Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The European Parliament has taken a major step toward a far tougher migration regime, approving a new negotiating mandate for legislation designed to speed up the deportation of illegal migrants and tighten enforcement across the bloc.

In a vote on Thursday, MEPs backed the so-called Returns Regulation by 389 votes to 206, with 32 abstentions, clearing the way for talks with the European Council on a new legal framework governing the removal of illegal migrants who have no right to remain in the European Union.

The result was driven by support from a broad right-wing and center-right coalition, including the European People’s Party (EPP), the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), and Patriots for Europe (PfE), illustrating how the balance of power on migration has shifted in Brussels.

The proposal is intended to overhaul the EU’s weak returns system, long criticized for allowing rejected asylum seekers and other illegal migrants to remain in Europe for years. When the regulation was initiated by the European Commission last year, Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner summed up the scale of the failure when he said, “One out of five people who are told to leave the EU, actually leave the EU, and that is not acceptable.”

NEW: The European Parliament has voted in favor of progressing a stricter legal framework for the deportation of illegal migrants.

Migrants with a deportation order will be required to cooperate with the authorities to facilitate their return, and could be detained for up to two… pic.twitter.com/vvDPtgrg1B

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 26, 2026

The new framework would introduce stricter return procedures, longer detention in some cases, wider entry bans, and penalties for those who refuse to cooperate with their own deportation. It would also open the door to so-called return hubs outside the EU, an idea that was fiercely attacked by Brussels only a few years ago when Britain pursued a Rwanda plan, and Italy signed its Albania agreement.

Conservatives hailed the vote as a breakthrough. Charlie Weimers, vice chair of the ECR, called it a landmark moment for his party and for tougher border enforcement in Europe. “New, stricter return rules are the Sweden Democrats’ biggest negotiating success ever in the EU. It will soon be possible to send home those who are not supposed to be in Europe, and return hubs outside the EU will be made possible. The era of deportations has begun!”

EPP chairman Manfred Weber also stated, “Today we are clearly demonstrating that European solutions to take on illegal migration are possible. European citizens expect decisive action, and we are delivering. Anyone who does not have a right to remain in the EU must leave.”

French nationalist MEP Marion Maréchal presented the vote as a turning point for the right. “It was a historic step for the coalition of the right in committee, and it is now a victory in the plenary session of the European Parliament: the ‘return regulation’ for greater firmness toward undocumented migrants has been voted through by the MEPs. After adoption in trilogue, it will be up to the French government to take action!”

NEW: The European Parliament has voted in favor of progressing a stricter legal framework for the deportation of illegal migrants.

Migrants with a deportation order will be required to cooperate with the authorities to facilitate their return, and could be detained for up to two… pic.twitter.com/vvDPtgrg1B

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 26, 2026

In a press release, Patriots for Europe declared that “European voters have long demanded a fundamental shift in migration policy” and that “a first decisive step has been taken.” The group argued that the old Brussels approach had failed completely and said the new agreement would help restore control to national governments. “Crucially, this new agreement shifts the paradigm towards minimum harmonization,” it said. “Instead of imposing a rigid, one-size-fits-all dictate from Brussels, this framework returns control to the national capitals.”

Patriots for Europe also highlighted several measures it says will make the system far more effective, including “severe consequences for non-cooperation,” stricter detention rules, and an end to what it described as abuse of the appeals process to delay removals indefinitely. The group said the maximum detention period had been extended to 24 months and that migrants deemed security risks could now be placed in enhanced-security facilities or prisons.

Left-wing organizations reacted with alarm, accusing the EPP of joining forces with nationalist parties and abandoning the old parliamentary cordon sanitaire. The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) said the decision would “normalize measures that stigmatize migrants” and weaken rights protections, while Amnesty International condemned what it called an “increasingly harmful and draconian direction” in EU migration policy.

This backlash, however, confirms how dramatically the debate has changed. Policies, such as remigration, once denounced as extreme, are now moving into the mainstream of EU law, and the focus in Brussels is no longer on managing migration flows, but on removing those who are not entitled to stay.

Read more here…

In the past two weeks we have discussed demand destruction as a result of soaring oil prices (here and here), and we are increasingly seeing anecdotal evidence of just that (here is a table from Goldman we showed previously, laying out where demand destruction is most acute).

