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April 14, 2026
GOP Senate campaigns in crisis as candidates 'nailed' to unpopular Trump: reporter
(Raw Story) Senate Republicans are facing a full-blown crisis as President Donald Trump endangers their once thought near-invincible majority in 2026, Semafor's Dave Weigel told MS NOW on Monday. This comes as the Cook Political Report moves four Senate races toward Democrats, all of them in states that backed Trump in 2024.
Go to discussionSaudi Arabia Is Pressing U.S. to Drop Its Hormuz Blockade
(Wall Street Journal) Saudi Arabia is pressing the U.S. to drop its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table, fearing President Trump’s move to close it off could lead Iran to escalate and disrupt other important shipping routes, Arab officials said. The pushback is a sign of the risks and limitations of U.S. efforts to pry open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran shut early in the war by attacking ships in the waterway, cutting off around 13 million barrels a day in oil exports and sending futures prices above $100 a barrel.
Go to discussionSupply shock coming as last oil tankers leaving Hormuz before Iran war to unload in next few days
(Seeking Alpha) The final oil tankers to traverse the Strait of Hormuz before the outbreak of the Iran war are set to reach refineries by April 20, a pivotal moment that analysts warn could begin physical shortages in Europe and the U.S. within weeks, the Financial Times reported Monday. Most pre-war deliveries to Asia, which sources ~80% of its crude from the Middle East, stopped around April 1, although at least one cargo of Iraqi oil to Malaysia is expected to land this week, FT reported, while the last pre-war deliveries to the U.S. are set to end this week, those to Africa had landed by April 10, and Denmark received its last jet fuel cargo from Kuwait over the weekend, according to analysts at J.P. Morgan.
Go to discussionMany US Catholics are dismayed by Trump's unprecedented broadside at the first American pope
(AP) A majority of U.S. Catholic voters supported Donald Trump in his 2024 presidential victory. Yet across the broad Catholic political spectrum – even among conservative-leaning bishops – there is dismay over Trump’s unprecedented verbal assault on Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead their church. The dismay extended into an even more solid base of Trump support — conservative Christian evangelicals. Many were appalled that Trump followed his Truth Social attack on Leo by posting an image depicting himself as a Christ-like savior.
Go to discussionSurcharges Are Suddenly Everywhere -- And Grumpy Americans Are Paying Up
(Wall Street Journal) An extra 3% for paying with a credit card. A 5% involuntary contribution to a restaurant’s employee wellness fund. $25 a month in addition to rent for trash collection. Consumers already weary of rising inflation are now contending with a new crop of costs that are hidden in plain sight. New fees or surcharges are popping up everywhere as companies search for ways to recoup their own rising costs while blaming outside pressures.
Go to discussionGOP lawmaker says it was a 'mistake' to dress in blackface after 2010s photo surfaces
(Georgia Recorder) Dalton Republican state Rep. Kasey Carpenter is facing criticism after a photo of him dressed in blackface has been circulating on social media. The grainy photo shows Carpenter posing alongside his wife at a party with his white skin painted brown. Carpenter said the photo was taken at a Chattanooga bar about 12 years ago when he was in his 30s. He said it was a costume party where guests dressed like power couples, and they chose to dress like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, who were married at the time.
Go to discussionFormer Brazilian intelligence chief was arrested by ICE, senator says
(ABC News) A Brazilian senator said on Monday that the country's former intelligence agency chief Alexandre Ramagem was arrested by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and is pleading for him to get political asylum in the United States. Ramagem, also a former lawmaker, was sentenced in September to 16 years in prison for his role in the coup attempt by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in 2023. Brazil's federal police said he fled the South American nation before he would have started serving his sentence.
Go to discussionTaking Tylenol during pregnancy has no link to autism, new study finds
(The Guardian) Taking acetaminophen – known in the US by the brand name Tylenol – during pregnancy has no effect on later autism diagnoses, according to a sweeping new study from Denmark published on Monday. The Trump administration has targeted Tylenol use in pregnancy as a major cause of autism in children, which appears to have led to a drop in pregnant people taking the pain reliever. Through Denmark’s robust national healthcare system, researchers were able to track more than 1.5 million children born between 1997 and 2022 in the national health registry, including 31,098 children who were exposed to Tylenol in utero.
Go to discussionFluoride in drinking water has no effect on IQ or brain function, long-term study shows
(NBC News) Tests of intelligence and brain function showed the same results whether or not people drank fluoridated water growing up, a highly anticipated, long-term study found. The new research, published Monday in the respected Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to measure community water fluoridation exposure during childhood in the U.S. and any potential impact on cognition up to age 80. The results contradict claims made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that fluoride is “industrial waste” associated with IQ loss.
Go to discussionDOJ fires at least 4 prosecutors involved in FACE Act cases during Biden administration
(CBS News) The Justice Department has fired at least four prosecutors who were involved in prosecutions under the FACE Act during the Biden administration, a government official familiar with the firings told CBS News. Among those fired Monday is Sanjay Patel, a longtime federal prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division's criminal section who was placed on administrative leave last month, sources told CBS News at the time. The terminations occurred at about the same time a report on the FACE Act and the Biden Justice Department was being finalized.
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