Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Food stamp recipients in Florida, Texas, and West Virginia will face restrictions on buying certain kinds of less nutritious items such as soda and candy, some starting in April.

A sign on the window of a grocery store in the Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Oct. 30, 2025. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

West Virginia’s restrictions became effective on Jan. 1, but retailers have until April 1 to be fully compliant.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved Colorado’s restrictions waiver, but the state has delayed implementation of restrictions on certain items for food stamp recipients until after April 30 and stated that it would have a final vote on April 3 on the program.

The Trump administration is clamping down on soda and candy being charged to food stamps, as 22 states now have been approved to restrict certain purchases under the program. The restrictions still require state approval before taking effect.

Kansas, Nevada, Ohio, and Wyoming were the latest states to receive USDA approval for food and beverage restrictions.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, had 40.7 million people participating nationwide at a monthly cost of $7.97 billion as of November 2025.

“The Trump Administration is leading bold reform to strengthen integrity and restore nutritional value within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” the USDA stated on its website. “USDA is empowering states with greater flexibility to manage their programs by approving SNAP Food Restriction Waivers that restrict the purchase of non-nutritious items like soda and candy. These waivers are a key step in ensuring that taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options that improve health outcomes within SNAP.”

For example, starting on April 1, Texas residents will not be able to buy candy or sweetened drinks on their SNAP-provided Lone Star Cards. Those restrictions will ban such purchases as candy bars, gum, and taffy, as well as nuts, raisins, or fruits that have been “candied, crystallized, glazed or coated with chocolate, yogurt or caramel.”

Texas also will ban sweetened non-alcoholic beverages made with water that contain 5 or more grams of sugar or artificial sweetener, according to Texas Health and Human Services.

The USDA also maintains the Restaurant Meals Program in nine states, including New York and California, which allows eligible participants to use their SNAP debit card at qualified fast food restaurants. Those restaurants include such food chains as KFC, Subway, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and Popeyes. To be eligible for the program, participants must be 60 years of age or older, disabled, homeless, or the spouse of a SNAP client who is eligible for the Restaurant Meals Program.

The Food Research & Action Center, a nonprofit advocacy group, is opposed to SNAP benefit restrictions on items such as candy and soda.

“State efforts to restrict what SNAP recipients can buy with their benefits are expanding across the country—despite evidence that they are harmful, burdensome, and ineffective,” the Food Research & Action Center stated on its website.

The organization said that the modifications of such programs are time-consuming and “fiscally irresponsible” and that research shows that “SNAP participants eat no differently than other Americans.”

The Food Research & Action Center stated: “Policing food choices is ineffective, undermines American values, and worsens food insecurity. The real solution is strengthening SNAP with adequate benefits, access to healthy foods, and proven produce incentives.”

The USDA also offers a SNAP healthy incentive program that provides coupons, discounts, gift cards, and bonus food or extra money to participants who purchase specified healthy foods.

What is awkward for Democrats and their left-wing activist network of politicians and dark-money funded nonprofits is that the latest CNN interview with Fidel Castro’s grandson shattered years of left-wing America’s weird obsession with Cuban communism. 

Sandro Castro told CNN’s Patrick Oppmann that he would welcome a deal with President Trump and said many on the island want “capitalism with sovereignty,” a remarkable admission from deep inside the Castro family that Cuba’s failed economic model is no longer the pathway for the Carribean island nation suffering from decades of economic collapse, and more recently, a completely collapsed power grid.

Oppmann asked Castro: “And what would your grandfather, Fidel Castro, say if he knew that you’re more capitalist than communist?” 

Castro responded: “My grandfather was a person who had his principles like everyone else. But as well he respected others’ opinions. That’s my way of thinking.” 

Oppmann asked: “But all the capitalists left Cuba.” 

Castro responded: “There are many people in Cuba that think in a capitalistic way. There are many people who want to do capitalism with sovereignty. I think the majority of Cubans want to be capitalist, not communist.” 