We start, as always, with Asia which has emerged as ground zero of the global energy crisis – as a reminder last week we first presented a map by JPMorgan’s resident commodity expert who how the shockwave from the Iran war spreads across the world, hitting Asia first, then Africa and Europe, before settling on the US, but mostly California.

Source

According to UBS, a shortage of jet fuel in Asia and very high prices for what is available are now leading to greater flight cancellations. European jet fuel trades around $1713/tonne, up 114% since the war began. Singapore fuel is up around 140%. Both Vietnam Airlines and Air New Zealand have had to cancel flights due to limited fuel supply.

Let’s go down the list.

1. Panic buying prompts PM to reassure Australians over fuel supply (bbc)

Australia will halve its fuel excise for three months from Wednesday after prices soared to a record last week as the impact of the Iran war spreads.  Meanwhile, the average price of a liter of diesel jumped above A$2.82 last week, while petrol was almost A$2.40, both the highest in at least 20 years. The average price in rural regions like the Northern Territory was even higher, a blow to farmers and long-distance transport firms.

The temporary cut would reduce the price of petrol and diesel by about 26 Australian cents ($0.18) per liter, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a press conference Monday in Canberra. “The longer this war goes on, the worse the impacts will be,” he said. The government will also reduce the heavy road user charge for the next three months, and delay the next planned increased in that charge by six months. The measures are expected to cost about A$2.55 billion and to lower CPI by 0.5 ppt, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

Albanese has sought to reassure Australians that the country’s fuel supply remains “secure” as prices soar and following reports of panic buying and petrol stations running dry since the start of the Iran war. There have been reports of truck drivers and other motorists stranded, while businesses say rising costs are affecting their viability.  The government says demand and distribution issues have caused shortages rather than supply, which it says remains at the same level as before the war began.

In Cairns, Queensland, the BBC found a small independent garage that tells a pretty typical story in Australia. It has run out of unleaded petrol and the price of diesel is 85% higher than it was before the war in Iran started. In New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, one in seven retailers say they are out of at least one type of fuel.

The price of diesel in Sydney has meanwhile risen to the 314.5 cents a litre as of Thursday, according to the National Roads and Motorists’ Association (NRMA), its highest ever price. Hundreds of petrol stations across the country have reported running out of at least one type of fuel this week. But shortages are due to people changing their buying habits, NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury told the BBC. “People are filling up jerry cans of fuel and storing it in their garages,” he said.

“We’re hearing increasingly of transport companies telling their drivers that if you’re half full and you see diesel, buy it.”

2. Japan Says Oil Reserves for Domestic Use Amid Asia Pleas for Aid (bbg)

Japan’s trade minister said the country will sell oil from its reserves to domestic refiners as a general rule, signaling that the government isn’t currently planning to channel national supplies directly to other Asian nations seeking assistance.

“Regarding the sale of strategic petroleum reserves, we are certainly targeting domestic oil and refining companies,” Trade Minister Ryosei Akazawa said Friday, pointing out that they were legally established to secure Japan’s own energy supplies. “However, the situation may differ somewhat for joint reserves with oil-producing countries. We intend to closely monitor developments and make appropriate decisions on a case-by-case basis.”

Other Asian countries are facing similar oil supply challenges. The Philippines and Vietnam have reportedly sought support from Japan, which holds some of the world’s largest oil reserves. In addition to its own reserves, Japan also has reserves held with oil producing nations like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Akazawa said he is well aware of the Philippines’ dire situation, noting that its reserves are far smaller than Japan’s while it relies heavily on the strait to secure oil, as Japan does.

3. Japan to relax rules from April to boost coal-fired power amid LNG import risks (reuters)

Japan’s industry ministry will relax ‌rules for one year to increase the use of coal-fired power plants in the fiscal year starting April, as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran adds uncertainty to liquefied natural gas imports, it said on Friday. Japan takes delivery of some 4 million ​metric tons of LNG annually – or around 6% of its total imports – via the Strait of ​Hormuz, which has been effectively closed due to the war.

“There is increasing uncertainty about ⁠future LNG procurement. We believe that it is necessary to increase the operation of coal-fired power plants and ​save LNG fuel,” an industry ministry official told a special government panel. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ​proposed suspending for one year its 50% cap on the capacity utilisation rate of coal-fired power plants with generation efficiency below 42%.

