The Kansas Supreme Court hands abortion rights activists a victory; French President Emmanuel Macron responds to the Yellow Vest protesters.

A win for abortion rights in Kansas

• The Kansas Supreme Court in a 6-1 decision Friday ruled that the right to an abortion is enshrined in the state Constitution –– a significant move during a period where a number of states are trying to roll back reproductive rights. [Hutchinson News / Sherman Smith]
• The Court’s decision would block a 2015 law that restricted second-trimester abortions. [NYT / Sabrina Tavernise and Campbell Robertson]
• The justices pointed to a line in the state’s Bill of Rights that protects the “right of personal autonomy.” They interpreted this as allowing a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body. [NPR / Dan Margolies and Celia Llopis-Jepsen]
• Because this decision is based on a state Constitution, abortion rights in Kansas will be protected even if the Supreme Court were to repeal Roe v. Wade — though abortion rights would still be under threat if Congress were to enact a federal ban. [Washington Post / Emily Wax-Thibodeaux]
• 10 other states in the Midwest and South have passed laws banning abortions after six weeks — which is often before many women even realize they are pregnant. The goal is to have the conservative-leaning Supreme Court make a ruling that benefits anti-abortion activists. [Vox/ Amanda Sakuma]
• The Kansas ruling potentially paves the way for challenges to similar abortion restrictions in other states. [AP / John Hanna]

Macron finally responds to the Yellow Vests

• French President Emmanuel Macron finally responded to the so-called Yellow Vest protesters in a televised speech on Thursday. The Yellow Vests have been demonstrating since November against income inequality in France; Macron promised tax cuts, higher pensions, and civil service reform. [BBC]
• Macron made some surprising announcements during the speech, including promising to restructure the parliamentary election system to give smaller parties more opportunities to get into power, and to make it easier for citizens to launch national referendums. [Al Jazeera / Jabeen Bhatti and Rebecca Rosman] 
• The speech was the conclusion of a “great debate,” a two-month listening tour that took Macron to schools and community centers across the country. It was Macron’s way of calming down the protesters and for improving his ratings as a president — though not everyone was impressed by his promises. [Washington Post / James McAuley] 
• At the televised event, Macron took press questions for nearly two and a half hours, part of an effort to amend the spiky relationship he’s had with the media and boost his approval ratings. He faces a tough battle in the European parliamentary elections scheduled for next month. [Reuters / Michel Rose] 

Miscellaneous

• The now-ubiquitous open-concept office leaves precious little room for quiet or privacy. Many workers’ savior: wireless earbuds. [Atlantic / Amanda Mull]
• You’ve heard of dog cafes and cat cafes. Now get ready for … piglet cafes. [CNN / Lilit Marcus]
• Modern cars are all about flashy lights and high-tech gadgets. But these cutting-edge updates are also a threat to drive-in movie theaters. [WSJ / Chris Kornelis]
• If Thanos actually wiped out half the world’s population, utter chaos would ensue. Here’s what the aftermath would be. [Smithsonian Magazine / Sadie Witkowski]
• UCLA and California State University both had a measles-infected person on campus. Now they’ve quarantined more than 700 people who can’t prove they’ve been vaccinated in an effort to stop the virus from spreading. [BuzzFeed News / Brianna Sacks]

Verbatim

“Let this be a strong message to politicians everywhere who insist on passing unconstitutional and dangerous health care policies: We will never stop fighting to safeguard our patient’s access to health care and our rights to bodily autonomy.” [Planned Parenthood president Dr. Leana Wen’s statement following the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision to protect abortion rights]

Watch this: What a new Supreme Court means for abortion

States can — and are — limiting access to abortion. In some parts of America, it is essentially unavailable. [YouTube / A.J. Chavar]

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Joe Biden is officially running for president; Iran proposes a prisoner swap with the US. 

Third time’s the charm?