NEW: While drinking a beer, Fidel Castro’s grandson says he is a capitalist and says if it were up to him, he would welcome a deal with President Trump during an interview with CNN.

“There are many people here [in Cuba] who want to have capitalism with sovereignty.” pic.twitter.com/zrIvQ6uH4Z

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 30, 2026

We have detailed at length that the Democratic Socialists of America politicians in Washington and left-wing NGOs funded by billionaire foundations have a weird obsession with defending communism and visiting Cuba. 

Is There A “Cuba Connection” Behind The Radicalization Of America’s Nonprofit Left

Cuba, Venezuela, China, And America’s Left-Wing Revolution

Just last week, the head of a U.S. left-wing nonprofit, reportedly linked to a Marxist propaganda network connected to a China-based billionaire, organized a trip of unhinged white liberals to the island to champion communism.

Yet even Fidel’s own grandson is now embracing an economic transition from communism to capitalism, something the Trump administration is trying to orchestrate, while America’s own Democratic Party and left-wing NGOs have yet to read the tea leaves around the world that far-left regimes and communism have fallen – just look at South America.

Meanwhile, Democrats last week in America at No Kings: Communism. 

Ok fine…I’m down with this one No Kings protest:

“There is only one solution:

Communist Revolution!” pic.twitter.com/nq1CEKhdum

— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) March 28, 2026

“No Kings”, but communism is okay!

For the record, estimates suggest that communist regimes worldwide are responsible for the deaths of between 85 million and over 100 million people during the 20th century alone.

These deaths resulted from mass executions, man-made famines,… pic.twitter.com/j4LEbeLk2b

— 🇺🇸🗽LoneStarPatriot🗽🇺🇸 (@LoneStarPa00) March 31, 2026

‘No Kings’ protests are just plain communism. They must be stopped or avoided in any free country. pic.twitter.com/OgvwPrs7QQ

— Russell Yeagley (@ryeagleyjr) March 31, 2026

Seems like Fidel’s own grandson wants food, electricity, and internet. Only possible with capitalism. 

American freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson, who reports primarily on Middle Eastern and Afghan affairs, was kidnapped in Baghdad earlier today. She has written for outlets including Al-Monitor, Foreign Policy, BBC News, Politico, and others.

Alex Plitsas, a CNN national security analyst and former senior Pentagon official under former President Barack Obama, confirmed on X that Kittleson was “abducted and may have been taken hostage in Baghdad by Kataib Hezbollah.”

🚨🚨🚨 I can confirm that my friend Shelly Kittleson was abducted and may have taken hostage in Baghdad by Khatib Hezbollah. Whereabouts and condition unknown. I am her designated U.S. point of contact. If you have information please provide to law enforcement and send me a DM.

— Alex Plitsas 🇺🇸 (@alexplitsas) March 31, 2026

Middle East-based Al Sharqiya TV cited the Iraqi Interior Ministry, stating: “A vehicle belonging to the kidnappers of the American journalist overturned during a security pursuit, and one of them was apprehended.”

الداخلية العراقية: انقلاب عجلة تابعة لخاطفي الصحفية الأميركية أثناء مطاردة أمنية والقبض على أحدهم#الشرقية_نيوز pic.twitter.com/vlwl6Bask1

— AlSharqiya TV – قناة الشرقية (@alsharqiyatv) March 31, 2026

Footage of the kidnapping has circulated on X.

