“South Sudan is on the brink of a renewed civil war as violence between rival factions escalates, the United Nations has warned. The situation in the country is ‘dire’ said Nicholas Haysom, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), late on Monday, as tension between forces allied with President Salva Kiir and those of Vice President Riek Machar continues to build. … South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, fell into a bloody civil war soon after gaining independence in 2011, as forces aligned with Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fought those loyal to Machar, an ethnic Nuer. The conflict killed more than 40,000 people before a 2018 peace deal saw the pair form a government of national unity. However, tension has flared once more.” (03/25/25)
“An Israeli strike Tuesday in southwestern Syria killed at least six people as Israeli troops occupying the area clashed with local residents, Syria’s Foreign Ministry and a war monitor reported. Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said troops fired back at gunmen who attacked them, before launching a drone attack. The Syrian ministry said the six killed were civilians. Syrian state-run news agency SANA said that several people were wounded, including a woman. The report said Israeli tanks in the southwestern village of Koayiah also fired several rounds. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at seven.” (03/25/25)
“U.S. consumer confidence fell for the fourth straight month as Americans’ anxiety about their financial futures declined to a 12-year low amid rising concern over tariffs and inflation. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 7.2 points in March to 92.9. Analysts were expecting a decline to a reading of 94.5, according to a survey by FactSet. The Conference Board’s report Tuesday said that the measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell 9.6 points to 65.2. It is the lowest reading in 12 years and well below the threshold of 80, which the Conference Board says can signal a potential recession in the near future. However, the proportion of consumers anticipating a recession in the next year held steady at a nine-month high, the board reported.” (03/25/25)
“The U.S. Supreme Court has declined a petition to revive the nearly decade-old case initially filed in Oregon by youth climate activists who have struggled to get their federal case against the government to trial. The petition effectively brings an end to the youth-led legal battle initiated by 21 young people who sued the federal government in Eugene in 2015. They asserted a constitutional right to a sustainable climate and wanted a judge to order the United States to prepare an energy plan that transitioned the nation away from fossil fuels. Their petition to the nation’s highest court sought to have the U.S. Supreme Court throw out a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that directed U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene to dismiss the case.” (03/25/25)
“Pope Francis came so close to death at one point during his 38-day fight in hospital against pneumonia that his doctors considered ending treatment so he could die in peace, the head of the pope’s medical team said. After a breathing crisis on February 28 that involved Francis nearly choking on his vomit, ‘there was a real risk he might not make it,’ said Sergio Alfieri, a physician at Rome’s Gemelli hospital. ‘We had to choose if we would stop there and let him go, or to go forward and push it with all the drugs and therapies possible, running the highest risk of damaging his other organs,’ Alfieri told, opens new tab Italy’s Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Tuesday. ‘In the end, we took this path,’ he said. Francis, 88, returned to the Vatican on Sunday after the most serious health crisis of his 12-year papacy.” (03/25/25)
“Police have arrested a Sydney author on child abuse material charges following global outrage over her book entitled: ‘Daddy’s Little Toy.’ Christian charity marketing executive Lauren Tesolin-Mastrosa, who writes erotic fiction under the pen name ‘Tori Woods,’ caused an online furore following the release of her latest novel, which outlines the relationship between an 18-year-old and her father’s friend. Readers said that in the book, whose cover features children’s building blocks, the man speaks about how he has desired the teen since she was three years old. ‘About 12:30 pm [on Friday] detectives attended a home on Penn Street, Quakers Hill and arrested a 33-year-old woman before being taken to Riverstone Police Station,’ NSW Police wrote in a statement. ‘At the home, police executed a search warrant – seizing several hard copies of the novel – to be forensically examined.'” (03/25/25)
“Honeybee deaths have hit record highs in the US, with the unprecedented loss of colonies pushing many beekeepers close to ruin as scientists scramble to identify the main cause of the huge declines. Commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 60% of their colonies, on average, over the winter, according to an ongoing Project Apis m. survey that covers more than two-thirds of America’s managed bees. … The loss of bees, both captive and wild, in the US is already starting to limit the supply of some food crops and is reducing the yield of honey. The declines are part of a broader crisis in the insect world where species are being wiped out at an alarming rate. Researchers warn that the loss of insects imperils basic functions of life on Earth, such as food production, the flowering of plants and waste disposal.” (03/25/25)
“The head of Turkey’s main opposition party visited jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Tuesday after six nights of massive protests calling for his release. Imamoglu, arrested on March 19 on corruption charges, is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule. His arrest has been widely viewed as politically motivated and sparked demonstrations, some turning violent, across the country. The government insists Turkey’s judiciary is independent and free of political influence. Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party, or CHP, held a two-hour meeting with Imamoglu at Silivri prison, west of Istanbul. Ozel told reporters that he was ‘ashamed on behalf of those who govern Turkey of the atmosphere I am in and the situation that Turkey is being put through.'” (03/25/25)
“The U.S. Customs and Enforcement agency (ICE) announced that a massive operation in Massachusetts resulted in nearly 400 [abductions], including over 200 [kidnappings] of illegal [sic] immigrants who had serious criminal convictions or charges. … The raids came despite Boston’s status as one of several so-called ‘sanctuary’ cities across the country, jurisdictions that restrict local cooperation with [the ICE gang]. … ICE [thugs] were joined by personnel from several other federal [gangs], including the FBI, DEA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service and DSS.” (03/25/25)
“The Trump administration can’t deport alleged Venezuelan gang members after a federal judge Monday rejected a request to lift the temporary halt on the practice. The legal battle being waged over the high-stakes immigration case promises to test the limits of Trump’s deportation powers and the power of the executive branch itself. In a Monday opinion, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg took aim at the Trump administration for invoking an 18th-century wartime law to justify the deportations. Each plaintiff ‘vehemently denies’ being part of the Tren de Aragua gang, as the administration claimed, he noted. As such, each plaintiff is ‘entitled to individualized hearings’ to determine whether the Alien Enemies Act of 1789 — which would allow them to be deported with little to no due process — can be applied to them, Boasberg wrote.” (03/24/25)
