Texas Democrats see political opportunity in hardline immigration law

“I think Texas is on the verge of becoming a purple state, especially if the Republicans keep practicing the politics of hate and fearmongering and division,” said Domingo García, president of the Texas-based League of United Latin American Citizens, the country’s oldest Latino civil rights organization.

The Hill

They fled Afghanistan after Biden’s withdrawal. Now in the US, they hope Trump wins

Recent immigrants reflect on the upheaval in their lives since the US pulled out in 2021: ‘They left us and our lives in danger’

The Guardian

America’s Magical Thinking About Housing

The city of Austin built a lot of homes. Now rent is falling, and some people seem to think that’s a bad thing.

The Atlantic

Here’s what happens if Trump can’t get a $464 million bond

In theory, officials can begin the complicated legal process of taking his assets, barring any other strategic legal maneuvering from state prosecutors and countering from Trump’s legal team. Officials will have to weigh what assets they want to take, whether it’s his bank accounts or his properties. Experts think the first action should be seizing his bank accounts.

CNN

From convenience to crisis: Here’s what will happen if the Supreme Court restricts mifepristone

The safety of abortion drugs is well-established, but an upcoming SCOTUS ruling could unravel decades of precedent

Salon

The Endgame in the Battle Over Abortion

To many Americans, the notion that a court could effectively shut down in vitro fertilization in Alabama came as a shock. But such a ruling was only a matter of time after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.

Politico

Biden Views LGBTQ Flag Restriction as Abusive, White House Says

The White House criticized congressional Republicans for adding a ban on US embassies’ flying the LGBTQ pride flag to a government funding bill, saying it abused the budget process and that President Joe Biden will work for its repeal.

Bloomberg

How plans for a West Texas drag show turned into a war over the First Amendment

In the staunchly conservative Panhandle, LGBTQ+ Texans say political and legal battles overlook their humanity.

The Texas Tribune

George Santos leaves Republican Party, will run for House seat as independent

“After today’s embarrassing showing in the house I have reflected and decided that I can no longer be part of the Republican Party…,” the gay former congressman wrote on X, formerly Twitter. He was apparently referring to the budget deal the House approved Friday, funding the federal government through September.

Advocate

California zombie lake turned farmland to water. A year later, is it gone for good?

The scene was astounding. Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater body west of the Mississippi before it was drained for agriculture in the 19th century. While it has re-emerged during other periods of wet weather, the lake hadn’t been seen anywhere near this scale in 40 years.

The Guardian

Racist police ‘goon squad’ sentenced to decades in prison for horrific torture of black men subjecting them to mock executions and sexual assault

Six ex-coppers admitted raiding a Mississippi home without a warrant and assaulting two black men

GB News

Lisa Murkowski, done with Donald Trump, won’t rule out leaving GOP

“I wish that as Republicans, we had … a nominee that I could get behind,” Murkowski told CNN. “I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump.”

CNN

At site of Parkland school shooting, Harris announces new tool to curb gun violence

At the still blood-stained site of the worst school shooting in Florida history, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new measure on Saturday to curb gun violence.

Miami Herald

Fergie Chambers is Heir to One of America’s Richest Families — and Determined to See the U.S. Fall

He’s a scion of wealth, a loud and proud Communist, and a “professional revolutionary” who has been on the front lines from Standing Rock to Cop City — and made plenty of enemies along the way. Now, after some uncomfortable brushes with the law, he’s moved overseas but is still making plans to use his vast fortune to overthrow the United States

Rolling Stone

Why supermarkets have abandoned some of America’s poorest neighborhoods

There are a variety of reasons for that, but one of the most significant by far is the way in which big-name supermarkets have largely abandoned, or avoided, many low-income neighborhoods over the last half-century, leaving a gigantic vacuum for dollar stores to fill, specifically in urban communities of color. 

Salon

Editorial: The states dive deep into immigration. This cannot stand.

Had you told Congress, or the White House, in the 1970s or 1980s that the nation’s immigration system would, in the third decade of the 21st century, devolve into an intramural scrimmage between the states, they’d have thought you a fool.

