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Judge Blocks Trump Order to End Funding for PBS, NPR

A federal judge has struck down parts of an executive order seeking to cut off public funding for the Public Broadcasting Service and NPR, finding that the effort was unconstitutional.

“The First Amendment does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type,” wrote U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in an order issued on Tuesday.

The executive order, called “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” slashed subsidies for public media. It’s part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing campaign to leverage federal powers to undercut institutions whose viewpoints he disagrees with. The broadcasters, which filed a lawsuit against the government over the effort, get roughly half a billion dollars in Congressional funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

In the ruling, the court concluded that the administration attempted to suppress disfavored news coverage by singling out two speakers on the basis of their speech.

“The First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross,” wrote Moss, an appointee of Barack Obama. He issued a permanent injunction barring the government from enforcing directions to cease funding.

In a statement, a PBS spokesperson said the executive order is “textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles.”

NPR CEO Katherine Maher said in a statement that the ruling is a “decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press — and a win for NPR, our network of stations, and our tens of millions of listeners nationwide.” She added that the “government cannot use funding as a lever to influence or penalize the press, whether as a national news service or a local newsroom” and that “public media exists to serve the public interest — that of Americans — not that of any political agenda or elected official.”

The impact of the rescission of future funding allocated for public media have already been felt. PBS and NPR have scaled back operations, with some stations laying off staffers and cutting some programming.

March 31, 2026
Rebecca Rusheen Joins CAA’s Creators Division (Exclusive)

Powerhouse digital creators rep Rebecca Rusheen has joined Hollywood entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency as an agent in its Creators division. 

Rusheen started out in 2019 with Abrams, which later became A3 Artists Agency. She moved to the Gersh Agency in 2024 when it acquired A3’s digital and non-scripted divisions.

During that time, she has grown the brands of digital creators, turning Internet fame into successful media careers. That includes TikTok star Reece Feldman, Hollywood’s go-to Gen Z whisperer, after having created content for Barbie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Fast X, Cannes, the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

Feldman’s short film Wait, Your Car? starring Whitney Peak, Ruby Cruz, Minnie Mills and Noa Fisher, premiered in Cannes. Rusheen also repped Yesly Dimate, getting the TikTok and Instagram star ready for Hollywood acting roles in the romantic comedy Before We Begin and the crime thriller Eugene the Marine, as well as becoming the influencer face for Calvin Klein, Dior, Gucci, and Miu Miu.

Rusheen joins CAA as the fast-growing creator economy continues to power Hollywood as its digital disrupters fuel studio talent pipelines, drive marketing strategies and redefine who becomes a star.

“Rebecca is a highly respected and forward-thinking agent, renowned for her sharp instinct in identifying exceptional talent and strategically guiding ambitious, multi-hyphenate careers to long-term success. We are thrilled to have her join our growing team and excited to see the impact she will undoubtedly make at CAA, and across our industry,” CAA’s Brent Weinstein, a member of the agency’s senior leadership team overseeing the Creators division, said in a statement.

CAA Creators represents digital video and audio influencers as they reach into film, TV, publishing, consumer products and live touring.

CAA Creators represents leading creators like Amelia Dimoldenberg, Quen Blackwell, Meredith Duxbury, iShowSpeed, Haley Kalil, Trisha Paytas, and Liza Koshy. In the last year, the division signed new creators like Dhar Mann, Jesser & Bucketsquad, Mythical Entertainment’s Rhett & Link, Deestroying and Airrack.

March 31, 2026
NBA Fantasy: Top 10 performances from 2025-26

The Pistons’ Cade Cunningham was the first player to eclipse 100 fantasy points in a game during the 2025-26 season.

As the fantasy basketball season winds down, let’s spotlight the top 10 single-game performances in Yahoo’s High Score format. Since only your best stat line each week counts, these games likely swung entire matchups. Here are the players who delivered the biggest stat lines through March 30 of the 2025-26 season.

My colleague Ben Zweiman has done an amazing job of keeping track of all the best performances each week, so I owe him a drink for making my life easier here.

1. Bam Adebayo — 110 High Score points

Adebayo scored 83!! points against the Wizards on March 10 — the second-highest single-game total in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100. He went 36-of-43 from the free-throw line (an NBA record), threw in a career-best 7 3s and the Heat ran a 57.5% usage rate through him all night. The 83 points alone drag this line to all-time territory. The 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks just pile on.

