Today’s edition of quick hits.
* In the Atlantic: “The United States has seized an oil tanker that it had been pursuing for weeks across the Atlantic, the U.S. military said Wednesday, alleging that the vessel was in violation of U.S. sanctions. U.S. European Command said the ship was seized in a joint operation by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.”
* A new food pyramid: “The Trump administration’s new dietary guidelines announced Wednesday were greeted with mixed reviews from nutrition experts, who praised the move to avoid highly processed foods but questioned the guidelines’ focus on more protein consumption.”
* Officials in Venezuela are hunting for locals who approved of Donald Trump’s capture of Nicolás Maduro: “Over the past several days, security forces have interrogated people at checkpoints, boarded public buses and searched passengers’ phones, looking for evidence that they approved of Mr. Maduro’s removal, according to Venezuelans in the country and human rights groups.”
* It’ll be interesting to see whether Trump contradicts his own negotiating team on Ukrainian security guarantees: “The United States for the first time on Tuesday backed a broad coalition of Ukraine’s allies in vowing to provide security guarantees that leaders said would include binding commitments to support the country if Russia attacks again.”
* This seems like a reasonable question: “A federal judge ordered Lindsey Halligan on Tuesday to explain why she is still calling herself the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite a November ruling that she was unlawfully appointed.”
* The demise of a historic news outlet: “The family-owned company that operates The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said on Wednesday that the newspaper would cease publication on Sunday, May 3, signaling the end of a newspaper whose origins date to 1786.” * A growing list: “Grammy-winning banjo player Béla Fleck has canceled his upcoming performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the latest in a wave of cancellations since President Donald Trump’s name was added to the building last month.” * I know the right would never tolerate lessons like these in the U.S., but they’d make a big difference: “The battle against fake news in Finland starts in preschool classrooms. For decades, the Nordic nation has woven media literacy, including the ability to analyze different kinds of media and recognize disinformation, into its national curriculum for students as young as 3 years old. The coursework is part of a robust anti-misinformation program to make Finns more resistant to propaganda and false claims, especially those crossing over the 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with neighboring Russia.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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