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1. Ukraine
2. Elimination
Several state legislatures have passed bills restricting access to abortion, adding to a growing number of GOP-led states seeking to abolish abortion rights in the United States. Arizona Gov. Republican Doug Duchess has signed into law a bill that serves as an almost complete ban on abortion in the state after 15 weeks. In Kentucky, the state House and Senate passed a similar 15-week ban that also restricts access to medical abortion and makes it more difficult for a minor to have an abortion in the state. In Idaho, abortion providers are asking the state Supreme Court to lift a new six-week state abortion ban that mimics a controversial Texas law. This law also allows individual citizens to sue professional doctors who have performed prohibited procedures.
3. Gas prices
President Joe Biden is considering releasing about 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Oil Reserve to mitigate persistently high gas prices. Exploiting the stockpile of 600 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground salt caves in Louisiana and Texas is unlikely to have a huge impact on gas prices because of the limits on how much oil can be released at a time. But it is a political sign from Biden that he is trying to tackle the problem. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the US skyrocketed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reaching a record high of $ 4.33 earlier this month. The invasion has also gripped global supply chains supposedly recovering from pandemic-related woes.
4. Immigration
The Biden administration plans to end controversial restrictions on the Trump-era pandemic on the US-Mexico border by May 23. The public health provision, known as Title 42, has largely prevented immigrants from entering the United States and has raised the concerns of Democrats and immigration advocates who say there is no scientific justification for the restriction. However, the Biden government has maintained the measure in force. About 1.7 million migrants have been sent back to Mexico or their country of origin since March 2020, according to the US Customs and Border Protection. Homeland Security officials are preparing for the influx when the ban is lifted, with preparations for up to 18,000 arrivals a day.
5. Iran
The US Treasury Department has announced new sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile program in response to a missile strike in Iraq earlier this month. It is another setback for US efforts to return to the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. An agreement between the US and Iran seemed close to the beginning of the month. Hope has since been dashed by pending disputes – including Iran’s demands for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a group targeting these new sanctions that is responsible for research and development of ballistic missiles. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the United States will work to prevent Iran’s nuclear capability regardless of whether an agreement is reached.
BREAKFAST DESCRIPTION
After 8 years of waiting, the US men’s soccer team will play in the World Cup again And the US public will once again become disgusted with football on the world stage. Weddings are blooming again, bigger and more expensive than ever As long as there is a cake and a comfortable place to sit, we are fine. The longest wooden train in the world is getting longer Two extra feet of path means a few more milliseconds of your life flashing in front of your eyes. The musical “KPOP” will make its Broadway debut later this year An audience of excited screaming fans would really complete the experience. Elf Cosmetics and Dunkin ‘launch a (scented!) Makeup collection Like wearing the best donut crumbs on your face, but in a socially acceptable way.
TODAY’S NUMBER
11.3% This is the percentage of LGBTQ adults recognized as trans. Today, March 31, is World Transparency Day, a day when allies need to show support for the trans community and look at the status of trans representation. This year’s observance comes at a particularly important time for supporters and activists fighting against the growing number of anti-LGBTQ laws specifically targeting trans people.
TODAY QUOTE
“I’m still working on what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about this s ***. And it’s going to be serious and it’s funny, but right now I’m going to say a few jokes.” Chris Rock, who spoke publicly about the Oscar slapping incident for the first time during a show in Boston last night. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced yesterday that it had “initiated disciplinary proceedings” against actor Will Smith, who hit Rock during the broadcast after the comedian told a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
THE WEATHER TODAY
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AND FINALLY
Pickled sandwiches. Pickled sandwiches? Pickled sandwiches! Go to New Jersey, where a sandwich stuffed in the window of a huge pickle bar is waiting to be swallowed. (Click here to view)