• After months of speculation, former Vice President Joe Biden has officially announced he is running for president in 2020. [Washington Post / Michael Scherer and John Wagner]
• Biden announced his bid through a video posted on social media. In the clip, Biden took a jab at President Trump and used the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville to suggest the “soul” of America is at stake. [CNN / Arlette Saenz]
• Although he is just announcing his official campaign, Biden has been included in many 2020 polls in which he came out as a frontrunner (though this early in the race, that could have a lot to do with name recognition alone). [FiveThirtyEight / Nate Silver]
• Biden, 76, is the 20th Democrat to announce a bid for 2020 among a crowd that is being celebrated for its gender and racial diversity. The party has moved significantly to the left since that last time Biden ran for office, and many wonder how he will fare among more progressive candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris. [AP / Steve Peoples and Thomas Beaumont] 
• Biden’s run is already off to a rocky start, as several women have accused him of touching them inappropriately. Biden addressed the accusations in a video, saying that he would be more mindful of others’ space, though he stopped short of an apology for his actions. [Guardian / Erin Durkin]
• There are also controversies stemming from Biden’s time as a senator, such as his support for the war on drugs and mass incarceration, and his mishandling of the Anita Hill hearings. [Vox / German Lopez]
• Despite these problems, though, it’s hard to deny that Biden is a popular, well-known Democrat who has benefited from his likable persona. And some are hoping this “Uncle Joe” charm will ultimately be enough to defeat Trump. [Vox / Dylan Scott]

Iran’s foreign minister proposes a prisoner exchange

• Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday proposed a prisoner swap with the US: freeing Iranians awaiting extradition in exchange for the release of prisoners like British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was jailed in Iran three years ago on espionage charges. [Time / Hillary Leung] 
• Zarif paralleled this case to that of Negar Ghodskani, an Iranian woman who was arrested in Australia in 2017 and separated from her newborn child. She allegedly sought to buy US digital communications technology while disguising herself as an employee from Malaysia; US prosecutors say she was actually sending the technology to an Iranian company for public broadcasting. [France 24 / AFP] 
• Zarif said he can make a prisoner exchange happen if the US agrees. But planning the exchange, if the US agrees, could take years, especially given that several countries are involved. Still, British officials are encouraged by the possibility that Iran is willing to use Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case for diplomatic leverage (something it previously denied). [BBC] 
• If the prisoner exchange were to happen, it would be the first since the 2016 agreement between six countries that curbed Iranian nuclear activities for economic benefits — the agreement President Trump abandoned a year ago, calling it the “worst deal ever.” [NYT / Rick Gladstone] 

Miscellaneous

• During a speech at the Time 100 Gala, comedian Hasan Minhaj called on Jared Kushner to use his relationship with the Saudi crown prince to advocate for the release of female Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul. It appears his ribbing worked. [Salon / Matthew Rozsa]
• Three years ago, thousands of emperor penguin chicks disappeared overnight from a colony in Antarctica. Scientists now think they know what caused it — and why the emperors won’t return to the breeding ground. [Fox News / Brie Stimson] 
• A team of international scientists has discovered a fossil of a 95 million-year-old “platypus crab.” The tiny creature (about the size of a quarter) could redefine what we think of crabs as a species. [New Atlas / David Szondy] 
• Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday, to tease a “big announcement” about … something. She’ll reveal the details on April 26. [ET / Desiree Murphy] 
• After India banned the Chinese app TikTok for allegedly exposing children to inappropriate content, a court has ruled the country must reinstate it. [CNN Business / Rishi Iyengar] 

Verbatim

“Normally my sense with Iran is nothing is flippant, and so it will have a meaning, but it might not be the obvious meaning.” [Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, on Iran’s suggestion of a prisoner swap to free his jailed wife]

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Disco, DJs, and the impact of the 12-inch single. [YouTube / Estelle Caswell]

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Boeing takes a financial hit after two plane crashes; pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong are sentenced to prison time for 2014 protests.