American 🇺🇸 journalist Shelly Kittleson has been kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq 🇮🇶 by unidentified perpetrators affiliated with Iranian 🇮🇷 backed Iraqi Shiite militias

There is no official confirmation yet, but @shellykittleson‘s colleagues whom I spoke to say her… https://t.co/Zn6tjbp83h pic.twitter.com/yTPlDMGer8

— Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) March 31, 2026

Iraqi 🇮🇶 Interior Ministry said American 🇺🇸 freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped by unidentified armed men (Iranian 🇮🇷 backed militias) in central Baghdad & that during a pursuit the vehicle belonging to the kidnappers was intercepted which overturned as they… https://t.co/cOAwUZn6hq pic.twitter.com/ciUo05iUbF

— Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) March 31, 2026

*Developing…

Another Greek-controlled oil tanker has crossed the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iran’s declaration that only “friendly” vessels will be allowed to make the transit, marking the fourth such voyage since hostilities in the Middle East began.

The suezmax Pola, which switched off its tracking system in the Persian Gulf on March 10, was detected again on Monday by the Automatic Identification System: it was located several thousand miles away. 

The ship was sailing in the eastern Indian Ocean near the maritime corridor off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, according to vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Its reappearance obviously confirms the tanker successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz.  The tanker, laden with roughly 1 million barrels of crude, is en route to Thailand, according to data from intelligence firm Kpler.

The Pola is the fourth vessel managed by Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd. to make the passage through Hormuz with its transponder switched off since its effective closure. The firm also sent the oil tankers Shenlong, Smyrni and Marathi through the narrow waterway earlier this month.

While Iran continues to bar “hostile” entities from the strategic waterway, several Asian countries, including Thailand, have secured bilateral agreements to allow passage through the Strait for some tankers and cargo ships. However, Greece is not among the countries publicly viewed by Tehran as “friendly.”

Still, risks to shipping in the Persian Gulf remain high, with Iran hitting a fully laden Kuwaiti tanker off Dubai in a drone strike last night.

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

The S&P 500 is down roughly 7% from its January 27 all-time high. Unsurprisingly, the media is full of “red” headlines discussing the seemingly “endless” correction we are in. Unsurprisingly, previously complacent investors are now anxious, as nothing seems to be working. But that index-level headline conceals something far more alarming: stock market breadth has collapsed. According to Morgan Stanley, approximately 42% of S&P 500 members are already down 20% or more from their 52-week highs. More than 200 companies are in their own private bear markets, even as the index itself is not.

This was a point we noted in this past weekend’s Bull Bear Report:

“J.P. Morgan captured the paradox: the S&P 500 is down only ~9% despite oil rising 70% and the Fed shifting from pricing two cuts to a 50% probability of a hike, and software falling 20%. As we noted recently, a much larger correction is underway in the market.”

While “times have been tough lately,” this is not a new phenomenon. Stock market breadth deterioration almost always precedes index-level damage, not the other way around. On March 9th, we noted in Technical Deterioration: Risk Management Is Key:”

“More importantly, the RSI exhibited a textbook bearish divergence at the all-time high: price made a new peak, but momentum did not confirm. We repeatedly discussed that divergence was the earliest signal of the distribution phase now unfolding. With the RSI not in oversold territory below 30, there is room for more pressure before a technical bounce becomes probable.”

Here is an updated chart showing that previous divergence. Along with waning stock market breadth, relative strength is now in oversold territory.

What’s unusual today is the degree of divergence between individual stocks and the cap-weighted index. When a handful of stocks carry enough weight to paper over widespread internal damage, investors holding diversified portfolios feel the pain long before the headlines acknowledge it.

Furthermore, as detailed in The 200-DMA Just Broke, the deterioration is not uncommon of corrective markets. That break, combined with deeply oversold momentum readings and AAII bearish sentiment, creates a historically specific setup.

The breadth story is quite fascinating. The software sector has 97% of its S&P 500 members 20% of more below their respective 52-week highs. Automobile stocks follow at 75%, with media and entertainment at 63%.

The other end of the distribution is equally instructive. Energy stocks have zero members in bear territory. Utilities sit at just 6%, and consumer staples at 14%. Those numbers confirm the rotation that’s been underway since January.

“Significant rotation trades, characterized by heavy trading activity in and out of various sectors and factors, have led to large daily divergences in the performance of certain sectors. The market’s surface may look calm, but beneath it, passive investors are actively shifting between narratives, valuations, and risk exposures.” — RIA Advisors, February 2026

So, what likely happens next?

