What is behind the elections in Mexico? Is the United States preparing a game?
CNN
—
With more than 98 million eligible voters, some 70,000 candidates and over 20,000 public offices being contested, Mexico’s general election on June 2 will be the largest in the country’s history.
But it’s not just the massive scale of the event that makes it so important in the eyes of observers across the border in the United States.
For the first time in history, the country looks set to elect its first female president. The two front-runners are both women – Claudia Sheinbaum, of the Morena party, who is backed by the governing coalition Sigamos Haciendo Historia, and Xóchitl Gálvez, who is backed by an coalition of opposition parties.
The vote is also important because it falls in the same year as the US presidential election – something that happens only once every 12 years – and comes at a time of transition in the relationship between the two countries.
“The years when all the US wanted was a safe and stable Mexico are over. Now it is also interested in a country with good public policy,” said Rafael Fernández de Castro Medina, director of the Center for US-Mexico Studies at the University of California, San Diego, pointing to the increasing number of Latinos in the US and the two countries’ growing ties.
Here are a look at some of the biggest issues affecting the US-Mexico relationship that will be influenced by Sunday’s vote:
It’s the economy, stupid
Mexico became the United States’ top trading partner last year, surpassing China and Canada.
Experts say this is largely because geopolitical issues such as the pandemic, the legacy of Trump’s trade war against China, and the war in Ukraine all encouraged near-shoring – the relocation of supply chains nearer to home – which boosted US imports from Mexico and its investment in the country.
Key to facilitating this shift was the creation of the USMCA trade agreement, which came into effect in 2020 between Mexico, the United States and Canada.
“The USMCA offered, in that favorable context, a legal regulatory framework that provided a lot of certainty to the three North American countries, and Mexico has seized the opportunities and strengthened its preferential tariffs to make this happen,” explained Lila Abed, director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center.
However, it’s not all been plain sailing. Mexico’s compliance with the USMCA has been an issue of contention between the administration of Mexico’s current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and those of both US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump.
“The next president of Mexico will have to deal with a series of legal disputes that the United States, supported by Canada, has filed within the framework of the USMCA,” Abed points out.
“These range from [López Obrador’s] ban on the import of transgenic corn for human consumption; the shift towards a nationalist energy policy, which has affected US investments in electricity and hydrocarbons, as well as the little importance given to clean energies,” Abed said.
According to Abed, whoever wins the Mexican presidency on June 2 will have to deal with a lawsuit filed by the United States on these issues. They will also have to renegotiate the agreement when it comes up for renewal in 2026.
Many analysts believe the US is currently playing down disputes over the USMCA in the hope that this can ease differences in other areas, both in domestic Mexican issues – such as alleged human rights violations, the government’s treatment of journalists, and the increase in political assassinations – and bilateral concerns such as immigration and the drug trade.
“It’s very transactional. Mexico agreed to partially manage the immigration crisis in the US, keeping immigrants in Mexican territory and taking care of their deportation, in exchange for the United States not activating these lawsuits,” said Raquel López Portillo Maltos, executive secretary of the youth group of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (Comexi) think tank.
Jorge Alberto Schiavon Uriegas, vice president of the Center for Studies and Analysis on Mexico’s Foreign Policy, said López Obrador followed a quid pro quo policy towards both Trump and Biden, and this would possibly continue with Sheinbaum, if elected.
“Mexico committed to addressing the two main Mexican issues affecting the United States and that will determine the next election: migration and fentanyl. In exchange, the United States dramatically reduced its criticism of Mexico’s democratic and institutional weakness, and reduced its interventions, leaving more room for López Obrador’s domestic policy,” said Schiavon Uriegas.
Migration: Mexico, ‘part of Trump’s wall’
While migration across the countries’ 1,933 miles long border is a shared concern, the issue is much lower on Mexican politicians’ agenda than in the US — where it could be a decisive factor in the November vote, according to Carin Zissis, editor-in-chief of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas website.
“The speeches of Sheinbaum and Gálvez on migration are neither very strong nor very different from each other, nor do they address too much what to do with migrants in the country,” she said.
“Proof of this is that, during the last presidential debate, when migration was addressed, the main angle was Mexican migrants currently living in the US; they were talking to their potential voters north of the border and to the Latino community in general, which is large and powerful due to remittances.”
The rub for US politicians is that they need buy-in from their Mexican counterparts if their own immigration policies are to succeed.
Zissis gave the example of how Lopez Obrador had made Mexico “part of Trump’s wall” by sending “thousands of members of the National Guard and the Army to take care of migration control.”
¨Trump didn’t have to build the wall because Mexico is the wall,” said Zissis.
Abed, of the Mexico Institute, said Mexico’s next president would face a different conundrum to previous leaders, because the country had changed from being merely a transit country, which immigrants passed through on their way to the US, to being in many cases their final stop.
“The reaction of the López Obrador government has been to transport migrants who are waiting at the border between Mexico and the United States to the southeast of the country and leave them there. The migration authorities are overwhelmed, the Mexican Refugee Aid Commission (Comar) is also overwhelmed, the centers where migrants stay are very precarious, migrants — specifically unaccompanied minors and women, as well as young people — are at risk from organized crime and human traffickers, and their human rights could be violated,” Abed detailed.
She said the next Mexican government will need to assume responsibility for this large migrant population, “and decide whether to give them a temporary visa, whether to allow them to work, whether they will have access to medical services, etc.”
Fentanyl and the drug trade
Security is another pillar of the bilateral relationship, particularly in terms of the thriving cross-border drug trade that blights both countries.
While the United States has been grappling with a domestic health crisis due to the amount of fentanyl on its streets, Mexico faces increasing cartel-linked violence – including in the run-up to the election which has been marred by dozens of assassination attempts and other political violence.
