The Presidential Daily Brief

Iran: No Deal Unless Sanctions Lifted 

The ink is far from dry. Tehran lashed out today over details on a nuclear deal, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying there’s “no guarantee” of him signing on the dotted red line just hours after President Hassan Rouhani said there’d be no deal without a simultaneous lifting of sanctions. “I have never been optimistic about negotiating with America,” Khamenei added, widening cracks in the framework agreement reached last week. Destabilizing things on the other side is the Senate, which is preparing a bill to rebuke Obama for his part in the deal.

BBC, CNN

U.S. May Remove Cuba from Terrorism List

The State Department has given its okay. President Obama will likely have his first significant interaction with Cuban leader Raul Castro at the Summit of the Americas Friday and Saturday, but many had given up hope that the U.S. would remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terror before then. Castro is the first Cuban leader to make an appearance at the summit. If Obama agrees to remove Cuba’s name, it’ll be a big step toward normalizing relations between the two countries. 

BBC

More than 20 Die in Shipwreck Off Haiti

The bodies are washing ashore. Officials say a boat headed from Haiti to Turks and Caicos must have sunk — 21 people are confirmed dead and another dozen are missing, though about 10 swam to safety after their boat capsized in bad weather. Impoverished Haitians regularly brave dangerous waters attempting to illegally enters countries like Turks and Caicos and escape conditions at home. Local fishermen and authorities will continue to comb the waters for survivors and remains. 

NYT, BBC, Focus

Poll Puts Paul Over Clinton

It’s looking “ominous” for Hillary Clinton, a new poll suggests. Republican Rand Paul out-polls her by three points in Colorado and one point in Iowa, according to the Quinnipiac University. She seems to have lost ground to the GOP, with old issues about honesty and trustworthiness dogging her. While we’re still a long way from election day, this isn’t good news for Clinton, who’s expected to throw her hat in the ring in coming weeks. And she’s about to face another challenge: Republican Marco Rubio plans to announce his candidacy on Monday.

AP, The Guardian

Courthouse Shooting Claims Judge, Lawyer

At least three people died in a Milan courthouse as a man on trial for fraudulent bankruptcy opened fire and then fled on a motorbike. Reports of the death toll vary, as it appears one of the deceased may have suffered a fatal heart attack. Court workers hid under desks and barricaded their offices as police searched for Claudio Giardiello, who was arrested about 16 miles away. Now officials are investigating how a gun got into the courthouse, declaring that whoever made the mistake will pay for it. 

Al Jazeera, Buzzfeed, WSJ

Will Boston Marathon Bomber Get Death?

The verdict is in. Jurors found Russian émigré Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty yesterday on all 30 counts — 17 of which make him eligible for the death penalty — linked to the blasts near the race’s finish line on April 15, 2013. They found him liable for four deaths, including the murder of a police officer, and 260 injuries. The sentencing phase begins next week, with government lawyers fighting for the death penalty. Tsarnaev’s lead attorney is an expert at keeping clients off death row and will be arguing for life behind bars.

LA Times, CNN

U.S. Warns Iran Over Houthi Support

Back off, or else. That’s what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has told Iranian leaders about their alleged provision of military aid to Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition, supported by the U.S., is trying to quash the rebels to reinstate Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi’s presidency, and fighting in recent weeks has left several hundred dead. Iran denies involvement and is unlikely to step back, but it’s on notice that the U.S. will not allow it to destabilize the region.

BBC , Al Jazeera

Greece Meets Deadline for Loan Repayment

They coughed it up in time. Athens reportedly repaid $483 million in loans to the IMF today, meeting one of many deadlines. But concerns are still rife over Greece’s ability to meet its financial obligations in the coming months. The payment was scheduled before Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s charm offensive in Moscow, where he’s trying to bolster bilateral relations. But the remittance did little to reassure eurozone creditors, who are still negotiating whether Greek economic structural reform plans are enough to secure 7.2 billion euros in bailout funds.

DW

Obama Supports End to Gay ’Conversions’

The White House is telling them to knock it off. It’s supporting an online petition calling for a ban on psychiatric therapies aimed at changing sexual identities, inspired by the December suicide of transgender teen Leelah Alcorn. The administration’s statement condemned such treatments, noting they are “neither medically nor ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm.” California, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., have banned conversion therapy on minors, and while the Oval Office isn’t advocating a congressional ban, it’s encouraging other states to change their ways.

Mashable, Washington Post

Jamie Dimon Warns of Next Crisis

Take your money and run, but where? JPMorgan Chase’s chief exec warned yesterday in his annual letter that the next financial downturn could see more volatility in global markets and a “rapid decline” in share value. Jamie Dimon said the next big crisis would likely be sparked by banks’ reduced capacity to act as “shock absorbers,” thanks to new liquidity requirements that have tied up their safest assets. That means there won’t be enough safe-haven Treasuries, and folks may need to find a new place to run. 

BI, FT (sub)

France’s TV5Monde ‘Hacked by ISIS,’ Court Convicts India Software Chief

French broadcaster says it was hacked by ISIS. (France24)

Indian court finds former Satyam Computers chief guilty of fraud. (BBC)

Robert Durst says he’s not guilty in court. (NBC)

Cell-phone video sparks debate on policing. (NYT)

Class-action suit against Facebook begins in Vienna. (DW)