Supreme Court takes up religious liberty case over Colorado’s universal preschool program

April 20, 2026 / 10:27 AM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday said it will consider an appeal from Catholic preschools in Colorado that said they were excluded from the state-funded universal preschool program because they sought to admit only children whose families adhere to the church’s teachings on gender and sexual orientation.

The legal fight, known as St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, is the latest to land before the Supreme Court in recent years that involve religious entities’ participation in state-funded programs. In a string of decisions, the high court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has ruled in favor of religious plaintiffs who argued they were forced to choose between participating in initiatives backed by taxpayer dollars and adhering to their sincerely held religious beliefs on marriage and sexuality.

At the center of the dispute is a 35-year-old decision in the case Employment Division v. Smith, in which the Supreme Court held that laws burdening the free exercise of religion typically do not violate the First Amendment so long as they’re neutral and generally applicable.

Several of the conservative justices, including Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, have suggested that decades-old decision should be overruled. But the Supreme Court said in its brief order taking up St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy that it will not consider whether to overturn Employment Division v. Smith.

Colorado’s universal preschool program

The legal battle involves Colorado’s universal preschool program, which provides state funding for families to send their 4-year-olds to the preschool of their choosing. Under the program, all children in Colorado are eligible for up to 15 hours of free preschool each week in the year before they enter kindergarten. It covers public and private preschools, as well as faith-based and in-home providers.

The law establishing the universal preschool program includes a nondiscrimination provision, which requires all providers to ensure children have the equal opportunity to attend regardless of their or their parents’ religious affiliation, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level or disability.

The state says that under those so-called equal-opportunity requirements, faith-based providers can teach what they want but cannot decline to enroll children based on their or their families’ protected-class status.

In February 2023, the Archdiocese of Denver, which oversees 34 Catholic preschools, requested an exemption from the program’s rule, which would allow its preschools to admit only families who adhere to the Catholic Church’s teachings, including on gender identity and sexual orientation. The Archdiocese warned that if the provision is enforced against faith-based preschool providers, it would restrict their ability to participate in the universal preschool program “without compromising their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

But the state’s Department of Early Childhood declined to provide the accommodation and reiterated that “no provider may discriminate against children or families in violation of state statute.”

In August 2023, the Archdiocese of Denver, two parishes and a family with children who attend parish schools filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s refusal to grant the requested accommodation.

The plaintiffs argued that they were entitled to an accommodation under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause because the universal preschool program created exemptions to the nondiscrimination requirement that made it not neutral and generally applicable. The Archdiocese and preschools said they were forced to choose between receiving government benefits and their religious beliefs, and they sought a court order preventing the state from enforcing the nondiscrimination rule against them with regards to religious affiliation, sexual orientation and gender identity.

The district court ruled for the state in June 2024, finding that the universal preschool program is neutral toward religious practice and generally applicable, since it does not allow any exceptions from its nondiscrimination policy.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit unanimously upheld that decision, finding that the provision “exists in harmony with the First Amendment” and does not violate the parish preschools’ free exercise rights. No preschool that participates in the universal preschool program is allowed to consider sexual orientation or gender identity when making enrollment decisions, the 10th Circuit said.

The appeals court heralded Colorado’s program as a “model example of maintaining neutral and generally applicable nondiscrimination laws while nonetheless trying to accommodate the exercise of religious beliefs.”

The lower courts evaluated the law under rational-basis review, the least stringent test used by courts when considering the constitutionality of a law, and said it satisfies it.

In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the Archdiocese of Denver and its parishes argued that Colorado unfairly excludes Catholic preschools from its universal preschool program while providing secular exemptions to its nondiscrimination rule.

“Far from facilitating ‘universal’ preschool, Colorado’s exclusion of Catholic preschools reduces access, pushing parents and children toward preschools that share the government’s views on these issues and penalizing the religious schools and families who disagree,” they wrote in their petition with the Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs noted that in its landmark 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court said religious organizations would be protected by the First Amendment when teachings about marriage and sexuality split from secular beliefs.

“The Free Exercise Clause simply cannot do that important work — which this Court has described as ‘at the heart of our pluralistic society’ — if it can be so easily evaded,” lawyers for the Catholic challengers said.