“México has made progress in dismantling clandestine drug laboratories, but the next government must do more to stop the entry through maritime ports of precursor chemicals mostly coming from China, because after that is when they fall into the hands of organized crime to produce these synthetic opioids,” Abed said.
“But the United States also has to dismantle the network of traffickers within (its own borders). That is, once fentanyl arrives, its distribution throughout the territory is not magical. There is a significant network of organized crime in the United States that the administration must arrest, bring to trial, and whose activities it must restrict,” she added.
One issue the US may be keen to revisit with whoever wins on June 2 are the reforms to Mexico’s National Security Law that the López Obrador government implemented in 2018 as one of its first measures, which limited the activity of foreign agents operating on Mexican territory.
“It was a symbol, a sign that the Mexican government was not going to open the door so easily to security agencies such as the DEA, the CIA, and others. He removed the diplomatic immunity (and) they had to register all their activities with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc,” explained Abed.
Experts who spoke to CNN said, however, that much of López Obrador’s confrontational discourse with the United States was a facade that, at times, hid a well-oiled process of negotiations with both the Republican and Democratic administrations.
“López Obrador often speaks to his Mexican base and then negotiates. He knows that the US needs him on migration and security matters,” said Zissis at the Americas Society website.
17
views
Surprising Turn in Mexican Elections: Allegations of Secret Dealings Surface
Mexico City, June 2, 2024 — In a shocking development that has sent ripples through the political landscape of Mexico, fresh allegations have emerged suggesting clandestine dealings between several leading candidates and influential business magnates. These accusations, if proven true, could dramatically alter the outcome of the upcoming elections.
According to an anonymous insider, prominent figures within the political arena have been engaging in secret meetings with powerful industrialists and international corporations. The supposed objective behind these meetings is to secure massive financial backing in exchange for future political favors and policy adjustments that would favor the interests of these corporate giants.
Among the most startling claims is the involvement of leading presidential candidate María López, who is said to have met with representatives from a major foreign conglomerate. The source alleges that during these meetings, promises were made to facilitate easier access to Mexico's natural resources and to relax environmental regulations in favor of the company's operations.
Further fueling the controversy, rival candidate Juan Ramirez is reportedly entangled in a similar scandal. Ramirez allegedly received substantial financial contributions from a group of influential real estate developers. In return, the candidate is believed to have assured these backers that, once elected, he would expedite the approval of several large-scale urban development projects, despite potential concerns over displacement of local communities and environmental impact.
The National Electoral Institute (INE) has announced that it will be launching a thorough investigation into these claims. "We are committed to ensuring a fair and transparent electoral process," said INE spokesperson Ana Martinez. "Any candidate found to be engaging in unethical practices will face severe consequences, up to and including disqualification from the race."
These revelations have sparked outrage among voters, many of whom feel betrayed by the candidates they once trusted. Social media platforms are abuzz with reactions, ranging from demands for immediate resignations to calls for greater oversight and reform in political campaign financing.
Political analysts are warning that the fallout from these allegations could lead to widespread voter apathy and a significant decline in voter turnout. "Trust in the electoral process is at an all-time low," said political analyst Jorge Rivera. "If these allegations are substantiated, it could have long-lasting repercussions on Mexico's democracy."
As the nation braces for what promises to be a tumultuous election season, all eyes are on the INE's investigation and the responses from the accused candidates. Both López and Ramirez have vehemently denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated attacks designed to undermine their campaigns.
The coming weeks will be crucial in determining whether these explosive claims hold any truth, and what impact they will have on the future of Mexico's political landscape.
5
views
Body camera footage shows Akron officer shoot teen who had fake gun
Body camera footage released by Akron on Monday shows an officer shoot and strike a teenager in the hand after he drove up to the scene and saw the teen had what was later determined to be a fake gun.
6
views
Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin
Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin reveals a remarkable truth that aligns with what 'conspiracy theorists' have been saying all along about the Deep State!
10
views
Vladimir Putin answered questions from Tucker Carlson
Vladimir Putin answered questions from Tucker Carlson, a journalist and founder of Tucker Carlson Network.
18
views
Biden's Shift: Netanyahu's Gaza 'Mistake'
In this video, we delve into Biden's recent change in perspective on Netanyahu's approach to the Gaza conflict, as he calls for a ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid. Join us as we analyze the implications and significance of this shift in stance. Your thoughts and opinions on this issue are highly encouraged in the comments below. Don't forget to like and share this video to spark meaningful discussions. Thank you for watching!
14
views
World War III, Trump's Grand Rapids Speech: 5 Key Takeaways
In this video, we delve into the highlights of Trump's recent speech in Grand Rapids, where he critiques Biden's administration and shares his views on immigration, electric vehicles, and the looming threat of World War III.
Join us as we analyze and summarize the key points from Trump's speech, providing valuable insights and perspectives on these important topics.
Don't miss out on understanding Trump's stance on these significant issues! Like and share this video to spread the knowledge and engage in the conversation.
20
views
Biden is furious over the workers' deaths, but the White House has no plans to change Israel policy
An Israeli strike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers for the non-profit World Central Kitchen has touched off fury and indignation inside the White House, prompting President Joe Biden on Tuesday to release a public statement using a word he has rarely invoked over the course of conflict that has been filled with endless tragedy: “Outraged.”
The deaths of the workers who were attempting to deliver food to starving civilians in the besieged enclave – including one dual US-Canadian citizen – has raised the frustration for Biden and his top officials to a new level, a senior administration official told CNN.
Biden’s statement Tuesday evening that mourned the deaths of the seven workers included some of the most fiery and blunt language from the president since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October. He explicitly blamed Israel for failing to protect aid workers and civilians, and he said, “Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen.”
