“Close to 70,000 South Africans have expressed interest in moving to the US following Washington’s offer to resettle people from the country’s Afrikaner community, a business group has said. The South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA (Saccusa) said its website received tens of thousands of registrations from those seeking more information. In a February executive order, President Donald Trump said Afrikaners — descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who arrived in the 17th Century — could be admitted as refugees as they were ‘victims of unjust racial discrimination.’ Relations between the US and South Africa have become increasingly strained since Trump became president in January. Saccusa said that in a ‘pivotal step,’ it has handed the list of interested individuals to the US embassy in Pretoria. An embassy official confirmed to the BBC that it had received the list.” (03/19/25)
“Turkish authorities detained President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival on Wednesday on charges including corruption and aiding a terrorist group in what the main opposition party called ‘a coup against our next president.’ The move against Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular mayor of Istanbul, caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures across the country which has been criticised as a politicised attempt to hurt their electoral prospects. Turkey’s lira currency crashed 12% to an all-time low of 42 to the dollar in response, underscoring worries over the eroding rule of law in the major emerging market and NATO member country that Erdogan has run for 22 years.” (03/19/25)
“A European space telescope launched to explore the dark universe has released a trove of new data on distant galaxies. The images and other information released Wednesday by the European Space Agency’s Euclid observatory includes a preview of three cosmic areas that the mission will spy in finer detail, mapping the shapes and locations of galaxies billions of light years away. A light year is nearly 6 trillion miles. The observatory, which blasted off in 2023 from Florida, is creating a cosmic atlas to gain clues about how our ever-expanding universe works and how mysterious forces called dark energy and dark matter may play a role. The elusive duo make up most of our universe, but researchers don’t know exactly what they are. Over six years of observing, the mission hopes to capture glamour shots of over 1.5 billion galaxies.” (03/19/25)
“Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is suing the Trump administration, Kari Lake, the U.S. Agency for Global Media and USAGM acting CEO Victor Morales over moves to terminate the news organization’s federal funding. The lawsuit that was filed Tuesday says ‘Congress has appropriated funds specifically for RFE/RL’ and ‘expressly directed’ the USAGM to make these available to the outlet in the form of annual grants. ‘That agency is now refusing to disburse the appropriated funds on the basis that it is ending its ‘non-statutory’ functions,’ but funding Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ‘is a statutory function’ of the agency, argues the suit that was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.” (03/19/25)
“Ukraine and Russia exchanged aerial assaults overnight, just hours after the Kremlin agreed to temporarily halt attacks on energy infrastructure targets, but stopped short of signing off on a broader ceasefire sought by the US. President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday, with the Russian leader not agreeing to the 30-day truce that Trump has endorsed and Ukraine has agreed to. The White House said a narrower pause on attacking energy targets would go into effect followed by negotiations over a broader ceasefire. Further talks are expected to be held Sunday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Tuesday.” (03/19/25)
“More than 63,000 pages of records related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released Tuesday following an order by President Donald Trump, many without the redactions that had confounded historians for years and helped fuel conspiracy theories. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration posted to its website roughly 2,200 files containing the documents. … The National Archives said on its website that in accordance with the president’s directive, the release would encompass ‘all records previously withheld for classification.’ But [Jefferson Morley, vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation] said what was released Tuesday did not include two-thirds of the promised files, any of the recently discovered FBI files or 500 Internal Revenue Service records.” (03/19/25)
“At least 13 people have reportedly been killed in air strikes across Gaza overnight, after Israel said it was resuming combat operations in the Palestinian territory. Two civilians were killed and five others injured when an Israeli drone hit a tent near the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reports, citing Red Crescent medics. Israel’s army said it had targeted what it called a Hamas military site from where the group was preparing to fire into Israel. Vessels controlled by Hamas were also hit, the army said. It comes after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said fighting would resume ‘in full force,’ adding: ‘This is just the beginning.'” (03/19/25)
“U.S. stocks finished lower on Tuesday, with technology companies dragging down the market ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 260.32 points, or 0.6%, to end at 41,581.31, according to FactSet data. The S&P 500 tumbled 60.46 points, or 1.1% to finish at 5,614.66. The Nasdaq Composite slumped 304.55 points, or 1.7%, ending at 17,504.12. All three major stock indexes failed to extend their recovery rally into a third day, resuming their sharp selloff on Tuesday despite a batch of stronger-than-expected economic data.” (03/18/25)
“The two NASA astronauts whose eight-day stopover on the International Space Station (ISS) turned into a nine-and-a-half-month mission are finally back on Earth. On Tuesday at 5:57 pm EDT, SpaceX Dragon Freedom splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, carrying Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Butch Wilmore along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. … Williams and Wilmore had in June 2024 performed the first astronaut-crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. What was expected to be a weeklong trip to the ISS instead turned into a nine-month stay. The Boeing Starliner that was expected to carry them home after about 10 days experienced issues, leaving the pair at the station for months.” (03/18/25)
“US Chief Justice John Roberts said on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s threat to impeach federal judges was ‘not an appropriate response’ to disagreements about their rulings. ‘For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,’ Roberts said in statement. ‘The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.’ The chief justice’s intervention came shortly after the US president slammed a federal judge who attempted to block the deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. ‘This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. … The rare public rebuke from the most senior judge on America’s top court underscores the mounting tensions between the Trump administration and the judicial branch of government.” (03/18/25)