Reading the 200-DMA Break: Six Signals, Mixed Picture

Since 2000, the S&P 500 has broken its 200-DMA on a sustained basis seven times. The average one-month return following those breaks was -5.3%, and none produced a positive first-month return. The average 12-month return after a sustained break was -4.0%.

But the distinction between a sustained break and a reflexive whipsaw matters enormously. When the 200-DMA was already flat or declining before the price crossed below, every major bear market since 2000 followed: 2000, 2008, 2022. When the 200-DMA was still rising at the break, as it is currently, the average 12-month return was +19.8%, with a 100% hit rate for positive returns at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

Today’s scorecard is mixed. The 200-DMA is still rising, RSI is now below 30, and AAII bearish sentiment has risen sharply. and well above the 45% contrarian threshold. These are all still bullish. Against that, the weekly MACD had already turned negative before the price break, which has preceded every sustained bear since 2000. Stock market breadth, measured by the percentage of S&P 500 stocks above their 200-day moving averages, has dropped sharply and is below the 60% level that historically characterizes whipsaw recoveries.

Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett described the current environment as approaching a “buyable washout.” He is probably correct, but until the Iran situation is resolved, or at least a path to resolution is visible, the risk of a deeper decline can not be discounted. However, investors shouldn’t panic-sell this correction. As JPMorgan’s global market strategist, Jack Manley, noted:

“When there’s a bad sell-off, that bad sell-off is typically followed by a strong bounce back. Given the nature of this sell-off, the likelihood for that bounce back, whenever it occurs, to be pretty concentrated and pretty powerful is that much higher.”

In that previous article, we examined every instance since 2000 where all three conditions aligned simultaneously: stock market breadth deterioration with 40% or more of S&P 500 members in bear territory, the index trading below its 200-DMA, and both MACD and RSI in oversold territory. Six comparable episodes emerged:

October 2002,

March 2009,

February 2016,

December 2018,

March 2020, and

October 2022.

If those dates don’t mean anything to you, those were the months that previous corrections and bear markets ended…not began.

Yes, the near-term picture is uncomfortable, and the average one-month return in these setups is -2.1%, with only 42% of periods producing positive outcomes. While pain tends to extend, and a lower low within one to three months is the historical norm rather than the exception, it serves to wash out weaker hands.

It is the medium- and long-term data that convey the real message. By 12 months, the average return climbs to +14.6%, with 75% of comparable periods producing positive outcomes. At 24 months, average returns reach +26.3%, and the positive hit rate rises to 83%. The investor who stayed positioned through the fear, in all six of these episodes, came out far ahead of the investor who sold into it.

The Permanent Cost of Panic Selling

The single most damaging decision most investors make during periods of falling stock market breadth is selling. The data on this is unambiguous. Seven of the market’s 10 best days in any given 20-year period occur within two weeks of the 10 worst days, according to JPMorgan Asset Management research. The best days follow the worst days because fear-driven selling creates dislocations that are rapidly corrected. You can see this in the chart below, that the best and worst days are clustered together.

In other words, while investors are always told to just “buy and hold” because they will miss the 10-BEST days if they don’t, investors should focus on mitigating the risk of significant capital losses during those periods.

This doesn’t mean you can effectively miss all the bad days; however, given that higher-volatility periods tend to cluster, understanding when to reduce exposure can significantly improve outcomes over time. Even if you miss the 10-best days along the way. That math applies with particular force in setups like the current one. Since 1974, according to data compiled by Clear Perspective Advisors, the S&P 500 has returned more than 24% on average following a market correction. Only 25% of the 48 corrections since World War II have progressed into full bear markets. In other words, there is a 75% chance this correction will not turn into a bear market. However, dismissing that 25% entirely is just as foolish for future outcomes.