The strike on the World Central Kitchen workers has been a “standout incident” as far as the Biden White House is concerned, the official said, prompting serious consternation and concern in what had already been a moment of high tensions between the US and Israel.
But the administration on Wednesday reiterated its support of Israel’s war against Hamas while warning that they are not doing enough to protect civilians in the Palestinian enclave.
“Of course, we want to see them do things differently that prevents civilian casualties. Absolutely. And that’s been an ongoing conversation that we’ve been having with them for many months,” said John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. “In terms of being more precise, being more targeted, being more cautious.”
He continued: “We have and will continue to talk to them about how to do things differently, how to do things more efficiently, how to do things more safely, and certainly how to do things in a way that minimizes damage to civilian infrastructure, and of course, civilian lives.”
The president discussed the deaths of the workers with a small group of Muslim community leaders at the White House Tuesday, according to one of the attendees. Some of the participants were doctors who have spent time in Gaza and have seen first-hand the plight of the Palestinian civilians there. One of them, CNN reported, walked out of the meeting early in a show of protest.
“The president expressed that this is a very difficult situation and that he would like to see an end to this war,” said Salima Suswell, founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council. “The conversation was difficult at moments.”
Asked about Biden blaming Israel for failing to protect civilians and aid workers in his statement, a senior adviser to the president told CNN: “It’s what he wanted to say.”
Israel has said it will investigate why the aid workers’ vehicles were hit by Israeli airstrikes, and Biden called on the probe to be “swift” and “bring accountability.”
When pressed by CNN on whether the White House still supports how Israel is prosecuting the war, given the deaths of the aid workers and Biden’s outrage, Kirby said the administration has been clear and public about their objections but would not go so far as to withdraw its support.
“I want to make it clear that while we take issue with aspects of how operations are being conducted, particularly like saying, quite frankly, publicly, we don’t support a ground operation in Rafah. We also continue to believe and continue to act on the belief that Israel has a right to defend itself against the still-viable threat by Hamas,” Kirby said.
47
views
Jack Smith slams judge’s handling of Trump classified documents case over order
Judge Aileen Cannon was appointed to federal court job by the indicted former president
Special counsel Jack Smith has slammed the judge presiding over Donald Trump’s federal classified documents case over an order in which she asked prosecutors and defence lawyers to file proposed jury instructions based on a “fundamentally flawed legal premise”.
Judge Aileen Cannon, who the former president appointed, appeared to accept an argument Mr Trump is pushing that he was entitled to retain sensitive documents at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, under a statute known as the Presidential Records Act (PRA).
The order, filed on 19 March, baffled legal experts and commentators and alarmed Mr Smith’s team. Prosecutors argue in a filing late on Tuesday that the 1978 law — which requires presidents to return presidential records to the government upon leaving office but allows them to keep purely personal ones — has no relevance in the case, which concerns Mr Trump refusing to return highly sensitive classified documents.
Materials retrieved by the federal agents during their search of the former president’s home at his private members’ club, Mar-a-Lago, were clearly not personal and there is no evidence to suggest that they were ever designated as such by Mr Trump.
Further, prosecutors argue that the suggestion that the former president did designate them as personal was “invented” only after it became public that he was in possession of boxes upon boxes of records from his time in office that should have been returned to the National Archives.
They also note that none of the witnesses interviewed in their investigation of how the boxes came to Mar-a-Lago, and what happened over the months in which the government tried to retrieve them, support Mr Trump’s version of events.
“Not a single one had heard Trump say that he was designating records as personal or that, at the time he caused the transfer of boxes to Mar-a-Lago, he believed that his removal of records amounted to designating them as personal under the PRA,” prosecutors wrote. “To the contrary, every witness who was asked this question had never heard such a thing.”
Mr Smith’s team said that if Judge Cannon insists on citing the PRA in her jury instructions, she should let the lawyers know as soon as possible so they can appeal.
Lawyers for the government have been continually exasperated by Judge Cannon’s handling of the case, which has also perplexed legal experts.
She has yet to rule on multiple defence motions to dismiss the case as well as other disagreements between the two sides, and the trial date remains uncertain.
It is increasingly suspect that a case featuring what Mr Smith’s team describe as overwhelming evidence could be unresolved by the time of the November presidential election.
The judge was widely criticised for allowing Mr Trump’s team’s request for an independent arbiter to review the documents at the heart of the case, seized by the FBI during their search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022.
In March, she heard arguments on two motions from the defence to dismiss the case: that the PRA permitted him to designate the documents as personal, that he was therefore allowed to retain them, and that the issue was “constitutionally vague”. Judge Cannon appeared sceptical of their arguments and threw out one motion.
Only a few days later came the extraordinary order concerning jury instructions.
Both sides were asked to write instructions in response to the premise: “A president has sole authority under the PRA to categorize records as personal or presidential during his/her presidency. Neither a court nor a jury is permitted to make or review such a categorization decision.”
She continued by saying that an outgoing president’s decision to exclude personal records from those returned to the government “constitutes a president’s categorization of those records as personal under the PRA.”
Prosecutors say that interpretation of the law is wrong and urged Judge Cannon to move quickly and reject the defence motion to dismiss.
“The PRA’s distinction between personal and presidential records has no bearing on whether a former President’s possession of documents containing national defense information is authorized under the Espionage Act, and the PRA should play no role in the jury instructions on the elements of Section 793,” they wrote, citing the statute that makes it a crime to illegally retain national defence information.
“Indeed, based on the current record, the PRA should not play any role at trial at all,” they added.
