“The United States Treasury sanctioned six people and seven companies Monday for alleged money laundering for factions of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, underscoring the group’s new designation as a foreign terrorist organization under the Trump administration. The designation aimed at ‘targeting the financial operations’ of the cartel, which has raked in money by trafficking fentanyl to the United States, came as part of an investigation by U.S. and Mexican government agencies. The Treasury said those listed used ‘a network of front companies and shell corporations’ to launder money, often using things like currency exchange businesses along the U.S.-Mexico border and larger bulk cash pickups.” (03/31/25)
“Three of the U.S. Army soldiers who went missing in Lithuania have been found dead in their armored vehicle that was pulled from a swampy area early Monday, according to U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command. Another soldier is still missing. The bodies of the three soldiers were recovered after a massive six-day effort by U.S., Polish and Lithuanian armed forces and authorities to dig the M88 Hercules vehicle out of a peat bog at the expansive General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė. The soldiers were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle were reported missing early Tuesday, the Army said. The command in a statement said the identities of the … soldiers are being withheld pending family notifications. … The Navy dive team is now searching the area using radar for the fourth soldier who is still missing.” (03/31/25)
“The Red Cross federation voiced outrage on Sunday after eight medical colleagues were killed while on duty in the Gaza Strip. … The IFRC said the bodies were retrieved after ‘seven days of silence’ and of having access denied to the area of Rafah where they were last seen. It said it was the single most deadly attack on its colleagues anywhere in the world since 2017. Israel’s military admitted on Saturday it had fired on ambulances in the Gaza Strip after identifying them as ‘suspicious vehicles,’ with Hamas condemning it as a war crime. … The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said earlier on Sunday it had recovered the bodies of the medics, killed a week ago, and that they were found along with those of six members of Gaza’s civil defence agency and one UN agency employee. One Red Crescent ambulance officer remains missing.” (03/31/25)
“U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was ‘pissed off’ at Russian President Vladimir Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Trump told NBC News he was very angry after Putin last week criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s leadership, the television network reported, citing a telephone interview early on Sunday. … ‘If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault … I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,’ Trump said. ‘That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,’ Trump said. ‘There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.'” (03/31/25)
“California’s Assembly has initiated legislative action on cryptocurrency governance with the filing of AB-1052, referred to as the ‘Bitcoin Rights’ bill. Introduced by Assemblymember Juan Carrillo Valencia, who presides over the Banking and Finance Committee, the measure targets legal recognition for digital asset self-custody. Public confirmation of the bill’s introduction came on March 29 through a statement posted by the nonprofit Satoshi Action Fund on the social media platform X. … The bill, AB-1052, outlines several provisions intended to strengthen protections for digital asset users. It explicitly affirms the right to self-custody bitcoin and other digital assets, while barring public agencies from imposing taxes or restrictions solely based on asset use in payments. A separate section of the bill establishes a legal process for handling unclaimed digital property, ensuring such assets are secured by licensed custodians instead of being left in administrative uncertainty.” (03/30/25)
“A federal judge agreed Friday to block the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that was targeted for mass firings before the court’s intervention. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed to issue a preliminary injunction that maintains the agency’s existence until she rules on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to preserve the agency. The judge said the court ‘can and must act’ to save the agency from being shuttered. Jackson ruled that, without a court order, President Donald Trump’s administration would move quickly to shut down the agency that Congress created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.” (03/28/25)
“Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators have returned to the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, to show support for the city’s jailed mayor. Ekrem Imamoglu, who is seen as the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested on corruption charges last week, sparking mass protests. He denies the charges and says his arrest was politically motivated. Saturday’s crowds were so large they spilled from the site of the protest into a neighbouring park. The chairman of Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) addressed demonstrators, reading out a letter from the jailed politician who is being held in solitary confinement.” (03/30/25)
“An Oregon judge issued a preliminary injunction on Friday blocking the city at the heart of a US supreme court ruling on homeless encampments from enforcing its camping rules unless it meets certain conditions, as part of a lawsuit filed by advocates. Under the decision by Josephine county circuit court judge Sarah McGlaughlin, Grants Pass must increase capacity at city-approved sites for camping and ensure they are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Unless those conditions are met, the order bars the city from citing, arresting or fining people for camping on public property; forcing people to leave campsites; removing campsites that are not clearly abandoned; or prohibiting camping in most city parks. The order still lets the city enforce rules banning sleeping on sidewalks and streets or in alleys and doorways.” (03/29/25)
“A federal appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump to fire members of executive branch boards that oversee federal employee grievances and labor disputes across the nation. The ruling Friday is a victory for Trump’s effort to exert control over regulatory agencies that Congress intended to operate with some degree of independence from the president. Federal laws limit the president’s ability to remove the board members who oversee those agencies, but the Trump administration has argued those limits are unconstitutional.” (03/28/25)
“Myanmar’s neighbours sent warships and aircraft laden with relief materials and rescue personnel on Sunday, as international aid gained steam after a massive earthquake ravaged much of the poor Southeast Asian nation. At least 1,600 people have been killed and 3,400 injured by Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake, one of Myanmar’s strongest in a century, its military government said.” (03/30/25)