But state officials argued that the Catholic schools are seeking an exemption that would allow them to turn away preschoolers because of their or their parents’ sexual orientation or gender identity.

The universal preschool program “does not require providers to surrender their religious character: it affirmatively includes religious preschools regardless of their curriculum or who teaches it,” they wrote in a filing. “UPK’s equal-opportunity requirements instead ensure that all Colorado parents — Catholic parents as well as same-sex parents— know that their children will not be turned away, because of their protected-class status, from the publicly-funded preschool that best meets their families’ needs.”

The Trump administration is supporting the Catholic plaintiffs. In a friend-of-the-court brief, the administration urged the Supreme Court to take up the case. Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote that under the 10th Circuit’s ruling, Catholic preschools “must forgo state subsidies if they want to prefer families who follow Catholic teachings on” gender identity and sexual orientation.

以色列黎巴嫩第二轮会谈本周四在华盛顿举行

2026年4月20日 / 联合早报

4月17日，一面以色列国旗在黎巴嫩边境一侧受损建筑的顶部飘扬。 （路透社）

以色列和黎巴嫩的第二轮会谈将于星期四（4月23日）在华盛顿举行。

据多家以色列媒体星期一（20日）报道，这是以黎为期10天的停火于新加坡时间上星期五（17日）凌晨5时生效以来，两国举行的首次会谈。

不过，真主党议员法德拉拉星期一接受法新社采访时说：“为了国家利益、黎巴嫩人民的利益、黎巴嫩总统和政府的利益，我们应该放弃直接谈判的道路，重新就黎巴嫩的最佳方案达成全国共识。”

他说：“我们将拒绝并反对任何企图通过向以色列这个敌人做出让步，来给黎巴嫩强加政治代价的行径。”

然而，他说，真主党希望“停火协议继续有效”，并希望以色列撤军。

德黑兰支持的真主党3月2日向以色列发动袭击，促使以黎冲突再次升级，以军更在黎南地区部署地面部队。

4月6日，特朗普在白宫举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。 （路透社）

美国总统特朗普称，若谈判取得突破性进展，他愿同伊朗高级别领导人会面。

特朗普星期一（4月20日）告诉福克斯新闻称，伊朗核协议将于“今天”在巴基斯坦签署。

报道也称，美国副总统万斯率领的代表团，将“在数小时内”抵达巴基斯坦首都伊斯兰堡。不过，伊朗尚未确定会否参与。

特朗普接受彭博社采访时也称，如果美伊未能达成协议，他“几乎不可能”再延长同伊朗的停火。伊朗和美国为期两周的停火将于星期三（22日）到期。

巴基斯坦外交部星期一发声明说，巴副总理兼外交部长达尔与伊朗外长阿拉格齐通话时，强调美伊双方应尽早、持续开展对话和接触，以解决所有悬而未决的问题，从而促进区域和平与稳定。

Supreme Court turns away parental rights dispute involving child’s gender transition in school

April 20, 2026 / 10:16 AM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a legal battle testing whether a public school violates parents’ rights when it encourages their child’s social gender transition without their knowledge or consent.

In rejecting the appeal from Massachusetts parents who sued their child’s school district, the high court left untouched a lower court ruling that rejected their claim that their rights had been violated. But the justices may have another opportunity to weigh in on the simmering issue of parental rights in public schools, since a similar case brought by parents in Florida is awaiting action by the high court.

The Supreme Court in October declined to take up a different court fight brought by two Colorado families. But Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, said at the time that the issue involving parents’ rights is of “great and growing national importance.”

In a case on its interim docket, the Supreme Court in March blocked a California law that prevents school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents if their child seeks to use different pronouns while litigation moves forward.

In courts across the country, a growing number of legal battles have been playing out that pit the rights of parents to direct their child’s care against policies that aim to protect students’ privacy and prevent public schools from outing transgender students to their families.

The case that the high court turned away Monday was brought by Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri, whose middle-school-aged child, identified in court papers as B.F., attended public school in Ludlow, Massachusetts.

