“The European Commission is considering plans that would allow European companies to break long-term Russian gas contracts without paying penalties to Moscow, it has been reported. Citing three officials with knowledge of the plan, the Financial Times reported that the commission was studying the possibility of allowing companies to declare force majeure, which would absolve importers of their obligations to pay penalty fees for ending contracts. The plans are said to be part of a roadmap on how the EU will rid itself of Russian fossil fuels by 2027, a document scheduled to be published on 6 May, following repeated delays. A commission spokesperson declined to comment.” (04/15/25)
“The Palestinian Columbia University student [abducted] by ICE agents in Vermont led disruptive anti-Israel protests on campus, and engaged in ‘threatening rhetoric and intimidation’ against Jewish students, State Department sources tell The Post. Mohsen Mahdawi, who hails from the West Bank, was at an interview to obtain his US citizenship on Monday when he was [abducted] by immigration authorities, his lawyer said. ‘Mahdawi, through his leadership and involvement in disruptive protests at Columbia University, has engaged in antisemitic conduct through leading pro-Palestinian protests and calling for Israel’s destruction,’ a senior State Department source said. The source said screenshots of Mahdawi’s social media activity that show his virulent anti-Israel views only tell part of the story.” (04/15/25)
“A Russian military court on Tuesday jailed a soldier for 15 years after convicting him of desertion and voluntary surrender to Ukraine, Russia’s first such prosecution, the Kommersant newspaper reported. Russia in September 2022 introduced the crime of voluntary surrender, which is punishable by between three and 10 years in prison. According to Kommersant, a court on the far eastern Russian island of Sakhalin found soldier Roman Ivanishin guilty of voluntary surrender, of attempting to voluntarily surrender, and of desertion. Ivanishin, who was reported to have denied all the charges, will serve his sentence in a maximum security facility. His trial was held behind closed doors.” (04/15/25)
“Fewer people crossed state lines to obtain abortions in 2024 than a year earlier, a new survey has found. The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights, estimates in a report released Tuesday that the overall number of clinician-provided abortions in states where it’s legal rose by less than 1% from 2023 to 2024. But the number of people crossing state lines for abortions dropped by about 9%. The report, based on a monthly survey of providers, is the latest look at how the abortion landscape in the U.S. has evolved since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in 2022 in a ruling that eliminated a national constitutional right to abortion and opened the door to state bans and restrictions. Guttmacher estimates there were 1.04 million abortions in 2024, up about 1% from its total the previous year.” (04/15/25)
“China’s President Xi Jinping has urged Vietnam to work with Beijing to oppose ‘unilateral bullying,’ in a thinly veiled criticism of Donald Trump’s imposition of high tariffs on trading partners. Xi made the remarks in a meeting with Vietnam’s Communist party chief To Lam in Hanoi, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported late on Monday. Xi is visiting south-east Asia this week, his first foreign tour of the year, aiming to reassure trade partners and strengthen ties with export-dependent countries rattled by Trump’s sweeping tariffs. … Washington has targeted China and Vietnam — two of its largest trading partners — with some of its highest tariff rates, with Beijing facing a levy of up to 145 per cent and Vietnam 46 per cent, though the latter has received a 90-day reprieve.” (04/15/25)
“A leader of the advocacy group Free Press Action Fund, the 501(c)(4) arm of Free Press, on Monday denounced a plan by the Trump administration to reportedly ask Congress to take back more than $1 billion in already approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the congressionally funded and created company that supports public media in the United States. The request to yank CPB funding, which would impact the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Public Radio (NPR), and their local member stations across the country, will be part of a broader package to rescind already approved funds and is also expected to impact funding for the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, according to Politico, which cited an anonymous White House official. Congress had already approved $535 million in federal spending for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.” (04/15/25)
“President Trump held a meeting on Tuesday morning in the White House situation room about the ongoing nuclear deal negotiations with Iran, two sources with direct knowledge told Axios. The high-level meeting with all of the Trump administration’s top national security and foreign policy officials present was focused on discussing the U.S. position in the next round of talks planned for Saturday, the sources said. Ahead of the meeting Trump spoke on the phone with the Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq and discussed the Omani mediation between the U.S. and Iran.” (04/15/25)
“A Massachusetts federal judge stopped the Trump administration late Monday from yanking legal status from more than 530,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals who were brought into the US under a controversial Biden administration program. Boston US District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, ruled that the migrants are entitled to a case-by-case review and declined to put her decision on hold while the Trump administration appeals it. ‘The early termination, without any case-by-case justification, of legal status for noncitizens who have complied with DHS programs and entered the country lawfully undermines the rule of law,’ Talwani wrote in a 41-page ruling. ‘The court finds the balance of equities and public interest weigh in favor of preliminary relief.'” (04/15/25)
“Several French prisons came under attack overnight, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said Tuesday, with assailants burning vehicles and in one instance firing automatic weapons. Darmanin, who was quick to link the incidents to France’s campaign against drug trafficking, is travelling to the site of one of the attacks in the southern city of Toulon.” (04/15/25)
“Disneyland guests were briefly evacuated from the theme park’s New Orleans Square on Saturday night after a naked man exposed himself and climbed onto the entrance of a restaurant, Anaheim police said. Video shared to Instagram shows the nude man standing on top of Tiana’s Palace (a New Orleans-style eatery inspired by the Disney film ‘The Princess and the Frog’) as cast members direct stunned onlookers away. The man appears to gesture toward the crowd before the clip cuts out. ‘Last Saturday, around 10pm, Anaheim Police officers were called to assist Disneyland security who had a nude male detained inside the park near New Orleans Square,’ Anaheim Police Department spokesperson Matthew Sutter told SFGATE in an email. ‘He was arrested for being under the influence of narcotics, trespassing, and public nudity.'” (04/14/25)
