Washington A federal judge in Massachusetts on Wednesday postponed the termination of temporary protected status for Ethiopians living in the U. S., finding the Trump administration unlawfully attempted to end it. In the order, U. S. District Judge Brian Murphy said the Trump administration terminated the designation “without regard for the process delineated by Congress.” Under the Biden administration, thousands of Ethiopian immigrants in the country were granted the status beginning in 2022. The designation allows immigrants to temporarily live and work in the U. S. without fear of deportation because of armed conflict, environmental disasters or other humanitarian emergencies in their home country. The status was extended in 2024. The Department of Homeland Security announced in December that Ethiopia “no longer met the conditions” for the TPS designation and the protections would terminate on Feb. 13. “Fundamental to this case and indeed to our constitutional system is the principle that the will of the President does not supersede that of Congress,” the judge wrote in Wednesday’s order. “Presidential whims do not and cannot supplant agencies’ statutory obligations. Yet, in this case, Defendants have disregarded both that foundational principle and the statutory scheme enacted by Congress,” he continued. CBS News has reached out to DHS for comment. It’s the latest setback on the issue for the Trump administration, which has sought to terminate the designation for 13 countries as part of the president’s crackdown on immigration. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in late April on the administration’s efforts to remove the status of Syrian and Haitian nationals.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-postpones-end-temporary-protected-status-ethiopians/
Tag Archives: administration
Trump says he will sign an emergency order to pay TSA agents during funding impasse
President Trump said Thursday he would sign an order instructing the Homeland Security secretary to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents as Congress struggled to reach a deal to end a budget impasse that has jammed airports and left workers without paychecks. Trump announced his decision in a social media post saying he wanted to quickly stop the “Chaos at the Airports.” “It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!” the president posted. With pressure mounting, the White House had floated the extraordinary move of invoking a national emergency to pay TSA agents, while senators were reviewing a “last and final” offer from Republicans to Democrats to end the funding impasse at the Department of Homeland Security. Details of the president’s plan were not immediately available, but a national emergency declaration would be politically fraught and almost certain to face legal challenges. Instead, the president may simply be shifting money from other sources. Democrats have been refusing to fund Homeland Security as they seek changes to rein in Trump’s immigration enforcement operations. The Senate came to a standstill and senators, ready to leave town for their own spring break, had prepared to stay all night to reach a deal. “The president is doing absolutely the right thing,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the GOP whip. “The TSA agents are going to be paid.” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chair of the Appropriations Committee, has said there is funding elsewhere that can be legally used to pay the TSA as well as the Coast Guard without declaring a national emergency. The funding shutdown, now in its 41st day, has resulted in travel delays, missed paychecks and even warnings of airport closures. TSA workers are coming up on their second missed payday Friday, with thousands refusing to show up for work. Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers and nearly 500 of its nearly 50, 000 transportation security officers have now quit during the shutdown. Nationwide on Wednesday, more than 11% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, according to DHS. That is more than 3, 120 callouts. Trump, who has largely left the issue to Congress to resolve, had warned he was ready to take action, even threatening to send the National Guard to airports, in addition to his deployment of ICE agents who are now checking travelers’ IDs a development drawing concerns. The White House has been considering a menu of options. “They need to end this shutdown immediately or we’ll have to take drastic measures,” Trump said during a morning Cabinet meeting at the White House. At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Melissa Gates said she would not make her flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after waiting more than 2½ hours and still not reaching the security checkpoint. She said no other flights were available until Friday. “I should have just driven, right?” Gates said. “Five hours would have been hilarious next to this.” A ‘last and final’ offer on the table Earlier Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S. D.) announced he had given the final offer to Democrats. Thune did not disclose details of the new framework, but he said that it picked up on what had been the Republican offer over the weekend, before talks with the White House and Democrats had broken off. “Enough is enough,” he said. But as senators retreated to privately discuss the new plan, the action stalled out. Democrats argue the GOP proposals have not gone far enough at putting guardrails on officers from ICE, Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies that are engaged in the immigration sweeps, particularly after the deaths of two Americans protesting the actions in Minneapolis. They want federal agents to wear identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Democrats have also pushed for an end of administrative warrants, insisting that judges sign off before agents search people’s homes or private spaces. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said they needed to see real changes. “We’ve been talking about ICE reforms from day one,” he said. Any deal will almost certainly need to involve a compromise as lawmakers on the left and right flanks revolt. Conservative Republicans have panned their own GOP proposals, demanding full funding for immigration operations and skeptical of the promise from leaders that they would address Trump’s proof-of-citizenship voting bill in a subsequent legislative package. Republicans said after a private lunch meeting that there were other options to shift money than invoking the national emergency. The GOP’s big tax cuts bill that Trump signed into law last year funneled billions to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations, ensuring the money is flowing for his immigration and deportation agenda even with the funding shutdown. ICE and other immigration officers are still being paid. Republicans say the Trump administration has already made strides to meet Democrats’ demands, particularly after swearing in former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the new homeland security secretary to replace Kristi Noem. He has given a nod to the need for the judicial warrants for searches. Airport lines grow as TSA workers endure hardships “This is a dire situation,” the acting TSA administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, testified at a House hearing Wednesday. She described the multiple hardships facing unpaid TSA workers piling-up bills and eviction notices, even plasma donations to make ends meet and warned of potential airport closures if more employees refuse to come to work. “At this point, we have to look at all options on the table,” she said. McNeil also said TSA officers working at the nation’s airports had experienced a more than 500% increase in the frequency of assaults since the shutdown began. “This is unacceptable,” McNeill said.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-03-26/trump-says-he-will-sign-emergency-order-to-pay-tsa-agents