This view is shared by many observers. Noting how “woefully unclear” Judge Cannon’s language was, legal commentator and MSNBC host Katie Phang pondered: “The PRA is clear. As is the Espionage Act. Not sure why Cannon is struggling with these concepts.”
National security lawyer Bradley Moss posted on X: “This second scenario is legally insane. If that were the case, then just grant Trump’s motion to dismiss on PRA grounds so DOJ bring it to the 11th circuit for a quick reversal.”
Longtime Trump foe George Conway was even more scathing: “In the decades that I have been a lawyer, this is the most bizarre order I’ve ever seen issued by a federal judge. What makes that all the more amazing is that the second and third most bizarre orders I’ve ever seen in federal court were also issued by Judge Cannon in this case.”
He later wrote: “Okay, I’ve seen enough. Not only should Aileen Cannon not be sitting on this case, but she should not be sitting on the federal bench at all. This is utterly nuts.”
The former president is facing dozens of criminal charges relating to his handling of classified documents in his time since leaving the White House.
This is just one of the four criminal cases against Mr Trump — the others are the Manhattan hush-money case, the federal election interference case, and the Fulton County election interference case.
He insists he has committed no crimes and believes he is being politically persecuted.
40
views
1
comment
Trump's Michigan Rants: A Scandal Uncovered
The real story here is the way Trump is twisting select crimes to viciously smear undocumented immigrants across the board.
Donald Trump has invented a new criminological category he describes as “Migrant Crime,” and in Michigan on Tuesday, he seized on the horrible murder of a young woman, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant, to underscore the point. Some news accounts covered this by quoting GOP strategists, with one enthusing that this will win over “security moms,” as if Trump is engaging in something like a conventional campaign strategy here.
But Trump’s ugly demagogic rants in Michigan, and others like it, deserve to be treated as a national scandal. The cherry-picking of isolated terrible crimes to smear migrants as a class is not something we would tolerate if it were directed toward other groups. Never mind what Trump is attempting to do politically. His deranged, malicious, hateful public conduct should be seen as the real story here. It should be covered that way.
Trump’s appearance in Michigan has been overshadowed by the news that Trump may have lied about relatives of the victim, 25-year-old Ruby Garcia. At his event, Trump claimed he had spoken to “some of her family,” but her sister flatly denied he or his campaign had contacted them, and blasted Trump for singling out crimes committed by “illegal immigrants.”
That did shape some of the coverage. But it should not require a brave public intervention from a young woman enduring a horrific tragedy to prod the media into registering the appalling way Trump is twisting this murder and other similar crimes to viciously smear undocumented immigrants across the board.
During his rants in Michigan, Trump also discussed the killing of another woman in Georgia by an “illegal alien animal.” He mocked Democrats for describing undocumented immigrants as “human,” declaring “they’re not human, they’re animals,” while keeping what “they” means vague. Trump insisted other countries are sending “prisoners, murders, drug dealers, mental patients, and terrorists” to our country, claimed migrants have “wrecked our country,” and blamed it all on “Biden’s border bloodbath.”
It’s pure degeneracy to use Ruby Garcia’s killing this way. Here’s what we know: Brandon Ortiz-Vite, a 25-year-old Mexican citizen, was charged with the murder. He and Garcia may have been romantically involved, though the sister says it didn’t get that far.
Ortiz-Vite originally qualified for legal protections for people brought here illegally as children. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that status expired in May 2019, and after getting arrested on local charges, he was deported to Mexico in September 2020. He reentered the country on an unknown date.
It’s simply absurd to pin this on Biden’s immigration policies. Trump and the right criticize Biden for things like letting in migrants on parole who apply for entry from abroad, and for releasing migrants awaiting asylum hearings into the interior of the country. But none of that applies to Ortiz-Vite.
He is not here on Biden’s parole programs. And he doesn’t appear to have applied for asylum. According to an ICE official, his deportation in 2020 was the last known immigration action taken toward him by the federal government prior to his current arrest.
“He wasn’t here due to any policy put in place by this administration,” David Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, told me.
In short, Ortiz-Vite is what is known in government-speak as a “gotaway”—that is, someone who crosses the border illegally and eludes capture. Based on what we know, at no point did he interact with our immigration machinery or law enforcement before the alleged murder, so Biden’s policies couldn’t have applied to him one way or the other, Bier notes.
“If Border Patrol had caught him, they would have deported him immediately,” Bier said. “That’s what happens to single Mexican adults, including under Biden.”
If the argument is supposed to be that fewer migrants with criminal intent would dare enter the country due to Trump’s alleged toughness, well, efforts to cross the border illegally by convicted criminals reached record numbers under Trump’s presidency, Bier has shown. “Trump’s policies wouldn’t have deterred this guy for a second,” he said.
It is true that with any large group of people—undocumented migrants included—one risks seeing a small percentage of them turn to violent crime. But that’s not an argument against Biden’s immigration policies. As has been demonstrated again and again, there is no evidence that migrants are driving any kind of crime wave in the United States.
In covering Trump’s Michigan event, some news accounts dutifully noted that fact. But they tended to treat this as a conventional fact check of typical political rhetoric, rather than treating his heinous smearing of a large class of people as itself being the story.
Trump’s constant use of the deranged “migrant crime” trope provides the hook for doing just that. The Republican National Committee now has an official website devoted to chronicling “migrant crime” and “illegal alien crime,” listed out by state (in some states no “illegal alien crimes” have yet been documented). The casual use of such terms to smear large classes of immigrants is the official party position.
All this is straight from the authoritarian playbook. As The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum has noted: “The repetition of the phrase ‘migrant crime’ is a tactic stolen from Victor Orban, who used to use ‘Gypsy crime’ in the same way.”
