WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
After a 5-4 Supreme Court decision sided with the Biden Administration on taking down barbed wire at Eagle Pass, Texas near the border with Mexico, the Lone Star sort of quoted Miles Morales, saying, “Nah, I’mma do my own thing.”
Once the court made the Jan. 22 call that the federal government and not states had authority over border activities, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pulled his “Trump card” (no pun intended): The U.S. Constitution. Abbott referenced several points within it that permitted his state to take such action as putting up barbed wire.
In fact, not only did Abbott defy the order from the Court, but he even had Texas border agents put up a blockade to prevent federal agents from coming in and taking down the wire in So far, 20 other red states sided with his action, including former President Donald Trump. As of now, the Biden Administration has not indicated any counteraction to Abbott, as President Biden is dealing with a response to an attack that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan, believed to be the work of Iran.
Here now is Abbott’s statement from Jan. 24 explaining his actions.
“The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States. The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now. President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them. The result is that he has smashed records for illegal immigration.
“Despite having been put on notice in a series of letters – one of which I delivered to him by hand – President Biden has ignored Texas’s demand that he perform his constitutional duties.
• President Biden has violated his oath to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress. Instead of prosecuting immigrants for the federal crime of illegal entry, President Biden has sent his lawyers into federal courts to sue Texas for taking action to secure the border.
• President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. The effect is to illegally allow their en masse parole into the United States.
• By wasting taxpayer dollars to tear open Texas’s border security infrastructure, President Biden has enticed illegal immigrants away from the 28 legal entry points along this State’s southern border – bridges where nobody drowns – and into the dangerous waters of the Rio Grande.
“Under President Biden’s lawless border policies, more than 6 million illegal immigrants have crossed our southern border in just 3 years. That is more than the population of 33 different States in this country. This illegal refusal to protect the States has inflicted unprecedented harm on the People all across the United States.
“James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the other visionaries who wrote the U.S. Constitution foresaw that States should not be left to the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like cartels smuggling millions of illegal immigrants across the border. That is why the Framers included both Article IV, § 4, which promises that the federal government ‘shall protect each [State] against invasion,’ and Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which acknowledges ‘the States’ sovereign interest in protecting their borders.’ Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387, 419 (2012) (Scalia, J., dissenting).
“The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense. For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border.”
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 1-30-2024 at 12 p.m.
2024 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2024)
Total Mass Shootings: 40
Total Dead: 83
Total Wounded: 111
Shootings Per Day: 1.33
Days Reached in Year 2024 as of Jan. 30: 30
MIDDLE EAST
COURT DEMANDS MEASURES AGAINST GENOCIDE
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Jan. 26 declared that Palestinians had a right to be protected from acts of genocide, calling on Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent such actions and allow the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the war-shattered enclave.
Reading out the order at the Peace Palace in The Hague – in response to allegations of genocide against Israel by South Africa, which Israel denies – ICJ President Joan Donoghue also called for the release of all remaining hostages taken from Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities in which some 1,200 people were massacred on Oct. 7.
There was no explicit call for an immediate halt to Israel’s full-scale military operation in the Strip, which is believed to have left more than 26,000 dead, according to Gaza health authorities.
Highlighting that the ICJ was “acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy unfolding in the region” since war erupted in Gaza, Judge Donoghue said that the court remained “deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering.”
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted in a statement the measures pertaining to the Israeli military laid out in the provisional ruling and stressed that “decisions of the Court are binding” and trusts that all parties will duly comply with the order from the Court.
“In accordance with the Statute of the Court, the Secretary-General will promptly transmit the notice of the provisional measures ordered by the court to the Security Council,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
In its case, which began earlier this month in The Hague, South Africa asked the court – a principal organ of the UN – to indicate provisional measures in order to “protect against further severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention.”
Among the measures South Africa asked for was the immediate suspension of military operations by Israel in the Strip and that its forces take “all reasonable measures” to prevent genocide.
South Africa also asked the world court to order Israel to prevent forced displacement, allow adequate food and water to reach civilians and ensure that evidence of any potential genocide is preserved.
Provisional measures are a type of temporary injunction ahead of a final decision on the dispute. It is likely to take years before a judgement is reached.
The measures are considered “mandatory for implementation,” but the Court has no means of enforcing them.
Israel argued in presenting its case that the war on Hamas was one purely of defense and “not against the Palestinian people.”
Lawyers for Israel said that provisional measures, if granted, would amount to “an attempt to deny Israel its ability to meet its obligations to the defense of its citizens, to the hostages and to over 110,000 displaced Israelis.”
WORLD
REACTION TO NITROGEN EXECUTION
After Alabama became the first U.S. state to carry out capital punishment by way of nitrogen gas, the reaction extended beyond the nation’s borders.
The UN human rights chief has expressed deep regret over the execution of a prisoner in the United States on Jan. 25 night through the country’s first ever use of nitrogen asphyxiation as a method of implementing the death penalty.
“I deeply regret the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith in Alabama despite serious concerns that this novel and untested method of suffocation may amount to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” said Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR.
Convicted of murder in 1988, Mr. Smith, 58, had been sentenced to death in the state of Alabama. An attempt to carry out the execution in 2022, failed.
Last week, the Human Rights Council had called for Alabama to halt Mr. Smith’s execution and to refrain from taking steps towards any other executions using nitrogen asphyxiation.
On the evening of Jan. 25, nitrogen hypoxia gas was administered to Mr. Smith. It took 22 minutes before he was formally declared dead, media reports said.
According to media and other witnesses in the execution chamber, the prisoner shook violently, writhing and convulsing on the gurney.
Prior to the execution, authorities in Alabama reportedly described the use of pure nitrogen gas as “perhaps the most humane method of execution ever devised.”
“The death penalty is inconsistent with the fundamental right to life,” said OHCHR Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Jan. 26 morning in a post on X, fka Twitter.
“We urge all States to put in place a moratorium on its use as a step towards universal abolition.”
UNITED KINGDOM
HOUSING REFORMS COMING SOON
An overhaul of how social housing is allocated, to make the system fairer and not available to those who abuse it, was announced by the government Jan. 30.
Measures which could ban those who blight communities and repeatedly make their neighbors’ lives hell through anti-social behavior or evict them through a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy, are part of the new consultation.
At the same time, new measures will prioritize households who have a close connection to the UK and their local area.
Housing Minister Lee Rowley said: “Today we are proposing further steps to make the allocation of social housing fairer for people. If you abuse the system, making peoples’ lives a misery or actively work against our British values, you are making a choice – such choices will have consequences and our proposals seek to stop such people getting a social home.
“The message is clear: play by the rules, pay in and we will support you. If you choose not to, this country is not going to be a soft touch.
“The public want to know decent and hardworking people that have contributed to this country will be prioritized for new social tenancies. People already living in social homes want to know that anyone moving near them will be respectful of their neighbors with their communities protected from those who persistently break the law.
“That is why it is right that the finite resource of social housing is allocated fairly and local law-abiding citizens in need have more access to a home in their own communities.”
The government is seeking views from the public, councils, social housing tenants and providers and wants to bring forward the reforms as soon as possible.
The reforms include new UK and local connection tests to determine social housing eligibility, with applicants required to demonstrate a connection to the UK for at least 10 years and their local area for at least 2 years. Prospective tenants on higher incomes could also no longer qualify for social housing, although existing tenants will not be affected.
As part of the reforms, people who have unspent convictions for certain criminal anti-social behavior or have been subject to certain civil sanctions could be disqualified from social housing for up to 5 years.
