GRIF MAG

March 31 (Reuters) - The Transportation Security Administration said ‌absences among the ‌nation's 50,000 security officers fell ​sharply on Monday as workers got paid after working six weeks without ‌a paycheck.

The ⁠Homeland Security Department said the absence ⁠rate fell to 8.6% after being as ​high as ​12.4% ​on Friday. The ‌highest absences reported Monday were at Atlanta Monday with 29% of workers out along with ‌around 20% at ​Houston's two ​aiports, ​Baltimore, New Orleans, ‌New York JFK and ​Philadephia.

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Major ​airports that had suffered multi-hour lines said ​Monday ‌that operations had largely ​returned to normal.

(Reporting by ​David Shepardson)

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The stars are coming together for a good cause. Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for the immediate closure of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Dilley, Texas. Theopen letter, published on Change.org, demands that the federal government and CoreCivic close the facility "immediately, return children and families to the homes and communities they were taken from and to end child imprisonment now."

Among the signatures are the names of dozens of artists, including Madonna, Gracie Abrams, Ayo Edebiri, Keke Palmer, Lena Dunham, Elliot Page, Pedro Pascal, Jane Fonda, Javier Bardem, Michelle Williams, Kesha, John Legend, Diego Luna, and Cynthia Nixon, plus many others.

The letter highlights the horrific conditions detainees, particularly children, endure when kept in immigration detention centers: "trauma, neglect and conditions that violate basic standards of health, safety, dignity and human rights."

PerNBC data, at least 46 people have died in ICE custody between January 2025 and March 2026.

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"Children belong in schools and on playgrounds, not in detention centers," the letter reads. "Our commitment does not end with closure. We demand transparency, accountability, and systemic reforms to prevent these abuses from happening anywhere in the United States."

After President Donald Trumptook officefor his second term on January 20, 2025, he launched an attack on immigrants and minorities in the United States. Since then, he has sent his ICE agents around the country totake non-white residentsinto custody without so much as a warrant. ICE has even killed peaceful allies: Alex Pretti andRenée Good.

Advocates, leaders, and celebrities have since used their platforms to call out Trump's divisive policies and ICE's deplorable actions. Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Lady Gaga, Mark Ruffalo, and Bruce Springsteen are only some of the celebrities who'veharshly criticizedthe president over his ongoingICE raids.

During awards season, stars evenwalked the red carpetswith"ICE OUT" pinsto show their solidarity for immigrants in the country.

And the fight is far from over.

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Hoda Kotb's absence on the "Today" show after recordingSavannah Guthrie's episode has caught attention. The senior TV host came back on the set in place of Nancy Guthrie's daughter after the 84-year-old went missing. While Kotb has reportedly been present on the show every day, her absence on the March 30 episode raised eyebrows. Furthermore, the topic was not addressed during the broadcast.

Hoda Kotb's absence on the 'Today' show was not addressed

Hoda Kotb's absence on the "Today" show was reportedly not acknowledged in the latest episode. On the March 30 broadcast, the Saturday host, Laura Jarrett, accompanied Craig Melvin. Meanwhile, Kotb allegedly ended her time on the set, where she was filling in for Savannah Guthrie.

Moreover, Kotb's absence was not addressed when Melvin welcomed Jarret on the morning show. "A very good morning to you. Thank you for starting your Monday with us. Thank you for starting your week with us as well. Laura Jarrett in for Savannah – who is back a week today," he said.

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While it raised eyebrows,Hello! Magazinementioned that Kotb had "prior commitments." Earlier, she came back to help with the broadcast, and Savannah, while the latter has been dealing with a tough time. Reportedly, Kotb had to balance her work and personal commitments. For those unversed, she runs her own wellness brand, Joy 101. Additionally, she is the mother of two daughters, Haley, 9, and Hope, 6.

Although her absence was not addressed on the Monday episode, Kotb was praised on Friday's broadcast. Melvin and Jenna Bush Hager thanked the senior journalist for coming to their rescue for the last couple of months.

Furthermore, the 61-year-old also made headlines for interviewing Savannah. The latter opened up about her mother's disappearance, which has reportedly been suspected as a kidnapping case. In the three-part interview, she told Kotb why she assumed that Nancy was allegedly taken because of Savannah's celebrity status.

