News Briefs

Trump sues Maine over trans athletes. The Trump administration sued Maine’s education department on April 16 for not complying with its push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports. The lawsuit announced by Attorney General Pam Bondi escalates a dispute over whether the state is abiding by the federal Title IX anti-discrimination law that bars discrimination in education based on sex. The lawsuit follows weeks of feuding between the Republican administration and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills that has led to threats to cut crucial federal funding. Ms. Bondi said other states, including Minnesota and California, could also be sued.

Who should decide the best way to protect vulnerable children – their parents, or the state? In December 2024, we reported how that question lies at the heart of the biggest transgender rights case in U.S. Supreme Court history.

U.K. Supreme Court defines womanhood biologically. The Supreme Court has ruled that the U.K. Equality Act defines a woman as someone born biologically female. Five judges ruled unanimously that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman. The ruling means that a transgender person with a certificate that recognizes them as female should not be considered a woman for equality purposes. But the court added that its ruling “does not remove protection from trans people,” who are “protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment.”

In the United States, actions by the Trump administration have been pushing back on transgender inclusion, amid sharp public divides and emotional debates over things like women’s sports and care for children.

Judges clash with Trump over El Salvador deportees. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador to push for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, sent there by the U.S. in March despite a court order preventing his deportation. The Supreme Court has also called on the administration to facilitate his return. A federal judge in a separate case said he found probable cause to hold the administration in criminal contempt of court for violating his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador.

How a deportation case is turning into a tussle over presidential authority

With Venezuelan deportations, is Trump taking a page from El Salvador’s playbook?

AI-generated music grows. About 18% of songs uploaded to Deezer are fully generated by AI, the French streaming platform said on April 16, underscoring the technology’s growing use amid growing concerns over copyright risk. Deezer said more than 20,000 AI-generated tracks are uploaded on its platform each day, which is nearly twice the number reported four months ago. The rising use of generative AI in creative industries has triggered a wave of lawsuits, with artists, authors, and rights holders accusing AI firms of using copyrighted material without consent or compensation to train their models.

As the influence of artificial intelligence grows, calls are rising for better public awareness of its impact on daily life and global dynamics.

Small town book brigade. Residents of a small Michigan community formed a human chain and helped a local bookshop move each of its 9,100 books – one by one – to a new storefront about a block away. The “book brigade” of around 300 people even put the books back on the shelves in alphabetical order, said Michelle Tuplin, the store’s owner. “As people passed the books along, they said ‘I have not read this’ and ‘that’s a good one,’” she sad. The endeavor took just under two hours – much shorter than hiring a moving company, according to Ms. Tuplin.

Last summer, the Monitor interviewed Evan Friss, the author of “The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore” and the important role they play in communities as places where ideas and activism could flourish.

Kenyan authorities catch rare ant smugglers. Four smugglers caught trying to transport thousands of live ants out of Kenya for sale on exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia will be sentenced for trafficking wildlife. In a case hailed as a milestone by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), authorities intercepted live queen ants, including the Giant African Harvester Ant, concealed in modified test tubes and syringes. Aficionados enjoy keeping ants in transparent cases and watching them build complex colonies. The KWS trumpeted the case as a landmark in the fight against biopiracy.

Wild animals are disappearing in Latin America. Colombia is fighting back.

First woman completes Best Ranger Competition. A female Army Ranger for the first time competed in the annual Best Ranger Competition, and her two-soldier team finished the grueling three-day event over the weekend, coming in 14th overall. First Lt. Gabrielle White, and her teammate, Capt. Seth Deltenre, were among 16 of 52 teams that made it through the final events, where Ranger teams compete for accolades as the best of the elite military force. Ms. White was the only woman who competed. Female soldiers were not allowed to be Army Rangers until 2015, when the Army opened Ranger school to women.

A decade ago, our writer embedded with the first woman to enter the Army's elite Ranger School to report on their grit and acceptance by fellow soldiers.

Russian journalists jailed over connections to Navalny. A Russian court on April 15 convicted four journalists of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group founded by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. It sentenced each of them to 5 1/2 years in prison. Antonina Favorskaya, Kostantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin, and Artyom Kriger were found guilty of involvement with a group labeled as extremist. All four maintained their innocence, arguing they were being prosecuted for doing their job as journalists. The closed-door trial was part of an unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached an unprecedented scale after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

NATO vows support for Ukraine. NATO’s secretary-general said on April 15 the alliance’s support for Ukraine remains “unwavering.” Mark Rutte emphasized that more than 20 billion euros ($22 billion) has already been pledged for Ukraine by NATO allies in the first three months of 2025. Mr. Rutte met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the port city of Odesa, days after a Russian strike hit the city of Sumy, killing over 35 people and injuring 119. Meanwhile, Ukraine and its European partners are continuing to develop the infrastructure for the “coalition of the willing,” which is expected to act as a long-term security guarantee after a ceasefire.

With US on the outs, Europe looks to an old ally for defense: Britain

Can Europe confront Russia without US help? Not yet, but it may have to.

