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The Biden administration this week rolled out a number of strategies across government agencies to promote racial equity and support “underserved communities."

The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spent $17 million on a no-bid contract to house migrants in hotels that went largely unused between April and June last year and that a contractor failed to meet ICE standards.

Reed Albergotti / Washington Post : Workers at Apple's flagship Grand Central Terminal store in Manhattan have begun to formally collect signatures to form a union   —  If successful, the effort would be the first time an Apple retail location has unionized  —  Workers at Apple's flagship Grand Central Terminal retail location …

Special Counsel John Durham asserted in a court filing Friday that the CIA concluded data from Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann alleging coordination between Donald Trump and Russia was "not technically plausible" and was "user created."

Rebecca Szkutak / Forbes : A profile of Anna Fang, CEO of China-based ZhenFund, who has backed 30+ seed-stage startups that became unicorns and 90+ startups that had a successful exit   —  When ZhenFund CEO Anna Fang was new to venture investing, her mentor told her that the right entrepreneurs to back are the ones …

Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly is warning that the Biden administration does not have a sufficient plan in place for the looming end of the Title 42 public health order that has been used to quickly remove migrants at the border, warning the border will see a “crisis” if the order is ended without adequate preparation.

Coachella 2022 kicked off on Friday, April 15 in Indio, California. Festivalgoers caught performances by Daniel Caesar and Justin Bieber, YG and Big Sean, Phoebe Bridgers, Harry Styles and Shania Twain, and more.

Soprano Anna Netrebko has been hired by the Monte Carlo Opera to sing this month following the Metropolitan Opera's decision to drop her for failing to repudiate Russia President Vladimir Putin.

FIRST ON FOX: A border state sheriff is slamming the Biden administration over its immigration policies, accusing the government of being complicit in the human trafficking and sexual abuse of migrants as the crisis at the Mexico-U.S. border intensifies.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Friday arrived in the Netherlands for the Invictus Games, which Harry founded. The outing marks the couple's first public appearance in Europe since stepping back as senior members of the British royal family.

The Department of Defense issued an equity report, aiming to equalize outcomes of employees and partners across racial, sexual and gender lines.

Bron Maher / Press Gazette : Analysis: news publishers raised nearly $12M from selling NFTs since March 2021; Time Magazine earned the most with $10M+ and The New York Times made $560K   —  News publishers analysed by Press Gazette have sold nearly $12m (£9m) worth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) since March 2021.

CIA Director William Burns on Thursday said Chinese President Xi Jinping is “a silent partner” in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “aggression” in Ukraine, warning that China poses the “greatest challenge” and “most profound test” that the agency has ever faced.

Emma Roth / The Verge : Asus launches $2K Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition with a 14-inch display, 12th Gen Intel i9-12900H, and a 3.5-inch display on the lid for notifications and more   —  It comes with a $1,999.99 price tag  —  ASUS has officially launched the Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition, and it's available for $1,999.99 on Newegg and Amazon.

Eddie Deezen, best known for starring in "Grease" as Eugene Felsnic, has been charged for allegedly breaking into his neighbors' vehicles without their permission.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said Thursday the Biden administration's extension of the nation's COVID-19 public health emergency proves the need to delay lifting Title 42.

Amir Efrati / The Information : Source says Twitter's board of directors views Elon Musk's takeover offer as unwelcome, suggesting the company will fight the bid   —  Twitter's board of directors views Elon Musk's takeover offer as unwelcome, said a person familiar with the situation, suggesting it will fight the bid.

President Biden notified Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Wednesday that the United States is authorizing an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition and other security assistance to the country as it fights to defend itself against Russia’s multi-front war.

Manish Singh / TechCrunch : India's payments body approves WhatsApp's plan to extend its payments service to 60M additional users in India, allowing WhatsApp Pay to reach up to 100M total   —  The National Payments Corporation of India, the payments body that oversees the widely popular UPI instrument …

Patrisse Cullors, a BLM founder, said she found it “triggering” — emotionally compromising — when she hears things involving financial documents.

Karissa Bell / Engadget : TikTok is testing a way for users to dislike comments to help users “feel more in control” of what they see; dislike counts will be hidden   —  TikTok is testing a way for users to “dislike” comments in an effort to help people “feel more in control” over what they are seeing.