Judge says government’s Anthropic ban looks like punishment
A federal judge in San Francisco said on Tuesday the government’s ban on Anthropic looked like punishment after the AI company went public with its dispute with the Pentagon over the military’s potential uses of its artificial intelligence model, Claude. U. S. District Judge Rita F. Lin made the remark at the outset of a hearing about Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction in one of its lawsuits against the Pentagon, which has designated the company a supply chain risk, effectively blacklisting it. “It looks like an attempt to cripple Anthropic,” Lin said, adding she was concerned that the government might be punishing Anthropic for openly criticizing the government’s position. Lin said she expected to make a ruling in the next few days on whether to temporarily pause the government’s ban until the court decides on the merits of the case. The hearing in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California is the latest development in a spat between one of the leading AI companies and the Trump administration, and it has implications for how the government can use AI more broadly. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced in late February that he would not allow the company’s Claude’s AI model to be used for autonomous weapons, or to surveil American citizens. President Trump subsequently ordered all U. S. government agencies to stop using Anthropic’s products. The Pentagon designated Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” earlier this month, citing national security concerns. That designation is normally reserved for entities deemed to be foreign adversaries that could potentially sabotage U. S. interests. Anthropic has filed two federal lawsuits alleging that this designation amounts to illegal retaliation against the company for its stance on AI safety. It argues that the label will cost it both customers and revenue, since it will bar Pentagon contractors from doing business with the company, as well. The lawsuits, filed in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the federal appeals court in Washington, D. C., allege the Trump administration violated the company’s First Amendment right to speech and exceeded the scope of supply chain risk law. In today’s hearing, lawyers for Anthropic said it was apparently the first time such a designation had been made against a U. S. company. Lin said the Pentagon has a right to decide what AI products it wants to use. But she questioned whether the government broke the law when it banned its agencies from using Anthropic, and when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that anyone seeking business with the Pentagon must cut relations with Anthropic. She said the actions were “troubling” because they did not seem to be tailored to the national security concerns in question, which could be addressed by the Pentagon simply ceasing to use Claude. Instead, she said, it looked like the government was trying to punish Anthropic. But a lawyer for the government argued that its actions were not retaliatory, and were based on Anthropic’s disagreement with the government over how its AI model could be used not the company’s decision to speak out about it. The government also argued that Anthropic is a risk because, theoretically, in the future the company could update Claude in a way that endangers national security. Anthropic did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment.
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/24/nx-s1-5759276/anthropic-pentagon-claude-preliminary-injunction-hearing
No ICE agents at Logan Airport yet as agents deploy to busy airports
No ICE agents took up Transportation Security Administration roles at Logan Airport in Boston Monday as President Donald Trump orders federal immigration agents to beleaguered airports, the local union said. ICE agents were not deployed to any New England airport, according to Mike Gayzagian, the president of AFGE Local 2617, the New England branch of the TSA officers’ union. Agents could come next week, but those rumors are unsubstantiated, Gayzagian said. A group of DHS officers were seen at Logan Monday and indicated to The Boston Globe they were part of a “Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response” operation, a TSA specialized security team that has been in operation for years, the paper reported. As the partial government shutdown continues into its second month, funding for DHS, including U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is at the center of the shutdown. Trump said Sunday he would send ICE agents to airports starting Monday. Massport confirmed ICE agents were not deployed at Logan International Airport, but deferred to the TSA. Speaking for TSA, DHS declined to say if agents were deployed to New England airports, citing “operational security reasons.” ICE agents were deployed to 14 airports, CNN reported, where airport wait times were reaching multiple hours. Logan Airport, where the majority of TSA agents have stayed at work, has so far avoided the delays plaguing other major hubs. Here are the airports, per CNN, where ICE agents were deployed, where Trump promised they would arrest “all Illegal Immigrants.“.
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/03/23/no-ice-agents-at-logan-airport-yet-as-agents-deploy-to-busy-airports/
Trump says U.S. shipbuilding is in a crisis as it lags far behind China
The war in Iran is highlighting the importance of ships not just warships but cargo vessels like those carrying oil or gas trapped near the Strait of Hormuz. But American shipbuilding is in shambles, due to decades of shortsighted policies and neglect. Our submarine building program is sluggish. And our commercial shipbuilding is nearly extinct. China makes roughly 1, 000 cargo ships a year. The U. S.? Maybe three. The Trump administration has called this a national security crisis. But can this ship be turned around? This is the Philadelphia shipyard, one of only two left in the U. S. building large commercial cargo ships. Once a symbol of American might and innovation, ships built here helped win our independence in the 18th century, and World War II in the 20th. This shipyard has become a symbol of American industrial decline, a money loser falling decades behind our global rivals. And it still uses a crane from 1942! Lesley Stahl: Now, talk about a metaphor of how far behind we are. David Kim: Lotta times people’ll call it a dinosaur. Lesley Stahl: What else is a dinosaur? David Kim: Almost everything that you’ve seen out there. David Kim, the new head of the Philly shipyard, showed us around. He works for Hanwha, a giant shipmaker from South Korea, the country making most ships after China. Hanwha bought the yard in 2024 for $100 million, then poured in another $100 million and tasked Kim, a Korean-American