Boeing’s PR nightmare reflected in profits 

• Boeing’s 737 Max jets are still grounded after two fatal crashes, and the company’s finances are hurting amid the increased scrutiny on its safety protocols and ensuing PR crisis. The company revealed Wednesday that its profits were down 13 percent in the first quarter of 2019. [WSJ / Doug Cameron and Andrew Tangel]
• The slowdown in production due to the groundings has cost the company more than $1 billion so far. [CBS News / Rachel Layne]
• The two crashes of Boeing’s planes, one in March and the other last October, led to the grounding of all of its 737 Max jets. Boeing is now undergoing a thorough software update for its planes, and it’s still unclear when the planes will be cleared to fly again. [Reuters / Ankit Ajmera and Eric M. Johnson]
• Customers are now skeptical of Boeing, especially because the company is under investigation by Justice Department, which will look into whether the company was truthful to the Federal Aviation Administration about its certification process. [CNN / Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz]
• Just last week, the company was accused of shoddy production that gave little consideration to safety. A Boeing factory in South Carolina overlooked manufacturing errors and safety issues to produce planes faster. [NYT / Natalie Kitroeff and David Gelles]
• In the grand scheme of things, Boeing has the resources to withstand these financial blows. Whether the company will be able to restore its reputation, however, is still to be determined. [CNN / Chris Isidore]

Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement leaders are sentenced to prison

• Eight Hong Kong activists were sentenced Wednesday for their role in coordinating the “Umbrella Movement” pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014. They were charged for public nuisance and incitement; two of them were sentenced to 16 months in prison. [Time / Hillary Leung]  
• The 2014 protest, in which thousands of peaceful activists staged sit-ins, was one of the largest pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in years. The movement snarled the city’s financial district and closed down major roads for 79 days. [NYT / Tiffany May] 
• These activists were part of a movement called the “Umbrella Movement,” so named for the yellow umbrellas carried by protesters to protect them from the sun and, eventually, police tear gas. [NPR / Matthew S. Schwartz] 
• Two founders of the Umbrella Movement, Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Chan Kin-man, were given the longest sentences of 16 months. Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng acknowledged that the protests were peaceful but cited the inconvenience of the road closures in the sentencing. Critics of the decision decried the charges as politically motivated and said they would have a chilling effect on pro-democracy advocacy. [South China Morning Post / Chris Lau and Sum Lok-kei] 
• As the activists showed up to court, supporters dressed in yellow chanted “civil disobedience” while holding yellow umbrellas to symbolize the movement. [Al Jazeera / Lana Chan]

Miscellaneous

• Meet Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican trap artist whose embrace of more feminine fashion embodies a new type of masculinity not often seen in Latin America. [CNN / Vanessa Rosales]
• The “Instagram aesthetic” used to mean highly polished and carefully staged. Now, it’s all about being real and candid. [Atlantic / Taylor Lorenz]
• Time to rethink screen time rules for kids? The World Health Organization says children under 1 shouldn’t be exposed to any electronic screen. [Washington Post / Rachel Siegel and Craig Timberg]
• In an effort to combat the criticism that it helped spread “fake news” during the election, Twitter will now let users flag tweets that are “misleading about voting.” [BuzzFeed News / Pranav Dixit]
• A woman was in a coma for almost 30 years. Now she’s made a miraculous recovery. [BBC]

Verbatim

“Freedom of expression in Hong Kong has deteriorated significantly in the past few years, and [Wednesday’s] sentencing only adds to that.” [Maya Wang, a senior researcher on China for Human Rights Watch, criticizing the jailing of the Umbrella Movement activists]

Watch this: Designing a safer street

During the 20th century, the car became America’s dominant mode of transportation. As vehicle miles traveled soared well past the rate of population growth, demands on the roadway surged. Congestion became a major issue. So transportation planners made the roads wider and added traffic lanes. [YouTube / Carlos Waters and Mallory Brangan] 

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The Supreme Court will deliberate whether a citizenship question on the 2020 census is unconstitutional; two Reuters journalists remain in jail in Myanmar.

