Important Takeaways:
- Heavily armed gangs tried to seize control of Haiti’s main international airport on Monday, exchanging gunfire with police and soldiers in the latest attack on key government sites in an explosion of violence that includes a mass escape from the country’s two biggest prisons.
- The Toussaint Louverture International Airport was closed when the attack occurred, with no planes operating and no passengers on site.
- Associated Press journalists saw an armored truck on the tarmac shooting at gangs to try and prevent them from entering airport grounds as scores of employees and other workers fled from whizzing bullets.
- The surge in attacks follows violent protests that turned deadlier in recent days as the prime minister went to Kenya seeking to move ahead on the proposed U.N.-backed security mission to be led by that East African country.
- Henry took over as prime minister following Moise’s assassination and has postponed plans to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, which haven’t happened in almost a decade.
- Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who now runs a gang federation, has claimed responsibility for the surge in attacks. He said the goal is to capture Haiti’s police chief and government ministers and prevent Henry’s return.
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Important Takeaways:
- Haiti orders curfew after gangs overrun its two largest prisons, free thousands of inmates
- Authorities in Haiti have ordered a nighttime curfew after an explosion of violence in which gang gunmen overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend.
- A 72-hour state of emergency began Sunday night. The government said it would set out to find the killers, kidnappers and other criminals who fled.
- “The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend all offenders,” said a statement from Finance Minister Patrick Boivert, the acting prime minister.
- Gangs already were estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince, the capital. They are increasingly coordinating their actions and choosing once unthinkable targets like the Central Bank.
- Haiti’s National Police has roughly 9,000 officers to provide security for more than 11 million people, according to the U.N. They are routinely overwhelmed and outgunned
- But the attack on the National Penitentiary late Saturday shocked Haitians who are accustomed to living under the constant threat of violence.
- Almost all of the estimated 4,000 inmates escaped.
- A second Port-au-Prince prison containing around 1,400 inmates was also overrun.
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Important Takeaways:
- Hamas, Islamic Jihad Call for ‘Terror’ During Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan
- Leaders of the major Palestinian terror groups have called for Arab states and the Muslim world to engage in “terror” during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan — even as the Biden administration aims for a Ramadan truce in Gaza.
- Jerusalem Post:
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad is calling for Ramadan to be a “month of terror” and seeks to escalate attacks in the West Bank and Gaza. In a recent speech, Abu Hamza, the spokesman for PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades, said he wants Arab countries in the region and pro-Iranian groups to continue to “unify” various arenas and fronts against Israel.
- This is the latest indication that terrorist groups plan to seek an escalation in hostilities over the next month. Hamza’s remarks were published by Beirut-based Al Mayadeen news channel, which is pro-Iranian and frequently highlights Hamas and Hezbollah attacks.
- The terrorist group’s comments are also linked to those made by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who has called for an escalation of hostilities during Ramadan.
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“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.” ~Thomas Jefferson
Important Takeaways:
- Forget the millions of migrants who have crossed the southern border illegally. A new report shows the Biden administration has flown hundreds of thousands of migrants from foreign countries directly into the U.S. on flights using an app.
- Former Head of Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan said;
- “It’s unconscionable but this is the shell game we’ve been talking about. This is what they’ve done, this administration. They’ve made a deal with migrants from all over the world,” he said. “They said, if you were framed from illegally entering along the southern border in between the ports of entry, what we’ll do is we’ll let you fill out a couple of lines of paperwork online and we’ll let you fly into 43 different airports in the United States who will process and release you. So it’s absolutely to cover up bad political optics.”
- The Center for Immigration Studies found last year from January 2023 to December 2023, at least 320,000 illegal immigrants were allowed to fly into the U.S. from their home country through a controversial program of the Biden administration using the Customs and Border Patrol app, the CBP One app that was created to let migrants apply for parole into the US.
- The Parole program allows for two-year periods of legal status during which adults are eligible for work authorization
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“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.” ~Thomas Jefferson
Important Takeaways:
- Supreme Court rules states can’t remove Trump from presidential election ballot
- The Supreme Court on Monday tossed out a Colorado court ruling that barred Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot.
- The ruling means that no other state can bar Trump, or any other candidate, from a presidential ballot by invoking the insurrection clause in the Constitution.
- Colorado was the first of three states to block Trump from a primary ballot due to his alleged incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, which disrupted the confirmation of the Electoral College victory of President Joe Biden.
- The U.S. Constitution says “no person” can serve as an officer of the United States who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. after taking an oath of federal office.
- Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative, in her own concurring opinion, agreed with the three liberals that the case did not require the Supreme Court to rule that only congressional legislation could enforce the insurrection clause.
