“Match Group and its subsidiary OkCupid has finally settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission that dates back to its alleged sharing of user data back in 2014. According to the lawsuit, the FTC accused OkCupid of inappropriately sharing personal user data that includes photos and location info with a third party company, Clarifai, which offers AI-powered software for uses like facial recognition and content moderation. … ‘While we do not admit any wrongdoing, we have settled this matter with the FTC with no monetary penalty to resolve an issue from 2014 and move forward,’ an OkCupid spokesperson told Engadget, adding that the allegations don’t reflect how OkCupid operates today.” (03/30/26)
“Spain’s Catholic bishops and the Spanish government took another step Monday toward compensating victims of sexual abuse by clergy members who have died or whose possible crimes are too old to be prosecuted. In January, Spain’s Catholic bishops agreed to let the country’s ombudsman have the final say in the church’s compensation of such victims. The government and Spain’s bishops signed paperwork Monday detailing how the new church-state reparation system, which takes effect April 15, would work. The agreement, which envisages a one-year window for claims, marks a rare concession by the Catholic hierarchy. It’s aimed at resolving disagreements between the left-wing government and church authorities over reparations after victims criticized the church’s original in-house compensation proposal. Archbishop Luis Argüello, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, said the text will not include number amounts for the compensation that sexual abuse victims could receive.” (03/30/26)
“President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that the military is building a ‘massive complex’ under the White House ballroom. … News outlets previously reported that a military bunker under the East Wing would be renovated. The East Wing was demolished in October to be replaced with a $400 million ballroom, which has sparked criticism from many Democrats and preservation advocates. Trump told reporters in his Sunday remarks that ‘the ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under.’ … The National Capital Planning Commission is set to vote on the ballroom plans in April. It has received a deluge of negative public comments about the ballroom, with critics calling it ‘appalling,’ ‘shameful’ and ‘hideous.'” (03/30/26)
“Republicans are considering reductions in federal health spending to help pay for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the Iran war and immigration enforcement. New efforts to rein in health programs are sure to be controversial and open the GOP up to election-year attacks that they’re cutting health care to pay for an unpopular war. … House Budget Committee chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) is reviving an idea that was considered last year to fund Affordable Care Act payments known as cost-sharing reductions. The Congressional Budget Office previously found the move would lower overall benchmark ACA premiums by 11% but result in 300,000 more uninsured people. It would cut the subsidy amount that some enrollees receive, thereby increasing out-of-pocket premium costs, while saving the government over $30 billion.” (03/30/26)
“Bluesky has launched an AI assistant called Attie that allows users to design their own social media algorithms and create custom feeds within the company’s AT Protocol ecosystem. And let’s just say the response has been heated. Attie debuted this weekend at the ATmosphere conference, which Bluesky sponsors. But Bluesky’s userbase did not embrace the new product. Instead, about 125,000 users have already blocked Attie’s Bluesky account, making it the second most blocked account on the network, according to open source data. Attie only has 1,500 followers, meaning that about 83 times more users have blocked the account than followed it. The only account with more blocks than Bluesky’s AI agent is Vice President J.D. Vance, with about 180,000 blocks — Attie even surpassed the White House account (122,000 blocks) and the ICE account (112,460 blocks).” (03/30/26)
“The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a new rule on Monday that would allow people to invest alternative assets like cryptocurrency into their 401(k) plans. The department seeks to open 401(k) retirement investment up to assets like cryptocurrency, real estate and private-market assets. … There are already no restrictions on including alternative assets like cryptocurrency, real estate or private-market assets, though fiduciaries have treaded lightly on them out of fear that those assets may be challenged legally. The Labor Department’s proposed rule would create a ‘set of process-based safe harbors’ for plan fiduciaries, legally shielding them when they implement alternative assets.” (03/30/26)
“Los Angeles County saw the largest decline of any county in the United States in 2025, according to new census data published on March 26. Nearly 54,000 people moved out of L.A. County between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025, U.S. Census data shows. The decline is part of an ongoing trend. In 2020 L.A. County was estimated to have more than 10 million residents. As of 2025, the county was thought to have just under 9.7 million residents. It’s unclear where the fleeing Angelinos are moving. However, the neighboring counties of Riverside and San Bernardino saw a combined increase of 21,131 residents between 2024 and 2025, according to U.S. Census data. The greater Las Vegas area also saw a population boost of more than 21,000 people last year.” (03/30/26)
“An attack on a gold mine in South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest and most volatile countries, killed at least 73 people and wounded 25, the vice president said. The assault at the weekend targeted the mining area of Khor Kaltan, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) by road southwest of the capital Juba. … Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, the world’s youngest country has suffered a series of deadly conflicts. It has seen an uptick in violence between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and fighters linked to First Vice President Riek Machar, mostly in the central-eastern Jonglei State. … A spokesman for Machar, who has been confined to house arrest for a year, denied that his forces were behind the attack and pointed the finger at the South Sudanese army.” (03/30/26)https://www.newarab.com/news/gold-mine-attack-south-sudan-kills-least-73-people
“French authorities are investigating a suspected link to Iran after thwarting a bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris, the interior minister said Monday. Five people are in custody. Authorities suspect a link due to similarities with other recent attempted attacks in Europe for which a pro-Iran group claimed responsibility, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. On Saturday morning, Paris police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the Bank of America office in the 8th arrondissement of the French capital. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office is looking into alleged terrorism-related offenses. The ‘modus operandi is in every respect similar to actions that have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Belgium’, Nuñez said on French radio RTL. In those cases, there were claims by a pro-Iranian group that ‘linked them to the conflict’ in the Middle-East.” (03/30/26)
“Kosovo on Monday approved sending troops to Gaza for an international security force as part of a U.S.-backed initiative after last year’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Several nations including Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Albania have committed troops to the International Stabilization Force to keep peace and back a transitional administration in Gaza under U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace.’ Kosovo’s government said in a televised ministerial meeting on Monday the defence ministry had decided to send a force to Gaza after receiving a U.S. invitation in December.” (03/30/26)