LNG consumption could then fall by about 0.5 million tons a year, or slightly more than 10% of the LNG it imports ​via the Strait of Hormuz, according to a METI’s estimate. The ministry will implement the change from April 1 ​as an emergency measure and there were no objections from the panel members, the official told Reuters.

Japan has an LNG stockpile of around 4 million tons, METI data showed. Its thermal power generation largely depends on LNG and coal, with a small portion covered by oil, with electricity also being generated from nuclear power and renewable energy. So far, Japan has restarted ​15 nuclear power reactors of ​33 which remain operable ⁠after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011.

4. India Slaps Taxes on Fuel Exports as Iran War Jolts Supply (bbg)

India has announced a series of tax changes including a levy on fuel exports, as the country tries to shield consumers from the impact of a deepening conflict in the Middle East that has upended energy supply. The South Asian nation imposed a 21.5 rupee (23 cents) per liter duty on exports of diesel and 29.5 rupees on jet fuel, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a post on X. “This will ensure adequate availability of these products for domestic consumption,” she said. 

India has also slashed taxes on locally sold gasoline and diesel by 10 rupees per liter each, a reduction intended to help keep prices stable at the pump. 

As the third-largest oil consumer, India is among the countries most impacted by the war in the Persian Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the region with the wider world. It has seen acute shortages of liquefied petroleum gas, used for cooking, and of liquefied natural gas. The country raised LPG prices earlier this month and subsequent speculation around a likely increase in pump prices of diesel and gasoline has led to panic buying, with people lining up outside forecourts.

The energy crunch comes at a delicate time for a price-sensitive country, with elections in key states where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is looking to expand its foothold. Opposition parties have been pressing for more forceful measures to address the fuel crunch. Madhavi Arora, an economist at Emkay Global Financial Services, estimates the government’s annualized revenue loss from tax cuts at about 1.55 trillion rupees ($16.4 billion). 

Diesel and jet fuel together form a significant portion of India’s refined product exports. Last month, India supplied around 500,000 barrels a day of the two products combined, out of the roughly 1.2 million barrels a day of fuels exported, tanker trading data from intelligence firms Vortexa and Kpler showed. 

The government will lose 70 billion rupees every fortnight due to the excise duty cut, Vivek Chaturvedi, chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, told reporters at the daily government briefing on the situation. However, it expects to collect about 15 billion rupees over the same period from export taxes levied on jet fuel and diesel, he said. 

5. Thailand Tightens Fuel Pricing, Supply Disclosure Amid Shortages (bbg)

Thailand is tightening oversight of fuel pricing and supply as authorities ramp up efforts to address shortages across parts of the country. Refineries must display selling prices at their sites along with current inventory levels, under new directives outlined by the Energy Ministry late Thursday. Traders are required to adhere to declared prices and cannot charge above government-set levels, it said.

The Southeast Asian country has faced fuel shortages in several provinces as the Middle East conflict drives up global oil prices, widening the gap between subsidized domestic rates and international markets. Fears of tighter supplies have sparked panic buying, particularly of diesel, despite government assurances that stocks can last about 100 days. While authorities have taken steps to shore up supplies to retail outlets, many pumps have had to ration fuel as agriculture and industrial users queued up with jerry cans along with commuters to buy diesel.

Diesel demand has jumped to about 87 million liters per day from an average 67 million liters before the start of the conflict, according to the ministry. The government has already raised retail prices to ease pressure on subsidies. However, even after Thursday’s increase, it is still subsidizing diesel at 19 baht (58 US cents) per liter, pushing the oil subsidy fund’s deficit to about 38 billion baht, acting Energy Minister Auttapol Rerkpiboon said.

6. Vietnamese Airlines Slash Flights From April on Jet Fuel Crunch (bbg)

Vietnamese airlines will significantly reduce flights and scale back operations from April as soaring jet fuel prices and supply constraints squeeze the industry, prompting carriers to focus on core routes as the Middle East conflict drags on. Vietnam Airlines, the national carrier, will suspend seven domestic routes from April 1, according to a document from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. The airline plans to cut 10-20% of its flights per month in the next quarter if jet fuel reaches $160-$200 per barrel, the document said. That could mean up to 18% of its international flights being canceled and up to 26% on domestic routes.