- But Barrett added that, “In my judgment, this is not the time to amplify disagreement with stridency.”
- “For present purposes, our differences are far less important than our unanimity: All nine Justices agree on the outcome of this case. That is the message Americans should take home.”
- Monday’s ruling reverses decisions by two other states, Maine and Illinois, which acted after the Colorado Supreme Court, to bar Trump from their primary ballots.
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Important Takeaways:
- Report finds 52% of recent college grads working in fast food, retail and other ‘underemployed’ jobs
- Americans have long viewed a four-year college degree as essential to financial success, but a report finds that most graduates can’t find a job requiring a degree within a year of commencement.
- The nonprofit Strada Institute for the Future of Work and the Burning Glass Institute reported this month that 52% of graduates were “underemployed” in food service, hospitality, retail sales, office administration and other fields a year after earning a bachelor’s degree. The study analyzed federal statistics, job postings and online resumes of more than 60 million U.S. workers.
- Ten years after graduation, 45% still didn’t hold a job requiring college-level skills. By contrast, 79% of graduates who started their careers with college-level jobs still had such work five years later.
- Liberal arts and humanities majors struggled the most, but the report found that biology, physics, psychology and communications majors also failed to secure related positions.
- The Indianapolis-based Strada Education Foundation said the findings “show that a college degree is not always a guarantee of labor market success.”
- Several economists, workforce analysts and higher education leaders interviewed by The Washington Times agreed. They said the numbers underline a growing disconnect between what colleges teach and what employers need in a tight labor market.
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Important Takeaways:
- Americans’ cost of living remains a massive headache, even as recession fears fade
- The long-rumored recession has been postponed – or perhaps canceled altogether.
- And yet, hidden behind these boomy-economic indicators, a frustrating reality persists: Life is far too expensive for far too many.
- From the historically unaffordable housing market and budget-breaking day care rates to high car prices, the United States has a cost of living problem many years in the making.
- Parents of young children are making difficult choices to afford child care — or they’re opting to evade it by dropping out of the workforce altogether.
- Parents are also struggling to buy bigger cars to haul around their growing families while simultaneously socking away some money in college savings plans.
- For too many, the American Dream feels like an illusion.
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Important Takeaways:
- Texas Wildfire Causes ‘Catastrophic Losses’ to Cattle Herds: ‘Farmers & Ranchers Are Losing Everything’
- The devastating impact of the Texas wildfires is beginning to emerge as the cattle industry braces for historic losses.
- One of several wildfires raging in the Texas Panhandle has now grown to become the largest in state history.
- The Smokehouse Creek fire has been burning since Monday and has so far destroyed over one million acres of land in Texas alone.
- However, emergency crews have made little progress in containing it.
- It has so far torched the most land than any other recorded wildfire in the history of the state.
- The same blaze has also destroyed 31,500 acres in Oklahoma, according to CNN.
- Two people have died so far in the fires.
- Ranchers have lost thousands of livestock with many more likely to be euthanized.
- Many homes and other buildings have been lost to the flames, as well.
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Important Takeaways:
- Series of earthquakes hit off Northern California coast about 170 miles west of Eureka
- Aftershocks were reported off the Northern California coast early Thursday morning, hours after a 4.1-magnitude earthquake occurred in the same waters, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
- The initial tremor with a depth of more than six miles was recorded around 11:42 p.m. Wednesday, centered over 170 miles west northwest of the coastal city of Eureka, according to the science bureau.
- At approximately 2:26 a.m. Thursday, a 3.5-magnitude quake occurred more than 168 miles west of Eureka. Two minutes later, a 4.9-magnitude quake was logged 162 miles west of the city, the USGS said.
- Twenty minutes later, a 4.5-magnitude tremor was reported again, this time at least 171 miles west of the city.
- No damage has been reported in connection with the quakes.
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Important Takeaways:
- Firefighters battling ‘monster’ Texas wildfire contend with strong winds and heat as residents grapple with lost homes
- The biggest inferno in Texas history is being fueled by winds and high temperatures as it rages Sunday, threatening to incinerate more buildings, cattle and livelihoods across the Texas Panhandle while residents sift through ashes of what used to be homes.
- Critical fire weather conditions were expected to continue Sunday in the area, with strengthening winds gusting to 50 mph and dry conditions combining to set the stage for rapid wildfire spread, the National Weather Service warned.
- The Smokehouse Creek Fire has been burning for nearly a week and has torched more than 1 million acres in Texas alone, making it the largest fire on record in the state – and it is only 15% contained.
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