“Sen. Chuck Schumer faced fresh calls to step aside as the Senate Democratic leader on Wednesday after he broke with the overwhelming majority of his caucus and voted against a pair of resolutions aimed at preventing the Trump administration from selling more US bombs and bulldozers to Israel. ‘Mr. Schumer, you are out of touch with the base of this party, and with your own caucus,’ said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who first called on Schumer to resign as Democratic leader last year, in a short video posted to social media following Wednesday’s votes. ‘Step aside!’ The two resolutions, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), called for halting the sale of around $450 million worth of bulldozers, 1,000-pound bombs, and related military equipment to the Israeli government, which has repeatedly used American weaponry to commit war crimes in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Syria.” (04/16/26)
“U.S. military forces struck a vessel Wednesday in the eastern Pacific Ocean, [murdering] three men the Pentagon says were trafficking drugs. No U.S. personnel were harmed, the U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post. Several such strikes have been announced in recent days as the Trump administration continues its aggressive anti-cartel actions in international waters. At least 178 people have been [murdered] in the strikes since the effort began in early September, months before the U.S. raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.” (04/16/26)
“Europe has ‘maybe six weeks or so’ of remaining jet fuel supplies, the head of the International Energy Agency said Thursday in a wide-ranging interview, warning of possible flight cancellations ‘soon’ if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of what he called ‘the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,’ stemming from the pinch-off of oil, gas and other vital supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. ‘In the past there was a group called ‘Dire Straits.’ It’s a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world,’ he told The Associated Press.” (04/16/26)
“An Israeli strike destroyed the last bridge over the Litani River into Lebanon’s south, according to a senior Lebanese security source, fully severing almost a tenth of Lebanon from the rest of the country, after Israel destroyed other crossings during the war. Fighting continued to rage in south Lebanon on Thursday, notably in the Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah stronghold and strategic prize that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military was about to ‘overcome,’ in a briefing a day earlier. A senior Lebanese official said that Lebanon’s assessment was that Israel wanted to secure a victory in Bint Jbeil before diplomatic progress could be made. Israeli warplanes also unleashed an intense barrage of strikes Thursday on the southern town of Nabatiyeh, sending giant plumes of black smoke billowing over the regional hub of southern Lebanon.” (04/16/26)
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas issued a blistering critique of modern-day progressivism in a rare public speech on Wednesday, describing the modern political philosophy as a threat to America’s founding principles. Speaking to a packed auditorium of students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas, the Supreme Court’s longest-serving justice, urged the nation to revisit the philosophical foundations of U.S. governance.” [editor’s note: I guess “progressives” aren’t buying him enough new RVs, buying enough houses from him and letting his relatives live there rent-free, etc. – TLK] (04/16/26)
“A federal judge who halted construction of President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom clarified on Thursday that the administration can proceed with below-ground construction of a bunker and other ‘national security facilities’ at the site. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington issued his latest ruling in a lawsuit over the ballroom project several days after an appeals court instructed him to reconsider the possible national security implications of stopping construction. Government lawyers had argued that the project includes critical security features to guard against a range of possible threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards. Leon had barred work from proceeding without congressional approval, but his March 31 order suspended enforcement of that order for two weeks. The appeals court extended that stay until Friday, but Leon stayed his latest decision for another week, which gives the administration more time to seek Supreme Court review.” (04/16/26)
“Turkish police have ordered the arrest of scores of people accused of either praising or spreading fake news about the country’s recent school shootings online. At least nine people died in a school shooting in the southern province of Kahramanmaras on Wednesday, and on Tuesday, a former student opened fire at a high school in the southeastern district of Siverek, injuring 16.” (04/16/26)
“The Utah judge overseeing the case against Charlie Kirk’s accused assassin Tyler Robinson has unsealed a ballistics report from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that could not conclusively match a bullet fragment to the suspected murder weapon but confirmed a match with the spent casing. Prosecutors have alleged that separate testing found DNA consistent with Robinson’s on the gun, on the towel and on three of the four rounds inside. The report’s conclusions had already been made public in prior court proceedings, but the document itself is now available from the court, and it includes some new details. The tested material includes a ‘deformed/damaged’ piece of the bullet jacket as well as four lead fragments.” (04/16/26)
“The California Supreme Court has disbarred John Eastman, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, over his involvement in the so-called fake electors scheme to overturn the 2020 election. The state’s high court ruled Wednesday that Eastman, 65, is disbarred from practicing law in California and must pay a $5,000 sanction to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund, a discretionary fund that reimburses clients for financial losses caused by dishonest conduct or theft by their lawyers. Eastman is considered one of the main architects of the plan to replace legitimate electors of President Joe Biden with fakes supporting Trump in several battleground states, including Georgia where he was charged in the scheme.” (04/16/26)
“Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Thursday that while Cuba does not want military aggression from the United States, his country is prepared to fight should it happen. Díaz-Canel spoke during a rally that drew hundreds of people to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the declaration of the Cuban Revolution’s socialist essence. ‘The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression. We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to avoid it and, if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it,’ Díaz-Canel said. He spoke as tensions remain high between the two countries, with Cuba’s crises deepening as a result of a U.S. energy blockade. Earlier this week, Trump said his administration could focus on Cuba after the war in Iran ends.” (04/16/26)