Low-cost carrier Vietjet Air is targeting an 18% reduction in total capacity in April, including a 22% cut in domestic flights and an 11% reduction in international routes, the document said. Bamboo Airways passengers are expected to see the biggest disruption in April, with flights halved to 15–17 per day.

Vietnam has moved to shore up energy security after severe disruptions to oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the government to tap its emergency fuel fund to stabilize prices. The country’s two domestic refineries meet around 70% of its domestic demand, but more than 80% of its crude imports come from Middle East. 

The government announced on Friday it will temporarily freeze some taxes on gasoline, oil and jet fuel until April 15 as an ‘urgent’ move to stabilize the domestic market and ensure national security due to the ongoing conflict

7. Asia employs energy price control and subsidies  (WoodMac)

Asian governments have rapidly deployed an unprecedented array of cushions to protect the hardest-hit sectors and consumers. But such interventions come at a staggering cost and, if oil prices remain high, some Asian governments will soon hit fiscal breaking point. 

Asian countries are trying to prevent a repeat of the 2022 cost-of-living crisis. Beyond demand-side management, Asian governments have shifted from market pricing for oil products to aggressive intervention. A plethora of policy responses are being rolled out across the region. Most, though, amount to pretty much the same thing – subsidies for consumers.

Price caps at the pump are the go-to lever, with governments compensating losses through a variety of mechanisms. In Indonesia, losses by national oil company (NOC) Pertamina will be recovered by government compensation later; Japan and Malysia have a similar scheme for their refiners and fuel suppliers. In Thailand and Vietnam, oil company losses are currently made good from dedicated funds – though the longevity of these funds is already being tested. China, meanwhile, has a US$130/bbl crude price ‘cap’ on refined product prices that refiners can pass through to customers. Perhaps in anticipation of higher prices, China introduced subsidies on diesel and gasoline this week despite the cap not being breached.

India has a twist on the theme. The government moved fast to freeze retail prices but the state-owned oil marketing companies initially have to absorb the losses. Once these become unsustainable, the central government intervenes by cutting taxes, essentially sacrificing tax revenue to keep the pump price stable.

The affordability of current subsidy schemes varies greatly by country. Thailand and Vietnam have tapped into budget rainy-day funds to make subsidy payments. But Thailand’s fund is already in deficit, while Vietnam’s will be fully drawn by early April under the current subsidy scale. Expanded fiscal deficits look near-certain through 2026 across much of Asia. If Brent averages US$100/bbl for four months, India is hit hardest among Asia’s major economies: we estimate a cost equivalent to 0.7% of GDP and 7.2% of government revenue in fiscal year 2025-26. Indonesia is in danger of breaching its legal limit of 3% on its fiscal deficit if subsidy payments persist

On to Africa…

8. Kenya Plans to Stabilize Fuel Price as Outages Hit Some Stations (bbg)

Kenya plans to stabilize fuel prices as some stations run out of supply in the East African nation that typically depends on Middle East imports to meet demand. Vitol Group’s Vivo Energy, the biggest retailer in the country, said Thursday in a post on X that increased fuel demand resulted in temporary outages at some of its outlets. Kenya’s Treasury Secretary John Mbadi the same day outlined initial measures to be taken by the government to keep petrol and diesel prices from surging.

Kenya will utilize its petroleum development levy to cap pump prices, though a lengthy war could become an emergency, Mbadi told lawmakers in the capital, Nairobi. “It is my hope that we will not see this war prolonged for another month or so.”

Many African economies, particularly in East and Southern Africa where the Middle East is a major exporter, are running on weeks of stored refined products as the Iran war chokes shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Governments have this week sought to reassure residents that there are sufficient stocks and asked them not to hoard fuel.

Kenya’s outlying gas stations have been the first to dry up as major oil companies are holding back from wholesaling product that would normally be distributed, according to a lobby group of independent operators.

“Rural stations are the worst hit — we can’t get product at competitive prices,” said Martin Chomba, chairman of the Petroleum Outlets Association of Kenya. About 68% of Kenya’s 6,200 gas stations are non-franchised and a “substantial number are not able to access products,” he said.

