Saturday, 22 March 2025

Trump revoking protections for 530,000 Cubans, Haitians and other migrants — 22 March 2025 (LINK)

— Those migrants have been warned to leave the country before their permits and deportation shield are cancelled on 24 April, according to a notice posted by the federal government. The 530,000 migrants were brought into the US under a Biden-era sponsorship process known as CHNV that was designed to open legal migration pathways. Trump suspended the programme once he took office. It is unclear how many of these migrants have been able to secure another status in the interim that would allow them to stay in the US legally.

Israel air strikes Lebanon after several rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel for the first time since a ceasefire came into effect in November. — 22 March 2025 (LINK)

— Hezbollah, the main armed group active in Lebanon, said it had not carried out the attack, and that it remained committed to the ceasefire that ended 14 months of conflict in Lebanon. Several armed groups operate in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and Palestinian factions, and no-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Russian drones strike Ukrainian city of Odesa, underlining challenges for truce: shortly before Czech Republic President Peter Pavel visited Odesa early Friday morning and held meetings with the city's leaders and officials from other southern regions. — 22 March 2025 (LINK)

— Second blast hits Russian oil depot on fire in the Kavkazsky district of Krasnodar and holding 100,000 tons of fuel — (LINK)

Venezuela to resume repatriation of migrants after deal with US — 22 March 2025 (LINK)

Vox: There are 132 lawsuits against Trump. Pay attention to these two: whether Trump can simply cancel federal spending that is mandated by an act of Congress, and birthright citizenship. — 22 March 2025 (LINK)

Fox News: Here's what happened during Trump's ninth week in office — 22 March 2025 (LINK)

Fox News: DOGE USAID budget cuts hit UN in 'worst liquidity crisis since its establishment' — 22 March 2025 (LINK)

— president of the U.N. Field Staff Union Milan Victor Dawoh wrote in an email that the USAID funding cut resulted in "approximately $30 million" having been "removed from the extra-budgetary (XB) resources, resulting in a significant reduction in staffing". Dawoh said that UNDSS will lose 100 employees and that its presence will be eliminated in 35 to 45 countries, while noting that "regional hubs" will be established "in the remaining 120 countries where UNDSS will maintain a presence".

Columbia University agrees to ban masks on campus after $400M funding freeze by Donald Trump — 22 March 2025 (LINK)

— NY Times: 25 years ago, Columbia, looking to expand, refused to pay Trump $400 million to buy property he owned. He did not forget it. — (LINK)

Friday, 21 March 2025

Russian drones strike Ukrainian city of Odesa, underlining challenges for truce: shortly before Czech Republic President Peter Pavel visited Odesa early Friday morning and held meetings with the city's leaders and officials from other southern regions. — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

Second blast hits Russian oil depot on fire in the Kavkazsky district of Krasnodar and holding 100,000 tons of fuel — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

EU sidesteps Hungary veto to give "continued and unwavering support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders", but more Ukraine showdowns loom. — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

Israeli Supreme Court freezes Netanyahu government's dismissal of head of internal security agency — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

— Netanyahu fired Israel's security chief over failure to anticipate the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas. — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

— Intel chief was investigating Netanyahu's aides for allegedly receiving payments from Qatar during the Israel-Hamas war. — (LINK)

2024 was deadliest year on record for migrants, new IOM data reveals — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

— At least 8,938 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2024. The 2024 toll continues a five-year trend of more deaths each year and last year's toll tops the previous record in 2023, when 8,747 migrant deaths were recorded. 

— 2024 was the deadliest year on record across most regions in the world, including in Asia (2,778 people recorded dead), Africa (2,242) and Europe (233): 2,452 deaths were documented in the Mediterranean Sea in 2024.

World Glacier Day: UN warns of 'avalanche of cascading impacts' as ice melt increases: Five of the past six years have witnessed the most rapid glacier retreat on record. — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

Glacier melt puts unique microbial ecosystems under threat. — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

— "Microorganisms, although invisible to the naked eye, play a crucial role in their ecosystems: they purify the water, recycle nutrients and regulate important cycles like those involving nitrogen and carbon. Ultimately, they support the food chain and are crucial to many environmental equilibria."

— "If we take Switzerland as an example, nearly all its main rivers — including the Rhone, Inn and Adige — derive from glacier-fed streams. So the changes that take place at high altitudes have a direct impact on everything that occurs downstream."

Mariah Carey wins $20m 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' copyright case from 2022 for 1994 hit: songwriters and lawyers ordered to reimburse her for the legal bills incurred defending the case. — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

BBC Wildlife: What would happen if all Earth's insects suddenly disappeared: no insect-eating birds, fish, or mammals, with drastic knock-on effects higher up the food chain. — see_link — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

Le News: Switzerland slides to 13th in happiness ranking in 2025 from 1 in 2012: it has lost ground on social support (20th) and freedom (20th). — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

— The Swiss also rank poorly on helping strangers (126th). Nations where money is tight and life is tough typically lead on this measure.

