Important Takeaways:
- Mexico is warning a federal US court that if its judges permit a controversial Texas immigration law to take effect, the two nations would experience “substantial tension” that would have far-reaching consequences for US-Mexico relations.
- “Enforcement of SB 4 would also interfere with Mexico’s right to determine its own policies regarding entry into its territory, undermine U.S.-Mexico collaboration on a legal migration framework and border management, and hinder U.S.-Mexico trade”
- Signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in December, the law makes entering Texas illegally a state crime and allows state judges to order immigrants to be deported.
- Mexico said it was backing the law’s challengers, which include the Biden administration.
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Important Takeaways:
- Christian TV evangelicals fire up Trump support with messianic message
- “This is really a battle between good and evil,” evangelical TV preacher Hank Kunneman says of the slew of criminal charges facing Donald Trump. “There’s something on President Trump that the enemy fears: It’s called the anointing.”
- Voices in Christian media are pressing message of Biblical proportions: The 2024 presidential race is a fight for America’s soul, and a persecuted Trump has God’s protection.
- “They’re just trying to bankrupt him. They’re trying to take everything he’s got. They’re trying to put him in prison,” Lance Wallnau said in October on “The Jim Bakker Show”, an hour-long daily broadcast that focuses on news and revelation about the end times. “The hand of God is on him and he cannot be stopped.”
- Some Christian media are bolstering his support by portraying him as an instrument of God’s will who faces persecution by his foes.
- The roughly 80 million Americans who describe themselves as born-again or evangelical Protestants – about a quarter of the population – have provided the bedrock for his meteoric rise, and their turnout levels this November could prove critical in a tight contest against Democratic rival Joe Biden.
- Many Christian voters credit Trump with a series of policy victories, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn the constitutional right to abortion after he appointed three conservative justices to the court, plus the moving of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
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Important Takeaways:
- World stalls on a promised intervention for Haiti
- A woman hustles her young child into a waiting car as she shields his eyes. They’re fleeing anarchy.
- The reason lies in the street before their house: A burned corpse; the remains of a suspected gang member killed by their neighbors.
- His knees are bent and torso pitched forward as if in supplication, metal wires wrapped around the charred flesh.
- Now even the holdouts are leaving amid an unprecedented frenzy of terror in the Caribbean nation.
- Human remains are lying in the streets, yet the multinational security mission long touted by Haiti’s neighbors as a game-changer for its gang problem is nowhere to be found.
- “We are ready for (the) multinational support force,” Baptiste said. “We’re ready to work with them. But the plan to receive the mission is not laid out; we think the mission will fail like the others because there is no framework to work together.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia and China on Friday vetoed a U.S. draft UN Security Council resolution which called for an “immediate and sustained ceasefire” in Gaza along with “the release of all remaining hostages” held by Hamas.
- This was the fourth time since the war began in October that the Security Council failed to agree on a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
- This time, the dispute was over the U.S. insistence on linking the ceasefire call to a hostage deal and condemnation of Hamas, rather than the unconditional ceasefire resolution demanded by Russia and China.
- S. and Israeli officials said the Biden administration had been working for weeks on mobilizing support for its draft resolution.
- In order to garner more votes, the U.S. strengthened the paragraph in the draft resolution that referred to the ceasefire.
- The U.S. draft resolution also included strong language expressing concern about a possible Israeli ground offensive in Rafah.
- The Security Council is expected to vote on an alternative resolution put forward by eight member states, calling for an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan to lead to a permanent ceasefire.
- The U.S. is expected to veto.
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Important Takeaways:
- Four months after Israeli troops first stormed Gaza’s biggest hospital, al-Shifa, claiming it was a cover for a Hamas command and control center, they have returned.
- The Israeli military said it had “concrete intelligence” that Hamas operatives had regrouped there
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) now claim to have killed “over 140 terrorists” in ongoing fighting at al-Shifa and to have made some 600 arrests, including dozens of top Hamas commanders as well as some from Islamic Jihad.
- Israeli reports suggest that in recent weeks the army found that senior Hamas figures had resumed operations at al-Shifa and that some even took their families to the hospital.
- The IDF says it uncovered arms caches and a large quantity of cash at the site.
- Israeli media have suggested the operation at Shifa Hospital could last for several days. It is not being linked to the military operation in Rafah which Israel insists it must carry out to win the war with Hamas.