… and Europe

9. Czechs May Cap Fuel Margins as Premier Slams Retail Prices (bbg)

The Czech government said it’s considering regulating retail margins at gas stations after Prime Minister Andrej Babis criticized the two largest fuel distributors in the country for what he called “outrageous” prices at the pumps. Local media have reported that cost of petrol and diesel in the Czech Republic has shown one of the biggest jumps in the European Union since the outbreak of the war in Iran. While several nations in central and eastern Europe have adopted measures to ease the impact of surging oil on households and businesses, the Czech government rejected opposition proposals to lower excise taxes because of the impact on budget deficit.

“Instead, we are prepared to do something actually effective, and that is for instance regulating margins at the pumps,” Finance Minister Alena Schillerova said in a post on X Friday. “This option and other steps will be the main topic at the government meeting on Monday.”

The premier, a chemicals and agriculture billionaire who returned to power last year, urged Poland’s Orlen SA and Hungary’s Mol Nyrt to lower their prices immediately. “I’m asking you not to abuse the current situation in supply of fuels caused by the Iran crisis,” Babis said in a video on his Facebook account. 

Officials in Prague previously stated they wouldn’t cut fuel taxes to ease the hit from energy shock, saying such a move wouldn’t guarantee lower retail prices. Orlen Unipetrol, the Czech unit of the Polish group, is operating in line with the law and its prices are set by the market, the CTK newswire reported, citing spokesman Pavel Kaidl. A spokesman for Mol’s Czech unit told the Seznamzpravy news website that fuel prices are determined mainly by oil prices on international markets, while taxes also have a significant influence. 

10. Poland Plans Fuel Tax Cuts to Shield Consumers From High Prices (bbg)

Poland is joining a group of countries that shield consumers from surging fuel prices with a plan to cut taxes and cap prices at the pump, according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The government will reduce the value-added tax and excise levies on fuels as well as impose a cap on retail prices that will be set daily in  line with wholesale levels, Tusk told a news conference on Thursday.

The moves, which need parliamentary approval, are expected to slash fuel costs by 1.2 zloty ($0.32) per liter and could take effect by Easter, Tusk said. The cabinet is also preparing windfall tax on fuel refiners — a measure that’s set to impact Polish energy champion Orlen SA, the largest company in Warsaw’s benchmark WIG20 stock index. Its shares have lost as much as 6.7% in the wake of the announcement.

The oil-importing nation has seen one of the sharpest increases in fuel prices among European Union members since the start of the Iran war. Unleaded gasoline costs have jumped 22%, while diesel by 40%, according to European Commission data. This compares with average increases of around 15% for gasoline and 26% for diesel across the 27-nation bloc.

* * * 

And as the global shockwave from the Iran war gets more acute, expect the response from officials and authorities to become increasingly more panicked.

Authored by Daniel Greenfield via The Gatestone Institute,

Last year the Trump administration designated Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) as a terrorist group, allowing the military to carry out strikes against it and its leadership, but the massive drug cartel across the border understands the weaknesses of our system all too well.

That’s why its new leader has American citizenship.

Law enforcement, intelligence agencies and the military will have to jump through all sorts of legal hoops to spy on, target or take out Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez, who has a $5 million bounty on his head, but he has the best protection in the world because he was born in California.

The new cartel leader’s drug-dealing Mexican parents had a baby in America. That child became a US citizen who runs a Mexican drug cartel that the government has designated as being at war with the United States, and yet we can’t simply remove his citizenship.

And targeting the cartel boss without removing his citizenship will set off wails from Democrats and the Tucker Carlson wing of the GOP, who still whine that the United States took out Anwar Al-Awlaki, the head of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni operation, a sworn enemy of America, who happened to be born here when his father, a grad student, was in New Mexico on a Fulbright scholarship.

Americans of a century ago would have been baffled that foreign enemy leaders who happened to be born to foreign nationals in this country were somehow immune to being killed in battle or that their citizenship couldn’t be quickly and easily removed. Back then most of our modern problems were unthinkable because committing treason, aligning with any foreign government, including joining its army or voting in its elections, marrying a foreigner or just returning to your home country meant denaturalization. (As did dodging the draft or deserting from the military.)

Had the common-sense provisions of the Expatriation Act of 1907 or even the milder Nationality Act of 1940 been in force today, we wouldn’t have the farce of cartel and terrorist leaders who still hold our citizenship, active traitors with citizenship, “refugees” who spend most of their time back home or a Somali senator linked to fraud who is still voting in Minnesota elections.

