Birth rates drop

Newsweek - Birth rates among mothers in their 20s have declined, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows. The report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) shows that among mothers under 30, birth rates decreased between 2024 and 2025, while among those over 30, birth rates increased. The findings could therefore indicate that Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, are having fewer children and waiting longer to have children.
Why It Matters

Birth and fertility rates are falling globally, and have been since the 1970s, according to a 2025 National Bureau of Economic Research paper.

It is believed that lower birth rates, resulting in an aging population, correlate with economic challenges by placing greater strain on Social Security and Medicare services and the health care system. However, others say they can also lead to a rise in nationwide education levels and a drop in poverty rates.

Trump making 401s more hazardous

Project 47 - The Trump administration is pushing a major change that could radically reshape how Americans save for retirement.  Last week, the Department of Labor filed a rule that would allow 401(k) plans to invest in high-risk assets, including cryptocurrency, private equity, hedge-fund-style products, private credit and other alternative investments once reserved for the wealthy. The White House has framed it as “choice” and “liberation” for workers, but the move could turn ordinary Americans’ retirement savings into a high-stakes gamble, exposing millions to volatility and potential losses they may not be prepared to handle. The 401(k) was created in the 1980s as a way for employees to gain direct exposure to the stock market. Unlike traditional defined-benefit pensions, which guaranteed a fixed income in retirement, 401(k)s shifted both responsibility and risk onto the employee. A well-diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and mutual funds allows for long-term growth and relative stability, adding high-risk alternative assets to the mix would fundamentally change the dynamics of retirement investing, potentially exposing savers to significant losses.

Supreme Court

Washington Post - The sharply conservative Supreme Court that President Donald Trump’s three appointees remade is the first since at least the 1950s to reject civil rights claims in a majority of cases involving women and minorities, according to a detailed analysis conducted for The Washington Post.  The shift brings to an end a streak of successive courts expanding such protections that began with the dawn of the civil rights era.

2.5 million Americans lost food stamps thanks to Trump's "one big beautiful bill"

Alternet America - On July 4th, 2025, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. By December, the results were in.  At least 2.5 million low-income people lost help affording groceries after the bill added new requirements for SNAP and shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in costs from the federal government to states.

Around 6% of the 41 million Americans enrolled in SNAP when Trump signed the bill were no longer receiving benefits by the end of the year. Full-year 2025 data from the USDA shows an even bigger drop: 3.4 million people, roughly 8% of the program’s total.

Arizona was the largest outlier, with a whopping 47% of people in the program (about 424,000 people) losing benefits in 2025. Arizona’s unemployment rate rose over the same period, while the cost of groceries rose about 4%. ... 

Many provisions of the law haven’t even gone into effect yet. The error rate penalties start in 2028. This is the early data.

Best cities for urban gardening

The Nation -   With grocery prices projected to rise by 3.1% in 2026, there’s never been a better time to grow your own food. Estimates show that growing a 600-square-foot plot for fruits and vegetables can save you around $600 in a single season.  To celebrate National Gardening Day (April 14), LawnStarter ranked 2026’s Best Cities for Urban Gardening.

10 Best Cities for Urban Gardening in 2026

Atlanta

Miami

Houston

St. Louis

Jacksonville, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Cincinnati

Fort Myers, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Austin, Texas

To rank the cities, we considered access to community gardens per 10,000 residents, the number of food forests, and average yard sizes. We also factored in local climates, access to gardening supplies, and support like “Right to Garden” laws, among 15 total metrics.

Atlanta (No. 1) dethrones New York (No. 13), which held the top spot in our 2025 ranking....

8.8% of the 500 largest U.S. cities are home to a community food forest. “A food forest is like having a produce stand in your neighborhood,” says Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp (The Hoosier Gardener).

 “Imagine walking down the block to harvest some green beans and tomatoes for dinner and pick a few apples or raspberries for dessert.”