The One Variable That Changes Everything

The honest caveat to all this data is the recession. The two worst outcomes in the six-episode dataset, 2002 and 2008, were both accompanied by genuine economic contractions that extended the drawdown far beyond what the averages suggest. In those cases, forward returns at 12 months were still negative.

Today’s macro environment doesn’t yet show the classic recessionary signatures that preceded those two episodes. The 200-DMA is still rising, not declining, but time will change that. The Fed retains room to cut rates, but higher sustained oil prices could curtail that. Furthermore, deeply oversold sentiment indicators have historically correlated more with fear peaks than with the beginning of prolonged selling cycles. But oversold markets can, and have, become even more so previously.

Whether the Iran conflict and its oil price transmission into consumer spending and corporate margins eventually tips the economy into contraction remains the central unresolved question. That question is the one thing that investors need to guard against the most.

Goldman Sachs has held its 7,600 year-end S&P 500 target through the recent sell-off, anchored by projections of roughly $309 per share in 2026 earnings and $342 in 2027. That base case rests on 12% earnings growth and an economy that continues to expand despite the headwinds from the Iran conflict. Goldman’s own bear cases are sobering: a moderate growth shock takes the index to 6,300, while a severe oil-driven disruption could push it as low as 5,400, with the forward P/E compressing from 21x to 16x in the worst case.

JPMorgan has moved more decisively in the other direction, cutting its year-end target to 7,200 from 7,500 on March 19, citing oil supply shut-ins of 8 million barrels per day, the highest on record, and warning that markets are dangerously underestimating the demand destruction risk. JPMorgan strategist Dubravko Lakos-Bujas explicitly flagged near-term downside to 6,000–6,200, noting that four of five oil shocks since the 1970s have preceded a recession. Neither bank is calling for 2008. But the spread between their base cases and their downside scenarios has rarely been this wide.

Here is the most important point.

“Stock market breadth will eventually resolve, either by individual stocks recovering toward the benchmark level, or by the index itself catching down to the damage that’s already been inflicted.”

History says the former is far more likely given the current configuration of indicators. Given that backdrop, here are some steps to consider with respect to your own personal situation, goals, and objectives.

Stock market breadth, by any measure, is at levels historically associated with significant forward returns for patient investors. Three of the six key indicators that separate a brief, recoverable 200-DMA break from a sustained bear market are currently bullish, not bearish. That doesn’t mean the pain is over, as near-term data suggest a lower low is possible. However, for investors who can navigate the storm, clearer skies and calmer tides will eventually prevail

The goal isn’t to time the bottom. Nobody does that consistently. The goal is to avoid permanent capital impairment from panic selling, reduce risk through disciplined rebalancing, and be positioned to participate in the recovery. Based on every comparable episode in the modern era, that recovery has come, and it has come faster than the fear of the moment would suggest.

Michael Rousseau is on his way out as head of Air Canada, after a crisis response that somehow made a bad situation worse – and then kept digging.

The backdrop: a fatal March 22 crash at LaGuardia Airport involving a flight from Montreal to New York City. Two pilots were killed.

Rousseau responded with a video offering his “deepest sorrow for everyone affected,” but delivered almost all of it in English, tossing in a token “bonjour” and “merci” like that would smooth things over, according to Bloomberg.

It did not.

In Quebec—where language politics are less “preference” and more “contact sport”—the backlash was immediate.

The National Assembly of Quebec unanimously called for him to go, and Prime Minister Mark Carney slammed the video as a “lack of judgment and lack of compassion.” Notably, one of the deceased pilots was from Quebec, which made the whole thing land even worse.

Rousseau tried damage control, noting he’d taken hundreds of hours of French lessons and saying his shortcomings had “diverted attention from the profound grief.”

Unfortunately, after years in Montreal and all that studying, he still couldn’t get through a serious statement without subtitles—at which point the problem kind of explains itself.