U.S. Treasury Department lifts sanctions on Tornado Cash: appeals court says it exceeded its authority in November 2024: had claimed in 2022 North Korean cyber hackers used the platform to launder illicitly obtained cryptocurrency. — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

White couple in West Virginia who forced their adopted Black kids to work as slaves sentenced to over 100 years — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

Florida woman accused of drowning dog in airport toilet after it couldn't board plane — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

Brie and Camembert cheeses on the brink of extinction? — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

Albinen: this charming Swiss village will pay you to live in a paradise nestled in the mountains: the details. — 21 March 2025 (LINK)

Thursday, 20 March 2025

Gaza: Israel restarts ground operation; 70 killed in pre-dawn attacks — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

Trump floats US takeover of Ukrainian nuclear plants, as Putin resists ceasefire, and crisis talks scheduled — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

Trump orders a plan to dismantle the Education Department while keeping some core functions — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

Judge temporarily blocks DOGE access to Social Security records — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

Guardian: It's victory for Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe as first African and first woman to win IOC elections — Sebastian Coe was snubbed, and with good reason: he might have changed things. — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

— IOC "confirming its status as one of the few electorates on Earth never to have had a change election. Another one is Fifa, with those two organisations' eternal contest to be the worst-run governing body remaining easily the hardest-fought rivalry in world sport."

Indonesia passes controversial law allowing greater military role in government — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

Which tree species fix the most carbon? — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

— In favorable climates and fertile soils, acquisitive species such as maples and poplars will grow faster and therefore fix more carbon than conservative species such as holm oaks, downy oaks and many types of pine trees. In unfavorable climates and poor soils, conservative species will have the greatest potential to accumulate carbon in the biomass.

The Hill opinion: A fight for transparency and accountability is coming to the UN over LatAm/Carib Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

The U.S. falls to its lowest-ever position in World Happiness Report: 24th, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

There could be billions more people on Earth than previously thought: rural residents could be under-represented. — 20 March 2025 (LINK)

"The actual population living in rural areas is much higher than the global population data indicates — depending on the dataset, rural populations have been underestimated by between 53 percent to 84 percent." — (LINK)

Wednesday, 19 March 2025

The Israeli military announced it has resumed ground operations in Gaza, resulting in at least 38 Palestinian deaths, according to local health workers. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned an Israeli airstrike that reportedly killed a foreign staff member at a UN site, contributing to 280 UN personnel deaths in Gaza since October 7, 2023. — ground.news: 318 media reports — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda call for cease-fire in surprise Qatar joint statement — ground.news: 105 media reports — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

Turkish police arrest Istanbul mayor, a key Erdogan rival, for alleged corruption and terror links — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

Maritime industry warns China port fees could sink U.S. economy: proposed fees potentially affect 98% of container ships calling at U.S. ports. — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

Fed cuts US growth forecast blaming tariffs — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

Swiss drugmakers Novartis and Roche ditch some diversity programmes on U.S. concerns — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

Vatican says Pope Francis no longer needs mechanical help to breathe as his health improves — ground.news: 203 media reports — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

AI is turbocharging organized crime, EU police agency warns — ground.news: 86 media reports — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

Social Security Administration to require in-person identity checks for new and existing recipients from March 31st — 19 March 2025 (LINK)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025

International Organization for Migration (IOM) forced to restructure amid 30% budget cuts — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Putin agrees to halt strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure for 30 days after call with Trump — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Netanyahu says Israeli strikes across Gaza that killed over 400 are 'only the beginning' — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

USAID shutdown likely unconstitutional federal judge says — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Immigrants disappear from US detainee tracking system after deportation flights — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

— Some turned up at a massive El Salvador prison, where visitors, recreation and education are not allowed. The U.S. has paid El Salvador's government $6 million to hold immigrants, many of them Venezuelan, whose government rarely accepts deportees from the U.S.

Turkish Cypriot leader says Geneva talks about the island were positive — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Somali militants target presidential convoy in bomb attack, president safe — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Trump heads toward courts clash over migrant flights; annuls pardons issued by Biden with autopen — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Trump releases more than 2,000 new JFK assassination files — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Attorney general calls Tesla arson attacks 'nothing short of domestic terrorism' — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

4 reasons why Tesla's 53% stock crash is accelerating — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore return to earth after being stuck in space for 9 months — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Gold hits record high of over $3,000 fuelled by rising geopolitical tensions — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

German parliament passes historic debt reform, paving the way for higher defence spend — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Hope for endangered penguins as no-fishing zones agreed off South Africa: deal will restrict fishing near colonies on Robben Island and Bird Island for 10 years, after long debate between industry and conservationists. — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Switzerland's new passport is so stunning, it belongs in a museum — 18 March 2025 (LINK)

Monday, 17 March 2025

Indian prime minister joins Trump's Truth Social platform — 17 March 2025 (LINK)