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News

March 30, 2026

House votes to criminalize sex-change surgeries and puberty blockers for minors

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protect Children’s Innocence Act on Wednesday, voting 216-211 to ban so-called gender transition procedures for minors and impose criminal penalties on practitioners who perform them. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its path is considerably less certain.

The legislation subjects anyone who “knowingly performs, or attempts to perform genital or body mutilation on another person, who is a minor” to a fine and the possibility of up to 10 years in prison. Individuals who assist in the performance of these procedures face the same penalty. The bill also prohibits “chemical castration” in the form of puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones.

Four House Republicans, Reps. Gabe Evans of Colorado, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Kennedy of Utah, and Mike Lawler of New York joined most Democrats in voting against the bill. Three House Democrats, Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Don Davis of North Carolina joined most Republicans in supporting it.

The day after the vote, detransitioner Chloe Cole stood at a press conference hosted by the U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services and shared the emotional anguish she has carried since undergoing life-altering procedures as a teenager, only to regret them. Cole had her breasts removed as a teenager. She will never be able to breastfeed a child. She condemns the procedures plainly.

Cole called what happened to her “unscientific medical abuse that violates every tenet of medical ethics.” And she described the weight she carries privately:

“There’s grief, every single day, I carry with me silently.”

“The only thing in the world that makes me angry is knowing that this is continuing to happen to children all across the United States and throughout the globe.”

The medical establishment spent years telling parents and legislators that these procedures were necessary, compassionate, even lifesaving. Cole’s testimony says otherwise. She isn’t an abstraction or a statistic. She’s a young woman living with irreversible consequences imposed on her during an age when she couldn’t legally buy a beer.

Trump issues new threat to Iran’s civilian infrastructure if a ceasefire isn’t reached ‘shortly

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached “shortly.” On the ground Monday, Tehran struck a key water and electrical plant in Kuwait, and an oil refinery in Israel came under attack. Israel and the U.S. launched a new wave of strikes on Iran. Trump’s new threat in a social media post and earlier comments in an interview with the Financial Times that suggested American troops could seize the country’s Kharg Island oil export hub highlight a frequent tactic.

Trump says he has ‘no problem’ with Russian oil tanker bringing relief to Cuba despite blockade

ABOARD AIRFORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has “no problem” with a Russian oil tanker off the coast of Cuba delivering relief to the island, which has been brought to its knees by a U.S. oil blockade. “We have a tanker out there. We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload because they need… they have to survive,” Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington. When asked if a New York Times report that the tanker would be allowed to reach Cuba was true, Trump said: “I told them, if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem whether it’s Russia or not.”

Wall Street points toward gains as oil prices soar amid fears about escalation in Iran

Wall Street was poised to open the week with gains as oil prices continued their climb and prospects for an end to the Iran war remained uncertain. Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq all climbed 0.6% before the opening bell Monday. Wall Street closed on Friday with its fifth straight losing week, its longest such streak in nearly four years. Benchmark U.S. crude jumped $1.20 to $100.84 a barrel. Futures for Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 2.1% to $107.54 a barrel. Before the war, Brent had been priced at about $70 a barrel.

Rescue teams search for 27 missing after a passenger boat sinks in eastern Indonesia

PALU, Indonesia (AP) — Rescue teams are searching for 27 people missing after a passenger boat sank in rough seas on Monday on its way to a remote village in eastern Indonesia. The boat, Nazila 05, was carrying 27 passengers and crew members. It departed North Maluku province’s Taliabu Island bound for Kema, a coastal village in the province just after dusk on Sunday, said Muhammad Rizal, who heads the search and rescue office in Central Sulawesi’s Palu city.

Apollo’s impatient old-timers are rooting for NASA’s return to the moon with Artemis II launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The people who toiled night and day to put astronauts on the moon during Apollo are thrilled that NASA is finally going back. Now in their 80s and 90s, they just wish these Artemis moonshots had happened sooner while more of Apollo’s workforce was still alive. So few of them are left that no reunion is planned to celebrate the upcoming Artemis II flight around the moon with four astronauts. Those who live near Florida’s Kennedy Space Center will watch the launch from their backyards. NASA is targeting the first week in April.

China resumes direct flights to North Korea after 6 years

BEIJING (AP) — China’s flag carrier has resumed direct flights between Beijing and North Korea’s capital of Pyongyang not long after the restoration of passenger train services between the capitals. The Chinese ambassador to North Korea and other diplomats welcomed the Air China flight that arrived in North Korea on Monday morning. Passenger train service from China to North Korea had resumed March 12. Flights and passenger trains to North Korea had been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. North Korean carrier Air Koryo resumed flights between the capitals in 2023. North Korea banned all foreign tourists during the pandemic but has started easing the restrictions, with a Russian tour group entering the country in 2024.

The birthright citizenship case at the Supreme Court hits close to home for this immigrant mother

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Argentine emigre in Florida quickly got her newborn son a U.S. passport last year. During a legal fight over President Donald Trump’s executive order to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to people in the country illegally or temporarily, the passport was tangible evidence the baby is American. The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday over the fate of the order. The 14th Amendment and federal law have been widely understood to make citizens of everyone born in the country, with narrow exceptions. Every court that’s ruled has found Trump’s order illegal and prevented it from taking effect. The effort to repeal birthright citizenship is part of Trump’s broader immigration crackdown.

Australian police kill a suspect 7 months after he allegedly shot 3 officers, killing 2

MELBOURNE, Australia. (AP) — Australian police have shot dead a man seven months after he was suspected of killing two police officers and seriously wounding a third in a remote forest region. There had been no confirmed sightings of Dezi Freeman since he allegedly opened fire on police officers who came to serve a warrant at his home northeast of Melbourne last year. Victoria police said a man believed to be Freeman was shot dead by police on Monday at a remote location in the northeast region of the state. Police were involved in a standoff for three hours before the suspect was shot.

A youth-led push for change threatens Orbán’s 16-year rule in Hungary’s elections

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Two weeks before pivotal elections, Hungary’s young voters are rallying behind Péter Magyar’s Tisza party and posing the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in years. Polls show Tisza dominates among voters under 30, while older voters are with Orbán. Analysts say young people seek better economic opportunity and an end to corruption and autocratic rule. The generational gap could be a decisive factor in the April 12 election. Hungary was rocked by a political scandal in 2024 that sparked protests and activated a voting cohort that for at least two decades had largely avoided politics.

Jerusalem heads into a subdued Passover and Easter under the shadow of the Iran war

JERUSALEM (AP) — Jerusalem’s holiest places sit empty as missile fire disrupts Passover and Easter. On Monday, families brace for the holidays as the Iran war enters its fifth week. Stores in the Old City stay shuttered. Plazas and alleyways feel deserted. Israeli rules cap gatherings at 50 people, so the Western Wall is closed to worshipers. A key Passover blessing will go ahead with only a small group. Churches also scaled back. The Latin Patriarchate canceled the Palm Sunday procession. It said police even block top leaders from Mass at the Holy Sepulcher.

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JR Roten

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