Bloomberg wrote that with complaints piling up and a parliamentary grilling (partly in French, the horror) looming, the exit became inevitable.

He’ll step down by the end of Q3, and the board is now very publicly emphasizing that the next CEO should, you know, speak both official languages.

So yes—there were operational challenges, political pressure, and a tragic accident.

But in the end, what really grounded him was French: studied extensively, deployed minimally, and apparently career-ending when it mattered most.

Two months ago, when ORCL announced it would raise $50 billion in a combination of stock and bonds to ease market fears about its soaring funding costs and lack of actual revenues and “to build additional capacity to meet the contracted demand from the company’s largest cloud customers, including Advanced Micro Devices, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, OpenAI, TikTok and xAI” we said that this latest example of financial engineering, which perhaps most importantly was meant to push its soaring Credit Default Swap lower, was doomed to fail. 

We didnt have long to wait: since the Feb 1 announcement, the stock has tumbled to fresh multi year lows…

… but the big risk is that despite the company’s best equity-diluting intentions, ORCL 5 Year CDS just hit the widest on record, a level first (and only) seen during the global financial crisis.

This is a problem because despite Larry Ellison’s best efforts to convince the market that Oracle has more than enough projected revenue – and a massive enough backlog – to grow into its bloated balance sheet, which is approaching $200 billion including off-balance sheet exposure, and refute such claims such as the following from Barclays which warned two months ago that the market “Underestimates the Infrastructure Build Out Necessary to Execute to Oracle’s $512 billion RPO Balance”…

Source: Barclays, available to pro subs

… and that the company will badly miss estimates, as it is forced to fund a much higher capex (some $275 billion) than consensus projects…

Source: Barclays, available to pro subs

… the market simply is not buying it. Literally. 

So what is Oracle to do? Well, it is literally going down the list of what Barclays proposed two months ago would be “next steps” as the cold hard reality slams Oracle’s publicly traded securities, the first of which was…

RIF of 20-30K employees which could drive ~$8-10B of incremental free cash flow,

And sure enough, this morning Oracle told employees that it’s conducting a major round of layoffs. 

According to CNBC “the layoffs were in the thousands”  although with the company employing some 162,000 people, to make an actual dent in free cash flow (which ORCL does not have), it will have to fire tens of thousands.

Layoff emails began landing in inboxes around 6:00 a.m. EST, informing recipients that their roles had been “eliminated” and that the day of notification would be their last working day — with no prior discussion or HR outreach.

“We are sharing some difficult news regarding your position. After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change. As a result, today is your last working day. We are grateful for your dedication, hard work, and the impact you have made during your time with us,” the email read.

Industry sources estimate that between 20,000 and 30,000 positions have been impacted, potentially affecting up to 18% of Oracle’s global workforce of roughly 162,000.

Employees reported that the automated mass emails were their only notification, with system access revoked shortly thereafter and instructions to provide personal email addresses to receive severance paperwork.

With Oracle slashing overhead, it will use the funds to invest in CapEx instead. Here is CNBC “While continuing to push its flagship database for storing and serving up corporate information, Oracle has ratcheted up its capital expenditures as it builds data center infrastructure that can handle AI workloads.” 

Needless to say, this process has been anything but smooth for the most indebted tech giant, and the company many view as the first canary in the AI bubble coalmine. 

While Oracle disclosed that its remaining performance obligations (basically backlog) jumped 359% to $455 billion following an agreement with OpenAI worth over $300 billion, the market refused to reward the company for the circular financing number,  and weeks later, Oracle picked executives Mike Sicilia and Clay Magouyrk to replace its CEO, Safra Catz. 

As for ORCL’s employees, while tens of thousands are about to be fired, expect many more to leave the company if Barclays is right and the company’s CapEx spending ends up being some $85 billion above the current consensus of $189 billion…

More in the full Barclays report available to pro subs.

We outlined a glaring security gap in U.S. counter-drone defenses well before the U.S.-Iran conflict erupted one month ago.