It will likely go down as one of the most random, unexpected outlier performances in NBA history.

2. Nikola Jokić — 108 High Score points

The Joker held the crown of the highest fantasy outing of the year until March 10 rolled around. His Christmas Day masterpiece against Minnesota was built on a gaudy 56-16-15 with 2 blocks. Of the players in the top 10 in fantasy scoring this season, this game featured the fewest stocks at 2. But that’s the thing about Jokić — the stocks aren’t as vital when you post modern-day Wilt Chamberlain numbers on a humble Christmas night. I’ve never rostered Jokić in all my years playing fantasy, but I would love to look at a box score, just one time and see numbers on the board like this.

3. Cade Cunningham — 101 High Score points

The only player not named Adebayo or Jokić to crack 100 High Score points this season was Cunningham. Cunningham’s 46-12-11 triple-double back in November looked like a great fantasy night on its own, but it was his 7 stocks (5 steals and 2 blocks) that boosted his score another 21 points, helping him clear that 100-fantasy-point threshold. If he didn’t suffer a lung injury, he’d surely be in NBA MVP conversations and he was naturally one of the best fantasy contributors of the 2025-26 campaign.

4. Luka Dončič — 99 High Score points

One point away from the 100-point club. Luka destroyed the Jazz on Dec. 18, posting a balanced 45 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists and 5 steals. In the month of March, Dončič is making a strong case to earn his first MVP award, averaging 37-8-7 with 2 steals per game and leading the Lakers to a 14-2 record through Monday.

5. Jalen Johnson — 98 High Score points

Johnson came into the season too good to be a Most Improved Player; however, he still made a seismic leap into stardom. His ascension allowed the Hawks to pivot away from their franchise PG, Trae Young, because he was so impactful as a point-forward. Johnson is tied with Josh Giddey for the most triple-doubles this season (13), and his dominance on Nov. 13 factored into one of those 13. Johnson had 31-18-14 with an impressive 7 steals. It’s the two-way versatility and playmaking that morphed him into a first-round value this season.

Playing the Jazz also helps.

6. Tyrese Maxey — 95 High Score points

Another player who’s elevated to the fantasy elite is Maxey. He hung 54 points on the Bucks on Nov. 20, along with 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 6 stocks. Maxey’s defense has been a game-changer for his fantasy value, and seeing his peak at nearly 100 points was great, as he provided one of the highest yet consistent floors in High Score. He’s been a top five asset across formats, averaging 54.8 fantasy points per night in high score.

7. Nikola Jokić — 94 High Score points

Again, more Wilt numbers that have pretty much become normalized as just another day at the office for Nikola Jokić. The Warriors frontcourt posed no threat to Jokić on Feb. 22, where he amassed 35-20-12 with 5 stocks. Not quite his Christmas line, but still another dominant night from the best fantasy basketball player around.

8. Kawhi Leonard — 94 High Score points

The only top-10 entry with fewer than 5 assists, but Kawhi put on a scoring and defensive clinic in late December, dropping an ethical and efficient 55 points with 11 boards, 2 assists and 8 stocks versus the Pistons. Putting up those numbers against the best team in the Eastern Conference says a lot about the type of season Leonard’s had. I thought he’d be great for High Score because you only had to rely on him for one game out of the week. However, he was barely load-managed and sits at 13th in fantasy points per game in High Score.

9. Luka Dončič — 91 High Score points

It’s the second time we’ve seen Luka on this list, with this one coming in the midst of one of the best months of his career. Dončič fell one assist shy of the triple-double but delivered a masterpiece against the Bulls on March 12, scoring 51 points along with 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.

Two 90-point fantasy performances in the same season? Feels like there are only a few players capable of that each year and Luka’s one of ‘em.

10. Nikola Jokić — 90 High Score points

When you’re doing lists in fantasy basketball, the guy averaging a triple-double will be on it more than a couple of times. Jokić’s third and final entry in the top 10 is nearly a mirror of his Feb. 22 line: 31 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in a comeback win at San Antonio. Given the tight Western Conference standings and the Spurs’ post-All-Star break run, this was a significant statement game in both reality and fantasy.

March 31, 2026
Iran’s FM confirms contact with US envoy Witkoff, denies talks under way

Iran’s top diplomat Araghchi has told Al Jazeera that, despite contacts, Iran is not in negotiations with the US.

Published On 31 Mar 2026

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has confirmed that messages had been exchanged with the United States, either directly or through countries in the region, amid the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.