- “It’s going to happen. And it will happen even if Israel is forced to fight alone,” the Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia issues chilling four-word warning to NATO country over £2.14bn project
- Russia has reacted with blistering remarks to reports Romania is working at what is set to become the NATO alliance’s largest military base in Europe. One of the most chilling warnings coming from Russia in response to the base was voiced by a senator and vice president of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Council of the Russian Federation, Andrey Klimov – who branded the Western military alliance the “NATO suicide club”.
- The politician claimed this multi-billion project represents a “threat” to Bucharest and, the closest it is to Russian borders, the “more likely it is to be among the first targets for retaliatory strikes”.
- He added: “If the Romanians like it, it’s their business, of course, but the NATO suicide club drags ordinary civilians into such adventures that can end very badly for their families and children. I’m not trying to scare anyone; I’m just reasoning logically. There won’t be any benefit for Romania from this and there will be more threats.”
- In a four-word warning, he concluded: “This is a fact.”
- The £2.14billion project will see the expansion of the Romanian Air Force 57th Air Base Mihail Kogălniceanu, located close to the Black Sea port city of Constanța.
- The new massive base, with a perimeter of almost 20 miles, will bolster the eastern flank of the transatlantic alliance and will become the home of around 10,000 NATO personnel and their families.
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Important Takeaways:
- Emergency Management shares info, recommendations ahead of eclipse
- As we get closer to the upcoming solar eclipse, the state government is reminding people to prepare for the event.
- In a planning notice on the state government’s website, the state said the eclipse will visit Oklahoma on April 8, 2024 at 1:44 p.m., with the final exit of the Moon’s shadow from the state at 1:51 p.m.
- Due to being in the path of totality, state agencies are expecting a surge of tourists. The Department of Emergency Management says anywhere from 17,000 to 66,000 visitors are expected.
- The path of totality will stretch across southeastern Oklahoma. The path will completely cover McCurtain County, where the Oklahoma National Guard announced they will assist.
- To prepare for the eclipse, the state laid out some tips to plan ahead.
- Oklahomans should schedule errands and appointments a few days in advance before the eclipse as well as stock up on gas and groceries. The state also recommends having multiple forms of communication besides cellular, being careful on the road and staying updated on weather conditions.
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Important Takeaways:
- Map Shows Warnings for People to Stock Up on Food Ahead of Solar Eclipse
- Texas officials have issued a slew of warnings, including that people living within the path of totality should stock up on groceries and gas and run any errands—such as filling prescriptions—in the days before the eclipse. One official also urged pet owners to stock up on supplies for their animals.
- A webpage dedicated to solar eclipse preparation for southeastern Oklahoma said that several state agencies are preparing for the eclipse.
- Officials in Ohio have said that traffic delays are inevitable, according to News 5 Cleveland. The Ohio Department of Transportation is urging Ohio residents to fill their cars with gas and keep snacks and water handy in case of long delays
- Up to 1 million people are expected to travel to Indiana to view the eclipse, according to Indianapolis news station WTHR, and state police are urging residents to prepare for overwhelming traffic. State officials suggest keeping cell phones charged, stocking up on essentials and filling cars with gas ahead of the eclipse.
- The State of New York is urging residents and visitors to “plan to stay in one place for the day,” as traffic was expected to be overwhelming.
- The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. was on August 21, 2017. The next one will not occur in North America until 2044.
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Important Takeaways:
- World on the brink as Taiwan admits US troops are now stationed on Chinese border
- American troops are to be permanently stationed in Taiwan, according to Taipei, a huge move that will likely send tensions with China soaring as its president Xi Jinping covets the island.
- According to reports from Taiwan’s United Daily News (UDN), US Army Green Berets from the 1st Special Forces Group are now permanently stationed at bases of the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, a Taiwanese army special operations force, located in outlying island counties of Penghu and Kinmen. Notably, Kinmen lies just over a mile from Chinese shores.
- Additionally, reports suggest an American military presence in the northeast city of Taoyuan on Taiwan’s main island, with service members providing specialized training on drone equipment for Taiwan’s elite Airborne Special Service Company.
- Both the US Army and Chinese Foreign Ministry have yet to comment on these developments.
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Important Takeaways:
- Houthi Cruise Missile Hits Israel in Ominous First
- Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for a cruise missile launched from the Red Sea which landed near Eilat, in what marks the first time a projectile fired from the Iranian-backed group has struck Israel’s territory.
- The Iran-aligned militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles at international commercial shipping in the region since November, in what they say is in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel’s military assault in Gaza.
- Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday it had tracked a “suspicious aerial target” which it confirmed was a cruise missile, The Times of Israel reported. No damage or injuries were caused and Newsweek has contacted the IDF for comment.
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