The parents claimed the school was “pushing beliefs concerning gender ideology behind the parents’ backs and encouraging their children to question their own identity.” As a result, B.F. began to raise questions about her gender identity and started seeing a therapist, Foote and Silvestri wrote in court papers.

The parents said they informed the school that they would be getting B.F. professional help. Silvestri instructed school officials not to have private discussions with her child so they could address mental health concerns “as a family and with the proper professionals,” according to filings.

Foote and Silvestri claimed that the Ludlow School Committee, the town’s school board, rejected their request and instead began socially transitioning B.F. without their knowledge. At school, teachers began referring to the student by a different name and pronouns, and the school counselor said B.F. could choose which bathroom to use at school.

But lawyers for the school said it took those steps after the student declared in an email to school officials, “I am genderqueer,” and requested teachers use a new name and “any pronouns (other than it/its).” The parents, meanwhile, said it was the school and staff that encouraged the changes.

Foote and Silvestri alleged that the Ludlow school system has an unwritten policy under which children could decide whether to socially transition at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent. The protocol also directs staff to use a child’s legal name and pronouns based on their sex assigned at birth when communicating with parents, and a student’s preferred name and pronouns at school, they claimed.

The parents filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Ludlow School Committee and officials in 2022, alleging that the school’s actions violated their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children and to make medical and mental health decisions for them.

A federal district court dismissed the case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit upheld that decision. The 1st Circuit found that parents cannot invoke the Constitution’s Due Process Clause to “create a preferred educational experience for their child in public school.”

“The measures the Parents cite … all involve decisions by Ludlow’s staff about how to reasonably meet diverse student needs within the school setting,” the unanimous three-judge panel wrote in its February decision. “The Supreme Court has never suggested that parents have the right to control a school’s curricular or administrative decisions.”

In their appeal to the Supreme Court, lawyers for Foote and Silvestri cited a string of rulings dating back to the 1920s that reaffirm that parents have the right to make decisions about the upbringing of their children. The most recent of those decisions came last year, when the high court ruled that Maryland parents have the right to opt their elementary-aged children out of instruction involving storybooks with LGBTQ themes.

“Petitioners do not have a religious objection to their school district’s indoctrination and transition of their children without their knowledge. Theirs is a moral belief, backed by well-supported scientific opinion, that a so-called gender transition harms their children,” they wrote in a filing. “But their constitutional rights to direct the upbringing of their children remain just as fundamental.”

Foote and Silvestri are represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization.

They said that more than 1,000 school districts have adopted policies where parents are not informed about gender identity matters involving their children and said the Supreme Court must clarify for lower courts that nonreligious parents “do not relinquish their parental rights when they enroll their child in a public school.”

“Our Constitution’s guarantee of parental rights in a pluralistic society rings hollow for millions of Americans if it offers no protection to nonreligious parents whose children are encouraged to social transition by their public school without their parents’ notice or consent — or over their parents’ vociferous objections,” the parents’ lawyers said.

But the school board and local officials said in a Supreme Court filing that the policy at heart of the case doesn’t exist. Instead, they said school officials attempted to implement state policies and guidance in response to requests from B.F. about the student’s preferred name and pronouns.

That guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education states that “some transgender and gender nonconforming students are not openly so at home for reasons such as safety concerns or lack of acceptance.”

It also encourages school employees to speak with the student first before discussing gender identity or transgender status with their parents, as well as to discuss with the child how the school should refer to them in communication with their family.

美媒：特朗普称若谈判有进展 他愿与伊朗领导人会面

2026年4月20日 / 联合早报

4月6日，特朗普在白宫举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。 （路透社）

美国总统特朗普称，若谈判取得突破性进展，他愿同伊朗高级别领导人会面。

特朗普星期一（4月20日）告诉福克斯新闻称，伊朗核协议将于“今天”在巴基斯坦签署。

报道也称，美国副总统万斯率领的代表团，将“在数小时内”抵达巴基斯坦首都伊斯兰堡。不过，伊朗尚未确定会否参与。

特朗普接受彭博社采访时也称，如果美伊未能达成协议，他“几乎不可能”再延长同伊朗的停火。伊朗和美国为期两周的停火将于星期三（22日）到期。

巴基斯坦外交部星期一发声明说，巴副总理兼外交部长达尔与伊朗外长阿拉格齐通话时，强调美伊双方应尽早、持续开展对话和接触，以解决所有悬而未决的问题，从而促进区域和平与稳定。