The census’s citizenship question goes to court

• The Supreme Court will soon decide whether the 2020 census can ask people about their citizenship — a decision with wide-ranging ramifications for the next 10 years. [NYT / Adam Liptak]
• The Supreme Court leans to the right, with five conservatives and four liberal justices. And on the first day of oral arguments, the conservatives seemed likely to unite in deferring to the Trump administration. [Washington Post / Robert Barnes and Mark Berman]
• The citizenship question was first brought up in 2017 by Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, who claimed he was honoring the request of the Justice Department to improve data about citizenship to help enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Blue states and civil rights groups immediately challenged the request, and three federal judges ruled that Ross had long wanted to implement the citizenship question. [CNN / Ariane de Vogue]
• The census, which is distributed every 10 years, is important because the data that is gathered is the baseline for many decisions made, such as allotment of funding, congressional representation, and electoral votes. [NPR / Hansi Lo Wang]
• Although the question cannot be used to deport people — it does not ask whether respondents are legal or unauthorized immigrants — many people decide to ditch the survey altogether in fear of how their information will be used. [Vox / Dara Lind]
• Ultimately, experts estimate 6.5 million people will not take the survey if the question is implemented. The Constitution requires the government to survey everyone, regardless of citizenship, and any efforts to deter such collection of data is “unconstitutional,” critics argue. [ABC News / Devin Dwyer]
• The Supreme Court doesn’t have long to make a decision, as the census must be printed in June for it to be released on time. The next two months will impact the next 10 years. [FiveThirtyEight / Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux]

Myanmar’s highest court rejects appeal by jailed Reuters journalists

• Two jailed Reuters journalists were denied their latest appeal in Myanmar on Tuesday. The reporters, who have been in jail for 16 months, have lost faith in the judicial system to set them free from a seven-year sentence. [Washington Post / Kyaw Ye Lynn and Timothy McLaughlin]  
• The reporters — Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 — were reporting on violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar when they were captured in December 2017 for allegedly illegally obtaining an official document. [AP / Aung Naing Soe] 
• In their appeal to the country’s top court, the reporters cited a lack of proof that they violated the law and included evidence that the arrest was a setup arranged by the police. Last year, a police officer testified that police had planted documents on the journalists. [Reuters / Shoon Naing and Simon Lewis] 
• Defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said that the reporters will no longer file for appeals and instead are hoping for a presidential pardon. The court decision did not occur in the presence of the journalist, it was the wives who attended and cried after the announcements. [CNN / Cape Diamond and Julia Hollingsworth] 
• Earlier this month, the reporters won a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting in Myanmar, which focused on exposing military units and Buddhist villagers who were responsible for the killing of Rohingya Muslims. [NPR / Mathew S. Schwartz] 

Miscellaneous

• About 360,000 children in three African countries will receive the first-ever vaccine for malaria as part of a World Health Organization pilot project. Malaria still kills an estimated 435,000 people annually, and cases have been on the rise in recent years. [CNN / Katie Hunt]
• A staggering new study finds that Greenland’s ice is melting six times faster than it did in the 1980s. [Washington Post / Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis] 
• This is Game of Thrones’ last season, but the megahit TV show will live on in merchandise. HBO has collaborated with Adidas to make GoT inspired shoes; there are also collaborations for beer, makeup, and board games. [AP] 
• James Holzhauer is on track to become the most successful Jeopardy contestant of all time. But is all that winning bad for the show? [Variety / Daniel D’Addario]
• In honor of Prince Louis’s first birthday today, Kensington Palace released three adorable new photos of the young royal. [ET / Scott Baumgartner] 

Verbatim

“Myanmar authorities have committed a grave injustice to Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and their families, and criminalized independent journalism.” [CPJ senior Southeast Asia representative Shawn Crispin on Monday, condemning Myanmar authorities for keeping Reuters journalists in jail for reporting the truth]

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The Supreme Court is likely to determine the future of LGBTQ rights with three new cases; bombings in Sri Lanka on churches and hotels kill about 300 people. 

