News
Trump threatens military action in Minneapolis. And, inside his healthcare plan
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Today’s top stories
President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota to stop protests in Minneapolis. On Wednesday, immigration officers shot an immigrant man in the leg, sparking unrest on the city’s north side. There are as many as 3,000 federal immigration officers on the ground or expected to arrive soon in the Twin Cities, NPR’s Meg Anderson tells Up First.
Protesters (R) are confronted by an ICE supporter during a demonstration outside the Bishop Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan.15, 2026. Hundreds more federal agents were heading to Minneapolis, the U.S. Homeland Security chief said on Jan. 11, brushing aside demands by the Midwestern city’s Democratic leaders to leave after an immigration officer fatally shot a woman protester.
Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images
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Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images
- 🎧 Fierce resistance to ICE’s presence continues noisily, as community members follow immigration agents in their vehicles. Anderson notes that observers filming and making noise are peaceful acts of resistance that are constitutionally protected. However, ICE has responded aggressively over the last five days with tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls to disperse crowds. Some people in the community are afraid to leave their homes, including an asylum seeker, who asked to only be identified by her first initial, A. She feels like she can’t see a future for herself or her family.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado came to Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump for the first time and presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize. She is pushing to remain part of Venezuela’s future after the U.S. military operation that resulted in the seizure of Nicolás Maduro. Trump has sidelined Machado and is backing Venezuela’s acting president.
- 🎧 After Maduro’s capture, Trump shockingly said he was not backing Machado for president because she didn’t have the support or respect within her country. Bloomberg and The Economist‘s recent polling shows she has substantial support, and people widely believe her party won the disputed 2024 presidential election by a landslide. NPR’s Carrie Kahn says the timing of Machado’s meeting was extraordinary as acting President Delcy Rodríguez gave a scheduled State of the Nation speech. Venezuela was attacked by the strongest military in the world, but it has to resume diplomatic relations with the U.S., she said.
Yesterday, Trump announced an outline for new health care legislation, which he has dubbed the “Great Healthcare Plan.” The White House issued a fact sheet outlining a framework the administration is asking Congress to develop, with four pillars: drug price reforms, health insurance reforms, price transparency for health costs, and fraud protections and safeguards.
- 🎧 One thing that jumped out to NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin about the fact sheet is that the policies are not new, but like a compilation of the greatest hits of Republican health policy ideas. The proposal doesn’t mention repealing Obamacare, but, given the sparse details provided, it seems to want to let people use federal dollars to buy plans that don’t offer comprehensive coverage. The president’s plan could potentially weaken Healthcare.gov because its plans can be expensive but offer essential benefits and don’t discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.
Life advice
People who have a fear of not being able to sleep are experiencing a phenomenon called “sleep anxiety,” which, if it is left untreated, can prevent people from getting any shut-eye. One of the most effective ways to overcome this form of anxiety is through cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). But you don’t need the official program to benefit from CBT-I. Whether you’re dealing with some sleep stress or simply struggling with an off-night from time to time, these CBT-I practices can help:
- 💤 Wake up at the same time every day, which can help your body know when it’s time to get sleepy.
- 💤 Pick a time to transition from daytime activities to nighttime activities in an effort to focus on winding down for bed earlier.
- 💤 If stress comes before bedtime, put some dedicated “worry time” on your calendar during daylight hours. You could use that time to write out what’s bothering you so you can relax later.
For more guidance on how to beat the anxiety of insomnia, listen to this episode of NPR’s Life Kit. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.
Weekend picks
Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir and Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
John Medland/Paramount+
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John Medland/Paramount+
Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:
🍿 Movies: Kristen Stewart makes her feature-length directorial debut with The Chronology of Water, based on Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir about growing up with an abusive father and confronting personal memories. Hear what Stewart told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep about the film.
📺 TV: NPR’s Eric Deggans finds Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to be promising, setting the table for future achievement, but not quite ready to prove its value against Trek series legends like Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock.
📚 Books: The new year brings promising titles from George Saunders, Julian Barnes, Jennette McCurdy, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and more. See what publishes this month.
🎵 Music: From Dry Cleaning’s Secret Love to Jenny On Holiday’s Quicksand Heart, check out the new music that was released today. Plus, a musical playlist to start your weekend off right.
❓ Quiz: I scored a decent seven out of 10. Think you can beat that? Put your knowledge to the test!
3 things to know before you go
Tom Sinclair today, smiling while he holds a large cauliflower.
Tom Sinclair
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Tom Sinclair
- When Tom Sinclair was 6 years old, he wandered away from his family’s campsite on Lake Superior and got lost. At dawn, he heard the voice of his unsung hero, a stranger who was part of an extensive search to find him. Now, at 66, Sinclair still keeps the newspaper clipping about his rescue and believes the man saved his life.
- A new national database helps track how state and local governments spend their share of settlement funds. This includes the District of Columbia, which will receive more than $80 million in opioid settlement money over the coming years. (via WAMU)
- Jodie Foster has spoken French since childhood, but only now has she taken on a lead role scripted almost entirely in the language of Molière, for A Private Life. And, she hopes to take part in more French films.
This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.
new video loaded: Singer D4vd Is Charged With Murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
transcript
transcript
Singer D4vd Is Charged With Murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez
The musician D4vd was charged with murder on Monday, seven months after the police said that the body of a teenage girl, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, had been found in the trunk of his Tesla. D4vd, whose real name is David Burke, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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“On April 23, 2025, as has been alleged by the complaint, Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, went to Mr. Burke’s house in the Hollywood Hills. She was never heard from again.” “These charges include the most serious charges that a D.A.‘s office can bring. That is first-degree murder with special circumstances. The special circumstances being lying in wait, committing this crime for financial gain or murdering a witness in an investigation. These special circumstances carry with it, along with the first-degree murder charge, a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty.” “We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Revis Hernandez nor was he the cause of her death.”