born and bred in Texas, to bring it into the 21st century. Lesley Stahl: How many ships do you actually make here? David Kim: Here at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard we deliver one to one-and-a-half ships a year versus our yard in Korea where they deliver basically one a week. Lesley Stahl: What? One a year for delivery versus one a week? David Kim: That’s correct. Not building ships in the U. S. is considered a national security threat because if there’s a conflict with China, for instance, Beijing could weaponize its substantial merchant fleet and cut us off from global goods. Hanwha plans to spend $5 billion in Philly and has already sent 50 trainers from Korea to teach American workers. David Kim: Our aspiration is to get to up to 20 ships a year here at the shipyard. Lesley Stahl: So we come back in two years. How different will it look? David Kim: You’ll see robots. You will see automation equipment. And we’re looking to grow the workforce by, call it, 7, 000 to 10, 000 people. Sounds great, only there’s a huge shortage in the U. S. of skilled labor in ship-building, including welders and pipe-fitters. This work is grueling: freezing in winter, scorching in summer, and it’s dangerous. And while the yard has a training program, it can only train 20 or so new hires at a time and it takes three years! Still, apprentices Justin, Jeff, and Meg, told us this beats their old jobs. Justin: I worked at Amazon as a grocery picker. Meg: Before this job I was a cake decorator at a bakery. Lesley Stahl: And a nanny. Meg: And a nanny as well. Yes. I worked many jobs. Lesley Stahl: If you were to pitch this job and this place to a friend, what would you say? Meg: I would tell my friend that instead of paying out of pocket to go to a trade school, you’re getting paid while you learn here the entire time. Lesley Stahl: They pay you? Meg: Yes. Lesley Stahl: And health care? Meg: And health care, which is amazing. Lesley Stahl: But aren’t the conditions really harsh? Jeff: Not the easiest work. Like, I go home, granted, I’m more tired but it’s more fulfillin’ to me. Makes you feel like you’re somethin’, part of somethin’ bigger. But not only are workers scarce and the yard outdated, the Philly shipyard has to bring key components to the U. S., such as propellers, and even the engine. So ships that take six months to build in Korea or China can take twice as long here, and cost five times as much! And who will buy them? Michael Coulter: There’s no doubt that we have challenges and headwinds, but I also think we have a unique moment in time. Michael Coulter, who’s Hanwha’s top executive in charge of U. S. operations, says the way to lower prices is scale up production. Lesley Stahl: So you’re saying if we build more ships, then the cost per ship will come down. Michael Coulter: Significantly. Lesley Stahl: It’s so busy here! Michael Coulter: It is busy. He took us to Hanwha’s shipyard in Korea, where nine ships are being built at once, four in a row, like Lego sets the size of football fields. Steel chunks bigger than buildings hover over the ground. They’re lifted above the water, or they just glide by. He showed us how far ahead they are technologically: rows and rows of robots! But even with all the automation, the human workforce keeps growing. There are over 26, 000 workers on site, many getting around on low tech because this place is so vast. And the yard keeps hiring, training 400 workers at once way more than the 20 in Philly! And they’re taught using cutting-edge virtual reality! He’s learning to paint. It’s a dance of tech, cranes, trucks, and bikes. And this yard also builds military vessels, including submarines, which the U. S. desperately needs, since our fleet is aging and we can barely make new ones. Michael Coulter: From a Hanwha perspective, we build great submarines. Lesley Stahl: Here, in Korea. Michael Coulter: Here, in Korea, yes. We have told the U. S. government that if they so wish, we will build submarines for them in the United States, and in Philadelphia, just like we do in Korea. Send a secure tip to 60 Minutes: Here’s how to confidentially share information with our journalists Lesley Stahl: Is the ultimate goal for your company to build nuclear submarines for the U. S. Navy? Michael Coulter: The submarine program in the United States is heading in the wrong direction, and we think we can help. Another way Hanwha says it wants to help the U. S. is with transporting liquified natural gas, or LNG, hoping to build these giant LNG tankers in Philly. Lesley Stahl: The United States is the largest producer of natural gas. And yet, we don’t have any LNG ships that we make ourselves. Is that correct? Michael Coulter: That’s correct. Not a single one. This leads to an absurd situation: while we export LNG on foreign carriers to over 30 countries Colin Grabow: One country we don’t send it to is other parts of the United States. Colin Grabow, a trade expert at the libertarian CATO Institute, explains that a century-old law called the Jones Act requires that any cargo shipped between U. S. ports say from Baltimore to Boston, or Seattle to Juneau that cargo has to be on an American-made ship. So if the cargo is LNG, it has to be on an American made LNG ship. Lesley Stahl: But we don’t build any. Colin Grabow: That’s right. There aren’t any. Lesley Stahl: Oh, my god. Colin Grabow: And you might think, “Well, seems like an easy problem to solve. Go build the ship, transport the gas,” except the math doesn’t work. If you want to build one of those ships in Asia, the cost is around $260 million; here in the United States? About $1 billion! Lesley Stahl: Well, wait. Are there parts of this country that cannot get natural gas because of this law? Colin Grabow: That’s right, New England. In winters, New England has to import pricier natural gas from abroad, even though it’s extracted only a few states away. Colin Grabow: In fact, Puerto Rico imported Russian natural gas the same month as Russia invaded Ukraine. Lesley Stahl: No. (GASP) Colin Grabow: So we take a stance against Russia. On the other hand, we’re importing their energy, something that we have in abundance. You can’t make this stuff up. Last year, President Trump made solving our ship crisis a national priority, signing an executive order creating a multi-agency action plan and a White House office of shipbuilding. President Trump (4/9/25, signing executive order).: “We’re way, way, way behind. We used to build a ship a day and now we don’t do a ship a year, practically.” But the White House has conflicting priorities. Lesley Stahl: So here’s the administration. It wants to build ships and they’re putting huge tariffs– 50% on steel, which is the main component in a ship. What’s wrong with that picture? Colin Grabow: Yes. This is one of the paradoxes of the Trump administration. We’re artificially increasing the cost of building ships in this country! Lesley Stahl: So why can’t shipbuilders just use American made steel? There’s no tariffs on those. Colin Grabow: That’s true. But when we put heavy tariffs on imported steel, we drive those costs up, that’s a great opportunity for Americans to raise their own price. What we know is today, American steel is roughly twice as expensive as steel in, say, China. Lesley Stahl: What you’re saying is when the price of steel goes up because of tariffs, then the American steel manufacturer hikes the price of steel? Colin Grabow: These are profit oriented