“Senegal’s parliament has approved a new bill that toughens punishment for homosexuality in the largely Muslim West African nation, the latest African country to impose harsh penalties against the LGBTQ+ community. The new bill, which was introduced to parliament last month by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, describes homosexual acts as being ‘against nature.’ It doubles the punishment for those convicted from prison sentences of one to five years to between five and 10 years. Nearly all lawmakers voted in favor of the bill during Wednesday’s plenary, with no opposition and three abstentions. It needs presidential assent before becoming a law, with Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye widely expected to sign it.” (03/12/26)
“A Georgia judge denied Jose Ibarra’s motion for a new trial following his conviction in the killing of nursing student Laken Riley. Superior Court Judge Patrick Haggard rejected the request, leaving in place Ibarra’s sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ibarra, a Venezuelan migrant, was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, hindering a 911 call, tampering with evidence and peeping tom in connection with Riley’s death. The ruling means Ibarra’s convictions and life sentence remain intact.” (03/12/26)
“A superintendent in Los Angeles whose home and office was raided by the FBI last month released a statement Wednesday denying any wrongdoing. Attorneys for Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent who is on administrative leave following the raid, said in the statement that they hope he is reinstated promptly. Carvalho is the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. … The attorneys and FBI have not clarified why Carvalho’s home and office were raided or what sparked the investigation into the superintendent.” (03/11/26)
“A 656-acre parcel of land tucked into the desert mountains south of Palm Springs and Cathedral City has been returned to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the tribe and local conservation groups announced this week. The parcel is located deep in the upper Palm Canyon area within the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains and neighbors several parcels that are already owned and managed by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians as part of its Indian Canyons trail system. Tribal Chairman Reid D. Milanovich called the return of the unceded ancestral land ‘the restoration of responsibility’ in a news release issued Monday. ‘Since time immemorial, our people have stewarded these mountains and waterways. We are grateful to Friends of the Desert Mountains, the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, and the State of California for their partnership in advancing land conservation through Tribal stewardship,’ Milanovich said in the news release.” (03/12/26)
“Artificial intelligence systems that can generate sexualized deepfakes of real people would be banned in the EU under proposals seen by POLITICO. The push comes after X’s AI tool Grok allowed users to generate millions of images of real people in bikinis or fully nude, including images of children. A proposal set to be approved by EU ambassadors on Friday would make it illegal to market in Europe any artificial intelligence system that can generate non-consensual sexualized videos, images or audio files involving real people.” (03/11/26)
“Explosive-laden Iranian boats appear to have attacked two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters, setting them ablaze and killing one crew member, after projectiles struck four vessels in Gulf waters, according to reports. The ships targeted in late-night attacks on Wednesday in the Gulf near Iraq were the Marshall Islands-flagged Safesea Vishnu and the Zefyros, which had loaded fuel cargoes in Iraq, two Iraqi port officials told the Reuters news agency. … Reuters said reports of the use of explosive-laden unmanned surface vessels, which Ukraine has used with great effect in its war with Russia, come as Iran has blocked oil shipments from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas transits but which has been blocked since the US-Israeli war on Iran began.” (03/12/26)
“Outdated intelligence likely led to the United States carrying out a deadly missile strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed over 165 people, many of them children, in the opening hours of the conflict, according to a U.S. official and a second person briefed on findings of a preliminary U.S military investigation into the incident. The bombing of the school and its casualties involving children has become a focal point of the war, and if ultimately confirmed to be at the hands of the U.S., would also stand among the highest civilian casualty events caused by the American military operations in the last two decades.” (03/11/26)
“The Russian government is preparing a possible 10% cut to all ‘non-sensitive’ spending in this year’s budget, sources told Reuters, but the final decision will hinge on the sustainability of the oil price rise triggered by the Iran war. … The Finance Ministry told Reuters in comments on this story that it is discussing measures to prioritize budget spending with other ministries. Andrei Gangan, head of the monetary policy department at the central bank, said an optimisation of spending can only be welcomed. The ministry added that decisions will not affect spending on what Russia terms its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine or social obligations to Russian citizens, but will help to avoid increasing debt and to retain long-term stability of state finances.” (03/11/26)
“A bipartisan group of senators is requesting that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) handling and release of documents related to the investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post and CNBC. The March 11 letter outlines concerns about redactions in the millions of files released by the DOJ and seeks clarity about how the information was reviewed. … The lawmakers argued the DOJ failed to adequately comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a criticism that has been leveled repeatedly at the Trump administration since the first batch of files was released in December. The law, authored by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and passed almost unanimously by Congress, allowed victims’ identities and information that could jeopardize a federal investigation to be redacted, but not anything based on ’embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.'” (03/11/26)
“President Donald Trump visited Kentucky on Wednesday, speaking at Verst Logistics, a contract packaging facility in Hebron. … The visit was in Rep. Thomas Massie’s district, where Trump is endorsing Ed Gallrein in this year’s Republican primary. During his speech, Trump criticized Kentucky congressmen Thomas Massie and Rand Paul. ‘And now Massie, he’s the worst. And I don’t say that, I never hate a guy like this. We call him Rand Paul Jr. — he votes against everything. But at least I like Rand a little bit,’ Trump said. Trump continued: ‘He’s gotta be voted out of office as soon as possible. On the other hand, Ed Gallrein has my complete and total endorsement.'” [editor’s note: Gallrein left the GOP when Trump got its 2016 presidential nomination, but has since returned and become a JD Vance type Trump suck-up – TLK] (03/11/26)
