How governments have tried to hide information about the Iran war online

“The U.S. government has requested all satellite imagery providers voluntarily implement an indefinite withhold of imagery in the designated Area of Interest (AOI),” the company wrote to its customers in an e-mail. “We expect this policy to last through the end of the conflict.”

The decision by Planet, and another American company called Vantor, to limit access to images has been a setback because both companies provide extremely high-resolution pictures, and their satellites make frequent passes over Iran and the Gulf.

NPR

Why this disillusioned Trump voter spends hours searching Epstein files

“As a Christian, I don’t believe anybody should endure what these women have been through,” he says. “There is so much bad stuff in these files.”

McBride was a self-described “Trump guy” and “very anti-establishment”. He said he would always defend the US president in the belief that Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement stood for exposing corruption.

But the DOJ’s delay in releasing all the files, and the perceived lack of accountability afterwards, has left him and many others disheartened with the movement, the president and especially with Pam Bondi, Trump’s former attorney general.

BBC

Liberals Gain Seat on Wisconsin Supreme Court, Adding to Firewall in Voting Cases

Chris Taylor’s win on Tuesday expands liberals’ majority on Wisconsin’s high court and locks it in through the next presidential race, when new lawsuits could challenge voting access.

Bolts

Judges Fired After Blocking Deportations of Pro-Palestinian Students

The immigration judges’ abrupt dismissals marked the latest efforts by the Trump administration to reshape the country’s immigration courts.

New York Times

Donald Trump’s Incompetence Is Costing Him the Country

An unpopular war, skyrocketing gas prices, unsteady financial markets, a cabinet filled with sycophants — the president’s colossal missteps have led to calamity at home and abroad

Rolling Stone

RFK Jr. Lied His Way Into Office and American Health Is the Victim

He is pushing quackery as science as health secretary

The Unpopulist

Hegseth mentor Doug Wilson’s vision for a Christian nation means married women can’t vote

During a town hall at an Idaho University, Wilson and his fellow pastors pitched a vision of America with no LGBTQ+ rights, no divorce and no voting rights for married women. Wilson has gained notoriety for his Christian nationalist views and his ties to Pete Hegseth.

Religion News Service

How Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Vaccine Agenda Risks a Resurgence of Deadly Childhood Plagues

The U.S. government took a half century to build a vaccination system that shielded children from such a fate. Its success depended on two fundamental pillars: parents trusting in vaccines and children having access to them. Both are now in peril, thanks in no small part to the man steering America’s health policy.

ProPublica

The political climate is forcing many Latinos to question whether they belong

“Just the word celebration alone is triggering,” says Evelyn Escamilla. “I’m Mexican-American. I was born in this country. I was raised in this country, yet because of my heritage, I’m afraid. I’m afraid to be out in the street. I don’t think we have much to celebrate.”

NPR

Texas’ SNAP ban on sodas, candies troubles diabetics and hypoglycemics

Some Texans on SNAP say the ban on using food stamps to buy sugary drinks and candy prevents quick fixes to low blood sugar conditions.

The Texas Tribune

Breaking Down OMB’s Growing Use of Category C

A tool to withhold federal funds for use in future fiscal years is increasingly being employed to advance administration priorities.

Lawfare

Ex-staffer says Eric Swalwell, candidate for California governor, sexually assaulted her

On Friday afternoon, shortly after the Chronicle published an initial version of this story, Swalwell allies including both chairs of his campaign — Democratic Reps. Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles and Adam Gray of Turlock (Stanislaus County) — began withdrawing their endorsements and calling on him to drop out of the gubernatorial race. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, one of Swalwell’s most powerful allies, also called on him to leave the race.

San Francisco Chronicle

Staff At Minnesota Deportation Hub Received ‘Obscene’ Trump-Themed Challenge Coins Adorned With Skulls

Federal employees involved in the massive operation that led to a surge of deportations and detentions around Minneapolis in recent months have received a souvenir from the controversial mission. A federal worker provided TPM with images of a challenge coin that was given to employees from various government agencies at the B.H. Whipple Federal Building Minnesota, which holds a detention center and has served as a headquarters for ICE agents and others involved in the controversial Minneapolis operation, which was dubbed “Metro Surge.” The commemorative token includes portraits of President Donald Trump and a person who appears to be White House Border Czar Tom Homan glaring out from under a skull. 