enterprises. He actually thinks we should be able to just buy and use ships from our ally, South Korea, not build them. And he points to another conflicting White House priority: making it harder to grant skilled immigrants work visas. Colin Grabow: Traditionally, a lot of immigrants have been willing to do this kind of work. And yet, we are turning our back on immigration and adopting a more hostile stance. Lesley Stahl: The administration seems to be fighting its own policy. Colin Grabow: Yes. It didn’t help when last September, ICE raided a Korean battery plant in Georgia, alleging visa violations. Agents dragged off 300 Korean technicians and engineers in cuffs and chains, despite their coming here to train American workers. Hanwha’s Michael Coulter says this caused a backlash in Korea. Lesley Stahl: Have you been assured that what happened in Georgia will not happen in Philadelphia? Michael Coulter: We’ve been assured that our visas are the right visas and our team is not going to be impacted. The White House is committed to making ships here. So last year, when President Trump threatened to put tariffs on Korean imports, Korea’s president offered instead to invest $150 billion to revive the U. S. shipbuilding industry, promising Philly is just the start. Michael Coulter: There’s a recognition that the United States has a problem that Korea may be uniquely positioned to help. Lesley Stahl: That’s like aid for the United States. Wow. Wouldn’t it be more profitable and wiser if the United States just bought the ships from Korea? Michael Coulter: That doesn’t solve the problem. At the end of the day, shipbuilding is a national security necessity. The U. S. needs to be able to secure our own commerce. We need to be able to export our own energy. Lesley Stahl: The idea that we now rely on Korean expertise to help us build an industry that we need for national security reasons. Should we be ashamed of ourselves? Should we feel weak? Michael Coulter: I don’t think we should be fearful or feel weak. We are in a shipbuilding crisis in the United States, and every American should be aware of that. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not solvable. We once deployed ships to save South Korea. Now we’ve been forced to turn to South Korea to save us. In a statement to 60 Minutes, the White House said, quote: “no president has done more to bolster American maritime power.” This past week, with gas prices soaring, the president suspended the Jones Act for 60 days, to ease the transport of oil and gas within the U. S.. Produced by Shachar Bar-On and Jinsol Jung. Broadcast associate, Aria Een. Edited by Matthew Lev.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-ship-building-lags-behind-china-south-korea-trump-makes-it-priority-60-minutes-transcript/
After judge rules Voice of America be revived, what’s next?
**Federal Judge Orders Voice of America to Resume Full Operations Amid Uncertainty**
In a strongly worded decision this week, a federal judge ordered that Voice of America (VOA)—an international broadcaster with the mission to provide news to countries around the world—come roaring back to life after being largely shut down for the last year by the Trump administration. Whether or not that actually happens remains uncertain.
The government filed notice Thursday to appeal U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth’s order issued two days earlier, which directed hundreds of VOA employees who have been on paid leave for the last year to return to work.
Judge Lamberth ruled on March 7 that Kari Lake, President Trump’s choice to oversee the bureaucratic parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), did not have the authority to reduce VOA to a skeleton crew. Established during World War II, Voice of America beamed reports to many countries lacking a tradition of a free press.
Before Trump took office again last year, VOA operated in 49 different languages and was heard by an estimated 362 million people worldwide. However, Trump’s team contended that government-run news sources—not just VOA but also outlets like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty—were examples of bloated government, and sought news reporting more favorable to the current administration.
Currently operating with a greatly reduced staff, VOA broadcasts mainly to Iran, Afghanistan, China, North Korea, and countries with large Kurdish populations.
In his decision, Judge Lamberth stated that Lake had “repeatedly thumbed her nose” at laws mandating VOA’s operation.
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### Calls to Rebuild and Strengthen VOA
VOA Director Michael Abramowitz expressed optimism about the broadcaster’s future. He noted that legislators from both parties recognize the need for a strong operation and have allocated sufficient funding to get the job done.
“It is time for all parties to come together and work to rebuild and strengthen the agency,” Abramowitz said.
However, expectations for a swift recovery should be tempered. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly defended the administration’s position, saying, “President Trump was elected to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse across the administration, including the Voice of America, and efforts to improve efficiency at USAGM have been a tremendous success. This will not be the final say on the matter.”
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### Challenges Ahead for VOA Staff
Patsy Widakuswara, VOA’s White House bureau chief and a plaintiff in the lawsuit to restore the agency, commented on the difficulties ahead.
“Restoring the physical infrastructure is going to take a lot of money and some time, but it can be done. What is more difficult is recovering from the trauma that our newsroom has gone through,” she said.
David Ensor, former VOA director from 2010 to 2014, questioned whether the administration wants a real news organization or merely a mouthpiece.
“We don’t know — maybe no one does at the moment — what the future holds,” Ensor said.
The administration’s efforts over the past year to bolster friendly outlets and suppress coverage displeasing to Trump offer some clues, despite congressional mandates requiring VOA to remain an objective and unbiased news source.
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### New Leadership and Staffing Concerns
This week, it was announced that Christopher Wallace, a Newsmax executive with 15 years at Fox News Channel, will become the new deputy director at VOA. Michael Abramowitz stated he was unaware of this appointment until it was publicly announced. Widakuswara declined to comment on what Wallace’s appointment might mean, saying, “I’m not going to pass judgment before seeing his work.”
While Judge Lamberth ordered more than a thousand employees on leave to be reinstated, it remains unclear how many have moved on to other jobs or retired over the past year. Additionally, the judge said he lacked authority to reinstate hundreds of independent contractors who were terminated.
One former employee who left VOA is Steve Herman, previously the White House bureau chief and national correspondent, and now executive director of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation at the University of Mississippi. Despite the court decisions, Herman expressed skepticism about the future.
“I’m a bit of a pessimist,” Herman said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult.”