The median yard size among the cities in our ranking is 8,883 sq ft, meaning a modest 600 sq ft vegetable garden would take up approximately 6.8% of the typical backyard. San Francisco (No. 16) is the only city in our ranking where typical homeowners lack the space for a 600 sq ft garden, with average yard sizes of 596 sq ft.

Read the full story here:

Iran

Politico - The Pakistani leader at the center of U.S.-Iran peace talks denounced “violations” that threaten to derail the new ceasefire, as the White House downplayed reports Wednesday that Tehran is again closing the Strait of Hormuz.

“Violations of ceasefire have been reported at few places across the conflict zone which undermine the spirit of peace process,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote in a post on X Wednesday. “I earnestly and sincerely urge all parties to exercise restraint and respect the ceasefire for two weeks, as agreed upon, so that diplomacy can take a lead role towards peaceful settlement of the conflict.”

His message came after Iranian strikes targeted Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in the hours after President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, and as Israel continues to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday.

Iranian state media reported later Wednesday that Tehran will soon close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global transit of oil, in response to Israel’s Lebanon strikes.

The developments underscore the fragility of the temporary peace agreement Trump announced on Tuesday, as Iran insists Lebanon be included in the framework and both the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argue it remains fair game for Israel Defense Forces attacks.

New Republic - Recent reporting from the Financial Times reveals it was President Trump, not the Iranian government, who was begging for a ceasefire.

FT reports that the Trump administration had been privately pushing for a ceasefire for weeks to alleviate the economic strain caused by Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, and depending on Pakistan for mediation. Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir was communicating with Iranian officials, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Vice President JD Vance, and Trump himself even after the president threatened to wipe out Iranian civilization on Tuesday.

According to the five people familiar with the diplomatic back channel, Trump had been asking for a ceasefire since as early as March 21, when he first threatened to bomb Iran’s power plants.

The Guardian - The fate of the two-week ceasefire in the Iran conflict looked in peril as both sides gave divergent versions of what had been agreed, Israel intensified its bombing campaign in Lebanon and Iran halted the passage of oil tankers because of an alleged Israeli ceasefire breach.

Iran and Pakistan, which brokered the 11th-hour truce, both asserted that the ceasefire included Lebanon.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, disagreed and Israeli forces unleashed their heaviest attack of the war so far on more than 100 targets, killing at least 254 people. Donald Trump, after initially remaining silent, said Lebanon was “a separate skirmish” and not part of the deal.

The UN rights chief Volker Türk condemned the scale of Israel’s attacks yesterday as “horrific”.

Artificial Intelligence

Independent, UK - Artificial intelligence is projected to displace approximately 7 per cent of the US workforce by 2035, primarily affecting repetitive and process-oriented roles.  Experts suggest that jobs requiring hands-on physical tasks and human connection are most likely to be resistant to AI replacement.

Nursing is considered AI-proof due to its reliance on complex human emotions, ethical decision-making, and the inherent need for human care and judgment, which AI cannot replicate. Skilled trades, such as electricians and plumbers, are also highly resistant to AI, as they demand intricate physical dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and flexibility that robots currently lack.

Crisis management roles, which involve navigating unexpected events and require human judgment, are deemed AI-proof, although AI tools can assist with data analysis and summarisation.

Polls

Newsweek - Fifty-two percent of registered voters back impeachment compared to 40 percent opposed, according to the survey of 790 voters commissioned by two groups opposing his Iran war and other policies. The finding includes one in seven Republicans supporting removal proceedings.

Route 66 celebrates 100 years

Independent, UK - Route 66, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is an iconic American highway stretching about 2,400 miles from Chicago through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica, California.

Designated in 1926, the 'Mother Road' was created to link the industrial Midwest with the Pacific Coast, fostering commerce and serving as a path of hope for migrants during the Dust Bowl and World War II.

The highway experienced its peak popularity in the post-war era, becoming a favored vacation route adorned with thriving roadside diners, motels, and unique attractions, and was immortalized in popular culture.