Federal policy oversees and regulates immigration to the United States, they would have insisted, whichever side of the aisle they sat. Those policies may change over time, and indeed they have, through the Immigration Acts of 1917 and 1924, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and the Immigration Act of 1990, to name just a few examples. But it’s always been a matter for the federal government, deriving its authority from Article One of the United States Constitution. Without reasonable question.

Chicago Tribune

Nex Benedict: outrage as no criminal charges filed over school bathroom fight

Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights expressed outrage following an announcement that no criminal charges will be filed against the Oklahoma teens involved in a high school bathroom fight with Nex Benedict, the non-binary 16-year-old who was ruled by the authorities to have subsequently taken their own life, the county district attorney said.

The Guardian

Why the CJ Rice case is all too common — and his exoneration an anomaly

Justice was served this past week, a dozen years too late, when CJ Rice was legally exonerated by the Philadelphia district attorney’s office.

The district attorney’s office dropped all charges against Rice for a 2011 shooting that sent him to prison for a crime he insists he did not — and was physically unable to — commit.

CNN

Ramadan finds greater recognition in America’s public schools

What are public schools legally obligated to do for Ramadan?

San Antonio Report

Retired Justice Stephen Breyer signals support for age and term limits in the Supreme Court

“I’ve said, and I think it’s true, I don’t think that’s harmful,” he said, regarding term or age limits. “If you had long terms, for example, they’d have to be long. Why long? Because I don’t think you want someone who’s appointed to the Supreme Court to be thinking about his next job. And so, a 20-year term? I don’t know, 18? Long term? Fine. Fine. I don’t think that would be harmful.”

Washington Examiner

Breonna Taylor: Bipartisan Effort in Congress Seeks National Ban on No-Knock Warrants To Honor Memory of Black Woman

Four years after the tragic death of Breonna Taylor, bipartisan efforts by Kentucky’s legislators aim to enact national change inspired by her case.

Shine My Crown

Biden, Democratic lawmakers celebrate 14th anniversary of Affordable Care Act

“14 years later, the Affordable Care Act is still a very big deal. Today, more Americans have health insurance than under any other President,” Biden posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “I’m committed to building on the progress we’ve made by making lower premiums permanent for millions of families.”

The Hill

Wyoming bans most gender-affirming medical care for children

“I signed SF 99 because I support the protections this bill includes for children, however it is my belief that the government is straying into the personal affairs of families,” Gordon said in a prepared statement. 

“Our Legislature needs to sort out its intentions with regard to parental rights. While it inserts governmental prerogative in some places, it affirms parental rights in others,” Gordon said, also noting that the Legislature passed two bills during the recent session reinforcing parental rights in education. 

WyoFile

Pence makes his final break from the Trumpism he once championed

“A lot of people like to think of him as the little sycophant in the corner, and the one example everybody still goes back to is when he watches Trump take a drink out of a water bottle and he does the same thing,” said Mike Murphy, Pence’s longtime friend and a former Republican member of the Indiana House of Representatives. “But there is a solid core to Pence that is inviolable, and he allows the edges to be kind of smoothed, but at the core there are certain lines he won’t allow to be crossed.”

Politico

Biden Campaign Intensifies Outreach To Voters Of Color Amid Concerns Over Party Loyalty

According to reporting from The Hill, the Biden campaign launched targeted advertisements last week, aimed directly at Black voters in battleground states, emphasizing the potential dire consequences of another Trump presidency for this demographic. Shortly after, a program was announced to actively engage Latino voters, with Biden himself acknowledging their pivotal role in his previous electoral success during a campaign stop in Arizona.

International Business Times

How Donald Trump, Joe Biden and grassroots liberals could upend Democratic politics in one of the country’s bluest states

The end of the line could be near for New Jersey’s almighty political machine.

CNN

Congress Disbands House’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion as Part of Yearly Funding Deal

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the House of Representatives will soon be disbanded as part of the bipartisan funding agreement reached by Speaker Johnson and Senator Schumer. It is a symbolic win for congressional Republicans who have gotten little done this session, but signals what a GOP trifecta government would prioritize should they take power next year.

New York Sun

Spending bill vote shows limits of political brinksmanship for House Freedom Caucus members

From the start, it appeared the Freedom Caucus and its like-minded colleagues were going to call the shots, and at times, they did. But after the House passed a massive $1.2 trillion spending package on Friday, those rebels were dealt a decisive defeat with no clear strategy to pressure leadership to cave to their demands.