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### Political Influence and Future Outlook
The Trump administration continues to resist defeat. Recently, the White House nominated Sarah Rogers, undersecretary of State for public diplomacy, to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media, potentially increasing administrative control—though her nomination requires Senate approval.
“Is Marco Rubio’s State Department going to allow objective journalism in 49 languages?” Herman questioned. “I don’t think so. I would want that to happen, but that’s a fairy tale.”
In the February budget bill, Congress allocated $200 million for VOA operations. While this represents roughly a 25% cut from the agency’s previous budget, it sends a bipartisan message of support, according to Kate Neeper, VOA’s director of strategy and performance evaluation.
Neeper, who also joined Widakuswara as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, has helped colleagues address concerns including immigration issues over the past year.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm for going back to work,” she said. “People are eager to show up on Monday.”
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### The Enduring Importance of Voice of America
David Ensor highlighted the hunger for VOA’s information, particularly in Iran, during his tenure as director. Surveys showed that between a quarter and a third of Iranian households tuned in to VOA weekly, primarily via satellite television. While authorities occasionally cracked down and confiscated satellite dishes, Iranians could usually find replacements quickly.
“I believe in Voice of America as a news organization and as a voice of America,” Ensor said. “It was important, and it can be again.”
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As VOA stands at a crossroads after a turbulent year, the path forward remains uncertain. The commitment of its employees and bipartisan congressional support offer hope that the broadcaster can reclaim its historic mission of delivering reliable news to audiences worldwide.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-03-21/after-judge-rules-voice-of-america-be-revived-whats-next
Tons of aid flows into Cuba as humanitarian convoy arrives on the struggling island
HAVANA — Some 650 delegates from 33 countries and 120 organizations began arriving in Cuba on Friday as part of a solidarity caravan transporting some 20 tons of humanitarian aid. The island is grappling with a severe energy crisis amid heightened tensions with the United States.
Members of the “Our America Convoy to Cuba” arrived by air from Italy, France, Spain, the United States, and several Latin American countries. More delegates are scheduled to arrive by sea on Saturday aboard a flotilla of three vessels from Mexico, organizers reported. A group of activists had already arrived in Havana on Wednesday, delivering donations to hospitals in advance of the main caravan.
This visit comes amid increased strain between Cuba and the United States. Both governments have acknowledged holding talks after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed an oil embargo on the island. Earlier this week, Trump stated he expected to have the “honor” of “taking Cuba in some form,” adding, “I can do anything I want.”
Among the donated items are solar panels, food supplies, and medicine to treat cancer. Cuba’s economy has been brought to a near standstill due to the energy embargo imposed in January, exacerbating a five-year economic crisis as the U.S. administration presses for political change on the island.
David Adler, a U.S. citizen and coordinator of Progressive International—one of the caravan’s organizers—stated, “In the end, we are dozens and dozens of delegates, and we represent millions of people in this convoy. We cannot allow this collective punishment. We cannot normalize it.”
Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío also addressed the ongoing dialogue, firmly rejecting any talks about changing the political system or the potential departure of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. “The Cuban political system is not up for negotiation, nor is the president, nor the position of any official in Cuba, subject to negotiation with the United States or with the government of any other country,” Fernández de Cossío said. He noted that many areas of common interest exist where dialogue with Washington is possible, continuing the approach taken in the past.
Manolo de los Santos, from The People’s Forum and another caravan organizer, emphasized that this mission is not only about “defying the U.S. blockade” but also about preventing “another Gaza in the Americas.”
Several analysts and regional leaders, including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, have warned of a possible humanitarian crisis unfolding in Cuba. Adler pointed out that both the flotilla that traveled to Gaza and the one heading to Cuba share numerous supporters.
In addition to social activists, the caravan includes unions, prominent figures, and political parties such as Morena from Mexico, the Workers’ Party of Brazil, and the Broad Front of Uruguay. Notable participants include British Parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn, Colombian Senator Clara López, former Spanish politician Pablo Iglesias, U.S. labor leader Chris Smalls, and Brazilian humanitarian activist Thiago Ávila.
For weeks, the only aid reaching Cuba came from Mexico, which sent food and hygiene products on three occasions. However, activists and leaders in other countries have now begun forming support groups and collecting donations.
President Díaz-Canel expressed his gratitude on social media, stating, “They bring shipments of aid to combat the attempt to suffocate us. Welcome once again to the compassion of the people. Solidarity always returns to those who practice it with no other interest than human well-being.”
Brazil has announced plans to send 20,000 tons of food, primarily rice, beans, and powdered milk. Additionally, a group of Chilean parliamentarians arrived with aid on Thursday, and China reported through its embassy that a ship carrying 60,000 tons of rice has set sail for Cuba.
White House proposes new underground visitor screening facility
The Trump administration has proposed the construction of an underground facility to screen visitors to the White House. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is scheduled to consider plans for the approximately 33,000-square-foot visitor screening facility that would be built entirely on federal land in Sherman Park, located southeast of the White House.
The NCPC, responsible for approving construction projects on federal land in the Washington, D.C., region, has listed the plans on the agenda for its April 2 meeting. These plans were developed by the Executive Office of the President in conjunction with the U.S. Secret Service, the Interior Department, and the National Park Service.
Construction of the new facility could begin as early as this fall, with completion expected by July 2028. The facility would allow visitors to queue in multiple entry lanes for an initial ID check before proceeding to a new lobby and another security checkpoint. Designed to accommodate large groups, the proposed screening area aims to improve the visitor experience significantly.
Currently, visitors to the White House line up in nearby parks before entering security checkpoints housed in trailers and tents. Due to the construction of the White House’s new East Wing ballroom, visitors are now gathering at an alternate location in Lafayette Park.