Route 66 carries a complex legacy, bringing economic benefits to Native American tribes but also leaving scars of eminent domain across tribal land and perpetuated stereotypes.

Despite being decommissioned as a federal highway in 1985, local governments and private businesses have actively preserved sections of Route 66, ensuring its cultural significance and allure for travellers worldwide.

NATO

Bloomberg - Now the US president is again talking about leaving NATO (though he does not have the legal power to do so). One man, however, has been making it his mission to preserve NATO’s integrity, in part by showing some support for Trump. But as the grim economic and political fallout of the war becomes clear, Secretary General Mark Rutte’s strategy is coming under fire.

Meanwhile. . .

California Sees $6 a Gallon as Gas Prices Rise in Southwest

Health

Congressional Insider - A single gene may explain up to 93% of late-onset Alzheimer’s cases, offering hope for prevention amid frustrations with government-driven healthcare burdens that strain conservative families.

JD Vance

The Hill - Vice President Vance has quickly become a central figure in trying to maintain a shaky ceasefire in a war that he has reportedly been skeptical about from the start.

Vance is set to travel to Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday along with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, as the trio attempt to cement a two-week ceasefire and bring an end to hostilities with Iran that have persisted for nearly six weeks.

The truce, announced by Trump on Tuesday night, is off to a troubled start, with Iran continuing to fire on Gulf states on Wednesday and Israel launching waves of deadly strikes on Lebanon.

Vance’s deep reservations about foreign entanglements, as a veteran of the Iraq war, seems to have given him credibility with Iranian officials who have lost trust in Witkoff and Kushner after failed talks before the war.

Elections

MS NOW - Pending before the Supreme Court are three disparate cases, each with the potential to remake rules on district boundaries, campaign finance and the eligibility of certain mail-in ballots. These rulings, issued in the middle of the election season, could potentially confound voters, scramble overworked and threatened election administrators, and alter campaign strategies in the middle of heated election contests. And depending on how the justices rule, these decisions may have cascading effects including new court challenges, legislative changes and even more uncertainty in the months before the midterms.

Population decline in Los Angeles

Congressional Insider - New U.S. Census Bureau reporting shows Los Angeles County had the largest numeric population decline in the country in the most recent annual estimate. Reports cite a mix of high housing costs, taxes, crime concerns, and regulatory burdens as major drivers of domestic out-migration.

The decline has real fiscal consequences: when higher-income residents and employers leave, the remaining tax base must cover the same—or growing—government commitments.  Some growth is shifting to nearby, lower-cost counties and out-of-state metros, reinforcing a broader post-pandemic pattern of Americans moving away from expensive coastal hubs.

Is the Department of Thought Crimes Closing In On You?

Hartmann Report -  Trump’s thought police may already have your name in their database, which is growing — according to Kash Patel — at the rate of around 300% right now. They’re not looking for people who’ve committed crimes, but, rather, for people who they think may commit crimes in the future. Thought and opinion crimes...

We shouldn’t be surprised, as horrific as this is. When wannabe dictators are elected to lead countries and want to end their democracies and impose absolute rule, they typically follow a simple series of steps, sometimes referred to as “The Dictator’s Playbook.” They:

— Purge government institutions of professionals and replace them with yes-men and groveling toadies.

— Strip their political party of anybody who’d even consider challenging them.

— Help friendly oligarchs buy up the nation’s primary media and turn it into a mouthpiece for the new regime, while directing billions in government contracts as recompense to those same men.

— Pack the courts so they and their buddies can crime without consequence while they drain the government of wealth.

— Build a separate, parallel police force loyal first and foremost to Dear Leader they can use to terrify the population and “keep order.”

Best states to rent a home

Via Newsweek: Source: Consumer Affairs, U.S. Census Bureau, NLIHC, NeighborhoodScout, Walk Score, NYU Langone Health

Meanwhile. ..

