HERE ARE THE TOP STORIES
A few weeks ago, he was Trump’s national security adviser. Now Mike Flynn is seeking immunity for testifying on the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia.
Flynn is seeking assurances that he won’t face “unfair prosecution” in exchange for testifying about the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, his attorney said Thursday. He has reportedly made offers to the FBI and members of Congress to testify in exchange for immunity, but so far, no one has taken him up on it.
The House and Senate intelligence committees are currently investigating if the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to try to sway the US presidential election.
And a little extra US news
North Carolina’s legislature and governor repealed part of a law on Thursday that restricted LGBT rights. Rather than being hailed for moving in the right direction, the Democratic governor is being criticized by progressive activists who say he colluded with Republicans to betray them.
— which banned many transgender people from restrooms that matched their gender identity in government facilities and blocked local jurisdictions from legally protecting LGBT individuals against discrimination by enacting their own LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances —
Vice President Mike Pence stepped in to vote in the Senate to allow states to defund Planned Parenthood. The bill, which overturns an Obama administration rule protecting funding for health clinics — including those that provide abortions — is now heading to President Trump’s desk to become law.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?
SpaceX has launched and landed a recycled rocket for the first time.
Elon Musk’s California-based company launched and landed the refurbished Falcon 9 rocket in less than a year, a milestone for the aerospace industry and a crucial step in the tech CEO’s mission to significantly cut the cost of space flight.
Falcon 9 took off at about 6:30 p.m. ET from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center and returned to Earth shortly after, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the company’s sixth time successfully landing a rocket at sea.
Poor, gifted, and black in South Africa.
Twenty-two years after the end of apartheid, race is still the key determinant in whether students make it to university in South Africa: 47% of white matriculants get there, but only 17% of their black counterparts.
Anger at the uneven opportunities prompted the Fees Must Fall movement last year, with protesters calling for free higher education to open the way for more non-white students. The threat of further disruptions remains this year.
QUICK THINGS TO KNOW
Brexit begins: The European Union’s Brexit guidelines rejected UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s demand for exit and trade talks to happen simultaneously.
US: President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was spotted meeting with top senators on criminal justice reform.
LGBT: Young people are more likely to be openly LGBT, but they’re leaving traditional labels behind. And a year after India’s LGBT backlash, activists find it hard to move forward.
Tech: People have uploaded very personal documents to a Microsoft cloud service, seemingly unaware they're totally public. And after the Republican-controlled US Congress voted to repeal landmark privacy rules, some internet service providers say they won’t sell your browsing histories.
Nature: Good things can still happen in 2017 — manatees (i.e. cute AF sea cows) are no longer endangered. The US Fish and Wildlife Service downgraded their status from “endangered” to “threatened.”
WEEKEND READS
Read This Excerpt From Hannah Tinti’s New Novel: Samuel Hawley teaches his 12-year-old daughter Loo how to shoot a gun in this excerpt from Hannah Tinti’s new novel, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley.
Dave Chappelle’s Jokes About Trans People Haven’t Aged Well: The world has started to evolve on trans rights since the days of Chappelle’s Show. Now the comedian is back with two Netflix stand-up specials, and his jokes about trans people prove he hasn’t caught up with the times.
Cannibal Women Are Having A Moment On Screen: Cannibalism has become a gratifyingly gross metaphor for self-awakening on screen.
Here are 14 Gripping Longreads You Need In Your Life This Month: The best longform reporting, feature stories, and personal essays from BuzzFeed UK from March.
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