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In the news today: Trump’s Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is exiting amid multiple allegations of misconduct; speculation over U.S.-Iran talks grows as the ceasefire deadline looms; and The Onion launches a new bid to take over Alex Jones’ Infowars. Also, a look into the tranquil and transporting settings of Belgium’s beguinages.
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Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving amid misconduct allegations
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Chavez-DeRemer faced multiple allegations of abusing the power of her position, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job. Read more.
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- Chavez-DeRemer is the third Trump Cabinet member to leave her post after Trump fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month.
Late Monday, on her personal X account, Chavez-DeRemer posted, “The allegations against me, my family, and my team have been peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media and continue to undermine President Trump’s mission.” Both the White House and the Labor Department initially said the reports of wrongdoing were baseless. But the official denials got less full-throated as more allegations emerged.
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Iran-US talks speculation grows
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With the 14-day ceasefire set to expire Wednesday, Pakistan is laying the groundwork for a second round of talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad, even as Iranian state television says that no delegation has visited so far. Read more.
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On Monday Trump whipsawed in telephone interviews and social media posts between measured optimism that a deal could soon be reached and warning that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the ceasefire deadline.
Meanwhile Iran insisted it would not take part until Trump dialed back his demands. Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender and added that on the contrary, Iran has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”
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The Onion launches new bid to take over Alex Jones’ Infowars and turn it into a parody platform
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Jones’ company faces liquidation over more than $1 billion in defamation judgments owed to relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Under a proposal submitted Monday to a state judge in Texas, The Onion would be granted an exclusive, temporary license to the intellectual property of Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, allowing the outlet to put its own content on the Infowars website and social media accounts. Read more.
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CEO Ben Collins said The Onion has already hired people to run Infowars as a parody site including Tim Heidecker, one half of the comedy duo Tim and Eric, known for their work on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” shows. Collins also said Sandy Hook families would receive profits from the new operations. After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, Jones called it a hoax staged by “crisis actors” in an effort to increase gun control. Many relatives of the victims, along with an FBI agent who responded to the shooting, sued Jones and his company for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
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A visitor sits among the daffodils in the courtyard of the Beguinage Ten Wijngaerde of Bruges, Belgium, March 10. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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A glimpse at Belgium’s beguinages
In Bruges amidst the hustle and bustle of one of Belgium’s most touristic cities, about two dozen women residents and visitors have found a hidden sanctuary: a beguinage founded in 1245. The medieval shelter was built for religious women known as beguines, who followed slightly less strict rules than nuns. Reached by crossing a small bridge, under an ornate arch, it sits nestled in a sea of yellow daffodils, seemingly untouched by the crowd just beyond its walls. For 22 years Trees Dewever has called this beguinage her home. She said it provides “an overwhelming feeling of calm and I think we need that in this world.”
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