Supreme Court takes on major LGBTQ cases

• In October, the Supreme Court will take on three cases on gay and transgender discrimination that will likely determine the future of LGBTQ rights. [CNN / Ariane de Vogue] 
• In two cases — Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda and Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia — the plaintiffs claim they were fired for being gay, while another employee in R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said she was fired because she came out as transgender. [The Washington Post / Robert Barnes]
• Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, workplaces are not allowed to discriminate based on sex. Activists are trying to broaden the reach of the law by claiming it prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as well. [The Hill / Jacqueline Thomsen]
• By precedent, most federal courts have excluded sexual orientation in Title VII, until recent rulings in both New York and Chicago that discriminating against gay men and lesbians was a form of sex discrimination. It is now up to the Supreme Court to define who is protected under the law. [NYT / Adam Liptak]
• The current Supreme Court leans conservative, especially with the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a strong ally on LGBTQ rights. [Vox / German Lopez]
• President Donald Trump, who has strong support from evangelical Christians, has also argued that Title VII does not protect gay or transgender workers. This is in drastic contrast to Barack Obama’s administration, which supported classifying LGBT discrimination as sex discrimination. [AP]

Sri Lankans face a terrorist attack on churches and hotels

• Bombings erupted on Easter Sunday targeting luxury hotels and churches in Sri Lanka. At least 290 people were killed and about 500 were injured. The attacks are believed to have been committed by the local Islamist group National Thowheeth Jama’ath, who previously defaced Buddhist statues. However, no one has come forward to claim responsibility. [CNN / Jenni Marsh and Julia Hollingsworth] 
• Three churches and at least three hotels located in the capitol city of Colombo were bombed at around 8:45 am on Easter Sunday. The bombings killed 36 foreigners, including three of the children of the richest man in Denmark, Anders Holch Povlsen, a fashion mogul behind companies like ASOS and Bestseller. Four Americans were reported dead; their identities have been kept private to respect families’ wishes. [CBS / AP] 
• Ten days before the bombings, officials were warned that National Thowheeth Jama’ath was planning attacks on churches. However, authorities did not act upon the warnings. [NYT] 
• The island nation of 22 million just off India’s southeastern tip has dealt with brutal fighting for decades, mainly due to a civil war that pitted the Sinhalese Buddhist government against militant fighters from the minority Tamil community who pioneered modern-day suicide attacks. [Vox / Alex Ward]
• In order to halt any misinformation from spreading about the bombings, the Sri Lankan government temporarily cut off access to social media services including WhatsApp and Facebook. It also imposed a 12-hour curfew from sunrise to sunset for Monday. [Vox / Khushbu Shah, Sean Collins, and Alex Ward] 
• Eight bombs went off. Another explosive device was found in Colombo International Airport and was successfully defused. [RT]
• Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena called for a state of emergency, which allows police and military to detain suspects without a court order. So far, 24 people suspected of involvement with the attacks have been apprehended. [France 24]

Miscellaneous

• Erasing millions of people’s student loan debt is just the beginning of Elizabeth Warren’s new ambitious education policies. [NYT / Astead W. Herndon]
• Ever wanted John Legend as your personal assistant? Google is rolling out a new (and a bit creepy) AI feature that imitates the voice of the singer. [Wired / Tom Simonite]
• Parents and teachers want climate change to be taught in classrooms. What is stopping them? [NPR / Anya Kamenetz]
• Samsung’s folding phone is the company’s latest ambitious project, but after some hiccups, it looks as though the company will be pushing back the product’s release date. [The Verge / Chris Welch]
• The Jonas brothers will be back with an album on June 7 to fulfill all your middle-school fan desires. [Vulture / Milan Polk]

Verbatim

“A win in these cases would improve the lives of millions of LGBTQ people and their families as well as send a message about the inherent importance of all of us being able to go to work, to live our everyday lives free from discrimination, and … to take care of ourselves and our loved ones.” [Masen Davis, CEO of Freedom for All Americans, on the importance of the LGBTQ Supreme Court cases]

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A (redacted) Mueller report is finally released; North Korea’s foreign minister wants Pompeo out of nuclear negotiations.

