“President Donald Trump moved to exert federal control over voter rolls and mail-in ballots with an executive order that cracks down on a form of voting he frequently criticizes, even as he used it to cast his own ballot this year. … Trump’s order requires the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with the Social Security Administration to create lists of voting-age U.S. citizens who are residents of each state and transmit them to state voting officials at least 60 days before an election. The U.S. Postal Service would then oversee mail-in ballots, with the order directing the agency to develop rules establishing ‘uniform standards’ for the ballots and preventing it from transmitting ballots of individuals who are not approved. … States have the authority under the Constitution over ‘the times, places, and manner’ of federal elections.
“Ukrainian drones have struck Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga for the fifth time in 10 days, as Kyiv continues to step up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Tuesday that three people, including two children, were treated for injuries and several buildings were damaged in the overnight attacks. … Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure over the past month, launching its heaviest drone attacks of the more than four-year war against the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk. … The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers reiterated their support for Ukraine as they arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s massacre in Bucha, where Ukrainian officials and rights groups say Russian troops killed more than 400 people.” (03/31/26)
“A federal judge in Washington has issued an order temporarily blocking the construction of President Donald Trump’s expansive new White House ballroom and any further demolition of the East Wing. ‘I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have,’ wrote U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush. … Leon paused his order from taking effect for 14 days to allow time for an appeal. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal roughly 90 minutes after he issued his ruling.” (03/31/26)
“Google Research published updated estimates warning that future quantum computers could break cryptocurrencies sooner than previously thought, though such an event is still several years away. In a Tuesday blog post, Google explained that most blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies rely on the 256-bit elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem (ECDLP-256) to secure wallets and transactions. Citing the latest whitepaper from Google Research, the blog post said that the necessary quantum computing resources to break the ECDLP-256 have decreased significantly. … Google’s white paper added that the reduced execution time allows quantum computers to conduct real-time attacks within bitcoin’s average block time of 10 minutes. This enables “on-spend” attacks, which are quantum computing attacks that target active cryptocurrency transactions while they are still in the mempool.” (03/31/26)
“The Trump administration on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said environmentalists’ lawsuits against the industry threatened to hobble domestic energy supplies as the U.S. wages war against Iran. Critics said the move by the government’s Endangered Species Committee could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life. Nicknamed the ‘God Squad’ by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate, the committee comprises several Trump administration officials and is chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. It met Tuesday for the first time in more than three decades amid global oil shocks and soaring energy prices brought on by the Iran war.” (03/31/26)
“Italy last week denied permission for U.S. military aircraft to land at the Sigonella air base in Sicily before heading to the Middle East, sources said on Tuesday, because Washington had not sought prior authorisation from the government in Rome. According to the Corriere della Sera daily, which first reported the news, ‘some U.S. bombers’ had been due to land at the base in eastern Sicily before flying on to the Middle East, where the United States is at war with Israel against Iran. The report did not specify when the aircraft were due to land but said permission was denied because the U.S. had not requested clearance and Italy’s military leadership had not been consulted, as required under treaties governing the use of U.S. military installations in the country.” (03/31/26)
“A Scottish man, described as a senior figure in an international crime syndicate, was arrested shortly after landing on the resort island of Bali, authorities in Indonesia said Tuesday. The 45-year-old, identified as Steven Lyons, was taken into custody by immigration officers at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Saturday on arrival from Singapore, according to Untung Widiyatmoko, head of Indonesia’s branch of Interpol. The immigration system had flagged him as the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued at Spain’s request. A Red Notice is an alert issued by Interpol at the request of a member country for police worldwide to arrest a suspect for extradition. Lyons, who is wanted in Spain and the United Kingdom in connection with organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, will be extradited to Spain on Wednesday, Widiyatmoko told reporters in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali.” (03/31/26)
“An analysis from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF) could not conclusively connect a bullet fragment recovered during Charlie Kirk’s autopsy to the rifle found near the scene of the rightwing political activist’s killing – and the FBI is running additional tests, lawyers for Kirk’s accused murderer said in recent court filings. In the court filings, Tyler Robinson’s defense team also asked for a delay to a preliminary hearing scheduled in May, saying they need time to review the bullet analysis as well as an enormous amount of other material that could contribute to the suspect’s defense. …The defense said in its motion that it may try to use the analysis to clear Robinson of blame during the preliminary hearing while prosecutors aim to show they have enough evidence against him to proceed with a trial.” (03/31/26)
“A Malaysian court on Tuesday ordered jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to pay US$1.3 billion to a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB, state media reported. The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Najib was liable for losses incurred by SRC International, a former subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, state news agency Bernama reported. High Court judge Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin ruled that Najib breached his fiduciary duties, abused his position as prime minister, and misappropriated SRC funds for personal gain, Bernama reported. … Najib has been in prison since August 2022 after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering over funds misappropriated from SRC in a separate case.” (03/31/26)
“The founder of a Texas megachurch who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child in the 1980s was released Tuesday after serving six months in an Oklahoma jail. Robert Preston Morris, 64, was released just after midnight, said Osage County Sheriff’s Capt. Matt Clark. Morris pleaded guilty last year to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child as part of a plea agreement under which he received a 10-year suspended sentence with the first six months to be served in the Osage County Jail. … Morris was the senior pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, where he led one of the nation’s largest megachurches until June 2024 when — faced with the victim’s allegations — he resigned. He was indicted last year by an Oklahoma grand jury.” (03/31/26)