During an interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi said that the contacts with the US did not mean that Tehran was in negotiations with Washington.

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“I receive messages from [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.

“There is no truth to the claim of negotiations with any party in Iran. All messages are conveyed through the Foreign Ministry or received by it, and there are communications between security agencies,” he said, adding that Tehran has not made any decision about negotiating with Washington as it has reservations about them.

The foreign minister also clarified to Al Jazeera that Tehran has not yet responded to the 15-point proposal that was sent by the US, “nor have we submitted any proposals or conditions.”

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said that much of what Araghchi talked about was not new, but the significant update was the contact with Witkoff.

“The new piece of information is that he’s in touch directly with Witkoff and that there are some security discussions going on,” he said.

Last week, a senior diplomatic source told Al Jazeera that Iran had received a 15-point plan from the US that was aimed at ending the war.

The plan included proposals ranging from calls on Iran to commit to never acquiring a nuclear weapon to limiting its missile stockpile in both range and quantity.

Still, the Iranian foreign minister reiterated that Iran will only accept an end to all attacks in the region rather than a ceasefire.

March 31, 2026
Dogecoin Soars 28% in Active Addresses: Are Bulls Active?

Dogecoin has been trading negatively today, but its network activity has surged notably over the past week amid increased participation from investors.

While the surge in network activity has come at a time when the market continues to show mixed price actions, the metric signals renewed interest in the largest meme token by market capitalization, sparking discussions across the crypto market.

Dogecoin active addresses hit 73,000

On Tuesday, March 31, popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez shared data from Santiment, revealing that active addresses on Dogecoin have surged from around 57,000 to 73,000 within a week.

According to the analyst, the surge marks a notable 28% increase in Dogecoin’s active addresses over the last seven days.

Dogecoin $DOGE active addresses surged 28% in the past week, rising from 57,000 to 73,000. pic.twitter.com/dHAB37u0V4

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) March 31, 2026

With this surge in Dogecoin network activity, it appears that a growing number of users are actively using the blockchain, either by sending, receiving or trading $DOGE tokens.

While the surge in network activity could be bullish for Dogecoin, it is not entirely a key indicator for a potential price rally, as it could also have been triggered by a surge of activities from bearish traders.

As such, market analysts believe that growth in network activity like this can sometimes precede increased volatility, or possibly price growth.

Dogecoin drops 2%

Despite the surge in Dogecoin network activity, the trend has yet to impact the asset’s trading price, as data from CoinMarketCap shows Dogecoin trading in the red zone.

Amid a broad crypto market downturn, Dogecoin has also pulled off weak price moves over the last day, with its price trading at $0.09126 as of writing time.

The data revealed that its current price level marks a decent decline of 1.64% over the last 24 hours.

March 31, 2026
Is the Bitcoin Network Really in Danger? Experts Gathered to Find an Answer

The cryptocurrency markets are abuzz with the question, “Is Bitcoin in danger?” following recent major breakthroughs in quantum computing technology. A panel featuring Tom Dunleavy, Andrew Parish, and Tillman Holloway discussed whether quantum computers could break Bitcoin’s underlying encryption methods (ECDSA) and the potential impact on the markets.

The focus of the debate is that quantum computers have processing power millions of times greater than traditional computers. According to experts, if a quantum computer with sufficient power were developed, the private keys of Bitcoin wallets could theoretically be compromised.

Tom Dunleavy argued that while the current situation has created a climate of panic, the Bitcoin network is resilient enough to evolve against such threats. Dunleavy suggested that the network could transition to “Quantum Resistant Encryption” methods.

Related News Satoshi Nakamoto’s Comments from Years Ago on the Quantum Threat to Bitcoin Have Come to Light

Andrew Parish drew attention to market psychology rather than technological risk. He stated that such news creates uncertainty among institutional investors and triggers short-term volatility. Reminding that quantum breakthroughs threaten not only Bitcoin but the entire global banking system, Parish argued that Bitcoin is one of the systems that can provide the fastest solution to this problem.

Tillman Holloway approached the subject from a more technical perspective, sharing his predictions on how Bitcoin mining difficulty and network security will transform in the quantum age. Holloway stated that the quantum threat is not a risk that will materialize overnight, but the community should be prepared now.

The panelists agreed that claims that Bitcoin is “ruined” are exaggerated. Rather than quantum computers completely destroying Bitcoin, they believe it will force an update to the technology (soft-fork or hard-fork).

*This is not investment advice.