The long-awaited Mueller report is released

• The long-awaited report on special counsel Robert Mueller’s more than two-year Trump-Russia investigation was finally released, with redactions, shortly after 11 am — and the results may be more damning for President Trump than expected. [NYT / Mark Mazzetti]
• The report is divided into two “volumes.” The first goes into detail about the Russians’ attempts to interfere in the presidential elections and the contact they established with Trump’s campaign. Although the investigation concluded that Trump was not guilty of directly working with Russia, there is strong evidence of his campaign’s willingness to engage with Russian intelligence. [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]
• The second volume of the report focuses on Trump’s potential obstruction of justice, which includes his consistent efforts to shut down the investigation — some of which failed only because his aides didn’t listen to his orders. [Politico / Josh Gerstein and Darren Samuelsohn]
• The day started with a press conference from Attorney General Bill Barr before an audience of reporters who hadn’t yet read the report. And Barr’s summary — which was quite rosy for the president — turned out to contrast, in some cases significantly, with Mueller’s version. [Vox / Laura McGann] 
• Despite the murky conclusions of the report, Trump’s legal team has gone ahead and declared it a “total victory” for the president. [Washington Post / Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky]
• The responses from the two parties have varied drastically. While Republicans want to move on from the investigation once and for all, Democrats have raised concerns about Trump’s conduct and called to see an unredacted version of the report and for Mueller to testify before Congress. [Vox / Tara Golshan]
• Although the future impact of the report is yet to be determined, it’s clear that the issues brought up in the report will not be dropped anytime soon. For starters: Mueller has been summoned to speak in front of the House Judiciary Committee on May 23. [NPR / Philip Ewing, Jerome Socolovsky, and Carrie Johnson]

North Korea wants “reckless” Pompeo out of nuclear talks

• North Korean officials do not want US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to be involved in nuclear negotiations anymore. A senior official said in a statement that if nuclear talks with the US were to resume, then someone who is “more careful and mature” must replace him. The announcement came hours after North Korea tested a tactical missile on Thursday, supposedly to prove that the North is not weakened by negotiations with Washington. [Al Jazeera] 
• North Korean foreign ministry official Kwon Jong Gun said Pompeo had made “reckless” interpretation of a speech from Kim Jong Un that suggested Kim wanted the two countries to finish “working level” negotiations by the end of the year. Kwon called this interpretation “nonsense.” [CNN / James Griffiths]
• According to Kwon, Kim’s speech last week instead said that Washington has until the end of the year to change its stance regarding sanctions and pressures. [Gulf Today] 
• Pompeo has been instrumental in getting the US and North Korea to negotiate thus far; he was also the one who encouraged Trump to walk away from the recent summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. Some North Korea experts see Pyongyang’s attacks on Pompeo as a tactical error if the goal is to bring the US back to the table. [CNA] 

Miscellaneous

• At a secret lab in Austin, Texas, is housed a five-armed robot named Daisy, whose job is to systematically dismantle iPhones for recycling. [CNET / Ian Sherr] 
• Josh Bratchley, a diver who helped rescue the Thai soccer team from a cave, was himself rescued from a cave in Tennessee after being trapped for more than 24 hours. [Tennessean / Mariah Timms and Natalie Neysa Alund] 
• Scientists have discovered evidence of helium hydride in a nebula 3,000 light-years away. The molecule, a combination of helium and hydrogen, is believed to be the first to have formed after the Big Bang. [Engadget / Christine Fisher] 
• China has built a simulated Martian colony in the Gobi Desert that it’s calling “Mars Base 1.” It’s currently being used for educational purposes, but China hopes to eventually use it for tourism too. [BGR / Mike Wehner] 
• Uber plans to add new safety features following the killing of a South Carolina college student, whose body was found after she got into a car she thought was her Uber ride. [NBC News / Stephanie Gosk, Conor Ferguson, and Scott Stump] 

Verbatim

“I am afraid that, if Pompeo engages in the talks again, the table will be lousy once again and the talks will become entangled.” [Kwon Jong Gun, a senior official in North Korea’s foreign ministry, about the need to replace Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in future negotiations with the US] 

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Trump vetoes a resolution that would end US participation in Yemen’s civil war; Afghanistan will hold its first talks with the Taliban on Friday.