以色列总理内坦亚胡（左）是美国总统特朗普的盟友，此前传出他影响特朗普作出攻打伊朗的决定。 （路透社档案照片）

美国总统特朗普说，以色列并未说服他攻击伊朗，似乎是在反驳此前传出以色列总理内坦亚胡影响他作出决定的报道。

路透社报道，特朗普星期一（4月20日）在Truth Social社媒发文写道：“以色列从未说服我发动对伊朗的战争，10月7日（哈马斯袭击以色列）的结果更加坚定我毕生的观点，即伊朗永远不能拥有核武器。”

特朗普也说：“如果伊朗的新领导人足够聪明，伊朗就能拥有一个伟大而繁荣的未来！”

Wall Street regulators jointly propose to trim Biden-era private fund reporting rules

2026-04-20 2:55 PM UTC / Reuters

By Reuters

April 20, 2026 2:55 PM UTC Updated 26 mins ago

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People walk along Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange July 13, 2007. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES)/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday jointly proposed reforms to Biden-era regulations on enhanced disclosures by the $26 trillion private fund industry, the agencies announced.

The SEC said the changes, if adopted, would reduce burdens on the private funds and investment advisers while still requiring the collection of “necessary and appropriate” information.

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“A key pillar of my agenda is restoring balance to disclosure obligations and reducing the cost of compliance wherever possible,” SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a statement.

Despite Republican objections, under former President Joe Biden, the SEC and CFTC jointly required hedge funds, private equity and others to report exposures to investments, counterparties and currencies as well as exposures to countries and industries, the performance of investments by strategy and the liquidity of portfolios, among other things. They said these rules were necessary to detect risk in the financial system.

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Republican SEC and CFTC members said at the time that the rules were excessive and could jeopardize sensitive confidential data. There are currently no Democrats appointed to either commission. And, since taking control last year, the Trump administration has repeatedly pushed back, opens new tab the effective date for the rules to allow officials time to adopt modifications.

The changes proposed on Monday would reduce the number of firms required to make such disclosures by lifting a qualifying threshold for smaller advisers from $150 million in assets under management to $1 billion and, for “large” hedge fund advisers, from $1.5 billion to $10 billion.

These changes would still capture 90% of assets under management, according to the SEC.

The proposal will be subject to a 60-day public comment period before any decision on a final version by the agencies.

Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

United Airlines merger with American Airlines would hurt consumers, senators say

April 20, 2026 / 11:48 AM EDT / CBS News
By Mary Cunningham

Two lawmakers are speaking out against a potential merger between United Airlines and American Airlines, saying a deal would weaken industry competition and harm consumers.

“If United and American were to merge, airlines would face less pressure from rivals to keep the cost of flying down, and airlines across the industry could raise ticket prices and fees even higher,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said in an April 19 letter to United CEO Scott Kirby and American CEO Robert Isom.

The letter, which Warren’s office shared with CBS News, comes less than a week after Kirby floated the idea of a possible merger between the two carriers.

Combining United and American would also “hurt smaller airlines’ ability to compete for critical gate access” and reduce wages for airline workers by reducing the number of employers bidding for their labor, the senators wrote.

In their letter, Warren and Lee also asked the two airlines’ chief executives to indicate by May 3 if they have discussed a deal and to detail how a merger could potentially affect American consumers.

United declined to comment on the lawmakers’ letter, while American did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kirby brought up a potential United-American tie-up with Trump administration officials last week, according to sources familiar with the situation.

But American has dismissed the idea, saying in a statement on Friday that it is “not engaged with or interested in any discussions regarding a merger with United Airlines.”

A merger would be “negative for competition and for consumers,” American added.

— CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave contributed to this story

Edited by Alain Sherter

以色列总理内坦亚胡（左）是美国总统特朗普的盟友，此前传出他影响特朗普作出攻打伊朗的决定。 （路透社档案照片）

美国总统特朗普说，以色列并未说服他攻击伊朗，似乎是在反驳此前传出以色列总理内坦亚胡影响他作出决定的报道。

路透社报道，特朗普星期一（4月20日）在Truth Social社媒发文写道：“以色列从未说服我发动对伊朗的战争，10月7日（哈马斯袭击以色列）的结果更加坚定我毕生的观点，即伊朗永远不能拥有核武器。”

特朗普也说：“如果伊朗的新领导人足够聪明，伊朗就能拥有一个伟大而繁荣的未来！”

Lawmakers demand answers as scientists tied to US secrets die or vanish

2026-04-20T10:00:50-04:00 / Fox News

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

Published April 20, 2026 10:00am EDT

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393463815112

FBI probes mysterious disappearances, deaths of US scientists

FBI investigates mysterious deaths and disappearances of scientists working on nuclear and space research. Chris Swecker, a former assistant director for the FBI, discusses what he considers the ‘common denominator’ in the cases and more.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

House Republicans are pressing multiple federal agencies for answers about reports that at least 10 individuals tied to sensitive U.S. nuclear and aerospace programs have died or disappeared in recent years, with lawmakers pointing to public reporting that raises questions about a possible “sinister connection” between the cases.

In letters sent Monday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Subcommittee Chairman Eric Burlison, R-Mo., request briefings from the FBI, Department of Energy, NASA and Department of War, citing what they describe as “unconfirmed public reporting” surrounding the incidents.

The lawmakers say the reports involve individuals with connections to “U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology” who have died or mysteriously vanished, and are seeking to determine whether any broader national security risk exists.

“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” Comer and Burlison wrote.

An FBI spokesperson told Fox News Digital in response: “The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and state and local law enforcement partners to find answers.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., pictured here, and Subcommittee Chairman Eric Burlison, R-Mo., requested briefings from the FBI, Department of Energy, NASA and Department of War.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

MISSING RETIRED AIR FORCE GENERAL CONSULTED ON UFOS FOR BLINK-182’S TOM DELONGE

In response to earlier outreach, the War Department said there are “no active national security investigations” involving any current or former personnel tied to the reported cases.

The White House has acknowledged the issue but has not confirmed any connection between the incidents.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt recently said officials are working with relevant agencies to gather more information, while President Donald Trump told reporters he had “just left a meeting” on the matter, calling it “pretty serious stuff” and indicating answers could come soon.

The letters cite several individuals whose deaths or disappearances have drawn public attention, including former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Michael David Hicks, who died in 2023.

COMER WARNS ‘SOMETHING SINISTER’ MAY BE BEHIND DEATHS, DISAPPEARANCES OF 11 NUCLEAR, SPACE-LINKED SCIENTISTS

Among the more recent cases, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William “Neil” McCasland disappeared from his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home in February. Authorities said he left behind personal items but took his wallet and a firearm, and he has not been located.

NASA materials engineer Monica Reza, who served as director of the Materials Processing Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also remains missing after disappearing during a hike in California in June 2025.

NASA materials engineer Monica Reza, who served as director of the Materials Processing Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also remains missing after disappearing during a hike in California in June 2025.(Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)

Jason Thomas, left, Melissa Casias, center, and Frank Maiwald are among scientists whose deaths or disappearances have drawn scrutiny as officials review whether any cases are connected.(Fox News: Sierra Casias: Legacy.com)

The cases cited in public reporting span a range of circumstances, including disappearances, confirmed homicides and deaths where no foul play has been identified. Authorities have not indicated that the incidents are linked.

Lawmakers also referenced reports suggesting a possible professional connection between some of the individuals through past Air Force–funded research programs involving advanced materials for space and weapons systems, though no confirmed link between the cases has been established.

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Comer and Burlison said the situation warrants further review, requesting staff-level briefings from the agencies by April 27 on any information they have regarding the individuals, as well as the procedures in place to protect sensitive scientific personnel and classified research.

The inquiry spans agencies responsible for nuclear weapons infrastructure, advanced military research, federal law enforcement and space exploration — a wide-ranging effort to determine whether any risk to U.S. national security or personnel connected to advanced research programs exists.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the departments that received letters for comment.