative, especially among Democrats.
The survey found that 6 in 10 Americans have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Israel. That number is up 7% since last year and 20 percentage points since 2022. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, the percentage who have a very or somewhat unfavorable opinion of Israeli was 80%.
One manifestation of those changing views is the increased scrutiny of political contributions from pro-Israel groups, especially AIPAC.
Conflicts over AIPAC funding have been fueled in part by the popularity of the group Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption, better known by their social media handle Track AIPAC, which says it’s a “grassroots effort to reveal and counter the influence of AIPAC and the Israel Lobby by systematically documenting their financial contributions to our federal officials” and accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza — a charge the Israeli government has long denied.
The group churns out graphics of donations to politicians to its audience of 400,000+ followers on X. These numbers include contributions by not just AIPAC but by individuals who have previously donated to groups it says are part of the “pro-Israel lobby.” That approach has received controversy, with critics saying it’s unfair to conflate the donations of individuals with the support of the pro-Israel lobby as whole.
AIPAC has been critical of Track AIPAC’s approach. National spokesperson Deryn Sousa described it in a statement to ABC as “an un-American and undemocratic online campaign that applies selective standards to stigmatize and silence pro‑Israel Democrats.”
Estimates of donations from the pro-Israel lobby were cited by an audience member in a town hall for Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who told the questioner, “If you’re equating “Israel lobby” to Jews, I got a problem with that.”
In Michigan, the Uncommitted National Movement, which encouraged opposition to then-President Joe Biden’s support of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, received more than 100,000 votes in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary in the swing state.
Divisions over support for Israel have continued to dominate that state’s highly competitive Democratic Senate primary. Michigan is home to one of the largest Arab-American populations in the country as well as a sizeable Jewish community.
Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the former Wayne County, Michigan, health director who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, has been the most vocal on the issue, repeatedly calling the war in Gaza a genocide and criticizing his opponents for accepting donations from AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups.
Appearing alongside controversial podcaster and political commentator Hasan Piker on the campus of the University of Michigan, El-Sayed took explicit aim at AIPAC, saying, “No longer are we going to sit idly by while AIPAC tells us that the goal of our foreign policy is to align with a foreign government.”
Most of his criticism has been directed towards his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens. Stevens, who is Jewish, was backed by AIPAC in her 2022 primary challenge of then-Rep. Andy Levin, a progressive Jewish member who had opposed some of Israel’s policies. Stevens recorded a video in support of AIPAC last month. The Democratic Majority for Israel — a pro-Israel group — has endorsed her Senate run.
The third candidate in the race, State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, has criticized Piker for some of his comments on Jews and the conflict in Gaza, calling it a genocide and promising not to take money from AIPAC.
Track AIPAC endorsed El-Sayed, calling him “the only candidate for US Senate in Michigan with the spine to call out Israel’s atrocities,” and saying “his voice can’t be bought.”
Nearby Minnesota also faces a progressive vs. centrist Senate battle between Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. While Flanagan has pledged not to take any funds from AIPAC, Craig has received funds in her past congressional races from AIPAC and has been endorsed by the Democratic Majority for Israel.
Craig has not received AIPAC funding in this race. When asked if it planned to make an endorsement in that race, Track AIPAC’s Co-Executive Director Cory Archibald, who has worked as a consultant for progressive Democrats like former Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, said that it will monitor the race “and we know AIPAC has an interest in who wins Minnesota.”
The track record of AIPAC’s spending in some of the year’s early primaries has been mixed. In New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, AIPAC spent $2 million on ads attacking moderate Democratic incumbent Tom Malinowski, who supported some conditions on aid to Israel. That primary was won by progressive Analilia Meija, who has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. Track AIPAC ran an ad supporting her in that race, which marked its first-ever ad buy.
The issue of AIPAC support has emerged on the national level. The Democratic National Committee considered a proposal at its spring conference to condemn the “growing influence” of money in primaries, specifically citing AIPAC. That resolution failed. AIPAC celebrated the decision, saying that “the DNC made clear that all Democrats including millions who are AIPAC members have the right to participate fully in the democratic process.”