How about some stand-alone news analysis pieces devoted to that sort of malign confluence of tactics? Why not cover this hateful, dangerous rhetoric as a sign of Trump’s seething contempt for even the most minimal standards of conduct in public service and public life?
Democrats could consider fighting back, too. What about holding events with, say, the families of the immigrant pothole-repairing workers killed in the Baltimore bridge collapse, or with immigrant essential workers who got our society through the pandemic? Democrats could say: This is what immigrants are really doing for our country. They could call on Trump: Stop the hate.
If the press won’t tell the story this way, then Democrats should do so themselves, and prod the media to pick up on it, just as both parties constantly push the media to adopt other chosen narratives. The Trump-GOP smearing of immigrants is an absolute scandal. And it should be treated as exactly that.
35
views
Tornado Terror: Ohio Valley's Severe Weather Outbreak , Sud
CNN - The threat of a severe weather outbreak is growing as tens of millions of people across the eastern half of the United States face down severe thunderstorms capable of damaging wind gusts, dangerous hail and destructive tornadoes.
“A potentially substantial severe weather outbreak – possibly including a few significant/long-track tornadoes – is anticipated this afternoon and evening,” the Storm Prediction Center warned Tuesday morning.
Dangerous storms were already ongoing Tuesday morning in the Ohio Valley with numerous tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings issued, but a new round will fire up Tuesday afternoon and evening, presenting the greatest risk for destructive weather.
The storms pose the most significant threat for tornadoes so far this year, with parts of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana most at risk. Ohio hasn’t been warned of a tornado threat this substantial in more than 10 years, according to SPC data. It’s in this region where strong tornadoes could form and stay on the ground for several miles at a time.
Tornadoes are also possible outside of the area of greatest risk in a widespread area from Alabama and western Georgia north to parts of Indiana and West Virginia. Tornadoes here could reach at least EF2 strength.
All told, more than 75 million people are at risk for severe thunderstorms from the Gulf Coast to Great Lakes. Many could encounter damaging winds of 60 to 80 mph and hail ranging from the size of quarters to baseballs.
The prediction center has urged residents in the storms’ path to monitor forecasts because the areas under risk could change. “Now is the time to ensure you have a severe weather action plan in place,” it advised.
Over 17 million people from Illinois to Maryland also face a flood threat from the storms, with flood watches lasting into the evening and rainfall totals of up to 5 inches possible.
The same severe weather system tore through the central US on Monday, prompting more than 100 storm reports across the region, including three tornadoes in Oklahoma. Homes were damaged by the storms in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, around 40 miles north of Tulsa, town police told CNN.
“I was on duty and patrolling the streets when it came through,” Barnsdall officer Eric Sofian said. “There was a lot of heavy wind, a lot of lightning and I could see a lot of sparks flying from the power lines.”
Massive hailstones were reported in Texas, including one as large as 4.5 inches in Briar – bigger than a softball.
The tornado threat will lessen Wednesday as storms shift east, but there is still a Level 2 of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail in parts of the mid-Atlantic and Florida.
Significant snow coming
Rain north of the severe weather will transition to snow and a wintry mix later Tuesday in areas of the Midwest and Great Lakes, and rain and snow showers will continue in parts of both regions through Thursday.
Cities including Chicago could even see a few flakes, but little accumulation of snowfall is expected.
The highest snowfall totals are expected across the parts of Michigan and Wisconsin, where snowfall of 6 to 12 inches is possible through Thursday. Snowfall could snarl travel in the region.
Winter-like weather will shift into the interior Northeast beginning Wednesday, where winter storm watches are in effect for much of the interior region into Friday.
The Adirondacks could see up to a foot of snowfall by Thursday, while parts of the Green and White Mountains can see over a foot of snowfall. Gusts up to 50 mph combined with heavy snowfall can cause blowing snow and can cause power outages and travel delays.
Major cities across the Northeast, including New York City, Boston and Philadelphia, are currently forecast to see rain.
104
views
Apple Vision Pro: The Future of Mixed Reality, Great what Apple creates for us
Up to five people can watch movies and TV shows, play AR games, and collaborate on work together even when they’re across the planet.
Apple Vision Pro is above and beyond other mixed reality headsets, but even with the highest quality passthrough camera tech to help you stay grounded in your real surroundings, there’s no way to escape the fact that donning one is a single-user experience. That changes starting today with the rollout of spatial Persona.
At Vision Pro’s launch in February, Personas — the 3D recreation of a person’s head and hands in visionOS — arrived in beta, and it showed. Personas looked video game-like with facial expressions and hair reproductions that appeared more strange than lifelike or natural. Personas still look like the uncanny valley, but the recent visionOS 1.1 software update did improve the 3D avatars with more natural mouth movements and better facial textures for attributes like makeup and hair.
Spatial Persona, which was announced in a developer session post-WWDC keynote last June, is Vision Pro’s answer to its isolating, single-person experience. With spatial Persona, up to five people using their own Vision Pros can participate together within compatible apps without being in the same physical space. In the VR/Meta Quest world, this virtual collaboration is commonly called “presence,” or the ability to feel like a bunch of people are all hanging out together in a virtual space.
Yesterday, Apple invited me to try out a demo of spatial Persona — from the comfort of my own home — with an Apple PR person and a member from Product Marketing. The addition to visionOS is part of the still-in-beta Persona experience, meaning it’s still a work in progress. But even with a few connection issues during my demo, it was a glimpse of how Vision Pro could bring people together to watch movies, play games, or collaborate on work.