By Jackeline Luna
April 20, 2026
In this photo illustration, The Onion website is displayed on a computer screen, showing a satirical story titled Here’s Why I Decided To Buy ‘InfoWars’, on November 14, 2024 in Pasadena, California.
Mario Tama/Getty Images North America
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Mario Tama/Getty Images North America
The satirical website, The Onion, has a new deal to take over Infowars, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s far-right media company. If approved by a Texas judge, the deal would take away his Infowars microphone, and allow The Onion to resume its plans to turn the website into a parody of itself.
Families of those killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who sued Jones for defamation, want the sale to happen. They’re still waiting to collect on the nearly $1.3 billion judgement they won against Jones for spreading lies that they faked the deaths of their children in order to boost support for gun control. That prompted Jones’s followers to harass and threaten the families for years.
The families are also eager to take away Jones’s platform for spewing such conspiracy theories. The deal not only would divorce Jones from his Infowars brand, but it would turn the platform against him by allowing The Onion to mock his kind of conspiracy mongering and advocate for gun control.
The families “took on Alex Jones to stop him from inflicting the same harm on others” by using “his corrupt business platform to torment and harass them for profit,” said Chris Mattei, one of the attorneys for the families. “When Infowars finally goes dark, the machinery of lies that Jones built will become a force for social good, thanks to the families’ courage and The Onion’s vision, persistence and stewardship.”
A mourner visits the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the school shooting on Dec.14, 2022 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were shot and killed, including 20 first graders and 6 educators, in one of the deadliest elementary school shootings in U.S. history.
John Moore/Getty Images
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John Moore/Getty Images
For its part The Onion called it a “significant step in an effort to transform one of the internet’s more notorious misinformation platforms into a new comedy network for satire.” The company says it could announce its new rollout of Infowars in a matter of weeks if the judge approves the deal.
“Eight years, almost to the day, after the Sandy Hook parents first filed suit against Alex Jones, they’ll finally get some justice, and even some money,” said Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion. “This is a chance to make something genuinely new out of a very broken piece of media history.”
On its website Monday, The Onion posted a satirical message from the fictional CEO of its parent company, Global Tetrahedron, “Bryce P. Tetraeder,” stating a “dream is finally coming true.”
Jones’s posted on X Monday that “The Onion Has Fraudulently Claimed AGAIN That It Owns Infowars!!!” adding that “The Democrat Party Disinformation Publication Is Publicly Bragging About Its Plan To Silence Alex Jones’ Infowars And Then Steal & Misrepresent His Identity!”
On a podcast in March, Jones alluded to the impending demise of Infowars, saying, “We’re getting shut down. We beat so many attacks. But finally, we’re shutting down like the middle of next month,” before insisting, “We’re going to be fine.”
Jones suggested Monday he would appeal any court decision to approve the leasing deal. And even if he loses control of Infowars, Jones could continue to broadcast from another studio, under another name.
Jones’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
More than a year ago, a federal bankruptcy judge rejected The Onion’s first attempt to buy Infowars through a bankruptcy auction, saying the process was flawed. Since then, the bankruptcy court clarified that because Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, is not itself in bankruptcy, its property should be handled instead by a Texas state receiver. That cleared the way for the new pending deal to lease Infowars to The Onion, with the hope that a future sale could be approved.
In papers filed in state court, the Texas receiver said he “determined that licensing the Intellectual Property is in the best interest of the receivership estate.”
The deal calls for The Onion to pay $81,000 a month to license the Infowars.com domain and brand name, which the receiver says will “cover carrying costs to preserve and protect the assets of the receivership estate” until an appeal filed by Jones is decided and the path is cleared for a sale.
Jones’s personal bankruptcy case is proceeding in federal bankruptcy court, where a trustee continues to sell off Jones’s personal property, including cars, homes, watches and guns, with proceeds intended for the families.
A memorial to massacre victims stands near the former site of Sandy Hook Elementary on Dec. 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut, one year after Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 first graders and six adults at the school.
John Moore/Getty Images
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John Moore/Getty Images
US negotiators to head to Pakistan and Iranian cargo ship seized – a recappublished at 00:37 BST 20 April
Tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday
Here’s a recap of the latest developments.
US negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday with the intention of holding further talks on ending the war, Trump says – but Iranian state media cites unnamed officials as saying Tehran has “no plans for now to participate”.
The prospect of further high-level negotiations – a White House official says Vice-President JD Vance will attend – comes amid reports of fresh attacks on commercial vessels.
Trump says the navy intercepted and took “custody” of an Iranian tanker attempting to pass through the US blockade, “blowing a hole” in the ship’s engine room in the process.
Earlier, in the same post announcing his representatives would travel for more talks, Trump renewed his threat to destroy Iranian energy sites and bridges if no deal is reached.
Reports in Iranian media over the weekend suggest Iran is continuing to work on plans to potentially apply a toll to ships passing through the strait – although it’s unclear if such a move will be implemented.
Iranian state TV cites unnamed officials as saying that “continuation of the so-called naval blockade, violation of the ceasefire and threatening US rhetoric” are slowing progress in reaching an agreement.
Trump also accused Iran of violating the ceasefire, saying more commercial ships have been attacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
A UK maritime agency reported two commercial ships came under fire in the strait on Saturday.
Iran’s foreign minister had said on Friday that the strait would be opened – which was shortly followed by Trump saying the US naval blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place until a deal is reached. Iran has since said the strait is closed again.
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