Bloomberg : KKR agrees to buy Barracuda, which helps companies manage and protect cloud data, from Thoma Bravo; sources: the deal values Barracuda at ~$3.8B including debt   —  KKR & Co. has agreed to to acquire cybersecurity company Barracuda Networks Inc. from Thoma Bravo.

Joseph Cox / VICE : Court docs: T-Mobile paid hackers ~$200K via a third party to stop an ongoing leak of stolen data on 30M customers, but the hackers kept selling it regardless   —  After hackers targeted T-Mobile in August, T-Mobile hired a third-party firm that went undercover and bought exclusive access to the data.

Gilbert Gottfried, one of the most recognizable voices in show business, has died after a long illness. He was 67. His family announced the news on Twitter on Tuesday.

President Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke Tuesday to affirm their joint-commitment to continue providing security and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing war against the country, and welcomed the imposition of “severe costs” on Moscow.

Alex Webb / Bloomberg : Data.ai: TikTok users spent $847M on in-app payments from January through March, up 184% YoY, a record for an app; TikTok had 1.6B MAUs at the end of March   —  Dubbing Russia's invasion of Ukraine “the first TikTok war” is by now a cliché, but we still have very little insight …

In “Father Stu,” Mark Wahlberg stars as Stuart Long, an amateur boxer-turned-priest who suffers from a degenerative and incurable muscular disorder.

A senior defense official said a convoy of Russian vehicles headed south towards eastern Ukraine appears to be slow-moving and will likely be forced to stick to the roads due to the spring weather.

EXCLUSIVE: Democrats and Republicans from the House Committee on Economic Disparity & Fairness in Growth are in Wisconsin this week to meet with local leaders to discuss issues facing their communities, and hope to work in a bipartisan way to address those challenges, telling Fox News that “its not a Democrat thing or a Republican thing,” but something facing all Americans.

Rep. Lance Gooden introduced legislation Monday that prevents the Biden administration from forcing states and schools to implement sex education and gender identity curriculum in elementary schools.

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch : Over 14,000 Etsy sellers start a week-long strike over an increase in transaction fees from 5% to 6.5%, grievances with Etsy's Offsite Ads program, and more   —  If you're in the market for funky trinkets and unique, handmade clothing, you might want to put off your shopping until next week.

President Biden on Monday said the United States and India are in “close consultation” in managing the “destabilizing” effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

White House COVID-19 response team leader Dr. Ashish Jha stated that while he is ‘not overly concerned' about a recent rise in coronavirus cases, the continuation of a mask mandate for travelers using public transportation could very well see another extension.

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat : Beijing-based Cocos, which develops the open-source Cocos Creator engine for 2D and 3D games, used by 1.4M developers to date, raises a $50M Series B   —  Cocos Technology said it has raised $50 million to fuel the growth of its open source Cocos Creator game engine.

The NRA slammed the Biden administration’s expected new rule on “ghost guns," saying criminals need to be off the streets to curb violent crimes.

New Jersey students as young as fifth grade could be taught that puberty blockers are an acceptable way to "manage" puberty, according to sample lesson plans being reviewed by state school districts.

Kim Kardashian reveals that her law school exam is being used as an example to future students after her near perfect score.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that President Biden has no plans to visit Ukraine, despite a recent visit to the country from U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Bloomberg : Despite Amazon spending almost a decade and $2B+ developing drone delivery services, sources say it's still beset by technical challenges, safety concerns, more   —  Jeff Bezos went on 60 Minutes in 2013 and pledged to fill the skies with a fleet of delivery drones that could zip parcels to customers' homes in 30 minutes.

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz married on Saturday at her family's estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Jada Pinkett Smith made her first public appearance since the 2022 Oscars on Saturday night at the opening ceremony of the Rhimes Performing Arts Center.

Jackie Snow / Wall Street Journal : A look at the regulations cities like New York, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Helsinki, and others are adopting as they increasingly use AI to provide public services   —  A look at what New York, London, Barcelona and other places are doing to establish regulations that other cities—and countries—may want to copy

British author Jack Higgins, who penned the novel “The Eagle Has Landed” about a fictional World War II plot to kidnap British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, has died at the age of 92.