After accepting a FaceTime call from Apple’s PR team, I was greeted by two Persona faces inside of their respective 2D FaceTime square “tile” windows. A quick tap in Control Center, however, pulled them out of their tiles and into my living room. The two people weren’t actually standing in my living room, and they couldn’t see my messy apartment either, but their heads, hands, and the upper part of their torso floated in my room as if they were standing in front of me on the left and right. They could move around in their physical space to position themselves closer or farther away from me or each other, and I could too. If you try to walk through another Persona, they turn into a circle-shaped contact card (and they or anyone else will see you doing it). You could be that person and annoy everyone, but it goes without saying that you should respect each other’s personal space, even if it’s virtual.
The three of us could sit down or stand up, and just like in real life, our eye levels would match accordingly. On a phone, tablet, or laptop/desktop, we’re used to not making eye contact on a video call because the webcam is often positioned above the screen. (iOS and iPadOS do have a nifty hidden “Eye Contact” feature that remaps your eyes to appear as if you’re looking into the camera as opposed to at the screen.) So it was more natural to look directly into their eyes and maintain contact; it felt more real, more intimate.
In addition to realistic eye contact, spatial Personas are also directional. That means if several Personas are hanging out together in visionOS, you can see where they are relative to your position. For example, if I point to a Persona on my left with my left hand, everyone else will see that, and the person I’m pointing at will see that I am pointing at them from their right side. It’s basic presence 101 stuff and Apple nails it, even in beta.
Similarly, just like when you’re making a FaceTime call with people (either in 2D or a Persona) in Vision Pro in their tiles, audio is directional (or spatial Apple calls it) as well. Everyone will hear each other’s voices relative to where they are positioned in virtual space.
Once I had picked my mouth off the floor, we got to demoing some content together. First, the three of us watched a movie trailer together using the Apple TV app. There we were, watching a large, theater-sized screen — together. I could look over at them at any time and see how they were reacting, something I actually do when I’m watching a movie with my friends or family in a real theater. (I’m a weirdo!) It was pretty neat!
The cooler part is that everyone’s spatial Persona could get the “best seat,” which is dead center in front of the screen. Changing your seat to direct center of the virtual screen doesn’t affect other people’s Personas; you aren’t all sitting on top of each other in virtual space. In the virtual theater, other Personas appear to you as if they’re positioned elsewhere while you’re watching from the best seat. I noted to Apple PR how this would have been really great when we all experienced lockdown at home a few years ago.
Watching movies together in a virtual theater isn’t new. VR apps like Bigscreen and VRChat have offered this shared-watching experience for Quest, Vive, and other supported VR headsets for years. Apple Vision Pro supports up to five Personas for watching movies and TV shows together, which is a far cry from the dozens of virtual users that other VR co-watching apps offer. That being said, spatial Personas at least look real compared to the cartoony or video game-resembling avatars that populate virtual theaters in VRChat.
Next, we did some virtual work. We opened JigSpace and examined a 3D model of a jet turbine together. Each of us could walk around and through the turbine, enlarge or shrink it, and even detach its parts for closer inspection. I had already seen the jet turbine by myself, but it was still fun to examine it with two others. The one thing I noticed is that if you remove a piece of the 3D model and create a gap or space, you can see a Persona standing on the other side. It’s just as if a person was looking at the turbine from the other side.
After that, we checked out Apple’s Freeform app. It took a few seconds to load up the virtual whiteboard Apple created for the demo. We could walk up to the board and add circle things with the pen tool, rearrange notes, or add to the whiteboard in other ways. In the middle of the whiteboard was a 3D model of a Mars rover that I could manipulate with a gesture or get a closer look from all directions. I’m told five Personas can simultaneously work on the whiteboard or a few can hang back and watch as others work. I doubt this will be replacing Google Docs anytime soon for me, but I could see it being a more immersive way to collaborate for some people.
The last thing in my demo was playing the classic card game, Hearts, in the Game Room app. As I said in my Apple Vision Pro review, the augmented reality game app is one of the best demonstrations of how spatial computing can bring people together. A new update adds spatial Persona support, which means you can play with up to five people (if a board game supports it) or have Personas spectate on the sides. It was here that one of the Apple reps (and another who was invited to join for a four-player experience) had connectivity issues, and so I ended up playing Hearts with one other Persona and two AIs. Connection problems aside, the idea of playing board games together with multiple people and/or having spectators wasn’t lost on me. When I played several games with a friend in Vision Pro, we both wished the app supported spectators, and now it does.
VISION PRO IS A CONTINUOUS WORK IN PROGRESS
Spatial Persona, launching today, is a much-needed addition to Vision Pro to make the headset more than just a single-user experience. When you’re dropping $3,500 on a headset, shared entertainment and collaborative work experiences are expected to be staple features.
Like any first-generation product release, Vision Pro is a continuous work in progress. The fundamentals of spatial computing — responsive eye and hand tracking and high-resolution screens and passthrough cameras — are here, but visionOS has a long way to go. Every software update is going to improve Vision Pro from what it was on launch day. The same was true for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, etc.
Like any first-generation product release, Vision Pro is a continuous work in progress.
Maybe all this makes the Vision Pro feel like a developer kit to some people. The good thing is, if that’s how you feel, you can just wait. Early adopters, however, will keep getting a taste of the future — today.
16
views
High Times in Germany: A New Era of Cannabis Legalization
In this video, we delve into Germany's groundbreaking decision to legalize recreational cannabis and its implications on European drug policies. Join us as we explore the factors leading to this pivotal moment and the potential impact on society and the economy. Don't miss out on this important discussion! Remember to like and share this video to spread awareness.
1.03K
views
Israeli forces withdraw from al-Shifa Hospital
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday its troops have completed their operation at al-Shifa Hospital and left the area, following a raid that lasted about two weeks and targeted militants “in close quarters encounters.” Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense, said emergency workers who arrived at dawn to recover bodies found that the hospital’s buildings were burned and shelled by artillery in a scene he described as “tragic in every sense of the word.”
