The Full Belmonte, 3/9/2024
THE LATEST NEWS
Displaced children in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. Mohammed Salem/Reuters
“Britain and the E.U. will join the U.S. in delivering aid to Gaza via ship. An airdrop of aid accidentally killed several Palestinians yesterday, the Gaza authorities said.” [New York Times]
“President Biden plans to sign a bill today to fund dozens of federal programs, averting a partial government shutdown.” [New York Times]
“Donald Trump posted a nearly $92 million bond in a defamation case he lost to the writer E. Jean Carroll, which allows him to appeal the verdict without having to pay her.” [New York Times]
“The Republican National Committee elected Trump’s handpicked candidates, including his daughter-in-law, as its top leaders.” [New York Times]
“No Labels, a bipartisan group, said it would launch a third-party presidential ticket. It does not have a candidate yet, but Democrats worry the effort could pull votes from Biden.” [New York Times]
“A Pentagon report found no evidence that the government has covered up knowledge of extraterrestrial technology, or that any U.F.O. sightings represented aliens visiting Earth.” [New York Times]
“The U.S. economy continues to show strength. It added 275,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose slightly but remained below 4 percent.” [New York Times]
“A U.S. federal jury found the former president of Honduras guilty of conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and working with El Chapo and other drug traffickers.” [New York Times]
Nex Benedict's death in Oklahoma prompts federal investigation. What happens now?
“The Department of Education’s federal investigation into the death of Oklahoma 16-year-old Nex Benedict could take months and yield potentially unsatisfying results for advocates who want to see big changes in how LGBTQ young people are treated in schools.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched the investigation last week in response to a Feb. 21 letter from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, that accused Benedict's school district of failing to adequately respond to sex-based harassment that may have contributed to the student’s death on Feb. 8, the day after getting into a fight in the girls' restroom.”
Read the full story here at The Hill
Extremist Threat in Moscow
Cars drive past the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on March 7.Tatyana Makeyeva/AFP
“The U.S. Embassy in Russia warned on Friday that ‘extremists’ had imminent plans to target large gatherings, including concerts, in Moscow in the coming days. It advised people to avoid crowds and concerts for the next 48 hours as well as remain vigilant of their surroundings. The embassy gave no further details, and the Kremlin has yet to issue an official statement regarding the United States’ alert.
In response, Latvia’s foreign ministry urged its citizens on Friday to leave Russia as soon as possible and avoid mass gatherings in Moscow for fear of possible ‘terrorist attacks.’ Australia, Canada, Estonia, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom also advised their countries’ nationals against traveling to Russia. Washington had instructed all U.S. citizens to leave Russia immediately in February 2023.
The threat in Moscow came mere hours after Russian security services said they foiled a planned shooting at a synagogue in Russia’s Kaluga region by a cell of the Islamic State-Khorasan, a branch primarily based in Afghanistan. According to the Kremlin, Russian officials engaged in a firefight with militants before neutralizing the situation. They then seized ‘firearms, ammunition, as well as components for creating improvised explosive devices.’
It is unclear if the U.S. Embassy warning is linked to the alleged synagogue attack, but Russian authorities said they are currently investigating the planned shooting as a conspiracy to conduct a terrorist attack.
U.S.-Russian relations are currently at their lowest point since the Cold War—largely due to Moscow’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s animosity toward the West. On Thursday, the Russian foreign ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy to warn Washington against interfering in its general elections, which are slated for March 15 to 17. Democracy experts have accused Putin of rigging the upcoming vote, as he has imprisoned or barred from running all opposition candidates.
Moscow also informed Tracy on Thursday that Russia was designating three U.S. educational and exchange organizations, including the American Councils for International Education, as ‘undesirable’—ending a roughly 70-year tradition between the two nations. It accused the groups of “implementing anti-Russian programs and projects aimed at recruiting ‘agents of influence’ under the guise of educational and cultural exchanges.” The U.S. Embassy in Russia criticized the decision, calling it ‘a tragic illustration of the Kremlin’s desire to isolate its own people.’” [Foreign Policy]
“Biden’s foreign-policy agenda. U.S. President Joe Biden delivered the annual State of the Union address on Thursday, and foreign policy took up a healthy portion of his remarks. Biden reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas while acknowledging the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and he announced that the U.S. military will build a temporary emergency floating pier off the Gaza Strip’s coast to help facilitate aid deliveries. However, he promised that ‘no U.S. boots will be on the ground.’
Biden called on the U.S. Congress to financially support Ukraine after Republicans repeatedly blocked emergency spending packages that would help fund Kyiv, among other purposes. He accused former U.S. President Donald Trump of ‘bowing down’ to Putin and condemned Trump for seemingly inviting Russia to invade NATO members that do not meet the alliance’s 2 percent defense spending commitment.
