“Aluminum advanced after one of the world’s biggest smelters of the metal closed almost a fifth of its capacity, deepening the risk of shortages as the Iran war chokes supplies from the Middle East. Aluminium Bahrain BSC has started a phased shutdown of three production lines, together accounting for 19% of its total output capacity, the firm said on Sunday. Alba, as the company is known, is aiming to conserve raw materials while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz faces disruptions. … The Middle East accounts for some 9% of the world’s aluminum output, and Alba’s cuts add to other reductions that have stoked supply fears and prompted warnings of deepening shortages for manufacturers.” (03/16/26)
“Authorities say they have arrested Haitian legislator Arnel Belizaire, who faces charges including financing terrorism and conspiracy against state security. … Haiti’s National Police made the announcement late Sunday, ending a hunt for the well-known lawmaker, who was first accused around two months ago. Belizaire previously characterized the arrest warrant against him as political intimidation. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney. Belizaire had registered his new political party late last week for the upcoming general election.” (03/16/26)
“President Donald Trump’s administration has asked a judge to reconsider his ruling that has effectively blocked a criminal investigation into U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, according to court documents made public on Monday. Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in a ruling unsealed on Friday blocked subpoenas issued by federal prosecutors in January seeking information about cost overruns in renovations at the Fed’s headquarters and Powell’s testimony to Congress last year about the project. Boasberg concluded that prosecutors had improperly issued the subpoenas, saying a ‘mountain of evidence’ suggests the investigation — as Powell has argued — was intended to pressure the Fed chair to rapidly lower interest rates or resign as chair. The Justice Department in a new filing urged Boasberg to revisit his decision.” (03/16/26)
“A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say it’s the oldest such recording known. The song is that of a humpback whale, a marine giant beloved by whale watchers for its docile nature and spectacular leaps from the water, and was recorded by scientists in March 1949 in Bermuda, said researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Just as significant is the sound of the surrounding ocean itself, said Peter Tyack, a marine bioacoustician and emeritus research scholar at Woods Hole. The ocean of the late 1940s was much quieter than the ocean of today, providing a different backdrop than scientists are used to hearing for whale song, he said.” (03/16/26)
“Hungary’s ruling and opposition parties each held major rallies on Sunday as they race to shore up support ahead of hotly contested elections on April 12. The rallies, held to mark the country’s national day, pitted right-wing, pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Orban, 62, against opposition leader Peter Magyar, 44, who is seeking to end Orban’s 16-year rule and offer support to Ukraine. Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party has been trailing in polls against Magyar’s center-right Tisza party since last year and has turned to criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy more harshly. Tens of thousands of government supporters held a so-called ‘peace march’ that crossed the Danube River and headed towards Hungary’s parliament in Budapest. … Across town, Magyar accused Orban of ‘inviting Russian agents’ to ‘interfere in the elections.’ He addressed a crowd of at least 100,000 supporters at Budapest’s Heroes Square.” (03/16/26)
“White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has breast cancer, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Monday afternoon. Wiles, a longstanding fixture of Trump’s campaign orbit, has been his chief of staff since he took office for his second term in 2025. Trump said Wiles had ‘early stage breast cancer’ and an ‘excellent’ prognosis. She will be staying on as Trump’s chief of staff while she undergoes treatment, the president said. … Wiles joined Trump at an event at the White House shortly after the president announced her diagnosis, sitting next to him at a meeting of Kennedy Center board members.” (03/16/26)
“Trade Secretary Peter Kyle is expected to announce the U.K.’s steel strategy at Tata Steel UK’s mill in Port Talbot on Thursday. The strategy will set out new protections for Britain’s steel sector, slashing quotas on imports of many products from overseas while raising duties outside those caps to 50 percent, two people familiar with the announcement told POLITICO. … British officials have told both U.K. steel producers and downstream importers, who use steel in everything from construction to automotive manufacturing, to expect a 50 percent duty outside of new quotas in a move ‘likely to be similar to the EU,’ said a second industry figure.” (03/16/26)
“Madagascar’s President Michael Randrianirina, who seized power in October, has appointed the country’s anticorruption chief as prime minister, barely a week after dissolving the cabinet. The presidency said on Sunday that Mamitiana Rajaonarison, a former senior gendarmerie officer and career civil administrator, would head the new government. … Randrianirina dismissed Prime Minister Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo and all other cabinet ministers last Monday, offering no explanation for the move.” (03/16/26)
“Senate Democrats say they want to end the government shutdown but have repeatedly blocked GOP attempts to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as they push for immigration enforcement reforms. On Friday, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said at a news conference following an antisemitic attack on the Temple Israel synagogue in her state that ‘certainly’ Congress must fund DHS. However, Slotkin and most Senate Democrats have voted four times to block DHS funding, including several attempts to temporarily reopen the agency while negotiations continue. Slotkin is just one of several Senate Democrats calling for an end to the shutdown. Republicans argue the votes are part of a broader Democratic strategy to blame them for blocking efforts to reopen DHS.” [editor’s note: Instead of quibbling over what conditions to reopen it under, they should simply abolish it – TLK] (03/16/26)
“Kazakhstan voted 87.15% in favour of adopting a new constitution, the Central Election Commission said on Monday. Voter turnout for the referendum stood at 73.12%, the commission said. The new constitution streamlines the country’s Parliament and recreates the office of vice president, which was abolished in 1996. It gives the president the right to appoint the vice president, as well as a host of other key officials. The constitution’s swift drafting prompted some analysts in Kazakhstan to suggest that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev might be looking to anoint a successor as vice president and leave office early, or to stay in his post with a new constitution resetting his term limits.” (03/16/26)
