National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG
U.S. appears to be significantly increasing its military presence in the Middle East | 26 March 2025 | The United States appears to be significantly increasing its military presence in the Middle East with the deployment of highly sophisticated aircraft and a second aircraft carrier to the region. In recent days, at least five B-2 stealth bombers have deployed to Diego Garcia, a British military base used by the U.S. in the Indian Ocean. More are reportedly en route. Seven C17 aircraft have also been tracked landing on the remote atoll, suggesting transportation of equipment, personnel and supplies, and refuelling aircraft have been repositioned to strategic locations. The Pentagon recently ordered the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group to extend its deployment in the Red Sea by a month, and a second strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, is heading for the Middle East.
EU tells the public to hold 72 hours of emergency supplies | 26 March 2025 | Europe should enhance stockpiling of critical equipment and encourage the public to maintain sufficient supplies for at least 72 hours in case of emergencies, the European Commission said on Wednesday. The Commission said in its new EU Preparedness Union Strategy that the bloc was preparing for risks including natural disasters, cyber attacks and geopolitical crises, including the possibility of armed aggression against [caused by] EU countries. The strategy focuses on improving early warning systems, ensuring the continuity of essential services such as healthcare and drinking water and helping citizens prepare for responding to crises.
4 American soldiers killed after they went missing on training mission in Lithuania just miles from the border | 26 March 2025 | Four U.S. Army soldiers have died in Lithuania after they disappeared on a training site while on maneuvers just miles from the border, NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday. The four soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, were last seen alive on Tuesday riding an armored vehicle during tactical training exercises at a military site near the city of Pabrade in eastern Lithuania. The base is about six miles from the border with Belarus, a staunch Russian ally. Lithuania’s military has not confirmed the exact details of what happened, but local media reports that the four may have drowned after their M88A2 Hercules armored vehicle became trapped in swampy terrain.
Ukraine still targeting Russian energy infrastructure – MOD –Kiev is doing everything to sabotage steps by Moscow and Washington to settle the Ukraine conflict, the Defense Ministry has said | 26 March 2025 | Ukraine continues to target Russian energy infrastructure despite claims by Vladimir Zelensky that he accepts an agreement between Moscow and Washington to halt such attacks, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. The Ukrainian military has made at least three attempts to strike Russian energy facilities over the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Overnight, two Ukrainian drones were shot down by air defenses off the Tarkhankut Peninsula in Russia’s Crimea, the statement read… Also on Wednesday, consumers in a district of Kursk Region were left without electricity after a high-voltage power line was disconnected as a result of a drone attack on an energy facility, according to the ministry.
Trump signs election order calling for proof of U.S. citizenship to vote | 25 March 2025 | U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that would require voters to prove they are U.S. citizens and attempts to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. The sweeping order also would seek to take federal funding away from states that do not comply… Last year the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a bill that would ban non-citizens from registering to vote in federal elections, a practice that is already illegal. It did not pass the Senate, which was then controlled by Democrats. The White House’s order seeks to achieve similar goals.
Trump declassifies FBI files on Russia probe | 25 March 2025 | U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the declassification of all FBI files related to the agency’s investigation into his first election campaign’s alleged contacts with Russia. The FBI launched the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation in July 2016 to examine whether Trump — then a presidential candidate — or members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Moscow to influence the election. In a memorandum released on Tuesday by the White House, Trump directed the Attorney General to make the materials available to the public “immediately.” In 2023, the U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) special counsel John Durham — appointed to review the origins of the Crossfire Hurricane probe — concluded that the FBI and DOJ had “failed to uphold their mission” by relying on biased information to surveil Trump.