7
views
🚨 Breaking news 🚨 Explosion Rocks Paris
Seven people are now in critical condition as Paris firefighters battle a blaze in the Latin Quarter of the city centre following a blast earlier this afternoon.
26
views
US firm AT&T says data of 73 million customers leaked on ‘dark web’
At least 7.6 million existing AT&T account holders and 65.4 million former users hit by the breach, the company says.
Personal information belonging to millions of past and present AT&T customers has been leaked online, including Social Security numbers (SSNs), passcodes and contact details, the multinational company says.
In a statement on Saturday, the telecommunication network – the largest in the United States – said a recently discovered dataset on the “dark web” contained information for about 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and 65.4 million former users, totalling about 73 million affected accounts.
It is not known if the breach “originated from AT&T or one of its vendors”, the company said.
“To the best of our knowledge, the compromised data appears to be from 2019 or earlier and does not contain personal financial information or call history,” the statement added.
All 7.6 million existing account holders whose sensitive personal information was compromised were set to be notified about the breach AT&T. The company said it had already reset passcodes and was investigating the incident.
In addition to passcodes and SSNs, the hacked data possibly included email and mailing addresses, phone numbers and birth dates, AT&T added.
Reports of the breach first surfaced on a hacking forum nearly two weeks ago. It is unclear if the leak is linked to a similar breach in 2021 that was widely reported but that AT&T did not acknowledge.
A hacker at the time claimed to have access to data of 70 million AT&T customers, including their names, addresses, phone numbers, SSNs, and date of birth.
Auction data on a hacking forum revealed the hacker attempted to sell the stolen information for thousands of dollars.
“If they assess this and they made the wrong call on it, and we’ve had a course of years pass without them being able to notify impacted customers” then it’s likely the company will soon face class action lawsuits, cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt told The Associated Press news agency.
Troy, the creator of Have I Been Pwned? – a website that alerts subscribers to data breaches – said in a blogpost at least 153,000 of his customers were affected.
The Dallas-based company faced challenges earlier in February after an outage temporarily knocked out mobile phone service for thousands of users.
AT&T blamed the incident on a technical coding error, not a malicious attack. Other networks were also affected, but AT&T appeared to be the hardest hit.
31
views
EU: Romania and Bulgaria join Schengen area by air and sea
The Commission welcomes today's unanimous decision by the Council to welcome Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area, starting with lifting controls at air and sea borders as of March 2024. Their accession will boost travel, trade and tourism and will further consolidate the internal market. Discussions on a further decision to lift controls at land borders will continue in 2024. An enlarged Schengen area will make the EU stronger as a Union, internally and on the global stage.
President von der Leyen said: “Today marks a historic moment for Bulgaria and Romania. And a day of great pride for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens. As of March, they will be able to freely cross internal sea and air borders, without border controls. This is a major step forward for both countries and for the Schengen area as a whole. Congratulations to Bulgaria and Romania: this great achievement is possible thanks to your hard work, commitment and perseverance. Thanks to you the Schengen area will become even stronger to the benefit of all EU citizens.”
Bulgaria and Romania are ready to join the Schengen area. The Commission first confirmed that both Bulgaria and Romania were ready to become part of the Schengen area without internal border controls in 2011. Since then, Bulgaria and Romania have continued to demonstrate that they fulfil the conditions for becoming Schengen members. This was reconfirmed by three fact finding missions at the Bulgarian and Romanian external borders in 2022 and 2023. The Commission also launched pilot projects with Romania and Bulgaria in March 2023 to boost external border management, reinforce cooperation with neighbouring countries and ensure fast asylum and return procedures.
The Schengen area is also ready to welcome Bulgaria and Romania. In the last decade, the EU has worked to reinforce the architecture that protects the area without internal border controls. A series of measures in the field of security, police and judicial cooperation have been introduced to ensure that the EU remains strong against security threats. The Schengen area is now also supported by a new governance model, a new evaluation mechanism and an annual cycle of reporting and monitoring. The joint efforts made in recent years have made Schengen stronger and more resilient.
This ninth enlargement of the Schengen area both confirms and reinforces the mutual trust and unity between Member States on which Schengen is built and will help to advance this essential project. It will make the Union stronger through a reinforced protection of our common external borders and effective police cooperation – more prosperous by eliminating time lost at borders and facilitating people and business contacts – and more attractive by significantly expanding the world's largest common area without internal border controls.
Next steps
Discussions on a date for a possible lifting of the checks on persons at internal land borders will continue in 2024 and a decision by the Council on this matter is expected to be taken within a reasonable time frame.
To assist Bulgaria and Romania in protecting the external borders of the Union, substantial financial support and Frontex assistance will continue to be provided. At the same time, the pilot projects developed by Bulgaria and Romania at the external borders have proven effective and should be turned into more structural arrangements.
Europe's Schengen area of free movement is one of its greatest achievements and one that EU citizens cherish most. What started as an intergovernmental project between five Member States in 1985 – France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg – has gradually expanded over seven enlargement stages to become what is today the largest area of free movement in the world. The benefits of abolishing internal borders remain as compelling today as they were in 1985.
The Schengen area comprises 27 countries and extends over 4 million square kilometers with a population of almost 420 million people. With Romania and Bulgaria, the Schengen area will grow to 4.5 million square kilometers with a population of 450 million.
The Schengen area is an integral part of the EU's legal framework. According to the Treaties all EU Member States of the EU need to become, when ready, full members of the Schengen area. This is both a right and an obligation. Both Bulgaria and Romania have proven to have a model track record of implementation. With Romania and Bulgaria, Schengen only becomes stronger. Voluntary fact-finding missions in 2022 in Bulgaria and Romania, and the latest mission in 2023 in Bulgaria only reinforced their readiness.
