There are about 20 free-to-read items in this week’s Fix the News. Among the items behind the paywall: — Twenty-three countries have reduced their plans for building coal-fired power plants and 35 nations have eliminated coal from their plans entirely in the decade since the Paris Agreement on climate change, reports CarbonBrief. And China and India, the world’s largest coal consumers, have reduced their planned coal capacity by more than 60 percent. As the fossil fuel that emits the most carbon dioxide when burned, coal long has been viewed by many as requiring a rapid phaseout, Carbon Brief says. —... Continue reading

China granting some exemptions on U.S. imports from its 125 percent tariffs California passes Japan as world's 4th biggest economy Judge rules that Trump administration violated 2019 settlement in deporting man to El Salvador Judge bars Trump from denying federal funds to ‘sanctuary’ cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration efforts Judge blocks parts of Trump's changes to U.S. elections, including proof-of-citizenship requirement Judge blocks Trump administration directives threatening to cut funding to public schools over DEI programs Trump signs executive order to boost deep-seabed mining industry Trump orders Justice Department to investigate Democratic Party's top fundraising platform Act Blue... Continue reading

The president and his top aides demanded on Wednesday that Ukraine accede to a U.S.-designed proposal that would essentially grant Russia all the territory it's gained in the war, while offering Ukraine only vague security assurances, says The New York Times. The plan, which also would explicitly block Ukraine from ever joining NATO, was rejected by Ukraine President Zelensky. It isn't clear whether the U.S. announcements are part of a pressure campaign to force Zelensky to make territorial concessions or whether they're intended to create a pretext for abandoning U.S. support for Ukraine, the Times says. Vice President Vance said... Continue reading

Trump signs executive orders targeting colleges, K-12 schools Little-known federal agency is at center of Trump’s executive order to overhaul U.S. elections Perkins Coie and WilmerHale, law firms fighting Trump, ask judges to permanently block executive orders against them Twelve states sue Trump administration to stop tariff policy Tennessee’s Republican-led Legislature adjourns after passing bans on DEI initiatives North Carolina judges block Republican law to strip governor’s election board powers Texas governor signs bill creating DOGE-inspired effort at state level; more than 20 states have initiated similar efforts North Dakota’s Republican governor vetoes library restrictions, school voucher program Dick Durbin... Continue reading

Twenty years ago, Garry Kasparov, world chess champion from 1985-2000, retired from professional chess to help Russia resist what he calls Vladimir Putin’s "budding dictatorship." Now, he writes in The Atlantic, "Putin is still in the Kremlin, and I’m writing this from New York City — my family has made its home there, as well as in Croatia, since we were forced to leave Russia in 2013." And "President Donald Trump and his allies in power are trying to erect an authoritarian Mafia state like the one Vladimir Putin and his cronies established in Russia," he says. "Never lose sight... Continue reading

Descendants of slave owners and enslaved people in Caribbean call for reparations at UN British Supreme Court unanimously rules legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex Rubio unveils ‘massive’ overhaul of State Department, with plan to reduce staff and consolidate 100 bureaus worldwide Supreme Court’s order to Trump administration not to deport Venezuelans under Alien Enemies Act International students stripped of legal status in U.S. are piling up wins in court More Democratic lawmakers visit El Salvador over Abrego Garcia deportation Democratic lawmakers visit detained Columbia, Tufts students in Louisiana ICE facilities EPA can’t end grants from... Continue reading

I’m going to take a few days off and will be back next Wednesday, April 23. Continue reading

Columnist David Brooks writes in The Atlantic: "America may well enter a period of democratic decay and international isolation. It takes decades to develop strong alliances, and to build the structures and customs of democracy — and only weeks to decimate them, as we’ve now seen. And yet I find myself confident that America will survive this crisis. Many nations, including our own, have gone through worse and bloodier crises and recovered. "In 'Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis,' the historian and scientist Jared Diamond provides case studies — Japan in the late 19th century, Finland and Germany after... Continue reading

Hungary parliament votes to limit the rights of dual nationals and LGBTQ+ people Trump administration is sued over tariffs in U.S. Court of International Trade El Salvador President Bukele says he won’t release Maryland man back to the U.S. Palestinian activist at Columbia who was expecting a U.S. citizenship interview is arrested instead by ICE in Vermont White House Office of Management and Budget proposes cutting State Department budget by almost 50 percent Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard after it defies demands Community celebrations being planned to commemorate U.S.' 250th anniversary next year are at risk... Continue reading

