WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
US deportations, mental health diagnoses, and a royal comeback in Nepal

 
today's international story

US deports Venezuelans in defiance of court order

What happened
The Trump administration has sent more than 200 Venezuelans accused of being gang members to a prison in El Salvador, even as a US judge moved to block their removal.

Who said what
"Oopsie ... too late", posted El Salvador's hardline president Nayib Bukele on social media, mocking a US federal judge's order preventing the deportations.

In a separate post Bukele claimed that 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the international MS-13 gang had now arrived in El Saldavor, but "neither the US government or El Salvador has identified the detainees, nor provided details of their alleged criminality or gang membership", said the BBC.

Judge James E. Boasberg of the Federal District Court had said there were serious legal questions about Donald Trump's rationale for invoking rarely used wartime powers from 1798 that were intended to resist a foreign invasion. That law "has been used only three times in American history", said Politico, but the administration deployed it by labelling Tren de Aragua the "equivalent of a foreign government".

What next?
"The precise timing of the flights to El Salvador is important," said The New York Times. If they left after Judge Boasberg moved to block the deportations it "raises questions about whether the Trump administration ignored an explicit court order".

If the administration was found to have defied a court order, violators could be held in either civil or criminal contempt, Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor, told CNN.

 
 
today's politics story

Streeting faces criticism for mental 'overdiagnosis' claim

What happened
Experts have warned against stigmatising people after Wes Streeting said there was an "overdiagnosis" of some mental health conditions.

Who said what
There are "too many people being written off" from work due to mental health issues, said the health secretary as he was questioned about the government's welfare measures yesterday, including planned reforms aimed at cutting the benefits bill.

Following the comments, mental health charity Mind warned that it was important to be "extremely careful" with the language around diagnoses to avoid stigmatising those with mental health problems. Robert Howard, a professor of old age psychiatry at University College London, said "punishing" people would not get them back to work.

What next?
More than half of the increase in working-age disability claims since the Covid pandemic stems from mental health or behavioural conditions, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The government now plans to tighten the eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payments, the primary benefit for working-age adults.

 
 
Today's football story

Newcastle wins its first domestic trophy in 70 years

What happened
Newcastle United has ended a 70-year domestic silverware drought, beating holder Liverpool 2-1 to claim the Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium yesterday.

Who said what
Magpies captain Bruno Guimaraes hailed the victory as "like the World Cup". 

For Newcastle, "the years of anguish, hurt, sometimes humiliation and not a little desperation are finally over", said Jason Burt in The Telegraph. The win has been a long time in the making, said The Independent. The club's previous trophy triumph at Wembley – the 1955 FA Cup – "came a few weeks after Winston Churchill had stood down as prime minister".

What next?
One of the basic missions of Newcastle since the takeover by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has been "to adopt the persona and mindset of a big club as the first step towards actualising the vision", said Jonathan Liew in The Guardian. "For decades this is a club who have defined themselves against the footballing establishment. This may just have been the day they joined it."

 
 

It's not all bad

Scientists are exploring whether animal dung could help preserve endangered species by capturing genetic diversity. Dubbed the "poo zoo", an Oxford University project is extracting living cells shed in faeces that could be used to study populations, grow reproductive cells, or even clone animals. By creating sperm and eggs from the cells found in animal excrement, scientists could potentially breed animals without needing live donors, helping to maintain genetic diversity in threatened species. Researchers have already isolated live cells from elephant and mouse dung.

 
 
under the radar

Why Nepal wants to see the return of the king

Almost 17 years ago, Nepal's King Gyanendra Shah "bowed to the inevitable" and stepped down from the throne, handing over a crown made of "yak's hair and emeralds", said The Times.

After "widespread protests" against his authoritarian rule, Gyanendra fled the royal palace to "live the life of a commoner". But now the king has returned to the Himalayan nation – and to a hero's welcome. He arrived in Kathmandu on 9 March and was greeted by crowds of thousands – some of whom had taken part in the protests against him – demanding the "immediate restoration" of the monarchy amid growing frustration over poverty and corruption.

"Vacate the royal palace for the king," the crowds chanted. "Come back king, save the country."

Many Nepalis are increasingly "frustrated" with their current governance, said The Associated Press. The republic that followed the expulsion of the king has "failed to bring about political stability" – Nepal has had 13 governments since the monarchy was abolished – and they blame this for the struggling economy and "widespread corruption".

On social media there has been "a surge of pro-monarchy posts and videos", said the Nepali Times.  Monarchists are using these to "fan nostalgia of the golden age of royalty", with former kings "glorified" as nationalists who "upheld Nepal's sovereignty" and "commanded respect worldwide". They believe "public disillusionment" with the country's leaders is "at breaking point".

Young Nepalis are "attracted to the idea of reinstating the monarchy as a form of anti-incumbent protest", added the news site, "but also because they have little to no memory of living under an authoritarian absolute monarchy".

 
 
on this day

17 March 1921

British activist Marie Stopes and her second husband Humphrey Roe opened England's first birth control clinic in London, which was free and open to all married women. The Edinburgh-born scientist has long been celebrated as a pioneer for reproductive rights, but her legacy has become increasingly contentious due to her advocacy for eugenics.

 
 
Today's newspapers

"Black and white, for Reds all over" is The Guardian's headline, splashing on Newcastle's Carabao Cup victory over Liverpool yesterday. British troops could be kept in Ukraine "for years to come", says The Times. Meanwhile, four in ten Gen Z workers are considering quitting to live on benefits, says The Telegraph. Poor mental health was the most frequent reason given by under-25s for wanting to drop out of employment, said the Daily Mail.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Cold-blooded robbery

Police in the town of Denmark, Tennessee are hunting the gang behind a "hold-up" involving unusual weapons – two pythons. Cashier Mayur Raval said four men made off with about $400 (£310) of CBD oil after walking into the petrol station forecourt brandishing the snakes. "They were just waving them around and putting them on the counter," he told local news station WREG. Last year a Tennessee petrol station was robbed by a man with a five-foot snake around his neck.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Rebecca Messina, Harriet Marsden, Ross Couzens, and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: El Salvador Presidency / Handout / Anadolu / Getty Images; Rasid Necati Aslim / Anadolu / Getty Images; Serena Taylor / Newcastle United / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.