TV News LIES

The Social Security Administration this week classified more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead in a move directed by the Trump administration, according to a White House official.

The move, as reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post, classified the immigrants into the Social Security Administration’s "death master file,” which contains records of deceased individuals who possessed social security numbers. Moving them in the file means that those individuals' numbers would be invalidated and they would lose access to financial services.

Both the NYT and Reuters reported that the immigrants had previously been legally admitted to the U.S., but since had their temporary status revoked. The Department of Homeland Security identified these individuals as having criminal records or on the terrorist watch list, the White House official said.

The Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, played a role in the effort, according to the NYT and the Post.

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The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has told the BBC that Gaza has become "hell on earth", as Israel's military assault there continues.

Mirjana Spoljaric's comments come on the same day the UN human rights office warned that Israel's tactics were threatening the viability of Palestinians continuing to live in Gaza at all.

The ICRC is the guardian of the Geneva Conventions - internationally agreed rules of conduct in war - and normally only speaks confidentially to warring parties when it thinks violations are taking place.

But Ms Spoljaric has now said publicly that what is happening in Gaza is an "extreme hollowing out" of international law.

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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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A judge in former Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil’s case ruled against him Friday, finding he is eligible for deportation while giving his legal team a little less than two weeks to respond.

Jamee Comans, an immigration judge in Louisiana, found the government’s case is “facially reasonable.” She gave his team until April 23 to file its response.

The government had “established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable,” Comans said, The Associated Press reported.

Nineteen Democratic state attorneys general are asking a federal judge to stop the Trump administration from cancelling hundreds of international student visas ‒ a move that's sent shockwaves through the collegiate community.

Although there's been no comprehensive accounting of how many students have seen their visas revoked, in some cases weeks before graduation, Trump officials say they have been in part targeting students they accuse of harboring ill-will toward the United States.

In some cases, the students participated in protests or otherwise gained attention for pro-Palestinian stances. Other visas appear to have been cancelled over paperwork issues or traffic violations.

The amicus brief filed April 11 by AGs from Arizona, California, Michigan and New York, among others, says an estimated 700 international students have lost their visas. The cancellations have forced students to leave the United States essentially on the spot, in some cases sending university administrators scrambling to figure out how to help them complete their degrees from their home countries.

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