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Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. Health insurance is a battleground, again.
Democrats are pivoting hard to press their health care agenda after the Trump administration moved to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act, an aggressive move by a White House celebrating the end of the Mueller investigation.
The administration had previously said that only the law’s provision on pre-existing conditions should be struck down. But on Monday night, the Justice Department asked a federal court to strike down the entire law.
2. On Capitol Hill today, the House failed to overturn President Trump’s first veto.
That means the president’s declaration of a national emergency at the southwestern border stands, over the objections of both the House and the Senate. Fourteen Republicans joined Democrats in seeking the override.
In the Senate, a procedural vote blocked the Green New Deal from being taken up for debate, ending a weekslong effort by Republicans to mock the climate plan and tie Democrats to it.
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3. The maker of OxyContin and the family that owns it are under new pressure.
Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, will pay almost $275 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the State of Oklahoma, accusing the company of deceptive marketing and playing down the opioid’s power to addict. The money will in part fund an addiction treatment center in Tulsa. Above, a protester outside Purdue Pharma’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
A trial of the other opioid manufacturers named in the suit, like Johnson & Johnson, is scheduled to begin at the end of May.
The Tate museums in London and the Solomon R. Guggenheim in New York have announced that they will no longer accept charitable donations from the Sacklers, and others are considering following suit.
4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said U.S. recognition of Israeli authority over the Golan Heights set a precedent for the annexation of other territory.
“Everyone says you can’t hold an occupied territory, but this proves you can. If occupied in a defensive war, then it’s ours,” he told reporters, in a seeming reference to parts of the West Bank.
Mr. Netanyahu made the remarks in the last weeks of an extremely tight re-election campaign. The comments will most likely encourage right-wing Israelis who believe that acceptance of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan could lead to the annexation of part of the occupied West Bank.
5. Long before two Boeing 737 Max planes crashed, the F.A.A. faced scrutiny over its policy to allow manufacturers authority in certifying their own planes.
An investigation by an internal government watchdog found that F.A.A. employees thought managers were too close to Boeing officials, and feared retaliation for trying to hold them accountable.
Lawmakers are likely to press the F.A.A.’s acting administrator on the findings in a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
In recent simulations recreating the issues with the Lion Air jet that crashed, pilots have discovered they would have less than 40 seconds to override an automated system to avert disaster.
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At least 600,000 people have been displaced, water and food are in short supply, and the first cases of cholera are being reported by the Red Cross.
Death tolls are uncertain, and the extent of the storm’s damage is still emerging. In Mozambique, which was especially hard hit, the government estimates that at least 400 people have died.
How you can help: Here’s a list of aid organizations that have begun a broad effort to provide food, shelter and medicine to those affected by the cyclone.
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7. The harshest moves yet against measles.
Rockland County, a suburb of New York City, will declare a 30-day state of emergency over the state’s worst measles outbreak in decades.
It will bar unvaccinated minors from public places, and retroactively penalize parents who allowed the children in public space.
County officials, having seen 153 confirmed measles cases since October, are desperate to control the spread of the virus. So far, the outbreak has mostly affected ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities like the one above in Ramapo, N.Y., officials have said.
8. Chicago prosecutors dropped all of the charges against the actor Jussie Smollett, pictured above leaving court today.
It was a stunning turn in a case in which he had been accused of staging a hate crime against himself to gain publicity because he was unhappy with his “Empire” salary.
The decision infuriated some city officials. The police superintendent said, “I think this city is still owed an apology.”
And Conor McGregor, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest star and one of the world’s highest-paid athletes, is said to be under investigation in Ireland, after a woman accused him of sexual assault in December.
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9. In sports news, baseball!
Looking ahead at the American League, the big question is whether the Red Sox can repeat as World Series champions. It’s possible, our columnist writes, but no team has done it since the 2000 Yankees.
In the National League, the Dodgers have a deep talent pool and a good chance to become the first team since the 1923 Yankees to lose two World Series in a row and return for a third.
In the women’s N.C.A.A. basketball tournament, all of the first and second seeds advanced to the Round of 16. They were joined by a few surprises, including 11th-seeded Missouri State. Here’s our preview of the Round of 16.
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10. Finally, join us behind the scenes at The Times.
A photographer spent two years shooting The Times’s printing plant in College Point, Queens, above. He captured the craft, precision and unexpected beauty of the process of producing the newspaper, which we sometimes call “The Daily Miracle.”
The accompanying essay is by the novelist Luc Sante.
And for puzzle fans, here’s a short history of the mini-crossword, an experiment that found a devoted following.
Have a miraculous evening.
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Source : Nytimes
