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The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, one of about two dozen states that ban the discredited practice.

An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide if it meets a legal standard that few laws pass.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court, said the law “censors speech based on viewpoint.” The First Amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”

Lawyers for Rep. Eric Swalwell demanded Monday that FBI Director Kash Patel immediately end any effort to release records from a decade-old investigation involving the California Democrat and a suspected Chinese operative that resulted in no criminal charges.

The cease-and-desist letter from the attorneys advises Patel that he would run afoul of both federal law and longstanding Justice Department policy if he moves forward with releasing records from the FBI’s investigative file.

It seeks a response from Patel within three days confirming that he will comply with the demand, and warns that any further effort to publicize the files will result in legal action.

Donald Trump erupted at the United Kingdom Tuesday morning over its refusal to join the United States in its war against Iran, issuing the European nation a notice that the United States would no longer be offering it “help.”

“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Bruce Lesley is incensed at one dimension of the debate about birthright citizenship that he says is being completely overlooked. "It's in the words: 'birth' right citizenship — this is about babies."

Lesley is the president of First Focus on Children, a bipartisan advocacy group for children and families, which submitted an amicus brief for the case Trump v. Barbara to be argued Wednesday, April 1, before the Supreme Court.

During debate on the potential end to birthright citizenship in recent congressional hearings, Lesley heard about administrative challenges, historical context and political allegiance. "The word 'child' does not cross their lips," he says of the lawmakers and witnesses.

That is a serious oversight, he argues. "This impacts every baby born in America," he says.

Dissatisfaction is emerging with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) among Democrats running for Senate seats in this year’s elections.

The question of backing Schumer as Democratic leader has become a new litmus test, with several candidates — even in purple and red states — pushing for a changing of the guard.

“I’ve already said that I will not support Chuck Schumer as leader in the Senate, and I’m the only person on this stage that has said so,” Illinois Senate Democratic nominee Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D) said during a January debate before her primary victory earlier this month.

Though Schumer is unlikely to face any real threat to his leadership post after November, the discontent has spotlighted the party’s lingering battle over its direction and generational change.

National average hit $4.02, according to AAA data, capping an extraordinary rise from $2.98 just a month ago

Average US fuel prices have crossed $4 a gallon for the first time in four years, piling pressure on drivers as Donald Trump’s war on Iran continues to boost oil markets.

The nationwide average climbed to almost $4.02 on Tuesday, according to AAA data, capping an extraordinary rise from $2.98 just a month ago. The fuel price last reached this high in August 2022.

On the west coast, many drivers filling up cars and trucks are grappling with prices far higher than the US average. In California, the average is $5.89 a gallon; in Washington state, the average is $5.35.

Practice of using apartments to store relatives’ ashes has risen as rapid urbanisation and ageing population increases competition for cemetery plots

China is introducing a law to stop people storing the ashes of their dead relatives in empty high-rise flats rather than paying steep costs for increasingly scarce cemetery plots.

China’s new funeral management legislation will prohibit the use of “residential housing specifically for the purpose of storing cremated remains” and the burial of corpses or construction of tombs in “areas other than public cemeteries”.

The law will come into force on Tuesday ahead of Sunday’s Qingming grave-sweeping festival – a traditional Chinese celebration in which people clean their ancestors’ tombs and make ritual offerings.

National average hit $4.02, according to AAA data, capping an extraordinary rise from $2.98 just a month ago

Average US fuel prices have crossed $4 a gallon for the first time in four years, piling pressure on drivers as Donald Trump’s war on Iran continues to boost oil markets.

The nationwide average climbed to almost $4.02 on Tuesday, according to AAA data, capping an extraordinary rise from $2.98 just a month ago. The fuel price last reached this high in August 2022.

On the west coast, many drivers filling up cars and trucks are grappling with prices far higher than the US average. In California, the average is $5.89 a gallon; in Washington state, the average is $5.35.

Tehran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai on Tuesday, despite a threat by Donald Trump ​that the U.S. will obliterate Iran's energy plants if it does not agree to a peace deal and open the Strait of Hormuz.

Authorities in Dubai said the fire on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi had ‌been brought under control following a drone attack, with no oil leak and no injuries to the crew. Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the ship's owner, said the vessel's hull was damaged.

The attack was the latest on merchant vessels in the strait, a vital waterway, since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

He couldn’t name a Democrat he actually voted for but insists he’s a lifelong Democrat… who opposes abortion, racial equality, “cultural Marxism”….

Democrats in Nebraska are calling out a primary candidate as a Republican plant, saying that he is only running to divide the liberal vote in the state.

Conservative pastor William Forbes filed to run in the U.S. Senate race, which Democrats had worked to clear. The state party is supporting independent candidate Dan Osborn, who they believe will have a better chance of beating incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) if he runs as an independent.

CNN looked into Forbes’ background. He posted several sermons to Facebook, where he railed against “cultural Marxism” (an antisemitic dog whistle), “radical feminism,” and the “left-wing media.” He attacked Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street protestors and praised Republicans for restricting abortion. He also referred to former President Joe Biden as “Dementia Joe.”

Congressman Joaquin Castro calls for release of boy, Kaleth, and mother from much-criticized detention Dilley facility

A two-year-old detained in a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, is sick and not getting adequate help, said Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from San Antonio. The boy, Kaleth, has a fever and is not eating the food served at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, which Castro said detainees have complained of having mold and worms.

“When his mother asked for help, the staff said it was all ‘mental’,” Castro wrote in a post on X. “A vulnerable child at the Dilley trailer prison was suffering and ICE denied their reality and their needs. It’s shameful and must stop.”

Dilley has been criticized for not providing adequate care and food for families. In February, the detention center reported two measles cases. It’s the same facility where five-year-old asylum seeker Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were kept for a week after being detained in Minneapolis.

Cable signed by Marco Rubio and seen by Guardian suggests staff work with Pentagon psychological operations unit

The United States has directed every American embassy and consulate across the world to launch coordinated campaigns against foreign propaganda and endorses Elon Musk’s X as an “innovative” tool to help do it.

The cable, signed by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Monday and obtained by the Guardian, also suggests embassies and consulates work alongside the US military’s psychological operations unit to address the problem of rampant disinformation.

It lays out a sweeping set of instructions for how embassy staff should push back against what it describes as coordinated foreign efforts to undermine American interests abroad.