Investors traditionally have bought U.S. Treasuries on the assumption that, no matter what, the U.S. government will be there and will stand by its debts, says The New York Times. But turmoil in the bond markets last week showed the extent to which President Trump’s trade war has damaged American credibility as a responsible steward of peace and prosperity, the Times says. “The whole world has decided that the U.S. government has no idea what it’s doing,” says Mark Blyth, a political economist at Brown University and co-author of the forthcoming book “Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers.” The... Continue reading

Major shipping nations agree on first-ever global fee on ships’ greenhouse gas emissions Hong Kong’s biggest pro-democracy party moves to disband as freedoms diminish Ecuador President Daniel Noboa re-elected in vote seen as test of his ‘war on drugs’ UN humanitarian affairs office to cut staff 20 percent after U.S. cut funding U.S. news TV channel for the Mideast fires its staff and goes off the air after Trump administration funding cutoff Iran, U.S. say they held ‘constructive’ nuclear talks Saturday, agree to meet again NYTimes analysis: How Brexit's startling act of economic self-harm foreshadowed Trump’s tariffs Rubio says another... Continue reading

It seems you can read the first 15 of this Fix the News edition without a password. And I’ve got tears of exhilaration as I go through them. For example: "The world has made remarkable progress in reducing child mortality," says UNICEF. Since 2000, the global mortality rate of children under five has dropped by 52 percent. Clicking through to the UNICEF article and seeing the photo of the baby — whose eyes show such excited intelligence — could not be a better way to start my day. And congratulations, California, on your win-win effort to generate energy while combatting... Continue reading

China raises tariffs on U.S. imports to 125 percent Europeans sidelined in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks despite holding key sanctions card British man's tattoo wrongly linked to Venezuelan gang in Department of Homeland Security document Supreme Court says Trump administration must 'facilitate' release of Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for their beliefs Top Democrat on Senate Intelligence Committee says new Gabbard task force is 'witch hunt' in spy agencies Senate confirms former ambassador to Netherlands and House member Pete Hoekstra to be ambassador to Canada Senate... Continue reading

Hours after the president’s tariffs took effect on nearly 60 countries Wednesday, he said he'd pause them for 90 days, The New York Times reports. But Trump didn't extend the pause to China, instead raising tariffs again on all Chinese imports, to 125 percent. He made that decision after China raised its tariffs on American goods to 84 percent on Wednesday afternoon. As a result, nearly every U.S. trading partner now faces a 10 percent blanket tariff, on top of 25 percent tariffs that Trump has imposed on cars, steel and aluminum. The stock market reversed days of losses, and... Continue reading

Treasury Department issues new sanctions targeting Iran nuclear program in run up to talks Judges bar use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans held in parts of Texas and New York Supreme Court allows Trump to fire members of independent agencies Appeals court clears way for Trump administration to fire thousands of probationary workers House passes mostly on party lines bill to limit the authority of federal district judges to issue nationwide orders House votes 217-211 to overturn Biden-era rule limiting bank overdraft fees to $5, sends to Trump for signature House GOP leaders postpone vote on budget blueprint... Continue reading

“A Wall Street that had been excited for Trump, and the unleashing of animal spirits in markets, is now deflated,” says The Wall Street Journal this morning, as “top executives sense their opinions don’t carry much weight with the president.” “Many supported Trump last year even while knowing that the steep tariffs he had long promised could be destructive to both the tech industry and the economy as a whole, but they felt that Trump could be swayed by advisers such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to adopt a softer approach,” says The Washington Post. Over the weekend, Trump officials... Continue reading

Reuters: In China, whispers of change as some companies tell their employees to work less Netanyahu-Trump meeting shows unexpected gaps on key issues Trump administration moves to restore some recently canceled foreign aid programs for emergency food assistance IRS acting commissioner resigning over deal to send immigrants’ tax data to ICE to identify, deport illegals Supreme Court pauses order to reinstate fired federal employees, citing plaintiffs’ lack of standing to sue NYTimes analysis: In narrow, technical rulings, Supreme Court seems to take pains to avoid a showdown with Trump Justice Department to disband its crypto-related enforcement team Trump signs executive... Continue reading