Talking Points Memo

Calls to Impeach Trump Collide With Reluctant Democratic Leadership

That hesitation may harden after Friday’s planned caucus conference call for Democratic lawmakers to learn more about the mechanics of the 25th Amendment from Rep. Jamie Raskin, a constitutional law expert who led Trump’s second impeachment trial. Jeffries asked Raskin to talk the caucus through the range of options available to address presidential conduct before they reached a consensus position.

Time

From Early Nirvana To Phish, A Chicago Fan’s Secret Recordings Of 10,000 Shows Are Now Online

Aadam Jacobs has secretly recorded over 10,000 local concerts since 1989. Now, they are cleaned up and ready to listen to for free online.

Block Club Chicago

A New Law Voids IDs of Transgender Kansans. It Also Threatens Their Voting Access.

Kansas Republicans barred trans residents from getting licenses that reflect their gender identity and canceled existing IDs. The move also risks blocking their access to the polls.

Bolts

After a Dark Week, Americans Should Turn to Jimmy Carter’s Malaise Speech

The truth is that the American people twice elected Donald Trump over more qualified Democratic women. The first time, Hillary Clinton warned explicitly that he did not have the temperament to be trusted with the nuclear codes. The second time, they overlooked an insurrection, a deadly pandemic, and a campaign full of bellicose and racist rhetoric, all despite the American economy being in the midst of one of the best post-covid recoveries in the world. 

In our representative democracy, the people speak to the president, and the president speaks to the people, but, crucially, the president also speaks for the people. That idea is at the heart of the whole enterprise. We cannot pretend that Trump’s monstrous words this week don’t reflect on us. We cannot pretend that we are well as a nation. No morally healthy country would put this man in power twice—the second time after he so clearly showed us and the world who he truly is. 

Liberal Currents

An Undemocratic Union Was Key to César Chávez’s Sexual Abuse

The horrifying revelations of César Chávez’s widespread sexual abuse of young women and girls were in part rooted in the culture of unquestioning loyalty and top-down dictation that Chávez established in the United Farm Workers.

Jacobin

Oil industry pleads its Hormuz case with White House

Oil executives are citing international treaties, sanction laws and high payments in opposing Iran’s plan to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Politico

Iran Thinks It’s Winning the War — as Trump Looks for a Way Out

Despite the chest-thumping declarations of victory from Washington and Tehran, there are only losers in this war — which may be far from over

Rolling Stone

Republican Lawmakers Shirk Their War Responsibility

Unlike previous wars, which lawmakers from both parties authorized and funded, the Iran war has become starkly partisan, and will likely be viewed as a largely Republican one.

NotUs

Pulling Reports, Playing Politics

The CIA’s retraction of intelligence reports should raise concerns about politicization and the Trump administration’s embrace of white supremacist rhetoric.

Lawfare

When history repeats itself, traveling is a political act, Rick Steves tells Bellingham

The travel guru says the response to global uncertainty isn’t to stay in but to get out

Cascadia Daily News

Around the moon and back to Houston: Artemis II crew comes home to Space City

The four crew members returned to Houston on Saturday after their historic lunar mission ended Friday. Speaking publicly for the first time since their return, the astronauts grew visibly emotional.

Houston Public Media

‘Bridging the Divide’ on Firearms Laws

A new project brought together people from opposing sides of the gun debate to craft model legislation for violence prevention.

The Trace

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

As the Trump administration wages war on the press, news outlets hosting White House Correspondents’ Dinner events are dodging questions about who’s on their guest lists.

Status

ICE Is Detaining DACA Recipients. It’s Growing Harder for Them to Get Out.

The Trump administration views DACA recipients as deportable as any undocumented immigrant.