Track AIPAC says that despite that setback, it plans to remain “an important voice for change in this cycle and many more to come.”
Zach Top is the second-most nominated male artist at the upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards, news he almost missed since he was headed to the Masters golf tournament that day.
Luckily, his manager called just in time.
“I’m glad he caught me before we went out there,” Zach says. “He called me that morning. I was literally about to get in the car and leave my phone at the house, and you can’t have your phone or nothing. And he’s like, ‘We’re up for five.’ And I was like, ‘Dang, that’s amazing! What five are they?’ And then he started making up dumb award names. I can’t remember what they were.”
Zach is up for male artist, album, single and song of the year for “I Never Lie.” He’d get two trophies for song, since he’s both a co-writer and the artist.
As for missing the nominations, Zach says there’s a silver lining in that.
“They sneak up on me every time, because I know when the award show is, you know. I know when that date’s coming, but the nominations I always forget what day they’re coming out,” he explains. “So it’s always a fun little surprise, catches me off guard, and it’s fun. When we’re up for a few, it’s a nice little pick-me-up to start a day.”
That’s something Zach knows about, since he previously picked up the new male artist of the year trophy.
Tune in to see who wins Sunday, May 17, when the 61st ACMs stream live from Las Vegas via Prime Video.
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at Canada Life Place on February 28, 2026 in London, Ontario. (Jeremychanphotography/Getty Images)
Megadeth has released an official live video for their cover of Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning.”
The performance, which is available to watch on YouTube, was recorded in Bogota, Colombia, where Dave Mustaine and company played “Ride the Lighting” live for the first time during a concert Sunday.
The original “Ride the Lightning” credits Mustaine as a cowriter since it uses riffs that he’d written during his time in Metallica prior to being let go from the band in 1983. Mustaine recorded it on his own over 40 years later for Megadeth’s self-titled farewell album, which was released in January.
“As I come full circle on the career of a lifetime, the decision to include ‘Ride the Lightning,’ a song I co-wrote with [Metallica members] James [Hetfield], Lars [Ulrich], and Cliff [Burton], was to pay my respects to where my career first started,” Mustaine said.
The Bogota show was part of Megadeth’s ongoing farewell tour, which is expected to last for multiple years. The outing includes North American dates with Iron Maiden, kicking off in August.
Jutes performs onstage at The Independent on July 28, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Dana Jacobs/Getty Images)
Jutes takes flight on a new single called “Icarus.”
On the track, Jutes sings, “No one knows my name/ So who would even cry/ If I should die.” Speaking with ABC Audio, Jutes describes the song as partly about “younger me feeling invisible and feeling like I wasn’t getting anywhere with my music.”
“I was just, like, so hungry to be noticed,” he says. “[‘Icarus’] is just touching on those past feelings.”
During that point in his life, Jutes says he was “romanticizing the broken artist thing” and telling himself that the substances that he was using were necessary for his creativity.
“It also felt like a way of not needing to get better, because I thought it was, like, fuel,” Jutes says.
Now sober, Jutes has done a complete 180 on that worldview.
“I’ve found now that I write the best songs of my life and I’m in the best place in my life, and I’m sober,” Jutes says. “I care about my health and I do wanna live long, now. I have a wife that I wanna stay alive for, I wanna have a family one day, all that stuff.”
“Icarus” follows Jutes’ March single, “Disassociate.” Meanwhile, his song “It Takes Two” is currently charting on the Billboard Alternative Airplay tally. He describes “It Takes Two” as a “‘I gotta have you or there’s no point in living’ kinda song.”
“I find that my fans tend to gravitate towards those ones a lot,” he says. “It’s either the super horny ones or the super emotional ones that the fans tend to love, which is hilarious.”
Jutes will launch a U.S. headlining tour in August.
David Byrne has released a new version of the track “What Is the Reason For It?” from his latest solo album, Who Is the Sky?
The original song featured Paramore’s Hayley Williams, but the new take, retitled “¿Cuál Es La Razón?,” features Grammy Award-winning Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade in her place.