44
views
Outrage as Biden admin declares solemn Christian holiday 'Transgender Day of Visibility'
Biden has previously come under fire for his stance on LGBTQ+ and abortion issues given his own position as a 'devout Catholic'
President Joe Biden was slammed on social media Saturday after designating Easter Sunday, the most solemn Christian holiday, as ‘Transgender Day of Visibility.’
Prominent Christians, politicians, and commenters flooded social media platforms with criticism after the announcement from the White House.
"On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives," a statement released by the White House read.
"Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back," it continued. "NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility."
AMERICANS AREN'T BUYING BIDEN'S 'DEVOUT CATHOLIC' LABEL, POLL FINDS
Easter Sunday also falls on March 31 this year. Easter marks one of the most important days for Christians, as they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called Biden out on X, formerly Twitter, writing, "Joe Biden just proclaimed that ‘Transgender Visibility Day’ is on Sunday, March 31st. I wonder how he came up with that date."
Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., echoed Ramaswamy's sentiments as he blasted Biden for the "coincidence on the timing."
BIDEN SKEWERED AS 'WORLD’S WORST CATHOLIC' WHO CHEAPENS IRISH AND CATHOLIC IDENTITY
"Joe Biden has proclaimed Easter Sunday as ‘Transgender Day of Visibility,’" Mooney wrote on X. "What a coincidence on the timing, right? This is a direct assault on Christianity. Yet another attack on religion and traditions by this administration."
Tennessee Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger said the announcement was "intentional" and slammed it as a "blatant disregard."
"This is a direct assault on Christianity. It’s evident the left is determined to undermine our religion and traditions," she wrote on X. "This isn’t just blatant disregard, it’s intentional."
Conservative commentator Benny Johnson shared a screenshot of the White House statement, writing alongside it, "What a slap in the face to all Christians in America…"
Biden has previously come under fire for his stance on LGBTQ+ and abortion issues given his own position as a "devout Catholic" who regularly attends church. The White House also used the same terminology when addressing Biden's pro-choice stance on abortion.
A recent poll from Pew Research found that just 13% of Americans think of Biden as "very religious," while 41% say he is "somewhat religious" and another 44% say he is "not at all" or "not too religious."
235
views
1
comment
Andrew Tate faces extradition to UK over rape and human trafficking claims
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!
British police investigating allegations of rape and human trafficking have been granted a warrant to extradite Andrew Tate to the UK.
Bedfordshire police said they had been granted the warrant by authorities in Romania, but would have to wait until proceedings there on allegations of sexual violence and trafficking, which Tate denies, are completed.
Tate, 37, a controversial social media influencer accused of anti-women views, was detained in Romania on Monday after the arrest warrant was issued.
He and his brother Tristan, 35, face charges in the UK including “sexual aggression” dating to 2012-15, according to a statement by his public relations representative.
Bedfordshire police said in a statement: “As part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking, Bedfordshire police has obtained a European arrest warrant for two men in their 30s.
“We are working with authorities in Romania as part of this investigation and will provide an update in due course.”
It said its investigation was called Operation Moonwalk and asked “anyone with information about this specific investigation” to contact them.
The Tate brothers were charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women in a separate case in Romania after being arrested in the country’s capital in December 2022 alongside two Romanian women. All four deny the allegations.
The allegations from Britain led to their renewed detention in Romania and the extradition request went before a court in Bucharest on Tuesday. The Romanian court of appeal said in a statement that it “rules to execute the arrest warrant and … to postpone handing over the requested person until the final verdict in the criminal case argued at the Bucharest court”.
After the latest court hearing in Bucharest, the Tate brothers were released from custody and both deny the allegations against them in the UK.
In a statement, Eugen Vidineac, legal counsel for the defendants, said: “We appreciate the Bucharest court of appeal’s decision to postpone the extradition of Andrew and Tristan Tate.
“This ruling provides an opportunity for the brothers to participate fully in their defence and for the legal process to proceed in a transparent manner.”
The Tates denied claims they had been planning to flee and promised to stay in Romania to fight the case against them there: “We unequivocally deny any accusations that Andrew or Tristan Tate intends to abscond from Romania to evade the judicial proceedings. Our clients are fully committed to actively participating in the legal process and defending their reputation.”
In an earlier statement the Tates’ representative said: “This bewildering revival of decade-old accusations has left the Tate brothers dismayed and deeply troubled. They categorically reject all charges and express profound disappointment that such serious allegations are being resurrected without substantial new evidence.”
At least two British police forces have investigated Andrew Tate’s activities in the UK.
Three women have previously spoken to Hertfordshire police, based just outside London, to make allegations. British prosecutors decided last year not to pursue their cases believing they were unlikely to get a conviction.
A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorises criminal charges in England and Wales, confirmed that Hertfordshire police had submitted a file about potential charges after receiving allegations about Tate.
The spokesperson said specialist prosecutors had reviewed the case and informed the women in January 2023 that the case would not be pursued: “Rape is a devastating crime, and every case that comes to the CPS is dealt with by a specialist prosecutor in one of our dedicated rape and sexual offences units.
“In this case, we carefully reviewed all the evidence provided by the police regarding each complainant and concluded it did not meet our legal test, and there was no realistic prospect of a conviction.
“We sent a letter to each complainant explaining our decision not to charge.
“We acknowledge the bravery of everyone who comes forward and want them to be confident that their case will be prosecuted whenever our legal test is met.”
Tate was born in the US but raised as a child in Luton, Bedfordshire.
189
views