Kids’ willpower is no match for fast food and screens. Try this instead

But in the past 15 years, Milyavskaya and other psychologists have dug deeper into the studies, and they uncovered a major flaw: These studies weren’t actually measuring willpower but a different skill — the ability to avoid temptation in the first place.

NPR

When US fights in the Middle East, American Muslim students often face discrimination

The risk of violence is likely furthered by some national political leaders spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric. On March 9, 2026, Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, wrote on the social media platform X, “Muslims don’t belong in American society.” Rep. Randy Fine, a Republican from Florida, also recently wrote on X that the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a “difficult” one.

The Conversation

Trump fundraising email uses photo from soldiers’ dignified transfer and promises ‘private national security briefings’

Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey wrote on X, “I hope the donors’ national security briefing doesn’t skip the ‘Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz’ section that Trump and Hegseth missed.”

CNN

They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth.

Judge Michael Kalil informed her that the state had filed an emergency petition at the hospital’s behest — not out of concern for Doyley, per se, but in the interest of her unborn child. He described the circumstances as “extraordinary.”

The hospital and state attorney’s office wanted to force Doyley to undergo a cesarean section. Doyley, a professional birthing doula, didn’t want that and had been firm about it. She’d had three prior C-sections, one that resulted in a hemorrhage, and hoped to avoid another serious complication and lengthy recovery. She was aware that doctors were concerned about the risk of uterine rupture, a potentially deadly complication for her and her baby. She would say during the hearing that she understood the risk to be less than 2% and didn’t want to agree to a C-section unless there was an emergency.

But the choice would not be hers. The judge would decide how she would give birth.

ProPublica

U.S. Hotel Industry Starting To Worry About The World Cup

Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and a sustained ‘Trump Slump’ of declining international visitation, the substantial World Cup bump U.S. hotels were promised may not materialize, according to CoStar, the industry’s leading benchmarking and analytics firm.

Forbes

‘I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff’: professors scramble to save critical thinking in an age of AI

As artificial intelligence has upended the way in which students read, learn and write, professors like Pao have been left to their own devices to figure out how to teach in a transformed landscape.

The Guardian

Who will be the first to take off their shoes?

When Joseph Stalin took the stage, applause wasn’t just standard. It meant your freedom. 

As the crowd thundered with cheers, no one dared to break first. Not after two minutes. Not after four. Not after six. As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote in “The Gulag Archipelago,” “It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who adored Stalin.” 

Finally, after 11 minutes, one man — the director of a paper factory — broke the spell. And with that one act of independence, he sealed his fate. The director was arrested that evening. 

On his interrogation document, an important lesson was inked into the pages: “Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding!”

Now, Donald Trump’s men are learning the same lesson — the humiliating way. Although this time, the question is different: “Who will be the first to take off their shoes?”

Democracy Docket

U.S. Embassy in Baghdad again urges Americans to leave Iraq as Trump touts strikes on Iran

“U.S. citizens who choose to remain in Iraq are encouraged to reconsider their decision given the significant threat posed by Iran-aligned terrorist militias,” the embassy wrote.

NPR

Long security lines start popping up at airports as TSA officers go without pay

Though Transportation Security Administration officers are required by law to work during a lapse in funding, more than usual have been absent after receiving only a partial paycheck during the most recent pay period. TSA officers will miss an entire paycheck this weekend if the shutdown is still in effect then. 

No end to the shutdown appeared imminent Wednesday, as the U.S. Senate rejected a bill that would have funded TSA and other agencies in DHS that are not related to immigration enforcement.

In the meantime, TSA officers are not being paid. 

Minnesota Reformer

How State and Local Leaders Are Responding to ICE: Your Questions Answered

How are states restricting ICE activity? Can local prosecutors charge federal officers? How can local leaders prepare for ICE deployments? We provide answers about local responses to the immigration crackdown.

Bolts

How sewage treatment plants could handle food waste, sparing landfills and the climate

Across the United States, about 97 million metric tons of food waste are discarded each year, of which about 37 million metric tons end up buried in landfills.

Once underground, that organic material breaks down without oxygen and releases methane, a short-lived yet powerful greenhouse gas.

At the same time, the nutrients and energy stored in that food are permanently lost. But there is a better way. Research my colleagues and I conducted found that communities across the country already operate facilities designed to handle organic matter: wastewater treatment plants. Many larger, well-funded plants already have the infrastructure to process food waste, though not every plant is ready to do so today.

The Conversation

The IEEPA Tariffs Are Gone. The Damage Is Done.

Next time the courts face patently illegal tariffs, they should not wait so long to put an end to them.

Lawfare

An attack on ordinary Jewish life and God in Michigan

How do Jews respond to those who seek Jewish death? By affirming Jewish life.

Religion News Service

In bid for voter data, Trump’s DOJ lays groundwork to undermine confidence in midterms

The Justice Department has sued 29 states and the District of Columbia over their refusal to provide unredacted voter rolls that include the driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers of voters. The department has lost three of those lawsuits so far this year.