March 31, 2026
‘Happy Feet’ Broadway Musical in the Works

Broadway looks set to get a Happy Feet musical based on George Miller’s Oscar-winning animated feature about singing and dancing Emperor penguins.

Tony-winning Michael Arden is on board to direct a live stage version being developed by Tony Award-winning producer Dori Berinstein (Legally Blonde, The Prom). The Broadway-bound musical, based on Miller and Warner Bros. Pictures’ 2006 foot-tapping, CG-animated musical movie, also has on its creative team book writer Douglas Lyons and a choreography team that includes tap dancer Ayodele Casel, Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher “Cree” Grant (The Lost Boys, Parade).

The Broadway musical now in development will feature toe-tapping songs from the original movie and its dance-driven soundtrack, the project’s producers said. The original film and its sequel went on to gross over $847 million worldwide.

The design team for Happy Feet musical also includes a host of other Tony award winners, including set designer Dane Laffrey, costume designer Susan Hilferty, lighting designer Natasha Katz, along with puppet designer Basil Twist orchestrator/ co-arranger Kenny Seymour and music supervisor/co-arranger Jackson Teeley.

The musical is being produced with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, whose upcoming projects include adaptations of Crazy Rich Asians, Practical Magic and the current Broadway productions of  The Lost Boys and  Dog Day Afternoon.

Mark Kaufman, executive vp and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, will be a creative consultant, while Miller is a consulting producer. General Management of the Happy Feet musical is by Wagner Johnson Productions.

Happy Feet won the Academy Award for best animated feature film in 2007. The movie featured a star-studded voice cast, including Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Robin Williams and Nicole Kidman, among others. Its sequel, Happy Feet Two, debuted in 2011.

March 31, 2026
‘Together’ Filmmaker Michael Shanks Teams with Adam McKay for Mystery Sci-Fi Comedy (Exclusive)

Michael Shanks, the filmmaker behind last year’s cult horror fave Together, has teamed up with Adam McKay, the multi-faceted writer-director-producer behind movies such as Vice and Don’t Look Up, for a mystery project.

Sony Pictures has picked up an untitled sci-fi comedy that will be written by Shanks that has McKay attached to direct.

McKay is producing the feature with Todd Schulman via the duo’s Hyperobject Industries banner.

Andrew Mittman, who is one of the executive producers on Wednesday and involved in the development of Tim Burton’s remake of B-movie classic Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman, is also producing via his 1.21 Pictures. The company’s Kai Dolbashian will exec produce. The two worked in the same capacity with Shanks on Together.

Details on the project are being kept under wraps but it is described as a sci-fi comedy.

Shanks got his start making YouTube and online shorts before making his feature directorial debut with Together, the unique body horror that starred Dave Franco and Alison Brie. The movie premiered at the 2025 edition of the Sundance Film Festival where it sparked a bidding war, with Neon ultimately picking it up in a $17 million deal.

His next film is due to be a feature project titled Hotel, Hotel, Hotel, Hotel, a mind-bending sci-fi thriller set up at A24 and whose script, which he wrote, was on the 2021 Black List. The project was the first team up for the writer-director with McKay and Schulman, who are among those producing Hotel.

McKay, whose films run the genre gamut from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Talladega Nights to The Big Short and Vice to episodes of Succession and Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. He last directed 2021’s Don’t Look Up, a satire with an A-list cast that became one of Netflix’s most watched movies.

Hyperobject remains a busy banner. Among its upcoming projects is a mini-series centered on Jeffey Epstein, based on the book Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story by Julie K. Brown, with Laura Dern on board to star.

Shanks is repped by WME and Untitled. McKay is repped by CAA and Johnson Shapiro.

March 31, 2026
Uniblock Raises $5.2M to Unify Blockchain Infrastructure
In brief

Uniblock has raised $5.2 million in new funding, bringing total capital to $7.5 million, with investors including SBI, AllianceDAO, Blockchain Founders Fund, NGC Ventures, Alchemy, and MoonPay.

The platform manages infrastructure across more than 300 blockchains through 55 data partners with patented auto-routing technology.

3,000 projects and 4,000 developers use the service, including Plume Network, Stellar Blockchain, and Apechain.
Blockchain infrastructure provider Uniblock has raised $5.2 million to operate a “managed infrastructure layer” across more than 300 blockchains, addressing a routing and failover problem that CEO Kevin Callahan said “should be solved once, not rebuilt by every team.”

