TV News LIES

The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders drew a record-breaking crowd at his rally in Los Angeles on Saturday, which included musical acts from Joan Baez and Neil Young, who encouraged the crowd to “take America back”.

Sanders’s Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go from Here tour has been drawing massive crowds. Aided by the progressive New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the team set the record in Tempe, Arizona, for biggest-ever political rally in that state three weeks ago. In Denver, Colorado, more than 34,000 people showed up – a career-high crowd for the 83-year-old Sanders. Saturday in Los Angeles saw another record: at least 36,000 people packed a downtown park.

A host of musical acts kicked off the high-energy event, including the indie rock band The Red Pears, Maggie Rogers, Indigo de Souza, and legends Baez and Young.

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Harvard University faculty sued the Trump administration on Friday over a federal assessment of the school’s spending amid allegations of their “failure” to protect students from antisemitism.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and its campus chapter are both plaintiffs in the lawsuit which said failures were “unspecified” according to legal documents.

In the filing they noted that Harvard received policy demands from the administration in a letter outlining steps to keep $9 billion in federal funding.

“Harvard, like all American universities, depends on federal funding to conduct its academic research. Threats like these are an existential ‘gun to the head’ for a university,” the lawsuit reads.

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Donald Trump shows no signs of easing his assault on climate science as plans of more sweeping cuts to key US research centers surfaced on Friday.

The administration is planning to slash budgets at both the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (Noaa) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), according to internal budget documents, taking aim specifically at programs used to study impacts from the climate crisis.

Craig McLean, a longtime director of the office of oceanic and atmospheric research (OAR) who retired in 2022, told the Guardian that the cuts were draconian and would “compromise the safety, economic competitiveness, and security of the American people”.

If the plan is approved by Congress, funding for OAR would be eviscerated – cut from $485m to $171m – dismantling an important part of the agency’s mission.

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The state department is ordering staff to report colleagues for instances of “anti-Christian bias” during the Biden administration, part of Donald Trump’s aggressive push to reshape government policy on religious expression in his first months back in office.

The internal cable, obtained by the Guardian, establishes a short seven-day window for employees to report perceived religious discrimination committed by state department officials, with particular emphasis on Christianity.

“The department is seeking submissions regarding any practices involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration,” the Friday cable reads, instructing staff to report to a specially created taskforce by 18 April.

The cable, first reported by Politico, points back to Trump’s February executive order aimed at ending “the anti-Christian weaponization of government,” and indicates that the department will offer preferential treatment for Christians.

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A portrait of President Trump that depicts him raising his fist immediately following the attempt on his life last summer at a Butler, Pa., rally is replacing an image of former President Obama in a prominent spot inside the White House.

Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff, posted side-by-side photos on social media of the Trump artwork seemingly replacing the Obama painting on Friday at the bottom of the Grand Staircase.

The artwork of the 47th president shows him bloodied with an American flag waving behind him after he survived the assassination attempt last July. A White House spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for comment about the artist behind the painting.

The image of Trump appeared to take the place of a portrait of Obama that was unveiled at the White House in 2022. The lifelike portrait by artist Robert McCurdy shows the former president sporting a black suit and gray tie in front of a white background.

The white background, the White House said at the time, “allow the viewer to establish a relationship with the subject.”

TVNL Comment: Narcissism is uncurable.

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U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink intends to resign from her post early, three sources told CBS News.

The State Department confirmed her intent to step down Thursday afternoon.

"Ambassador Brink is stepping down. She's been the ambassador there for three years – that's a long time in a war zone. And frankly, the war has gone on for far too long," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. "The real issue is whether the Russians and Ukrainians are ready to do what's necessary to end this war."

Brink has not formally submitted resignation papers but she has been making farewell calls to colleagues, sources said.

Ambassador Brink has not responded to a request for comment.

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