Independent, UK -  More than 270,000 Chevrolet Malibu cars recalled over faulty rearview camera screen

Axios - Crude oil prices dropped sharply Tuesday evening, falling well under $100 per barrel after President Trump said the U.S. agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran that Pakistan had proposed.

NPR - The U.K. has denied Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, entry into the country following his history of antisemitic comments. The move forced the cancellation of the Wireless music festival, which he was scheduled to headline. 

What Actually Keeps Kids Safe Online? Not What Most Parents Think

Study Finds - A new Science analysis argues that blanket social media bans and broad surveillance rules for kids often fail to make them safer. The big reason is trust: when children feel watched or shut out, they may hide problems instead of asking adults for help.

The authors point to four better bets: trust-building, easy reporting tools, real-time on-device supports, and digital safety education woven into daily life. The paper also stresses a bigger shift in mindset: children should be treated as partners in digital safety, not just as passive people to control.

Donald Trump

Via 

James Tate

Polls

NY Times - More than 60 percent of city residents believe that Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist and the city’s youngest mayor in a century, is hard-working and a good leader who understands the challenges facing the five boroughs.  But somewhat fewer respondents say he has demonstrated effective governance so far. Overall, the poll found that 48 percent of New Yorkers approved of the job he was doing, while 30 percent disapproved.

Newsweek - Trump's approval rating with women is 35 percent, with a disapproval mark of 57 percent. The president's overall approval rating is 38 percent versus 55 percent disapproval. The poll was taken from April 3 to April 6 among 1,750 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.2 percent.

Health

Study Finds -   Older adults with higher optimism had about a 15% lower risk of developing dementia over time.

Independent, UK - The Trump administration’s newly proposed HIV funding cuts could threaten the health of thousands of Americans, researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have warned. If the $1.5 billion cuts are implemented, the number of HIV infections over the next five years could surge by up to 10 percent across 18 states, computer modeling shows.

That would be a major blow to the decades-long, bipartisan effort to fight the incurable, lifelong illness, which is still responsible for close to 4,500 deaths each year.

The virus, which is also known as “human immunodeficiency virus, aggressively attacks the body’s immune system, and infections were widely considered a death sentence until the development of HIV treatments in the 1980s.

Utah legalizes some climate damage

Mother Jones - Utah has made it nearly impossible for residents to hold fossil fuel companies legally accountable for climate damages in a move one advocacy group described as putting “profits for the biggest polluters over communities,” with other states expected to follow suit.

The new state legislation comes as part of a push from Big Oil and its political allies—including groups tied to right-wing impresario Leonard Leo—for legal immunity in red statehouses and Congress, with a goal of winning state and federal legal immunity similar to the liability waiver granted to the firearms industry in 2005.

Such policies would shield major fossil fuel companies from a wave of litigation they are facing from states, subnational governments, and individuals who claim the firms knew their products would cause climate damages, but sold them to the public anyway. Four other red states are considering laws similar to Utah’s—with two close to passage—and federal legislation is seemingly in the works

Iran

Robert Reich - 90 minutes before Trump said he’d cause the death of a “whole civilization” if Iran didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian official said the shipping channel would be reopened for two weeks if the United States stopped bombing Iran. The U.S. has now stopped bombing Iran.

So we’re back to the status quo before Trump began his war. Only now, Iran can credibly threaten to close the strait if it doesn’t get what it wants from Trump — thereby causing havoc to the U.S. (and world) economies. Trump’s only remaining bargaining leverage is the threat of committing war crimes.

In other words, last night’s showdown was a clear victory for Iran and a clear defeat for Trump (although he’ll frame it as a victory).

The Iran fiasco is only the latest in a host of examples revealing how to defeat Trump.

In addition to Iran, similar strategies have been used by China, Russia, Canada, Mexico, and Greenland. Inside the United States, the people of Minneapolis have used them, as have Harvard University, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, writer E. Jean Carroll, and the law firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and WilmerHale.

What’s the strategy that connects them all?

