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| Good morning. It’s Thursday, April 9, and becoming a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S. has just gotten easier for Americans. Check whether you fit the criteria here. Now let’s catch up.  | The U.S. is struggling to hold together a ceasefire with Iran. | | | Israel continued strikes in Lebanon yesterday, saying the truce would not stop its offensive against Hezbollah. (Hassan Ammar/AP) | |
 |  | The CDC has delayed publishing a report showing the benefits of covid vaccines. | - The report’s key findings: It said that, last winter, the vaccine cut the likelihood of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for healthy adults by about half.
- The acting CDC director delayed its publication: Some officials fear that the findings are being downplayed because of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s views.
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 | Pam Bondi will not testify in Congress about the Epstein files, officials said. | - Why? Officials cited President Donald Trump’s decision to fire her as attorney general last week. She had been scheduled to testify next week, and she might not be off the hook yet.
- In other administration news: A $70 million plane acquired under former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem can be used by other officials, a spokesperson said yesterday.
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 | The Gilgo Beach murder suspect admitted to killing eight women. | | | Attorney Gloria Allred, center left, walks to the courtroom alongside family members of the victims. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP) | - Yesterday in New York: Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty to killing and dismembering seven women between 1993 and 2010. He said he also killed an eighth woman.
- What now? Heuermann, who is 62 and was arrested in 2023, is expected to face three consecutive life sentences as well as an additional 100 years behind bars.
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 | The Supreme Court remade by Trump has ushered in historic defeats for civil rights. | - A new era of partisanship: Trump’s picks — Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — have pushed the court to the right in several key areas of the law.
- The Post examined 270 decisions: We found that this court is the first since at least the 1950s to reject civil rights claims in a majority of cases involving women and minorities.
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 | A simple detox could erase 10 years of social media brain damage. | | | In a study, the effect of a short social media break was akin to reversing 10 years of age-related cognitive decline. (Emma Kumer/The Washington Post) | - The problem: The average American spends 4½ to 5 hours on their phone each day, surveys show. Research suggests heavy use could affect your attention and memory.
- But you can do something about it: In a study, participants used an app to block internet access on their phones for 14 days. Scientists were amazed by the results.
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 | A tiny experiment is taking place on Artemis II’s trip around the moon. | | | These organ-on-a-chip devices are being used to study the effects of increased radiation and microgravity on human health. (Emulate/NASA) | - How? Four chips containing the astronauts’ bone marrow cells joined them on their voyage. Those chips will be compared with a matching set that stayed on Earth.
- Why? NASA hopes the chips will reveal more about the health impacts of space travel. The findings could help the agency in its quest to send humans to live in deep space.
Before you go … millions of Americans are taking weight-loss drugs: But they don’t work for everyone — here’s why. Plus:
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Hannah Jewell and 