At the time, we specifically pointed out that data centers are largely unprepared for drone threats. We believe the Gulf conflict – after Iran bombed multiple data centers and military bases – has likely pushed the federal government into panic mode, accelerating efforts to deploy counter-drone systems around high-value targets across the homeland, whether military bases or civilian infrastructure.

This brings us to a New York Times report from Tuesday morning outlining how the Department of War is considering deploying anti-drone laser weapons near Fort McNair in Washington, DC, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reside, following recent reports of suspicious activity and ongoing concerns about drone attacks on the homeland.

The report cited sources who “requested anonymity” and said the Army is discussing deploying laser weapons that would add an extra layer of security to some of the world’s most secure airspace across the Washington-Baltimore region.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the DoW are reportedly moving closer to a broader agreement on laser weapons, which offer a low-cost solution for defeating drone threats at scale, especially in an era when cheap kamikaze drones and swarms can quickly exhaust even the most sophisticated air defenses.

On Sunday, Heather Chairez, a spokeswoman for an Army-led joint task force in the DC area, said she was “aware of the reported drone sightings near Fort McNair and the surrounding areas.” She noted there was no credible threat in the recent incident, yet the task force had increased its counter-drone activities “to keep our service members and civilians who work and live on Fort McNair safe.”

An FAA spokeswoman, Hannah Walden, said the heads of her agency are prepared to work with the DoW and other agencies “to protect the homeland while ensuring the safety of the national airspace system.”

Security gaps in America’s airspace regarding cheap drones are alarming, and it is not just military installations that need protection. Data centers, ports, refineries, and power infrastructure are also vulnerable. The list is endless.

With battlefields raging across Eurasia, from Russia and Ukraine to the Gulf, one thing is clear: using expensive missile interceptors against $20,000 drones is not sustainable in the economics of war. In fact, low-cost lasers could be part of the answer, though low-cost interceptor drones have also proven valuable in places like Ukraine.

One of the first known instances of the U.S. military using laser weapons against a “foreign object” occurred last month in El Paso, though it actually turned out to be party balloons.

NYT did not identify the laser power class for the DC region, but the most likely option for counter-drone deployment would be around 50 to 60 kilowatts, which aligns with systems the U.S. military is already fielding and developing for air-defense missions. 

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Whistleblowers are encouraged to report abuse of Medicare, Medicaid, and other government health benefit programs, the Department of the Treasury announced on March 30, while warning that sophisticated fraud schemes are siphoning billions from them.

The White House and the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington on March 10, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

In an advisory, the Treasury detailed the way in which transnational criminal organizations—working with domestic fraudsters and organized crime groups—create fake health care providers, employ cover people to pose as owners who are not U.S. residents, and steal the personal data of actual beneficiaries to submit false claims for care that was never provided or was not needed. Proceeds are then laundered through wire transfers, digital assets, and culpable bank co-conspirators before being transferred overseas.

The department said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has published a proposed rule to fully implement a whistleblower program that would reward 10–30 percent of penalties collected in successful enforcement in fraud and money laundering cases, as well as sanctions violations. Payments would be taken from penalties obtained under the Bank Secrecy Act and other laws already in place.

“The regulation proposed today, when finalized, will fully implement these statutes,” FinCEN said. “Whistleblowers are encouraged to submit information as soon as possible and to provide detailed, specific documentation to support their claims.”

In the meantime, FinCEN said it “recently launched a portal” for whistleblowers to begin making reports.

Financial institutions reported a 20 percent increase in suspicious activity linked to health care fraud in 2025 over the previous year, according to the advisory. Officials, however, suspect the filings reveal only a small part of the fraud.

“President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being used to commit fraud,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury will continue to find and disrupt fraud schemes wherever they exist, and we will work with our law enforcement partners to hold perpetrators to account.”

The department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network advisory comes as the Trump administration works to undermine waste and abuse in federal spending.