A press release describes the new version as “a vocal and brass-led remix, drawing inspiration from David’s experiences in Mexico City and the enduring mysteries of love.”
“¿Cuál Es La Razón?,” produced by Mexican Institute Of Sound, is now available via digital outlets.
The release coincides with Byrne announcing that he’ll bring his Who Is The Sky? tour to Mexico for a trio of shows: Sept. 4 in Mexico City, Sept. 8 in Guadalajara and Sept. 10 in Monterrey.
In other Byrne news, the rocker’s new book, Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up, will be released Oct. 6. It’s described as “a brilliant and inspiring reckoning with how breakthroughs across the arts and sciences get forgotten, and how they get rediscovered.”
Byrne is currently on the latest North American leg of his Who Is The Sky? tour. He’ll wrap a two-night stand in St. Louis, Missouri, on Wednesday. The tour hits Europe and the U.K. this summer, with additional stops in Thailand, Japan and South Korea before returning to the U.S. The tour is set to wrap Sept. 19 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York.
A complete list of dates can be found at DavidByrne.com.
David Byrne has released a new version of the track “What Is the Reason For It?” from his latest solo album, Who Is the Sky?
The original song featured Paramore’s Hayley Williams, but the new take, retitled “¿Cuál Es La Razón?,” features Grammy Award-winning Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade in her place.
A press release describes the new version as “a vocal and brass-led remix, drawing inspiration from David’s experiences in Mexico City and the enduring mysteries of love.”
“¿Cuál Es La Razón?,” produced by Mexican Institute Of Sound, is now available via digital outlets.
The release coincides with Byrne announcing that he’ll bring his Who Is The Sky? tour to Mexico for a trio of shows: Sept. 4 in Mexico City, Sept. 8 in Guadalajara and Sept. 10 in Monterrey.
In other Byrne news, the rocker’s new book, Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up, will be released Oct. 6. It’s described as “a brilliant and inspiring reckoning with how breakthroughs across the arts and sciences get forgotten, and how they get rediscovered.”
Byrne is currently on the latest North American leg of his Who Is The Sky? tour. He’ll wrap a two-night stand in St. Louis, Missouri, on Wednesday. The tour hits Europe and the U.K. this summer, with additional stops in Thailand, Japan and South Korea before returning to the U.S. The tour is set to wrap Sept. 19 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York.
A complete list of dates can be found at DavidByrne.com.
Sam Neill attends the 2025 AACTA Awards presented By Foxtel Group at HOTA (Home of the Arts) on Feb. 7, 2025, in Gold Coast, Australia. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images for AFI)
Jurassic Park star Sam Neill is opening up about his battle with Stage 3 blood cancer.
The actor said he is now cancer free after a near five-year battle with lymphoma. He recently told the Australian network 7News about his treatment.
“I’ve been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years, and I was on chemotherapy and the pretty miserable business but it was keeping me alive,” Neill said.
The actor, who played Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise, said chemotherapy eventually stopped working for him.
“I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal obviously,” Neill said.
He then underwent a cutting edge treatment called CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically modifies blood cells. Neill said this has made him cancer free.
“I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing,” Neill said. “I’m very, very excited that this can happen.”
Accept ‘Teutonic Titans 1976–2026’ album artwork. (Napalm Records)
Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and Ghost frontman Tobias Forge are among the artists featured on an upcoming compilation celebrating the 50th anniversary of the German metal band Accept.
Titled Teutonic Titans 1976–2026, the set is due out Sept. 4, and features 50 guests contributing to 19 reimagined versions of Accept songs.
“There is no better way to celebrate this 50-year anniversary than to have our musical peers, friends, and inspirations come together with us to record these classic ACCEPT songs, which I am honored and proud to share with the World,” says guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. “I hope everyone enjoys this very special record as much as we all enjoyed making it.”
Other guests include Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo and Fozzy vocalist Chris Jericho.
In related news, Tobias Forge is also featured on the upcoming new album from “The Final Countdown” band Europe. The record, titled Come This Madness, is due out Sept. 25.