The NCPC’s plans do not provide an estimated cost for the project or specify where funding would come from. White House spokesman Davis Ingle told CBS News, “For far too long, visitors to the White House have had a reduced experience where they were required to begin their tours by entering temporary, double-wide trailers and tents outside, often in uncomfortable weather conditions. This President took it upon himself to modernize the experience for visitors touring the People’s House from beginning to end. President Trump is committed to giving all visitors to the White House the best experience possible. The new Visitor Center will be state of the art in design and highlight the beautiful history of the White House and our Nation’s Capital.”
The NCPC is working to mitigate the facility’s impact on historic sites. According to the plans, the existing statue of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman in Sherman Park would remain in place. However, there are plans for landscape restoration aimed at enhancing the park’s character.
At least six trees will be removed as part of the construction but will be replaced with suitable native species and landscaping. The plans also prioritize maintaining public access to the park and ensuring the new structures do not detract from the surrounding buildings and monuments, taking into account visitor use and the area’s aesthetic appeal.
This underground screening facility is expected to modernize and streamline the visitor experience while preserving the historic and cultural significance of Sherman Park and its surroundings.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-proposes-new-underground-visitor-screening-facility/
Power, politics and a $2.8-billion exit: How Paramount topped Netflix to win Warner Bros.
The morning after Netflix clinched its deal to buy Warner Bros., Paramount Skydance Chairman David Ellison assembled a war room of trusted advisors, including his billionaire father, Larry Ellison. Furious at Warner Bros. Discovery Chief David Zaslav for ending the auction, the Ellisons and their team began plotting their comeback on that crisp December day.
To rattle Warner Bros. Discovery and its investors, they launched a three-front campaign: a lawsuit, a hostile takeover bid, and direct lobbying of the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress. “There was a master battle plan and it was extremely disciplined,” said one auction insider who was not authorized to comment publicly.
Netflix stunned the industry late Thursday by pulling out of the bidding, clearing the way for Paramount to claim the company that owns HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, Food Network, and the Warner Bros. film and television studios in Burbank. The deal was valued at more than $111 billion.
The streaming giant’s reversal came just hours after co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos met with Attorney General Pam Bondi and a deputy at the White House. It was a cordial session, but the Trump officials told Sarandos that his deal was facing significant hurdles in Washington, according to a person close to the administration who was not authorized to comment publicly.
Even before that meeting, the tide had turned for Paramount in a swell of power, politics, and brinkmanship. “Netflix played their cards well; however, Paramount played their cards perfectly,” said Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Integrated Media Company. “They did exactly what they had to do and when they had to do it, which was at the very last moment.”
Key to victory was Larry Ellison, his vast $200-billion fortune, and his connections to Trump and congressional Republicans. Paramount also hired Trump’s former antitrust chief, attorney Makan Delrahim, to quarterback the firm’s legal and regulatory action.
Republicans during a Senate hearing this month piled onto Sarandos with complaints about potential monopolistic practices and “woke” programming. David Ellison skipped that hearing. This week, however, he attended Trump’s State of the Union address in the Capitol chambers, a guest of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The two men posed, grinning and giving a thumbs-up, for a photo that was posted to Graham’s X account.
On Friday, Netflix said it had received a $2.8-billion payment — a termination fee Paramount agreed to pay to send Netflix on its way.
Long before David Ellison and his family acquired Paramount and CBS last summer, the 43-year-old tech scion and aircraft pilot already had his sights set on Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount’s assets, including MTV, Nickelodeon, and the Melrose Avenue movie studio, have been fading. Ellison recognized he needed the more robust company Warner Bros. Discovery to achieve his ambitions.
“From the very beginning, our pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery has been guided by a clear purpose: to honor the legacy of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company,” David Ellison said in a Friday statement. “We couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.”
Warner’s chief, Zaslav, who had initially opposed the Paramount bid, added, “We look forward to working with Paramount to complete this historic transaction.”
Netflix, in a separate statement, said it was unwilling to go beyond its $82.7-billion proposal that Warner board members accepted Dec. 4.
“We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs,” Sarandos and co-Chief Executive Greg Peters said in a statement.
“But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price,” the Netflix chiefs added.
Netflix may have miscalculated the Ellison family’s determination when it agreed on Feb. 16 to allow Paramount back into the bidding. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company already had prevailed in the auction and had an agreement in hand. Its next step was a shareholder vote.
“They didn’t need to let Paramount back in, but there was a lot of pressure on them to make sure the process wouldn’t be challenged,” Miller said.
In addition, Netflix’s stock had also been pummeled — the company had lost a quarter of its value since investors learned the company was making a Warner run. Upon news that Netflix had withdrawn, its shares soared Friday nearly 14% to $96.24.
Invited back into the auction room, Paramount unveiled a much stronger proposal than the one it submitted in December. The elder Ellison had pledged to personally guarantee the deal, including $45.7 billion in equity required to close the transaction. And if bankers became worried that Paramount was too leveraged, the tech mogul agreed to put in more money in order to secure the bank financing.
That promise assuaged Warner Bros. Discovery board members who had fretted for weeks that they weren’t sure Ellison would sign on the dotted line, according to two people close to the auction who were not authorized to comment.
Paramount’s pressure campaign had been relentless, first winning over theater owners, who expressed alarm over Netflix’s business model that encourages consumers to watch movies in their homes.
During the last two weeks, Sarandos got dragged into two ugly controversies. First, famed filmmaker James Cameron endorsed Paramount, saying a Netflix takeover would lead to massive job losses in the entertainment industry, which is already reeling from a production slowdown in Southern California that has disrupted the lives of thousands of film industry workers.
Then, a week ago, Trump took aim at Netflix board member Susan Rice, a former high-level Obama and Biden administration official. In a social media post, Trump called Rice a “no talent political hack,” and said that Netflix must fire her or “pay the consequences.” The threat underscored the dicey environment for Netflix.