Trump’s support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen continues

• President Trump vetoed a bipartisan resolution that would have ended US involvement in the Saudi-led Yemen war. [BBC]
• The War Powers Resolution would have required the president to remove troops from wars that Congress has not formally declared; per the Constitution, such power solely belongs to the legislative branch. The resolution would have pressured the United States to pull out of the conflict in Yemen, which has killed more than 50,000 people. [ABC News / Conor Finnegan]
• Trump took the resolution as a personal attack, calling it “an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities.” He also downplayed American involvement in the war, saying that the US only provides arms and intelligence for Saudi Arabia, not actual soldiers on the ground. [NYT / Mark Landler and Peter Baker]
• Democrats are angry because they see Trump’s veto as aligning with his long history of sympathy for Saudi interests. Some senators had signed the War Power Resolution to criticize Trump’s support for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been implicated in the killing of Saudi journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi. [Washington Post / Felicia Sonmez, Josh Dawsey, and Karoun Demirjian]
• Some thought Trump could be persuaded, as he had campaigned on an antiwar message, vowing to stop unnecessary US involvement in foreign wars. This veto puts an end to that hope. [Vox / Tara Golshan]
• The option of voting to override Trump’s veto goes to the GOP-controlled Senate — who will most likely back Trump’s decision. So for now, it seems the United States will continue to be involved in Yemen’s war. [CNN / Allie Malloy]

The first meeting between Kabul and the Taliban

• Afghan delegates will have their first-ever meeting with Taliban officials, scheduled for Friday in Qatar. This is a turning point in a US-led peace process that has dragged on for months. Although the Taliban said it would not agree to negotiate until American troops are out of the country, it agreed to have an informal talk with representatives from Kabul, who agreed to meet despite the Taliban announcing a “spring offensive.” [Washington Post / Pamela Constable]
• The list of attendees for the “intra-Afghan dialogue” was released on Tuesday. The Taliban, which does not speak directly with President Ashraf Ghani’s government, said the delegates will be recognized only as “ordinary” Afghans and not representatives of the administration. [New York Times / Mujib Mashal and Fahim Abed] 
• The 250 delegates include representatives of political parties, government officials, opposition figures, the families of war victims, and women’s rights activists, to name a few. [AP] 
• Around 50 women are expected to attend the talks. Previously, women had generally been excluded from peace negotiations despite repeatedly expressing concerns about the restrictions that could be placed on them were the Taliban to return to power. [Al Jazeera] 
• Last year was one of the deadliest for Afghan civilians, and new violence is spreading across the country as the Taliban announces the launch of its spring offensive. The Taliban currently controls or influences about half of the country. [Dawn / AFP]

Miscellaneous

• As the 20th anniversary of the Columbine shooting approaches, Denver police warned that an armed and dangerous woman with a fixation on the shooting was in the area, leading to the shutdown of hundreds of schools. During a massive hunt for the suspect, the police found her dead. [NYT / Julie Turkewitz and Jack Healy]
• Some Texas prison officials took a social media challenge when they began to jokingly suggest violence against inmates in their posts. [Houston Chronicle / Keri Blakinger]
• After this week’s fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, France’s prime minister announced an international contest for the chance to rebuild the structure’s famous spire. [USA Today / Ryan Miller]
• Carl’s Jr. is testing out the ultimate in munchies: a CBD burger. [CNN / Danielle Wiener-Bronner]
• These Israeli scientists have just created the first 3D-printed heart using human cells. Heart disease is one of the leading killers in the US; the health implications of this breakthrough are huge. [Newsweek / Aristos Georgiou]

Verbatim

“The conflict in Yemen is a horrific humanitarian crisis that challenges the conscience of the entire world. Yet the President has cynically chosen to contravene a bipartisan, bicameral vote of the Congress and perpetuate America’s shameful involvement in this heartbreaking crisis.” [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s statement following Trump’s veto]

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A single traveler unknowingly spreads measles in Michigan; the death of an ISIS-affiliated group’s leader is confirmed in the Philippines.