The Monday ruling means the Trump administration can try to resume deportations under the rarely used 1798 Alien Enemies Act, as long as detainees are given due process, says NBC News. The ruling is 5-4, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett dissenting in part with the three liberal justices. The ruling doesn’t address the constitutionality of using the Alien Enemies Act to send the migrants to a prison in El Salvador. The justices instead have issued a narrow procedural ruling, saying that the migrants’ lawyers filed their lawsuit in the wrong court, says The New York Times. The justices say it... Continue reading

Nations seeking agreement to charge commercial ships an emissions fee in what would be world’s first global carbon tax Israel controls 50 percent of Gaza after expanding its buffer zone AP: Trump administration has ended some of last remaining U.S. funding for lifesaving aid across Middle East Trump says U.S., Iran are set for direct nuclear talks; Tehran says they'll be indirect Trump fires Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, a top military official to NATO Chief Justice Roberts pauses deadline for return of Maryland man deported to El Salvador by mistake In 2-1 vote, 4th Circuit Appeals Court allows DOG... Continue reading

The goal is to create over 30 days a single “mega API” — a bridge that enables software systems to talk to each another — for accessing IRS data, Wired reports. The agency is expected to partner with a third-party vendor to manage some parts of the project. Palantir, a software company cofounded by billionaire and Musk associate Peter Thiel, has been brought up consistently by DOGE representatives as a possible candidate, says Wired. Two top DOGE staffers at the IRS, Sam Corcos and Gavin Kliger, are helping to orchestrate the hackathon, Wired says. Corcos is a health-tech CEO with... Continue reading

Federal judge on Sunday orders return of man mistakenly deported to El Salvador WPost: As Trump tariffs sink in, conservatives are challenging whether they’re legal Senate GOP passes budget blueprint on 51-48 vote; Susan Collins and Rand Paul vote ‘no’ Supreme Court sides with Trump administration over Education Department grants IRS plans to cut up to 25 percent of staff, starting with closure of the agency's civil rights office Worker safety agency NIOSH losing about 850 of its 1,0000 employees Nearly half of National Weather Service offices have 20 percent vacancy rates, and experts say that's a risk Trump administration... Continue reading

As usual, I hope you'll have time to scroll through Fix the News' 20 good-news items that are free to read. Among the items that apparently are behind the paywall: — A California startup has developed new carbon-fiber transmission cables that can be retrofitted on old steel power lines, tripling their electricity-carrying capacity. This enables utilities to upgrade grid connections without lengthy permitting processes for new routes. The Tennessee Valley Authority already is testing the technology on its aging infrastructure, Fix the News says, citing a Bloomberg article that, sigh, requires a subscription. — Northwestern University engineering scientists have developed... Continue reading

South Korea President Yoon removed from office over martial law Judge says government may have ‘acted in bad faith’ as he considers contempt over deportation order U.S. Trade Representative’s reciprocal tariff calculations Trump ends tax exemption for low-value Chinese imports from companies like Shein, Temu National Security Council staffers fired after Trump meeting with far-right activist Laura Loomer Federal judge blocks $11 billion in Trump administration cuts to state public health grants Senate confirms Mehmet Oz to lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on 53-45 party-line vote Senate starts debate on GOP budget plan extending $3.7 trillion in tax... Continue reading

The president announced on Wednesday new tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners that threaten to dismantle much of the architecture of the global economy and trigger broader trade wars, says The Associated Press. Trump says he’s putting elevated tariff rates on dozens of countries that run meaningful trade surpluses with the United States, while imposing a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries in response to what he says is an economic emergency. He says the tariffs are designed to increase domestic manufacturing, describing the global trade system the United States helped build after World War II... Continue reading

Over the years, I’ve mentioned various Buddhist resources for living this human experience, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned Tara Brach. I’ve been listening to Brach's podcasts for about ten years. She tells corny jokes, but I’ve found her very helpful. Brach is a PhD clinical psychologist, and I’ve seen her on webinars training psychotherapists. She founded the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C. And she’s the author of four books: "Radical Acceptance," "True Refuge," "Radical Compassion" and "Trusting the Gold." Her website says her podcast is downloaded more than 2.5 million times each month. In what I think is... Continue reading