But as the Justice Department begins appealing the losses, it has filed emergency motions warning the “security and sanctity of elections” would be questioned in those states — California, Michigan and Oregon — without immediate rulings.

Maine Morning Star

Content creation is a growing part of legal sex work. It has an unexpected dark side.

The rise of OnlyFans and AI has some sex workers concerned their likenesses will be exploited. They want protections from the Nevada brothels where they work.

The Nevada Independent

By Organizing Acts of Public Grief, We Build the Courage to Keep Fighting

Our neighbors who confronted ICE in Minnesota have taught us how grieving gives us the courage to continue our dissent.

Truthout

Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them

Easy-to-install solar panels that plug into a regular outlet are getting attention just as Americans are worried about rising energy costs. That’s because these plug-in or balcony solar panels start shaving off part of a homeowner’s or renter’s utility bill right away.

NPR

Brazil’s ex-President Bolsonaro is in intensive care with pneumonia, hospital says

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has pneumonia and is receiving treatment in an intensive care unit, a hospital in the capital, Brasilia, said Friday.

One of his doctors, Brasil Caiado, told journalists that the 70-year-old’s medical situation was serious.

NPR

Dozens of Medical Workers Killed as Israel Hits Lebanon

Lebanese health officials say that 31 health workers have been killed by Israeli strikes. Israel claimed, without evidence, that Hezbollah has been using ambulances and medical facilities.

The New York Times

Israeli police kill two young Palestinian boys and their parents in West Bank

Mohammed, five, Othman, seven, who was blind and had special needs, their mother, Waad Bani Odeh, 35, and father, Ali Bani Odeh, 37, were driving through their home town of Tamoun late on Saturday when Israeli forces opened fire.

The Guardian

AP Exclusive: Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan talks diplomatic efforts as regional war rages

Turkey’s powerful foreign minister said Saturday that there is no serious initiative to resume negotiations between the United States and Iran but that he believes Iran is open to back-channel talks.

AP News

Pope escalates call for ceasefire in Iran by addressing those responsible for the war

“On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict,” Leo said. “Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for.”

National Catholic Reporter

In a small Lebanese town, grief and fear follow the Michigan synagogue attack

Ghazali had lived in the United States for more than a decade but kept strong ties with relatives back home. Four members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike just as the war involving Iran began.

Ghazali was born and raised in Lebanon, along with his two brothers. He also had a niece and a nephew. All were killed in the airstrike. On March 5, as the sun set, they were gathered at the home of Ibrahim Ghazali — the attacker’s younger brother — breaking fast for Ramadan.

NPR

EU court tells member states: gender marker changes are the law

The European Union “protects gender identity” and “legal recognition of it,” new ruling says.

LGBTQ Nation

Ahmad al-Sharaa Is Building the State Abu Mohammed al-Golani Promised

The new Syrian government is consolidating power in the hands of the president while privileging Sunni religious institutions and marginalizing competing centers of authority.

Lawfare

Outdated Intel Likely Led US to Carry Out Deadly Strike on Iranian Elementary School, AP Sources Say

Outdated intelligence likely led to the United States carrying out a deadly missile strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed over 165 people, many of them children, in the opening hours of the conflict, according to a U.S. official and a second person briefed on findings of a preliminary U.S military investigation into the incident.

Mississippi Free Press

Concerns grow as Jamaica ends Cuban medical programme

Perhaps Jamaicans should have seen this coming when the government, back in 2025, announced it would be reviewing the decades-old programme that brought hundreds of Cuban medical personnel to its shores — an unusual move, especially for a programme that had been running smoothly for 50 years.

The current U.S. administration of Donald Trump, however, has been painting the Cuban medical brigade programme as one of “forced labour” — a perception many regional territories initially resisted. As Jamaica’s minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, emphasised on March 20, 2025, “Given the MOU’s expiration last year, we had already begun a review process before international concerns were raised. While we have identified a few areas for alignment with our own overseas labour programmes, we are confident that the Cuban programme is a legitimate bilateral cooperation programme, not an example of trafficking.”

Global Voices

Acclaimed 20th century philosopher Jürgen Habermas dies at 96

For more than 60 years, Habermas helped shape the political discourse in Germany, particularly during the postwar and post-reunification eras.

He was perhaps best known for introducing the concept of the “public sphere” – a space for public discourse beyond state control, and therefore essential to a healthy democracy.

NPR

Western AI models “fail spectacularly” in farms and forests abroad

Big Tech’s AI tools trained on Western data often can’t recognize local crops, forests, or farming conditions without adaptation to local environments.

Rest of World

Thiel brings Antichrist lectures to Vatican’s doorstep, and Catholic institutions back away

The invitation-only conference in Rome has proven so controversial that Catholic universities initially associated with it have all denied official involvement.

Religion News Service