The advisory was released in collaboration with the FBI and the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Inspector General. It aligns with an executive order targeting fraud across federal payments.

Treasury officials said the advisory and proposed regulation are in line with administration actions to protect taxpayer dollars and protect the financial system against illicit activity, and that financial institutions are requested to file suspicious activity reports and to inform law enforcement immediately upon encountering suspicious transactions.

In February, Bessent described efforts to combat fraud in federal spending.

“We are encouraging whistleblowers who know about fraud, people who are stealing from the American taxpayer, to come forward at Treasury,” he said. “We will be giving rewards up to 10 percent to 30 percent of the fines that we levy.”

Bessent added that these efforts represent a great way to ferret out waste, fraud, and abuse.

The Trump administration has also flagged fraud concerns in New York.

Federal investigators there have homed in on the state’s Medicaid program. In March, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, tasked with spearheading a federal review of Medicaid spending, cited abnormal job growth in home health and personal care aides as showing signs of possible abuse.

“Heart surgeons are trained to look at the numbers,” the cardiothoracic surgeon said. “When something doesn’t add up, you don’t ignore it; you investigate.”

In a specific New York case, eight people were indicted in a $68 million Medicaid fraud scheme revolving around Brooklyn adult day care centers that allegedly entailed bribes and inflated claims.

We’ve been highlighting the significant impact of the Iran war on developments in Ukraine, where the over four-year long war is showing no end in sight. Ukraine’s President Zelensky has made clear his view that the current global focus on the Iran conflict has put Kiev in a weakened position.

Already, Ukraine’s international partners are ‘primarily’ sending their anti-ballistic missile systems to the Middle East – with Ukraine ‘forgotten’ – Zelensky has recently said. But there’s more, as the hits keep coming: Zelensky revealed Monday that some of Ukraine’s backers have sent “signals” to scale back long-range strikes on Russia’s oil sector as global energy prices have soared.

via Associated Press

“Recently, following such a severe global energy crisis, we have indeed ⁠received signals from some of our partners about how to reduce our responses in the ​oil sector and the energy sector of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky told journalists in a WhatsApp briefing, reported by Reuters.

This is perhaps what’s behind his calling for an Easter holiday truce with Russia. He had on the same day that he told journalists about a potential pause on long-range attacks on Russian energy stated: “If Russia is ready to stop hitting Ukrainian energy facilities, we will not respond against their energy sector.”

Zelensky just came off a tour of Middle East Gulf states, even amid Iran’s ongoing retaliation in the region, while seeking Ukrainian security assistance. In recent days he met with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan.

Reuters notes of this, “Fresh from a four-day visit to the Middle East, Zelenskiy said that he had reached agreement with some countries in the region to provide energy support to Ukraine.”

“Zelenskiy said at the weekend during his Middle ​East tour that he ​had reached a deal ⁠on diesel deliveries for a year to Ukraine, without providing further details,” the report continues. “Diesel is vital for the functioning of the Ukrainian armed forces and ​the country’s agricultural sector, the bedrock of the economy.”

So indeed any new pause in tit-for-tat assaults on energy infrastructure would be a welcome reprieve for Ukraine as well.

One interesting aspect to the Reuters report is that while the US side hasn’t commented, one unnamed source tries to inject that the ‘signaling’ on reducing or halting long-range strikes on energy is actually coming from Moscow:

A source familiar with the situation said U.S. officials had conveyed this message to their Ukrainian counterparts as part of their regular conversations, adding that the initial “signals” appeared to have come from Moscow.

And yet, even as Zelensky himself admits, Trump’s easing of Russian oil sanctions has put the Kremlin in the driver’s seat, in terms of energy leverage, at this crucial moment – also as the peace process and talks between Moscow and Keiv are non-existent.

In the meantime, amid waning support from the Trump administration, Zelensky has set his sights on greatly improving ties with the wealthy oil and gas monarchies in the Gulf.