Desi Weekly News Digest 

NATIONAL

Donald-25: The new virus that’s devastating the world economy: Economists have dubbed the current economic downturn “Donald-25,” likening the impact of Trump’s protectionist policies to a virus infecting the global economy. The aggressive tariffs have led to supply chain chaos and inflation, drawing criticism even from within Trump's party.​ THE TIMES

FSU Shooting Claims Desi Life: The son of a local sheriff deputy opened fire at Florida State University on April 17, killing two people and injuring six others in the latest school shooting to rock a U.S. college campus. USA TODAY

California Becomes First State to Sue Trump Over Tariffs:  The lawsuit challenges Trump evoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to enact the tariffs, arguing the act had never been used for such levies and such powers rest with the US Congress. The lawsuit cites multiple times from rulings by the US Supreme Court against the Biden administration in its quest to forgive student debt, noting the high court called Biden's maneuvers a "transformative expansion" of presidential authority. BBC

Harvard Fights Back: On Monday, Harvard became the first university to openly defy the Trump administration as it demands sweeping changes to limit activism on campus. The university frames the government’s demands as a threat not only to the Ivy League school but to the autonomy that the Supreme Court has long granted American universities.  In response, The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard University over campus activism. This action has sparked legal challenges and debates over academic freedom and government overreach .AP NEWS

Trump Powerless?: El Salvador will not return Kilmar Ábrego García, whom the US government deported to his home country where he is being held in a mega-prison. The US Supreme Court ruled last week that the Trump administration must "facilitate" the return of Mr. Ábrego García, who was living in Maryland with his family and was granted protection from deportation by a court in 2019, but the US government says it does not have the power to compel El Salvador to return Garcia. BBC

INTERNATIONAL

Cuts to Funding Threaten International Students: Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has cracked down on hundreds of international students across the country. Students are waking up to emails saying their visa has been revoked, throwing their lives into tumult. The reasons for visa revocation range from minor traffic infractions, or support for Palestine, to prior criminal charges for which they were acquitted. INDIA CURRENTS

Ukraine Peace Talks At Risk: President Trump has threatened to abandon peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia if significant progress isn't made soon. Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded talks in Paris, but the future of the negotiations remains uncertain. PBS

CORRUPTION ALERT

Is Doge Making Fraud Easier?: A scathing whistleblower report suggests that DOGE coders may have pilfered troves of personal data that would be extremely valuable to business leaders. NEW REPUBLIC

SCIENCE

Clean Energy Milestone Reached: Clean power sources generated more than half of all U.S. electricity supplies for the first time in March, accounting for 51% of all utility-scale electricity output that month, according to data from energy think tank Ember. REUTERS

HEALTH

E Coli Outbreak Not Reported by FDA: Food and Drug Administration never informed the general public about the contaminated lettuce or identified the companies involved, during or after an investigation that closed in February, according to an April 17 news report from NBC. NORTHEASTERN NEWS

JUST THE HEADLINES

The only office within the US State Department that monitors foreign disinformation is to be eliminated, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, confirming reporting by MIT Technology Review.

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