Desi Weekly News Digest 

NATIONAL

White House Leaks Military Plans via Signal App: A significant security lapse occurred when the White House inadvertently disclosed military strategies for airstrikes in Yemen through the encrypted messaging app, Signal. Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly included in a group chat discussing these sensitive plans, raising serious concerns about communication protocols within the administration. No consequences are being considered to the people in the meeting for their carelessness. GUARDIAN

Massive Job Cuts in Health and Human Services: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would ax 10,000 full-time employees spread across agencies tasked with responding to disease outbreaks, approving new drugs, providing insurance for the poorest Americans and more. The entire office of Infectious Disease has been fired. WSJ (paywall)

Concerns Over U.S. Economic Data Integrity: Economists are expressing alarm over potential declines in the quality of U.S. economic data due to substantial federal funding cuts. The dissolution of the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee and proposals to exclude government spending from GDP calculations have intensified fears of political interference in economic reporting. FT (Paywall)

 INTERNATIONAL

Earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand: A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar on Friday, March 28, causing extensive damage across a wide swath of one of the world’s poorest countries and prompting officials to warn that the initial death toll — above 140 — was likely to grow in the days ahead. AP

Tariffs on Venezuela: President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. will impose a 25% tariff on imports from any country that purchases oil or gasoline from Venezuela. India imports oil from Venezuela, but the amount is not significant. REUTERS

CORRUPTION ALERT

Pardon for Pay: Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle start-up Nikola who was sentenced to prison last year for fraud, was pardoned by President Donald Trump. The pardon of Milton, who was sentenced to four years in prison for exaggerating the potential of his technology, could wipe out hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution that prosecutors were seeking for defrauded investors. Milton, 42, and his wife donated more than $1.8 million to a Trump re-election campaign fund less than a month before the November election, according to the Federal Election Commission. AP

Pay for Play: After one law firm caved to President Trump’s threats to shut it down if it didn’t do what he wanted, two other firms that were similarly threatened are fighting back, and a federal judge has temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order, calling the effort "disturbing" and the second calling it a "constitutional harm." NPR

Eggslusive Deals!: The White House, through an outside event production company called Harbinger, is soliciting corporate sponsors for this year’s Easter Egg Roll, which is prompting major concerns from ethics experts and shock from former White House officials from both parties. CNN

SCIENCE

23&Me Files for Bankruptcy: Genetic testing company 23andMe, once valued at $6 billion, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Missouri federal court. If you have used their services, click here to protect your genetic data from third parties who may take over the business. CNBC

JUST THE HEADLINES

Senate overturns rule limiting overdraft fees to $5. NYT (paywall)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Biden-era rule regulating so-called “ghost guns” – untraceable weapons without serial numbers, assembled from components or kits that can be bought online. SCOTUSBLOG

A US federal judge on Thursday ordered immigration officials to halt the deportation of Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University scholar detained by the Trump administration over allegations of spreading Hamas propaganda on social media. FINANCIAL EXPRESS

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