Trump directs Bondi to probe attorneys who lob ‘frivolous, unreasonable’ litigation against his administration | 22 March 2025 | President Trump directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bond to pursue penalties against law firms and lawyers that lodge “frivolous” litigation against the government. Trump pointed to civil procedure rules barring lawyers from lodging legal filings to “harass” or “cause unnecessary delay” and asked Bondi, 59, to recommend additional steps he could take to fight back. “I hereby direct the Attorney General to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States,” Trump said in a presidential memorandum the White House released Saturday. The Trump administration has weathered well over 100 lawsuits since late January.
Trump says national security adviser Mike Waltz ‘has learned a lesson’ after Yemen attack leak ‘glitch’ | 25 March 2025 | President Trump stood by national security adviser Mike Waltz on Tuesday, one day after he was revealed to have looped in the Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief on deliberations about striking the Houthis in Yemen earlier this month. “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” the president told NBC News in a brief interview Tuesday. Trump, 78, added that the addition of Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group that included Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had “no impact at all” on the outcome of the March 15 airstrikes, which the president described as “perfectly successful.”
Trump reveals who was behind Signal text chain leak | 25 March 2025 | President Donald Trump revealed that a staffer [deep-state dirt-bag who has hopefully been fired] with national security advisor Mike Waltz’s office included the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic in a Signal group chat with senior Trump officials who were discussing plans for an upcoming strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen. “It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there,” Trump told NBC in a phone interview when asked how Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, was added to the high-profile chat. The president added that Goldberg’s inclusion in the group chat had “no impact at all” on the strike in Yemen. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung summed up the Atlantic story in an X post as “nothing more than a section of the NatSec establishment community running the same, tired gameplay from years past.”
What are the odds? Judge fighting Trump over deportations now assigned to lawsuit over leaked group chat | 26 March 2025 | A new lawsuit targeting President Donald Trump’s administration over leaked Pentagon plans in a Signal chat has been assigned to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, the same judge who ordered a halt to the administration’s deportation efforts. The government watchdog group American Oversight filed the lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others violated federal records laws by discussing Houthi attack plans in a Signal group chat. The contest has now been randomly [?] assigned to Boasberg, who serves on the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., condemned “rogue judges” like Boasberg in a statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday. He has introduced legislation that would prohibit district-level judges from issuing nationwide injunctions like the one Boasberg used to block deportations… Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., echoed Hawley in another statement to Fox, calling on Boasberg to recuse himself from the case.
Group tells liberal Wis. Supreme Court candidate ‘desist’ in making false statements about opponent | 25 March 2025 | An election integrity grassroots organization is demanding the Democrat-backed Wisconsin Supreme Court justice candidate cease making what it says are false statements about the Republican-backed candidate in violation of the state’s judicial code of conduct. Fair Elections Wisconsin (FEW) sent a cease-and-desist letter to Democrat-backed Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford, who is running for the state Supreme Court against Republican-backed Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel. The letter alleges that Crawford made multiple false statements against Schimel during her campaign, which violates the state’s judicial code of conduct.
ICE agents in Houston arrest more than 600 criminal noncitizens, including many previously deported | 25 March 2025 | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents based in Houston continue to arrest and remove violent criminals illegally in the U.S. In several targeted operations, agents arrested more than 600 criminal foreign nationals, including scores who were previously deported multiple times, confirmed gang members, sex offenders, and fugitives. ICE agents recently removed Orbelin Benitez-Carbajal, a criminal Mexican national previously deported and convicted of manslaughter. He was returned to Mexico last week after previously being deported in 2014 and illegally reentering the country last January. His criminal record includes manslaughter and assault in Travis County, driving while intoxicated in Austin, and illegal entry in west Texas in January 2024.
Sanctuary state Massachusetts releases illegal migrants accused of raping kids – as Homan announces major sweep| 24 March 2025 | The defiant sanctuary state of Massachusetts recently dumped several illegal migrants accused of raping kids back into the community while refusing to hold them for ICE — and the Trump administration is now targeting the area for mass deportation raids. Since 2017, controversial state policies have barred Massachusetts authorities from holding illegal-migrant accused criminals in local jails solely based on ICE detainers. The situation prompted President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, to set his sights on the region. He announced Monday that federal immigration agents conducted a raid there last week that resulted in the arrests of 270 illegal migrants, most of whom he described as “significant criminals.” There are several recent disturbing examples of illegal-migrant alleged rapists being freed on extremely low bail amounts set by Massachusetts courts, according to CBS News.