The postHoda Kotb's Absence From 'Today' Show Raises Eyebrowsappeared first onReality Tea.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings fell slightly last month to 6.9 million, another sign ofsluggishnessin the American labor market

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that job vacancies slipped from 7.2 million in January.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS), showed that layoffs rose and the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects for finding better pay or working conditions elsewhere — slipped.

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The U.S. job market has sputtered over the past year, reflecting the lingering impact of the high interest rates and uncertainty over President Donald Trump's economic policies and the impact ofartificial intelligence.

Employers added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month in 2025 – weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. This year started out with a decent 126,000 new jobs in January. But in February, the United States lost 92,000 jobs. When the Labor Department releases March jobs numbers Friday, they're expected to show that hiring rebounded and that companies, nonprofits and government agencies added 60,000 jobs this month.

Despite sluggish hiring, the unemployment rate has stayed low – at 4.4%. Economists refer to a low-hire, low-fire job market in which companies are hesitant to add staff but don't want to let go of the workers they have. There are growing worries that AI is taking over entry-level work and that companies are reluctant to make hiring decisions until they better understand how they are going to use AI.

By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday backed a challenge to a Colorado law that banned psychotherapists from using "conversion therapy" intended to change a LGBT minor's sexual orientation or gender identity, siding with a Christian licensed counselor ‌who challenged the law on free speech grounds.

The justices, in a 8-1 ruling, reversed a lower court's decision that had upheld the ‌law in a case brought by Kaley Chiles, who argued that it violated the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections against government abridgment of free speech.

Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis, the first ​openly gay man to be elected as a U.S. state governor and a critic of conversion therapy, signed the measure into law in 2019. Republican President Donald Trump's administration backed Chiles in the challenge to the law.

The dispute pitted Colorado's authority to forbid a healthcare practice that it calls unsafe and ineffective against First Amendment speech protections.

Colorado is among more than two dozen states and the District of Columbia that restrict or prohibit conversion therapy for patients younger than 18. ‌Colorado had said in court papers that ruling in ⁠favor of Chiles would undermine the power of states to protect patients from substandard care.

The challenged law prohibits licensed mental healthcare providers from seeking to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity according to a predetermined outcome, with ⁠each violation punishable by a fine of up to $5,000. This includes attempts to reduce or eliminate same-sex attraction or change "behaviors or gender expressions."

Medical groups such as the American Psychological Association have cited studies showing that this type of talk therapy has been associated with harms including an increased likelihood of transgender minors attempting suicide or running ​away ​from home.

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Colorado's law does permit treatments that provide "assistance to a person undergoing gender transition," ​as well as therapies centered on "acceptance, support and understanding" for "identity ‌exploration and development."

Chiles, a practicing Christian, has said she "believes that people flourish when they live consistently with God's design, including their biological sex." Chiles was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious rights group that previously secured high-profile Supreme Court victories on behalf of a baker and wedding website designer who refused, based on their Christian beliefs, to serve gay couples.

During arguments in the case in October, Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson faced pushback from the court's conservative justices on her claim that Colorado's law regulates professional conduct, not protected speech. She argued that states should not lose their ‌longstanding power to regulate safety in healthcare "just because they are using words."

Conservative Chief Justice John ​Roberts replied that the court's precedents make clear that "just because they're engaged in conduct doesn't ​mean that their words aren't protected."

James Campbell, a lawyer for Chiles, ​told the justices during arguments that Colorado's law "forbids counselors like Kaley Chiles from helping minors pursue state-disfavored goals on ‌issues of gender and sexuality."

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito said the ​measure appeared to allow therapists to help ​a patient feel comfortable about being gay while barring them from helping a patient who seeks to "end or lessen" their same-sex attraction.

In another case involving LGBT youths, the Supreme Court on March 2 blocked a series of California laws that limited the sharing of information with ​parents about the gender identity of transgender public school ‌students without the child's permission, handing a victory to Christian parents who challenged these protections.

The court heard arguments in January over ​the legality of state laws banning transgender athletes from female sports teams and is expected to issue a ruling in that ​case by the end of June.

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)