To combat low public opinion over his immigration policies, Biden also urged Congress to pass bipartisan border security reforms that Trump told Republican lawmakers to block. The U.S. president listed some of the proposal’s toughest measures, including hiring 1,500 border security agents and 4,300 asylum officers.” [Foreign Policy]
“Mass kidnappings in Nigeria. Armed bandits abducted more than 300 students, some as young as 8 years old, from their school in Nigeria’s Kaduna state on Thursday. At least 287 students are still in captivity after initial rescue efforts, a Nigerian police spokesperson said. And at least one student has been killed. No group has claimed responsibility thus far, but some authorities are blaming Ansaru, a breakaway faction of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014.
This is Nigeria’s second mass kidnapping in recent days. On March 1, alleged Islamist militants abducted dozens of Nigerians, including children, near a camp for internally displaced people. It is still unclear which group was responsible for that attack. Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu condemned both kidnappings on Friday and ordered security officials to immediately launch rescue efforts.” [Foreign Policy]
“Constitutional changes. Ireland held two constitutional referendums on Friday to coincide with International Women’s Day. If passed, the first vote would amend Article 41 to provide a wider concept of family, recognizing families ‘founded on marriage or on other durable relationships.’ The second vote, if approved, would remove language in Article 41.2 referring to women’s ‘duties in the home.’ A new version would recognize and protect all family caregivers.
‘This referendum is our opportunity to remove limits on women’s role from our constitution and close this dark chapter of our past,’ said Orla O’Connor, the director of Ireland’s National Women’s Council. Ireland’s constitution dates back to 1937, when the Catholic Church had a larger influence over politics and public life. Nowadays, though, the current wording ‘no longer reflects modern life,’ Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Martin said in December 2023.” [Foreign Policy]
“IKEA’s new billboards in Portugal for self-assembly bookcases are not pulling any punches. ‘A good place to stash books. Or to stash 75,800 euros,’ they read, in reference to the 75,800 euros (roughly $83,000) that Portuguese police found on bookcases in the prime minister’s chief of staff’s office last year. The discovery forced then-Prime Minister António Costa to resign in November 2023; Portugal is holding snap elections this Sunday.” [Foreign Policy]
GAME OF THE WEEK
Kamilla Cardoso of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Eakin Howard/Getty Images
“Women’s college basketball: It’s conference championship weekend, your last chance to see many of the top teams before the N.C.A.A. tournament begins. The three conferences below all hold their finals on Sunday, airing on ESPN from 1 to 7 p.m.
In the ACC, Virginia Tech is looking to repeat last year’s Final Four run.
In the SEC, undefeated South Carolina has been cruising all season, but last year’s national champion, L.S.U., could give them a challenge.
And in the Pac 12, Stanford, one of the sport’s powerhouses, is seeking a fourth straight No. 1 seed in the tournament.
If you’re just getting up to speed on this season, The Athletic has five story lines that you should know.” [New York Times]
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
Music
Zach Bryan playing in Chicago. Evan Jenkins for The New York Times
“Zach Bryan’s blend of folk, rock and country has made him an unlikely pop sensation. The Times’s Jon Caramanica was at the opening night of Bryan’s arena tour.
Patti Smith and her daughter performed together at the Morgan Library & Museum’s 100th anniversary party.
Singapore paid Taylor Swift to perform there, but nowhere else in Southeast Asia, during this leg of her Eras tour. The deal has caused diplomatic tension with Thailand and the Philippines.
Film and TV
A shirt worn by Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” sold for 25,000 pounds — about $32,000 — at auction in London, the BBC reports.
An armorer who worked on the set of the movie “Rust” was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin.
“The New Look,” on Apple TV+, takes liberties with the life stories of Coco Chanel and Christian Dior. The truth is just as interesting.
You can now grab a pint at the pub from “The Banshees of Inisherin.” For the right price, you could even own the place.
Art and Design
A structure made by Riken Yamamoto. Tomio Ohashi/The Pritzker Architecture Prize
Riken Yamamoto of Japan won the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor, for his understated buildings that inspire social connection.
Michael Lee, a nonprofit executive, will be the next leader of the Museum of Chinese in America in New York.
A Ukrainian art historian is using social media to lobby museums to reclassify art long considered Russian as Ukrainian.
Other Big Stories
Chemena Kamali and her son at the conclusion of the Chloé show. Teresa Suarez/Shutterstock
Runway romance and ruffled feathers: See nine highlights from Paris Fashion Week.
People are desperately searching for a limited-edition miniature tote bag at Trader Joe’s.
The long-running video game MLB The Show will feature female players for the first time.” [New York Times]