“Millions of Nepalis have voted in the country’s first general election since violent youth-led protests toppled the government last September. Corruption, economic stagnation and inequality were the main issues in the vote. They sparked the uprising in which 77 people died, many of them protesters shot by police. The election represents a crossroads for Nepal, pitting the establishment against a new generation of politicians advocating for angry, young Gen Z voters hungry for change. Counting the votes cast for the Nepalese parliament’s 275 seats is expected to take several days, and results are not expected before next week. Nepal’s mountainous terrain makes it slow and difficult to transport ballots, which are tallied by hand.” (03/05/26)
“A House committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Five Republicans joined with all Democrats in support of a motion to call the nation’s top law enforcement official up to Capitol Hill for questioning, and the motion itself was offered by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. It underscores the increasing frustration with Bondi among members of her own party, catalyzed in part by the Epstein saga. The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment.” (03/04/26)
“A social media post from James Talarico about his ‘white skin’ giving him ‘immunity’ from the ‘virus of racism’ has left the Democratic US Senate nominee from Texas wide open to attacks from Republicans and other pundits, who attacked his message as ‘peak woke’ and openly racist. GOP Gov. Greg Abbott said the pro-Black Lives Matter post is proof that Talarico ‘is toast’ in the Nov. 3 contest, in which Democrats are seeking to win one of Texas’ two US Senate seats for the first time since 1988. Talarico, a state legislator who triumphed over US Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) in Tuesday’s primary, suggested in an X post on May 8, 2020, that he was as ‘contagious’ as any white American in spreading systemic racism. The message merged the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic with the headline-making murder of Ahmaud Arbery while jogging in Georgia.” (03/05/26)
“A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis'[s] order to classify a prominent Muslim civil rights group as a terrorist organization, calling the Republican’s action ‘a political statement at the expense of others’ constitutional rights.’ U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction against the governor’s actions related to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. DeSantis issued an executive order on Dec. 8 calling CAIR a ‘terrorist organization,’ which prevented the organization from ‘receiving any contract, employment, funds or other benefit or privilege.'” (03/05/26)
“NASA issued a welcomed all-clear Thursday, saying there’s now zero chance that asteroid 2024 YR will crash into the moon in 2032. The space agency had been predicting a 4.3% chance of a direct hit. But observations by the Webb Space Telescope in February helped scientists refine the asteroid’s orbit. This new information indicates that the asteroid will miss the moon by 13,200 miles (21,200 kilometers) on Dec. 22, 2032. Discovered at the end of 2024, the asteroid at first looked like it might threaten Earth. Scientists last year ruled out a collision with our planet anytime in the next century, but kept the moon as a possible target. The asteroid is about 200 feet (60 meters) across.” (03/05/26)
“Elon Musk took the stand on Wednesday in a trial brought by Twitter investors, who allege the billionaire committed securities fraud as he was buying the social media company in 2022. The class-action lawsuit alleges Musk agreed to buy Twitter but then waffled for months, attacking the company with the goal of bringing down the stock price to get a better bargain. After contentious legal wrangling, Musk did eventually buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, his original offer, totalling around $44bn. Musk testified on Wednesday that he didn’t realize his attacks on the company, mostly done via tweet on Twitter itself, would lower the company’s stock price or hurt its investors.” (03/04/26)
“China has cut its annual economic growth target to a range of 4.5%-5%, the lowest expansion goal since 1991 as it grapples with challenges both at home and abroad. It is the first time the target has been lowered since it was cut to ‘around 5%’ in 2023. A target was not set in 2020 due to the pandemic. The details were released during China’s biggest political gathering, known as the “two sessions”, alongside the release of some details of the 15th Five Year Plan for the world’s second largest economy. Beijing aims to reshape its economy as it faces issues like weak consumption, a shrinking population, an ongoing property crisis, global trade tensions and an energy crunch due to the Iran war. One China analyst told the BBC that the lower target gives China ‘more room to manage the economy’ without being forced into making huge financial commitments just to hit a precise goal.” (03/05/26)
“A Mexican court ordered the army to hand over long-awaited documents that could advance the landmark investigation into the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in southern Guerrero state at the alleged hands of organized crime and local security forces. The ruling, seen by Reuters on Wednesday, rejected the army’s prior assertion that 853 missing pages of information generated by the CFRI, an army intelligence agency, did not exist, and ordered that these must now be handed over. The government has for over a decade promised to find those responsible for one of the country’s worst human rights atrocities, but no one has been convicted, though over 100 have been arrested and face ongoing prosecutions.” (03/04/26)
“Three years after Honduras parted ways with Taiwan and forged diplomatic ties with China in hope of economic gain, shrimp farmers in the Central American country are in revolt. Their sales to Taiwan fell to a mere $16 million in 2025, down from more than $100 million in 2022, and the Chinese didn’t fill the void as hoped. ‘We were deceived,’ said Javier Amador, executive director of the National Aquaculture Association of Honduras, as he described the promises from former President Xiomara Castro of better opportunities with China when she severed ties with Taiwan and opened an embassy in Beijing in 2023. Nasry Asfura, who was elected president with the backing of President Donald Trump and sworn into office in January, has ordered a review of agreements between Tegucigalpa and Beijing. This has fueled expectations that Honduras will distance itself from China, in line with a Trump administration campaign to reduce Chinese influence and economic clout in Latin America.” (03/05/26)
“President Trump said on Thursday that he must be personally involved in the process of selecting a new leader in Iran. In an interview with Axios published on Thursday, Trump said that the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei, is most likely to succeed his father, but that the pick would be ‘unacceptable’ to him. … Trump’s demand that he decide the next leader of Iran, however, could complicate efforts to end the conflict in that country, which was long run by the U.S.-backed Shah before the Iranian revolution. The Shah’s rule was strengthened by a coup in 1953 backed by the U.S. and British governments in which the CIA was instrumental. Trump told reporters on Wednesday Iranian leadership keeps dying when asked about potential future leaders.” (03/05/26)
