“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)
“The US has removed millions of dollars in bounties from senior members of the Haqqani militant network in Afghanistan, including one on its leader Sirajuddin Haqqani who is also the Taliban government’s interior minister. It is a significant move given that the Haqqani network is accused of carrying out some of the most high-profile and deadly attacks in Afghanistan during the US-led war in the country, including attacks on the American and Indian embassies, and NATO forces. Currently, the network is a key part of the Taliban government …. The move to lift the bounties comes weeks into President Trump’s second term, and just days after US officials met with the Taliban government in Kabul to secure the release of an American tourist, detained since 2022.” (03/25/25)
“European sales of Tesla electric cars dropped 49 percent in January-February compared with the same period a year earlier, the ACEA manufacturers’ association said. Ageing models are one factor behind the plunge so far this year, but e-vehicle clients may also be refusing to buy in protest of Tesla’s billionaire owner Elon Musk since he became a key supporter of US President Donald Trump. … In Europe, he has also been increasingly vocal about his support for far-right parties, throwing his weight behind for example Alternative for Germany (AfD), just before the country’s February elections. New Tesla registrations in the European Union fell to 19,046 in the first two months of the year, giving the company a market share of just 1.1 percent, the ACEA said.” (03/25/25)
“Belarus'[s] authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in Tuesday to a seventh term, and he mocked those who derided him as ‘Europe’s last dictator’ by saying his country has more democracy ‘than those who cast themselves as its models.’ ‘Half of the world is dreaming about our ‘dictatorship, the dictatorship of real business and interests of our people,’ Lukashenko, 70, said in his inauguration speech at the Independence Palace in the capital of Minsk. Hundreds of opposition supporters living abroad held anti-Lukashenko rallies Tuesday to mark the anniversary of Belarus’ short-lived independence in 1918 following the collapse of the Russian Empire. Lukashenko marked three decades in power last year, and his political opponents have denounced the tightly orchestrated Jan. 26 election as a farce. The Belarus Central Election Commission declared he won with nearly 87% of the vote after a campaign in which four token challengers on the ballot all praised his rule.” (03/25/25)