USA Today

In fight to keep invasive carp from the Great Lakes, Pritzker, Army Corps at impasse on building a barrier

The governor wants a better deal that would leave the door open for more federal funding and an incremental construction process, records show.

Chicago Sun-Times

‘America’s greatest gift to Israel’

Without Al Schwimmer’s aid to Israel, there would be no Israeli Air Force — and maybe no Israel.

Business Insider

Canada student collapses after going on hunger strike to protest university links to Israel

A student collapsed after going on hunger strike for 34 days to protest McGill University’s investment in arms companies supplying Israel

New Arab

International support for Israel is eroding

Allies are particularly concerned by the Israeli government’s insistence that it will proceed with plans to launch a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1.1 million people have sought refuge. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the offensive is necessary to wipe out the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which the US, EU and other governments classify as a terrorist organization.

Deutsche Welle

Two men swapped at birth – one Indigenous, one white – finally get apology

For nearly seven decades, two Canadian men lived lives – full of pain, joy and love – meant for the other.

The Guardian

Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on Niger army that killed dozens

Niger is one of several West African countries battling an Islamist insurgency that has spread outwards from Mali over the past 12 years, killing thousands and uprooting millions of people.

Jerusalem Post

In latest move, Russia adds ‘LGBT movement’ to official list of extremists and terrorists

The move was in line with a ruling by Russia’s Supreme Court last November that LGBTQ activists should be designated as extremists.

NBC News

The Great Escape, ‘pathetic’ collaborators and the British men who fought for Hitler

News that the Great Escape may have been foiled by Englishmen has shone a light on other traitors who joined the German army

The Telegraph

Thousands of faithful attend Palm Sunday celebrations in Jerusalem against a backdrop of war

The annual celebration came as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in Gaza. However, the conflict appeared to have had little effect on the procession, which swelled to a similar size as last year.

AP News

Death toll from Moscow concert hall attack rises to 137

The death toll from the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the outskirts of Moscow has risen to 137, authorities said on Sunday according to state news agency TASS.

dpa

One killed, four injured in Israeli air strikes on Lebanon’s Bekaa valley

An Israeli strike on a car near the Syrian border killed a man Sunday, a security source said, after overnight fire wounded four people in Lebanon’s east, according to an AFP correspondent.

But fears have surged of an all-out conflict in recent weeks, with Israel launching air strikes deeper into eastern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah strongholds in the Bekaa valley area several times.

New Arab

Russia marks a national day of mourning for victims of the concert hall attack

Family and friends of those still missing after an attack that killed more than 130 people at a suburban Moscow concert hall waited for news of their loved ones as Russia observed a day of national mourning on Sunday.

NPR

Philippines supply ships clash with Chinese coast guard

A Philippine civilian boat, escorted by two navy ships and two coast guard vessels, was on a monthly supply run to a small number of Filipino marines stationed on the “Sierra Madre” – a warship intentionally run aground on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 in order to reinforce The Philippines’ territorial claims in the area.

Deutsche Welle

Some of nearly 300 abducted schoolchildren in Nigeria’s north are freed after weeks in captivity

The 137 children were rescued in Zamfara state, an enclave known for kidnappings more than 124 miles away from their school, Nigeria officials say

The Grio

Did Ukraine war lead Russian security services to neglect Islamist threat?

As Russia observes a day of mourning for the victims of Friday’s terror attack, along with the sorrow comes the hard question that follows most similar incidents: how could this have happened?

The Guardian

Israel besieges two more Gaza hospitals, demands their evacuation, Palestinians say

Israeli forces say hospitals in the Palestinian enclave where war has been raging for over five months have frequently been used as strongholds of Hamas militants harboring bases and weapons. Hames and medical staff deny this.

USA Today

Turkey Heads To Local Elections As Erdogan Seeks To Avenge 2019 Defeat

Turks will vote next Sunday in local polls as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, buoyed by a strong showing in last year’s general elections, sets his sights on winning back Istanbul.

International Business Times

Kate cancer diagnosis rewrites story of past weeks

The video announcement from the Princess of Wales, unprecedented in its own way, is a poignant reminder of how badly she’s needed by the monarchy.

BBC