China-Vietnam trade agreements. China’s President Xi Jinping called on April 14 for stronger ties with Vietnam on trade and supply chains amid disruptions caused by U.S. tariffs, as he attended the signing in Hanoi of dozens of cooperation agreements between the two communist-run nations. The visit, part of a wider trip in Southeast Asia, comes as Beijing faces U.S. duties raised to 145%, while Vietnam is negotiating a reduction of threatened U.S. tariffs of 46% that would otherwise apply in July after a global moratorium expires. The countries signed dozens of cooperation agreements, including deals on enhancing supply chains and cooperation over railways.

Patterns Column: On tariffs, Trump moves forward, and back. What does it herald for trade?

Chicago teachers reach contract without strike. For the first time in over a decade, Chicago’s public school teachers have a new contract without a strike or threat of a walkout. The four-year agreement includes pay hikes, more teacher hires, and class size limits. Despite relatively calm negotiations, there was unprecedented turmoil surrounding the unusual yearlong talks. The drama included the school superintendent’s firing, the entire board resigning, and historic elections that tested the Chicago Teachers Union’s power. Now, Chicago faces uncertainty with Trump administration education cuts and looming questions about how the nation’s fourth-largest school district will fund the contract.

AP blocked from news conference despite court order. The Trump administration on April 14 turned away a reporter and photographer from The Associated Press from covering an Oval Office news conference involving President Donald Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. The decision came less than a week after a federal judge said the administration should stop denying AP access to events in retaliation for it’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The AP has been blocked from attending events since mid-February. The administration is appealing the judge’s decision.

In February, we reported how a White House rebuff to The Associated Press – over the name “Gulf of America” – came on top of Trump lawsuits against major TV news networks. Some saw rising pressure for news media conformity.

Merengue star honored after Dominican nightclub collapse. A cement roof collapsed at a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic on April 10, killing 221. An investigation into the cause of the collapse is ongoing. A merengue icon and a baseball star were among those who lost their lives. After a five-hour memorial for merengue singer Rubby Pérez at Santo Domingo’s National Theater, attendees released dozens of white balloons and spontaneously sang his hit song “Volveré.” Zulinka Pérez, one of his daughters, said, “I knew he was loved, but I never imagined this.”

Earth’s climate enters benign state. La Niña, the natural cooling flip side of the better-known and warmer El Niño climate phenomenon, has dwindled away after just three months. La Niña typically brings more Atlantic hurricanes in the summer. Earth is now in a neutral setting in the El Niño Southern Oscillation cycle, which is generally the most benign of the three states that help influence hurricane formation, droughts, floods, and global temperatures. NOAA forecasts the neutral setting to last most of 2025. Studies have found that La Niñas tend to be costlier than El Niños and neutral conditions.

China and EU eye closer trading ties. China is looking to mend a strained trading relationship with the European Union, the last open major market for its products, to weather a trade war with the United States. Since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a procession of European officials and lawmakers have made their way to Beijing for talks. Both sides have quietly intensified coordination. EU officials agreed to monitor trade diversions from U.S. tariffs on April 8, and both sides revived minimum pricing negotiations on Chinese-made electric vehicles on April 10.

China has long relied on exports of manufactured goods to drive economic growth. But as the United States and other nations shut China out, some argue that Beijing should rely more on consumers at home.

Iran says it’s open to nuclear talks. Iran said on April 11 it was giving high-level nuclear talks with the United States set for April 12 “a genuine chance,” after President Donald Trump threatened bombing if discussions failed. Mr. Trump, who in his first term withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 big-power accord with Tehran, is bringing a tougher approach to the Middle Eastern power. Washington’s ally Israel regards Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat. At the same time, Iran and allied groups have been weakened by the military offensives Israel has launched across the region, including air strikes in Iran.

Europe props up Ukrainian military effort. Germany and Britain sent a message to Russia on April 11 that Ukraine will be able to keep up its fight thanks to Western support. The European powers for the first time co-led a meeting of the so-called Ramstein group of some 50 countries that give military support to Ukraine after Washington gave up the chair, and said they could not detect any signs that Vladimir Putin was ready for peace. As the group met, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff flew into Russia for what looked likely to be talks with Mr. Putin.

Brexit left a bitter divide between the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. But amid the Trump administration’s disruptive foreign policy, they are rebuilding bonds, particularly on defense.

Can Europe confront Russia without US help? Not yet, but it may have to.

U.S. energy consumption at record high. U.S. power consumption will hit new record highs in 2025 and 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on April 10. EIA projected power demand will rise to 4,201 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2025 and 4,244 billion kWh in 2026, from a record 4,097 billion kWh in 2024. Those increases come from data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, and homes and businesses using more electricity for heat and transportation. Natural gas consumption is expected to drop this year and next, coal will remain the same, and renewable energy generation is expected to rise over the next two years.

“The cloud” has revolutionized the way people communicate, work, and share information. But some worry that growth comes at the expense of communities and livelihoods.