Cornell student who praised Hamas told to surrender to ICE…or else | 21 March 2025 | A Cornell graduate student who praised Hamas’s October 7 attacks and organized pro-Palestine protests has been ordered to surrender to ICE officials — even though he hasn’t broken any laws. Momodou Taal, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and The Gambia, received the order shortly after asking a judge to bar the government from deporting him. A doctoral candidate in Africana Studies at the prestigious New York university, Taal had filed a lawsuit a week ago requesting a judge strike down two of President Trump’s executive orders targeting foreign protesters at US campuses. Taal’s attorneys reportedly then received an email from the Justice Department at 1am Friday inviting him “to appear in-person at the (Homeland Security Investigations) Office in Syracuse at a mutually agreeable time for personal service of the (Notice to Appear) and for Mr. Taal to surrender to ICE custody,” reports CNN.
Musk threatens to sue after Democratic ex-Rep Jamaal Bowman calls him a ‘Nazi’ and ‘thief’ during TV appearance | 22 March 2025 | Elon Musk has threatened to sue after former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., used a recent TV appearance on CNN to call President Donald Trump’s top adviser a “Nazi” and a “thief.” “I’ve had enough. Lawsuit inbound,” Musk wrote on X on Friday, replying to a clip of Bowman’s recent round table discussion on CNN. Bowman, who was defeated in last July’s Democratic primary, told a panel of commentators that the “American people do not trust Elon Musk and Elon Musk is incompetent in his position.” “He’s incompetent. He’s a thief. He’s a Nazi. And people don’t trust him,” Bowman claimed of Musk.
GOP Rep Says He Will Introduce Resolution to Censure Jasmine Crockett Over ‘Hot Wheels’ Comments | 25 March 2025 | Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett could be formally reprimanded by Congress following her comments mocking Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for having a disability while speaking at an LGBTQ advocacy group event on Saturday. Republican Rep. Randy Weber, a fellow Texan, announced Tuesday he plans to introduce a censure resolution against Crockett, Fox News Digital first reported. It is unclear whether the resolution will be considered privileged, which could force House GOP leadership to hold a vote on the censure resolution. “I plan to introduce a bill to censure Jasmine Crockett for her disgraceful and vile attacks against our Governor of Texas,” Weber wrote on X Tuesday. “This kind of rhetoric has no place in Congress.”
Rising Democratic Star Jasmine Crockett Calls Paraplegic Greg Abbott ‘Governor Hot Wheels’ | 25 March 2025 | During a speech at the Human Rights Campaign Monday night, Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett called Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is confined to a wheelchair, “Governor Hot Wheels” and a “hot-ass mess.” “Y’all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there, come on now. And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot-ass mess, honey,” Crockett said in her speech to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group. Abbott has been paralyzed from the waist down since a massive oak tree fell on his back over 40 years ago… Crockett’s remarks add to a string of antagonistic comments she has made recently toward Republican lawmakers. On March 23, Crockett said she thinks Democrats should metaphorically “punch” Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
City employee accused of planting noose on her own desk at Pennsylvania city hall in alleged staged hate crime | 24 March 2025 | A Pennsylvania city employee has been arrested following a months-long investigation after she allegedly falsely reported finding a noose on her desk. During a news conference on Monday, the Allentown Police Department announced the arrest of city employee LaTarsha Brown, who police said made a report on Jan. 10, after she reported finding a noose on her desk when she arrived for work at City Hall. A criminal investigation was initiated following Brown’s report to identify the person responsible for placing the noose on her desk.