“Voice of America workers who were placed on leave or fired should return to work and the Trump administration must restore funding to the VOA and other U.S. government-funded news outlets, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling effectively halts the Trump administration’s plan to gut the VOA and its parent, the government-funded U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). In addition to VOA, USAGM houses several other internal broadcasters, some of which are waging their own legal battles against the administration in an attempt to survive.” (04/22/25)
“Multiple tourists were killed and others injured Tuesday when suspected militants opened fire on civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir, according to reports on Indian and international media. Many outlets, including the French news agency AFP, cited unnamed security officials who put the death toll as high as 24, but there was no immediate confirmation on casualties from authorities. The attack took place in South Kashmir’s Pahalgam area, a scenic destination dotted with meadows and glaciers that attracts hundreds of thousands of Indian and foreign tourists every summer. … People injured in Tuesday’s attack were taken to nearby hospitals. Police, army and paramilitary forces launched a search operation to find those responsible for the attack.” (04/22/25)
“The US will ban eight commonly used artificial food dyes in a bid to help Americans ‘know what’s in their food,’ Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced on Tuesday. … The FDA plans to revoke authorisation for food dyes Red No 2 and Orange B ‘within the coming months,’ according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Six remaining synthetic dyes — FD&C Green No 3; FD&C Red No 40; FD&C Yellow No 5; FD&C Yellow No 6; FD&C Blue No 1; and FD&C Blue No 2 — will be removed from the food supply by the end of next year, HHS said.” (04/22/25)
“Russian drones battered the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and glide bombs hit Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said Tuesday, as the Kremlin again warned that negotiators are unlikely to obtain a swift breakthrough in peace talks on the war. … Odesa came under a ‘massive attack’ by Russian drones overnight, injuring at least three people, the head of the regional administration, Oleh Kiper, wrote on his Telegram page. A residential building in a densely populated urban area, civilian infrastructure and an educational facility were hit, he said. Later Tuesday, Russia hit the southern city of Zaporizhzhia with two massive aerial glide bombs — a retrofitted Soviet weapon that for months has used to lay waste to eastern Ukraine. The attack killed a 69-year-old woman and injured 24 people, including four children, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.” (04/22/25)
“Two federal courts on Tuesday temporarily restrained the Trump administration from deporting individuals in their districts under the Alien Enemies Act, with one judge comparing the government’s deportation tactics to barbaric events in European history and the other requiring a specific time frame for the government to provide deportation notices. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is presiding over a lawsuit in New York, extended by two weeks an order that required immigration officials to give individuals targeted for removal both notice and an opportunity for a hearing. He will also decide whether to impose more long-term restrictions on the administration’s use of the wartime law. … In Colorado, U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney granted the American Civil Liberties Union’s request to temporarily block removals from her district and required that the government provide a 21-day notice to individuals deemed removable under the act.” (04/22/25)
“The U.S. Supreme Court appeared inclined to rule in favor of Christian and Muslim parents in Maryland seeking to keep their elementary school children out of certain classes when storybooks with LGBT characters are read in the latest case involving the intersection of religion and LGBT rights. The nine justices heard arguments on Tuesday in an appeal by parents with children in public schools in Montgomery County, located just outside of Washington, after lower courts declined to order the local school district to let children opt out when these books are read. The parents — who include Muslim, Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox plaintiffs — contend that the school board’s policy of prohibiting opt-outs violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections for free exercise of religion.” [editor’s note: What if their religion forbids, say, math? – TLK] (04/22/25)
“Clinics around the country that provide contraception and other reproductive health services to low-income patients are running out of funds as they await word from the Trump administration on tens of millions of dollars in grants frozen last month. Dozens of medical providers from California to Maine, including nine Planned Parenthood affiliates, have struggled to stay afloat since more than $65 million dollars for the Title X family planning program was withheld on April 1 — a funding freeze the Trump administration said was aimed at enforcing executive orders on diversity and immigration. Federal officials gave the groups 10 days to submit detailed records showing they don’t discriminate in hiring or in patient care, but those who did so by the deadline said they have not received a response.” (04/22/25)
“A panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court justices started proceedings on Tuesday morning to determine whether federal officers, retired military officers and an aide of former President Jair Bolsonaro will also stand trial for allegedly attempting to stage a coup. Last month, the panel unanimously accepted charges against Bolsonaro and seven close allies over an alleged attempt to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and ordered him to stand trial. … Under Brazilian law, a coup conviction alone carries a sentence of up to 12 years, but when combined with the other charges, it could result in a sentence of decades behind bars. The former president is expected to stand trial in the next few months at Brazil’s Supreme Court.” (04/22/25)
“The Texas health department reported 624 cases of measles in the state on Tuesday, an increase of 27 from April 18. Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, rose to 386 from 371 reported on Friday, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. Over the course of the outbreak, 64 patients have been hospitalized in Texas, while two unvaccinated children with no underlying health conditions have died of measles in the state.” (04/22/25)
“The Trump administration has told its senior diplomats in Vietnam not to take part in events marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Four U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic decision-making said that Washington had recently directed senior diplomats — including Marc Knapper, the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam — to stay away from activities tied to the anniversary on April 30. That includes a hotel reception on April 29 with senior government leaders and an elaborate parade the next day — gatherings hosted by Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, where the war ended with South Vietnam’s surrender. … April 30 is the 100th day of Mr. Trump’s second term. Some U.S. officials speculated that a Trump appointee or a State Department leader feared drawing attention away from that milestone with events that might highlight America’s defeat in a war that Mr. Trump managed to avoid.” (04/22/25)
