“South Korea’s constitutional court has ruled against the impeachment of the country’s prime minister, Han Duck-soo, and to restore his position as acting president, marking the latest political twist in months of political turmoil. Han took over as acting president after the country’s leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was himself impeached over his short-lived declaration of martial law late last year. Han lasted less than two weeks in the post and was impeached and suspended on 27 December after clashing with the opposition-led parliament by refusing to appoint three more justices to the constitutional court. The court’s justices ruled seven to one on Monday to strike down the impeachment.” (03/24/25)
“A jury in Georgia has ordered Monsanto parent Bayer to pay nearly $2.1 billion in damages to a man who says the company’s Roundup weed killer caused his cancer, according to attorneys representing the plaintiff. The verdict marks the latest in a long-running series of court battles Monsanto has faced over its Roundup herbicide. The agrochemical giant says it will appeal the verdict, reached in a Georgia courtroom late Friday, in efforts to overturn the decision. The penalties awarded include $65 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages, law firms Arnold & Itkin LLP and Kline & Specter PC said in a statement. That marks one of the largest legal settlements reached in a Roundup-related case to date.” (03/23/25)
“A U.S. delegation will seek progress toward a Black Sea ceasefire and a broader cessation of violence in the war in Ukraine when it meets for talks with Russian officials on Monday, after discussions with diplomats from Ukraine on Sunday. The so-called technical talks come as U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies his drive for a halt to Russia’s three-year-old assault against Ukraine. Last week, he spoke with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. A source briefed on the planning for the talks said the U.S. side was being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official. They met the Ukrainians on Sunday night and plan to sit down with the Russians on Monday.” (03/23/25)
“Venezuela will once again accept repatriation flights from the United States carrying its deported nationals after reaching an agreement with the U.S., a Venezuelan official said on social media Saturday. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro suspended flights on March 8, after the U.S. Treasury Department announced the withdrawal of Chevron’s license to export Venezuelan oil. … Maduro’s government has mostly refused the entry of immigrants deported from the U.S. Those deportations have sharply picked up since Trump took office on Jan. 20. In recent weeks, some 350 people were deported to Venezuela, including some 180 who spent up to 16 days at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” (03/22/25)
“The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas has surpassed 50,000, according to health officials in Gaza. Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday the Palestinian death toll in Gaza had risen to 50,021 since Israel’s military offensive began in October 2023. It is the latest milestone in the conflict, which reignited when Israel broke a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas last Tuesday.” [editor’s note: The real number is likely much higher – TLK] (03/23/25)
“Talks with the US are impossible unless Washington changes its pressure policy, the Iranian foreign minister said on Sunday, as Iran prepares to respond to President Donald Trump’s letter proposing negotiations on a new nuclear deal. Trump said earlier this month that he had sent the letter to Iran’s top authority, Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning that ‘there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal.’ Khamenei rejected the US offer for talks as ‘a deception,’ saying negotiating with the Trump administration would ‘tighten the knot of sanctions and increase pressure on Iran.’ However, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Tehran would soon reply to both the letter’s ‘threats and opportunities.'” (03/23/25)
“US President Donald Trump revoked security clearances from his previously defeated Democratic election rivals, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, as well as a number of other former officials and critics. Trump said in February he was revoking security clearance for his predecessor Joe Biden. His order confirmed that decision, adding that he was also revoking the security clearance of ‘any other member’ of the Biden family. ‘I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,’ Trump’s memorandum read. Former US presidents and top security officials usually keep their security clearance as a courtesy. … Trump’s revocations focus on top Biden administration officials, as well as prominent political critics and attorneys who have challenged Trump or his allies in court.” (03/22/25)
“The U.S. has lifted bounties on three senior Taliban figures, including the interior minister who also heads a powerful network blamed for bloody attacks against Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, officials in Kabul said Sunday. Sirajuddin Haqqani, who acknowledged planning a January 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed six people, including U.S. citizen Thor David Hesla, no longer appears on the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website. The FBI website on Sunday still featured a wanted poster for him. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said the U.S. government had revoked the bounties placed on Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and Yahya Haqqani.” (03/23/25)
“Orlando police have recovered two sets of earrings worth a combined $769,500 (£597,000) after an alleged thief swallowed them more than two weeks ago. Jaythan Gilder, 32, swallowed the Tiffany & Co. diamond earrings around the time he was taken into custody on 26 February, police said. Mr Gilder was monitored by detectives at an Orlando hospital for ‘more than a dozen days’ before the earrings were expelled from his system, according to the Orlando Police Department. … Police allege Mr Gilder posed as an assistant to an NBA player so he could be shown ‘very high-end jewellery’ in a VIP room at a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando, Florida on 26 February. Mr Gilder allegedly distracted store employees, then ran from the store with two pairs of earrings. The suspect apparently also dropped a diamond ring valued at $587,000 as he fled the store.” (03/22/25)
“The war in Sudan has returned to where it first ignited two years ago: in a battle for downtown Khartoum. After days of clashes, forces loyal to de facto president General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan retook the presidential palace on Friday from erstwhile allies in the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The army (SAF) has since gone on to seize other official buildings including the central bank — marking a potential turning point in the war. The recapture of the presidential palace caps several months in which momentum in Sudan’s civil war swung decisively in the SAF’s favour. If the army can consolidate control of Khartoum it would allow Gen Burhan to install a transitional government and attempt to gain wider international recognition.” (03/23/25)