Michigan’s “patient zero”

• The measles outbreak is now rapidly spreading beyond New York, where it was most concentrated. State officials have now identified the cause of 39 cases in Michigan: a single traveler. [Washington Post / Lena H. Sun]
• The traveler, who comes from Israel, was visiting the United States as part of a fundraising tour in Orthodox Jewish communities. Prior to visiting Michigan, he had spent time in New York. [Detroit Metro Times / Steve Neavling]
• The traveler was unaware of his condition because he was misdiagnosed the first time. The doctor overseeing him wrote off his fever and cough as bronchitis, and only later –– after the traveler had already been to multiple synagogues, homes, and kosher markets –– did he realize measles might be the culprit. [Detroit Free Press / Kristen Jordan Shamus]
• This case is an example of how contagious the disease is and how quickly it’s spreading across the United States. So far, there have been 555 reports of measles in 20 states, with 90 new cases surfacing this week alone. [Vox / Julia Belluz]
• Low vaccination rates in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities are one of the key reasons for the massive resurgence of measles. With Passover just around the corner, government officials are hoping to get more people vaccinated so that the disease does not continue to travel. [USA Today / John Bacon]
• Michigan shows that religious communities and government officials can work closely together to combat the outbreak. Rabbinical leaders have helped the health department set up clinics and have vaccinated more than 2,000 people as of early April. [Washington Post / Lena H. Sun]

The leader of an ISIS-affiliated group is confirmed dead

• DNA tests have confirmed that Abu Dar, the leader of the ISIS-affiliated group Maute Group in the Philippines, was killed in a military operation last month. [CNN / Bianca Britton] 
• Abu Dar, whose real name was Benito Marohombsar, was the last surviving leader of an alliance of extremists who led a five-month siege on southern Marawi about two years ago. [Straits Times / Raul Dancel] 
• After hiding in the mountains after the siege ended, he continued to train fighters. The military eventually found his remains in his camp in the town of Sultan Dumalondong. He was abandoned next to an improvised litter with a fatal gunshot wound to his back. [Guardian / Carmela Fonbuena] 
• Abu Dar’s death will make it harder for the Maute Group to establish a presence in the country’s south, according to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. The southern side of the Philippines has a Roman Catholic majority and a Muslim minority, and has experienced decades of unrest from Muslim separatists. [PBS NewsHour / Jim Gomez]  
• Brig. Gen. Roberto Ancan said the confirmation of Abu Dar’s death is a “significant accomplishment” for the government and for the people of Lanao del Sur who wanted to rid the province of terrorists. “We will continue our operations so that the sacrifices of our fallen comrades in pursuit of peace will not go to waste,” he said. [Rappler / Carmela Fonbuena] 

Miscellaneous

• Canadian police are hunting for a suspected “hitman” who posed as a deliveryman and attacked someone with a crossbow. [New York Post / Chris Perez]
• After Georgia’s legislature passed a restrictive anti-abortion bill last month, state Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick introduced legislation that would require a waiting period and spousal approval for men to access erectile dysfunction pills, sex toys, and pornography. [New Yorker / Charles Bethea] 
• High amounts of microplastics have been found in remote areas of the Pyrenees in France. These minuscule bits of plastic have been found in lakes, rivers, oceans, soil, and even in the air. [NPR / Christopher Joyce] 
• The Red Cross for the first time revealed the name of a nurse who’s been held hostage by the Islamic State since 2013. The organization hopes it will help turn up information about her; the government of her home country of New Zealand fears it could increase the chances that she will be executed as propaganda. [NPR / Francesca Paris]
• A new study has shown that a lot of what we know about sleep is actually wrong — including that your body can adjust to need fewer hours of sleep. [CNN / Sandee LaMotte] 

Verbatim

“We certainly will have them tell us why they screwed up this information, because a screw-up it is, and I’m sad about that, because the Red Cross in the main does a great job.” [New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters on Tuesday, condemning the Red Cross for releasing the name of the nurse captured by ISIS in Syria]

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