Additionally, Paramount had sowed doubts about Netflix among lawmakers, regulators, Warner investors, and ultimately the Warner board. Paramount assured Warner board members that it had a clear path to win regulatory approval so the deal would quickly be finalized.
In a show of confidence, Delrahim filed to win the Justice Department’s blessing in December even though Paramount didn’t have a deal. This month, a deadline for the Justice Department to raise issues with Paramount’s proposed Warner takeover passed without comment from the Trump regulators.
“Analysts believe the deal is likely to close,” TD Cowen analysts said in a Friday report. “While Paramount-WBD does present material antitrust risks (higher pay TV prices, lower pay for TV/movie workers), analysts also see a key pro-competitive effect: improved competition in streaming, with Paramount+ and HBO Max representing a materially stronger counterweight to #1 Netflix.”
Throughout the battle, David Ellison relied on support from his father, attorney Delrahim, and three key board members: Oracle Executive Vice Chair Safra A. Catz; RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale; and Justin Hamill, managing director of tech investment firm Silver Lake.
In the final days, David Ellison led an effort to flip Warner board members who had firmly supported Netflix. With Paramount’s improved offer, several began leaning toward the Paramount deal.
On Tuesday, Warner announced that Paramount’s deal was promising. On Thursday, Warner’s board determined Paramount’s deal had topped Netflix. That’s when Netflix surrendered.
“Paramount had a fulsome, 360-degree approach,” Miller said. “They approached it financially. They understood the regulatory environment here and abroad in the EU. And they had a game plan for every aspect.”
On Friday, Paramount shares rose 21% to $13.51.
It was a reversal of fortunes for David Ellison, who appeared on CNBC just three days after that war room meeting in December.
“We put the company in play,” David Ellison told the CNBC anchor that day. “We’re really here to finish what we started.”
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-02-27/paramount-warner-bros-acquisition-how-why-what-to-know
Human biology is ill-equipped for ultraprocessed foods, former FDA head says
Today, an increasing number of Americans across the political spectrum from Make America Healthy Again activists to everyday shoppers are voicing concern about the health impact of ultraprocessed foods those boxed and wrapped in plastic, ready-to-eat items lining grocery store shelves. Leading the charge are two men who disagree on pretty much everything else about public health Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. David Kessler, the former commissioner of the U. S. Food and Drug Administration. The two men have found common ground over a common culprit: a 67-year-old government classification for substances in our food. It’s called GRAS, or generally recognized as safe. Kennedy and Kessler say it has allowed big food companies to use ingredients without a full government safety review and flood the market with ultraprocessed foods that now make up 50% of our calories and 60% of our children’s diets. David Kessler: Over the last 40 years, the United States has been exposed to something that our biology was never intended to handle. Energy-dense, highly palatable, rapidly absorbable, ultraprocessed foods that have altered our metabolism and have resulted in the greatest increase in chronic disease in our history. Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, hypertension, abnormal lipids, fatty liver, heart attacks, stroke, heart failure. Bill Whitaker: From our food David Kessler: From our food. David Kessler was commissioner of the U. S. Food and Drug Administration during the 1990s when he helped expose how the tobacco companies manipulated nicotine levels to hook consumers. He was a driving force in bringing tobacco executives before Congress and turning public attention to the industry. He’s now aiming to do the same with the food industry. Bill Whitaker: In terms of a public health crisis, how does this compare with tobacco? David Kessler: It’s as large, if not larger. Bill Whitaker: It’s that significant? David Kessler: The scale of this– this affects everybody. Understand, not everybody smoked. But look at the number of people who consume ultraprocessed food. It touches all of us. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: 70% of Americans are either obese or overweight, and it’s not because they got indolent or because we became lazy or because we suddenly developed giant appetites. It’s because We’re being given food that is low in nutrition and high in calories and it’s making it’s destroying our health We met with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last month after he issued new dietary guidelines that for the first time advise against highly processed foods. Bill Whitaker: You have said that these ultraprocessed foods are poisoning us. I think many Americans would be surprised to hear that. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: We’re seeing in our population people who are obscenely obese and at the same time malnourished Kennedy says that’s largely because we don’t know the health consequences of what we’re eating thanks to the GRAS exemption enacted by Congress in 1958 that allows food companies to independently verify the safety of their ingredients with no government oversight if they are generally recognized by experts as safe. Pending White House approval, he intends to close that backdoor. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: That loophole was hijacked by the industry, and it was used to add thousands upon thousands of new ingredients into our food supply. In Europe there’s only 400 legal ingredients. This agency does not know how many ingredients there are in American food. Bill Whitaker: They do not know. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: They do not know. The estimates are between 4, 000 and 10, 000. We have no idea what they are. Bill Whitaker: How do we know what is safe to eat? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: There is– no way for any American to know if a product is safe if it is ultraprocessed. For his part, David Kessler is petitioning Kennedy to go further and outright revoke the GRAS status for dozens of processed refined carbohydrates sweeteners and starches such as corn syrup and maltodextrin unless the companies can prove they are safe and not fueling obesity. David Kessler: They took starch, right? Those cheap, easy calories. And they converted those into a whole panoply of ingredients, that it was able to reassemble. And those products are so rapidly absorbed in our system that it caused metabolic havoc. David Kessler: they target the brain reward circuits that keep us coming back for more. They, they trigger overeating. They deprive us of any sense of fullness. Bill Whitaker: What we all call empty calories David Kessler those calories are not just empty. They’re ending up in your liver, and that fat in your liver is gonna migrate into other organs. And it’s the cause of cardiometabolic disease. Kessler, a pediatrician, filed his petition with the FDA after zeroing in on GRAS ingredients listed in plain sight on the backs of packaged foods. David Kessler: Pick up any one of these products. You ever look at the– the ingredient label? Bill Whitaker: A lot of ’em are things I can’t even pronounce. David Kessler: Right. Is that food? Corn syrup, corn solids, maltodextrin, dextrose, xylose, high-fructose corn syrup. And then these ingredients were subjected to industrial processing so that our system can’t handle it. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: We will act on– on David Kessler’s petition. And the questions that he’s asking are questions that FDA should’ve been asking a long, long time ago. Kennedy told us he will use gold standard science to review GRAS ingredients. but his credibility on that score has been widely called into question because of his history of vaccine skepticism and his agency’s revision of the childhood vaccine schedule. Bill Whitaker: Are you concerned at all that your stance on vaccines might make people reluctant to support you on ultraprocessed foods? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: My stance on vaccines is the same. People should have food science and they should have choice. Bill Whitaker: Some doctors worry that– the new immunization schedule sows confusion and will lead some Americans not to vaccinate their children Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: People who wanna get those vaccines can get them and they can get them fully insured. David Kessler: The secretary and I, you know, we disagree on a number of issues, I mean, in the strongest possible terms. When it comes to vaccines I disagree. But if he’s willing to take action on these ultraprocessed foods, I will be the first– to applaud that. Bill Whitaker: If you don’t trust him on vaccines, why trust him when it comes to ultraprocessed foods? David Kessler: I don’t think it’s a question of trust, Bill. I mean, this country is ill. I’m a doc I care about the public health of this country. And if we can make progress on that, let’s do that In December, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed a landmark lawsuit against 10 manufacturers of ultraprocessed foods alleging that, like the tobacco companies, they knowingly engineered and marketed addictive, dangerous products while hiding the risks and causing a public health crisis. Consumer Brands Association and American Farm Bureau Federation statements to 60 Minutes The Consumer Brands Association, one of the largest trade groups representing the food industry, declined to respond to us about the lawsuit. But in a statement to 60 Minutes, said there is no “agreed upon scientific definition of ultraprocessed foods” and “companies adhere to the rigorous evidence-based safety standards and nutrition policy established by the FDA to deliver safe, affordable and convenient products that consumers depend on every day.” We met with food author Michael Pollan, who for decades has been warning about inexpensive, factory-processed food. Michael Pollan: Granola bars, those look very healthy all of these would qualify as ultraprocessed foods– Bill Whitaker: All of them? Michael Pollaneven though they’re very different. This– you know, we have a snack good– couple of snack foods. Bill Whitaker: Even the Nature Valley? Michael Pollan: I would argue, because of the number of– ingredients in it. So there’s a lot of sugar in here Bill Whitaker: But this is sold as a health food. Michael Pollan: Yeah, a health food. Pollan commends Kennedy for shining a light on ultraprocessed foods. He ties their ubiquity to longstanding federal farm subsidies. Michael Pollan: We subsidize as taxpayers, through the Farm Bill, the least healthy calories in the diet. Michael Pollan: Most of which goes to people farming corn and soybeans Bill Whitaker: What’s wrong with corn and soybeans? Michael Pollan: When you hear corn and soy you think food. This is not corn on the cob. This is commodity corn Bill Whitaker: It’s not the sweet corn we eat in the summer? Michael Pollan: No. You can’t eat it, in fact. It’s all starch, big cobs. You’d break your teeth on it. And then soy, which is not, in the form we grow it as a commodity, is not edamame. You can’t eat it. These are raw ingredients for processed foods and animal feed. Bill Whitaker: So the– the government is subsidizing crops that are making us unhealthy? Michael Pollan: Sick. Yes. Yeah. And one way to look at it is we are supporting both sides in the war on type 2 diabetes. We are– we’re subsidizing the high fructose corn syrup that’s contributing to causing it. And then we’re paying for the healthcare costs. I mean, it makes no sense at all. In a statement, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest general farm organization in the U. S., told us: “[a] healthy diet relies on a variety of nutrient-dense foods and a balance of healthy fats, carbohydrates, protein and fiber, some of which can come from shelf-stable foods” Bill Whitaker: Why are there not subsidies to produce more of the healthy foods? Michael Pollan: Cheap food is the goal of all governments. If you were to remove these corn subsidies there is concern that the price of corn would raise. And that would be a problem for the whole food industry, which, of course, is a very powerful lobby, and would be a problem for the consumer, conceivably. Bill Whitaker: When you’re taking on ultraprocessed foods, you’re also taking on powerful industries, Big Ag, Big Food. What makes you believe you will prevail? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: My belief that I will prevail is because we have the president behind us. Bill Whitaker: But the president has shown himself to be– pretty much against regulations. So, why would he support regulating ultraprocessed foods? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Well, I’m not saying that we’re going to regulate ultraprocessed food. Our job is to make sure that everybody understands what they’re getting, to have an informed public. Bill Whitaker: There are Americans who live in so-called food deserts with little access to whole foods. And these are foods that many of them can’t afford anyway. So how do you speak to that American? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: We are laser-focused on making all of these foods affordable and accessible to every American. The Consumer Brands Association told us the GRAS process enables companies to “innovate to meet consumer demand” and that “food companies adhere to FDA’s science and risk-based evaluation of ingredients[.]before and after they are in the marketplace.” David Kessler says that’s not enough. David Kessler: We changed how this country views tobacco. We need to change how this country views these ultraprocessed foods. Bill Whitaker: Would you like to see the CEOs of big food companies come before Congress and raise their hand and be questioned like the tobacco industry was? David Kessler: I’d like them to understand the consequences of what they are doing and to do something about it. Produced by Sarah Koch. Associate producer, Amanda Winograd-Schnur. Broadcast associate, Mariah Johnson. Edited by Craig Crawford.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ultraprocessed-foods-rfk-jr-and-david-kessler-60-minutes-transcript/