NotUs

Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of hundreds of ceasefire violations

Ukraine and Russia have each accused one another of hundreds of violations of a short ceasefire coinciding with Orthdox Easter celebrations.

BBC

How Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s hometown became a symbol of excesses

The stadium in Felcsút, alongside an adjoining soccer academy, cost more than an estimated $200 million to build, and for political observers like Sándor Léderer, it is a prime example of that corruption.

NPR

Mutual aid and self‑sufficiency are key to life near USSR’s contaminated nuclear test zone in Kazakhstan

Between 1949 and 1989, more than 450 nuclear tests took place here with a total explosive yield of 2,500 Hiroshima bombs. The most devastating were the above-ground tests, 116 of which were detonated between 1949 and 1963. I’ve seen the archival footage: mushroom clouds rising over the steppe, shock waves knocking people down dozens of miles away.

The Conversation

Data workers are being forced to work on-site during earthquakes and typhoons

In the Philippines, BPO and AI workers say companies require them to report in person during disasters, citing client demands and safety compliance.

Rest of World

We spoke to the man making viral Lego-style AI videos for Iran. Experts say it’s powerful propaganda

He’s a savvy social media operator who initially denies working for the Iranian government. In previous interviews the outlet has said it is “totally independent”. But upon further questioning, Mr Explosive admits the regime is a “customer” – something he’s never before confirmed publicly.

BBC

Peru’s election: A battle for the Presidency amid political chaos and crime

A record 35 candidates are running for president—the country’s ninth leader in nearly as many years, reflecting deep political instability. Voters will face a jumbo-sized ballot featuring candidates’ photos and party symbols, a longstanding practice in a society historically marked by low literacy levels.

NPR

CNMI and Guam make declarations as Tropical Storm Sinlaku intensifies

The Northern Mariana Islands have been placed under Typhoon Condition III as Tropical Storm Sinlaku continues to intensify and track toward the region.

RNZ

What a Chinese crackdown on corruption meant for Beijing’s high‑end restaurant market

Corruption crackdowns are bad for businesses that thrive on their proximity to political power centers. In fact, they can change the physical layout of an entire industry.

The Conversation

Pope Leo XIV denounces the ‘delusion of omnipotence’ he says fuels the US-Israeli war in Iran

In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.

AP News

The Great Green Wall’s one of the world’s most ambitious eco-projects. Is it working?

This multi-billion dollar project was launched by the African Union in 2007. The plan: to plant a “wall” of trees spanning the entire width of Africa — 4,350 miles long and 10 miles wide — to fight desertification in the Sahel, the arid region to the south of the Sahara desert.

NPR

Budapest turns into party zone after historic election that ends Orban era

Budapest turned into a party zone well into the early hours on Monday with people dancing outside pubs and cars honking as supporters of the opposition Tisza party celebrated ​their sweeping victory in a pivotal election on Sunday.

Reuters

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban admits election defeat

Viktor Orban has admitted his defeat in the parliamentary election in Hungary. “Whatever comes, we will also serve in the opposition of the homeland,” he said in front of supporters in Budapest. The burden of government work is no longer on his shoulders, he added.

SRF

India cracks down on satirists for turning its prime minister into a punch line

The blocked accounts include those belonging to popular independent journalists and satirists with hundreds of thousands of followers, and even one legislator from the opposition Trinamool Congress party.

“It’s really stuff that’s critical of the government,” says Prateek Waghre, an internet policy researcher with Tech Global Institute. He says the orders often come from both the police and the federal ministry, and in most cases, users aren’t told why their content is being blocked.

NPR

Amanda Ungaro Arrived in the U.S. on Jeffrey Epstein’s Plane at 17 — Now She’s Going After Melania Trump From Brazil

The posts were direct replies to Melania’s archived First Lady account. They were personal, combative, and specific. Ungaro claimed a relationship with the First Lady spanning two decades. She referenced being detained by ICE. She threatened legal action. One post pulled in over 300,000 views. Another topped 46,000.

Yahoo News