The funding round, which brings total capital raised to $7.5 million, included participation from SBI, AllianceDAO, CoinSwitch, Blockchain Founders Fund, Hustle Fund, AAF Management, NGC Ventures, and strategic investors Alchemy and MoonPay, according to a company announcement shared with Decrypt.

The platform provides access to over 3,000 APIs through a single connection, with patented auto-routing handling provider selection, failover, and data normalization across 55 data partners.

Named customers running production workloads include Plume Network, Stellar Blockchain, Hypernative, Oku Trade, nReach, and Apechain, with Plume and Apechain operating Uniblock as their managed RPC infrastructure through ecosystem partnerships. The company reports 3,000 projects and 4,000 developers currently using the platform, which launched AI-native developer tools including an MCP server, LLM-optimized documentation, and agent skills for Cursor, GitHub Copilot and other AI coding environments.

“We’re watching two shifts happen at once. Fortune 500 companies are bringing production workloads to blockchain, and AI agents are starting to read and write chain data autonomously,” Callahan said in the announcement, which noted mainstream adoption signals including Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge for stablecoins and prediction market odds appearing on legacy media broadcasts.

Uniblocks fundraise comes amid broader industry efforts to address multi-chain infrastructure challenges, with the Ethereum Foundation backing an “Economic Zone” initiative in February to solve fragmentation issues across the ecosystem’s growing number of Layer-2 networks.

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March 31, 2026
Judge Rules Trump’s Order to End Funding for PBS, NPR Was an Illegal First Amendment Violation

A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump‘s executive order last year to end funding for PBS and NPR public media violated the First Amendment.

In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss of the District Court for D.C. said Trump’s executive order to cease funding for NPR and PBS is unlawful and unenforceable. The judge wrote that the First Amendment right to free speech “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”

“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” Moss wrote.

Trump’s order defunding PBS and NPR “singles out two speakers and, on the basis of their speech, bars them from all federally funded programs… Although there are many lawful reasons that the government might decline to make ‘a valuable governmental benefit’ available to someone, punishing disfavored private speech is not one of them.”

Moss also noted that Trump’s order canceled federal funding for public media “without regard to whether the federal funds are used to pay for the nationwide interconnection systems, which serve as the technological backbones of public radio and television; to provide safety and security for journalists working in war zones; to support the emergency broadcast system; or to produce or distribute music, children’s or other educational programming, or documentaries.”

A copy of the ruling is available at this link. Moss was nominated to the bench by President Obama.

Variety has reached out the White House for comment.

Both NPR and PBS had sued Trump over his executive order suspending U.S. federal funding for public media. Trump’s order, issued May 1, 2025, alleged the public-media organizations engaged in “biased and partisan news coverage” and instructed the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to “cease direct funding to NPR and PBS” to the “maximum extent allowed by law.”

CPB shut down in January 2026 after 58 years following the funding cuts. In July 2025, Congress approved Trump’s rescission package, eliminating $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting that had been approved for the next two years. After Congress approved the defunding of CPB, Trump celebrated in a post on Truth Social, writing that Congress had cut funding from “ATROCIOUS NPR AND PUBLIC BROADCASTING, WHERE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR WERE WASTED. REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED….BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!”

In a statement about Tuesday’s ruling, PBS said, “We’re thrilled with today’s decision declaring the executive order unconstitutional. As we argued, and Judge Moss ruled, the executive order is textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles. At PBS, we will continue to do what we’ve always done: serve our mission to educate and inspire all Americans as the nation’s most trusted media institution.”

Katherine Maher, president and CEO of NPR, said: “Today’s ruling is a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press — and a win for NPR, our network of stations, and our tens of millions of listeners nationwide. The court made clear that the government cannot use funding as a lever to influence or penalize the press, whether as a national news service or a local newsroom. Public media exists to serve the public interest — that of Americans — not that of any political agenda or elected official.”

Maher added that NPR and its member stations “will continue delivering independent, fact-based, high-quality reporting to communities across the United States, regardless of the administration of the day.”

NPR also provided a statement from the attorney who represented the organization, Theodore Boutrous, partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. “Today’s ruling is a significant victory for the First Amendment and for freedom of the press,” Boutrous said. “The district court’s decision bars the government from enforcing its unconstitutional Executive Order targeting NPR and PBS because the President dislikes their news reporting and other programming. As the court expressly recognized, the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power—including the power of the purse—‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others. The Executive Order crossed that line.”

March 31, 2026