All refused to cave to Trump, despite his superior military or economic power. Instead, they’ve engaged in a kind of jujitsu in which they use Trump’s power against him, while allowing Trump to save face by claiming he’s won.

Headlines USA - President Donald Trump launched the war against Iran a little more than two weeks after he was briefed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. Sources told the Times that the briefing took place in the White House Situation Room during Netanyahu’s visit to Washington on February 11.

The Guardian - The US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire on Tuesday evening, which included a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz, after a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, canceling an ultimatum from Donald Trump for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction.

Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire agreement came less than two hours before the US president’s self-imposed 8pm Eastern time deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges in a move that legal scholars, as well as officials from numerous countries and the pope, had warned could constitute war crimes.

The Guardian - The announcement of a two-week ceasefire has allowed Donald Trump to hail the reopening of the Hormuz strait as a victorious dawn of a new golden age, but it is Iran that enters peace talks with the stronger hand.

The Tehran regime goes to the negotiations planned for Friday in Pakistan bloodied but intact. It still holds a stockpile of highly enriched uranium (the original crux of the conflict with the US, Israel and allies), and it now claims at least part-control of the strait, having demonstrated its power to close the narrow waterway and hold the world to ransom.

Trump won instant gratification. He got to remain the central player in the drama, having terrified the world with his threat that “a whole civilisation will die” before claiming a few hours later to have dramatically reversed course and to be “far along” along the road to an enduring Middle East peace.

With the president’s words the oil price went down and global stocks showed signs of rallying, demonstrating he still had the power at least to move short-term markets.

NPR - Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi posted a statement on X expressing gratitude to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for facilitating a ceasefire. His statement also made it clear that Iran will maintain control over the Strait, and any ships permitted passage in the next two weeks will do so on Iran’s terms. While there’s a sense of relief in Iran, people are wary, NPR’s D. Parvaz says. While state media showed images of jubilant crowds waving flags in the streets, Parvaz says that for many, the ceasefire signals the end of any hope of real regime change. 

Full  Report 

Artificial Intelligence

CNN - AI-driven job losses may not just make it harder for affected workers to find employment in the short term but also could leave a yearslong “scarring,” marked by depressed income, delayed homeownership and even the lower probability of marriage, according to a new research report from Goldman Sachs.

And those outcomes are even worse if they happen during a recession, Goldman Sachs economists wrote Monday.

The latest analysis comes as economists, policymakers, academics and workers across industries are trying to assess how fast-rising artificial intelligence technologies could affect people, sectors and societies at large. Goldman Sachs previously estimated that 6% to 7% of US workers (about 11 million people) could have their jobs displaced by AI.

Elon Musk

Bloomberg - Elon Musk is racing toward a SpaceX IPO and may beat AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI to the public markets as early as this summer. Leaning on the AI boom, it could be his most audacious product launch yet.

• SpaceX may be valued at around $2 trillion (or perhaps even more), roughly five times what the company was worth last year, which already struck some as rich.
• Starlink, its satellite internet service, is growing, but faces questions in both established markets and the developing world.
• The other major revenue source is the US government, a relationship that carries political risks, and Musk’s ties with Trump have been, well, a bit choppy.
• None of this is to say that Musk’s pitch for the SpaceX IPO will fall flat: Musk’s hype machine may prove stronger than investor caution.

Bloomberg

Todd Blanche

Bloomberg - Trump seems in no rush to name a permanent attorney general to replace Pam Bondi, allowing acting chief Todd Blanche time to settle in. The White House has yet to decide whether Blanche, a trusted ally, is a viable long-term pick or could survive a Senate confirmation.

Abortion

NPR - At least 38 abortion clinics closed last year in states where abortion remains legal, according to data from I Need an A, a project that helps people find abortion options. Even in states that recently passed constitutional amendments to protect abortion rights, clinics have shut down since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Now, communities are establishing alternatives, such as urgent care clinics, to help fill the gap.