“Washington earlier this year had to return 30,000 expiring doses from its abortion pill stockpile to the manufacturer. A state law signed Saturday seeks to ensure remaining pills the state has on hand are easier to access and use. Before Senate Bill 5917, the state needed to sell its mifepristone pills for at least the purchase price, plus an extra $5 fee per dose. The new law eliminates the requirement for the state to get paid for the medication. It also requires the Department of Corrections to coordinate with the Department of Health to identify recipients for the pills.” (03/16/26)
“Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Monday accused Pakistan’s military of targeting a Kabul hospital that treats drug addicts in airstrikes that killed four people and wounded several others. The attack came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered a third week. Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strike on X, saying it violated Afghanistan’s territory. He said most of those killed and wounded were addicts undergoing treatment at the facility. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying no hospital was targeted in Kabul. He gave no further details, but Pakistan’s government and military have repeatedly said that their forces only target the Afghan military and facilities being used for attacks in Pakistan.” (03/16/26)
“Myanmar opened its first parliamentary session in more than five years on Monday following an election that did not include major opposition parties, ensuring that the ruling military is set to retain a firm grasp on power. The military blocked Myanmar’s last parliament from convening when it seized power from the last legitimately elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, and has governed without a legislature since then. It’s touted elections held in late December and January as a step toward the return of democracy. But the military and its allies hold nearly 90% of the seats in two-chamber parliament, while Myanmar’s former ruling National League for Democracy and other major opposition parties were either blocked from running or refused to compete under conditions they deemed unfair.” (03/16/26)
“Ecuador on Sunday began two weeks of operations against drug traffickers with support from the United States, the latest joint show of force against drug cartels in the South American country. The two countries are part of a 17-country cartel-fighting alliance launched by President Donald Trump at a summit earlier this month. Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, one of Trump’s staunchest allies on the continent, has spent the past two years targeting cocaine traffickers, but the rates of associated crimes including murders, disappearances and extortion have not fallen.” (03/16/26)
“Major airline CEOs have urged the US Congress to end the government shutdown that has left airport workers without pay, warning travellers could face more delays. American Airlines, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue are among the airlines that have written to lawmakers to demand funding is restored to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the security agency, TSA. The DHS has gone without funding since February, after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement. The Trump administration has blamed delays on Democrats, who declined to pass funding without immigration reforms. ‘Once again, air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown,’ the CEOs wrote. ‘First, leaders should immediately come together to reach an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security,’ they added. ‘Then they need to act so this problem never happens again.'” (03/16/26)
“President Donald Trump said on Sunday his administration is talking to seven countries about helping to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, calling on them to help protect ships in the vital waterway that Tehran has mostly blocked to oil tanker traffic. With the conflict creating turmoil across the Middle East and shaking up global energy markets in its third week, Trump insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to protect the strait. ‘I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington. ‘It’s the place from which they get their energy.'” (03/16/26)
“Some 200,000 immigrant truck drivers will begin to lose their commercial driver’s licenses as they expire under a new Trump administration rule that takes effect Monday. The Transportation Department’s rule will weigh on the beleaguered trucking industry, which is critical to transporting goods across America at a time when energy costs are surging due to the war in Iran. The rule bars immigrants who are asylum seekers, refugees or recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses.” (03/16/26)
“A Democratic and a Republican candidate for governor are floating similar ideas for financial relief as gas prices could climb up to $7 a gallon in California. Matt Mahan, a newcomer to the governor’s race and the current mayor of San Jose, suggested during a debate Thursday night in Monterey that state lawmakers should pause to the state’s gas tax –– which is currently $0.88 cents a gallon –– to keep gas prices from climbing. Republican candidate Steve Hilton proposed a similar idea earlier in the week. ‘Working families are struggling with skyrocketing costs. It’s past time for some relief,’ Mahan said according to a statement from his office. ‘And Californians shouldn’t have to wait for the next election for our government to act. That’s why I believe we need to temporarily suspend our state’s highest in the nation gas taxes, right now.'” (03/16/26)
“The first-round of the French municipal elections have seen a strong showing for Marine Le Pen’s far-right the National Rally (RN), as well as for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s radical left, with both parties likely to increase their local presence ahead of next year’s French presidential race. The French local elections, which now go to a final round runoff on 22 March, are seen as a crucial test of the political temperature before next year’s presidential election. Emmanuel Macron’s two terms in office come to an end in spring 2027 and there is uncertainty about who will next lead the EU’s second-largest economy.” (03/15/26)
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