Under these provisions, Bill Clinton would have lost his citizenship, and the “refugees” and “migrants” who maintain homes abroad, the women who marry foreign nationals for cash to give them citizenship, and the anchor baby would be as extinct as the dodo.

Unfortunately, a series of poorly grounded Supreme Court decisions unconstitutionally seized the powers of the executive and legislative branches to withdraw citizenship on most grounds based on a misreading of the notoriously poorly written Fourteenth Amendment.

The Warren Court’s deliberate misreading of the Fourteenth Amendment’s awkward attempt to define all black people as citizens, “all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power… are declared to be citizens,” somehow trumped the clear language of Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 that Congress has the power “to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization”. In a series of bad decisions, Supreme Court rulings argued that serving in a foreign military, desertion, marrying foreigners, and voting abroad did not merit denaturalization.

These rulings relied on now widely discredited premises, such as defining the Constitution’s “cruel and unusual punishment” term as being anything that the justices disapproved of, and “evolving standards of decency” which allowed judges to redefine the law to fit liberal mores.

These abuses of judicial activism that reached their peak during the Warren Court also gutted the constitutional powers of Congress and made denaturalization a dead letter in the law.

By the time Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez held that a Mexican born in the United States who returned to Mexico to avoid military service couldn’t be stripped of his citizenship because it violated his due process, denaturalization was a dead letter that could hardly be utilized except for naturalization fraud by immigrants who had lied about not committing war crimes abroad.

This was not strictly true because the provisions punishing treason or allegiance to an enemy power with denaturalization are theoretically still in effect, but administrations haven’t had the stomach to try them out. The Trump administration may be willing to take on “treason citizenship” and a more conservative Supreme Court may be willing to overturn Earl Warren.

Indeed, even the Fourteenth Amendment had emphasized “not subject to any foreign power”.

Both the left and the right tend to misunderstand “birthright citizenship.” The Fourteenth Amendment’s accidental introduction of the foreign concept into American law helped demolish citizenship as a meaningful participatory act rather than the involuntary one it was elsewhere.

“Birthright citizenship” is neither an immigrant ideal nor “magic dirt.” Rather it was the principle of “Jus Soli” or “Right of the Soil,” which, in British law, was limited to those “born under the obedience, power, faith, ligealty or ligeance of the King”. America’s founding principles were highly skeptical of both notions that were rooted in monarchial, rather than republican principles.

Monarchy made everyone born under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the Crown into a “subject”. Allegiance to the Crown was not voluntary the way that it was in America. That was why the Founding Fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, labored to defend the right of “expatriation” which still remains the only unquestioned form of denaturalization.

The American Revolution was predicated on the idea of citizenship as a voluntary action rather than an involuntary compact created by a place of birth. The growing intrusion of “Jus Soli” began with the Fourteenth Amendment, which, rather than quickly naturalizing freed black slaves, clumsily made everyone born here and “not subject to any foreign power” citizens.

By the late 19th century, the Supreme Court had begun dismantling any meaningful limitations on citizenship, with United States v. Wong Kim Ark embracing the British notion that the sovereignty under which a child was born made him a citizen. But if sovereignty makes a child a citizen, then Anwar Al-Awlaki and Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez are fully American.

And that’s not only absurd; it’s national suicide.

The prototype for American citizenship is neither “Jus Soli” nor the “Sovereignty of the Crown,” but the concluding words of the Declaration of Independence, in which we “pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” A nation built on anything else is either a tyranny or an absurdity. Some on the left and the right now argue for tyranny or absurdity.

Birthright citizenship is not a liberal idea but an illiberal one. It was liberal only relative to the even more illiberal idea that citizenship came from personal allegiance to a monarch. America was based on neither tyranny nor absurdity, but a voluntary community of mutual allegiance that it is possible to join and to withdraw from, and to be tossed out of and barred from for disloyalty.

Past Supreme Court decisions reversed the tyrannical one-way allegiance of monarchy and instead replaced it with a one-way allegiance in which the state was obligated to do everything for the citizen, but nothing at all was required from the citizen. Not even allegiance. Even asking them not to run terrorist organizations and drug cartels at war with America is asking too much.

No nation can survive on such principles.

America is not a monarchy or a tyranny, and there are legitimate concerns about giving the state the easy power to strip away citizenship, but if citizenship can’t even be removed from the people who pledge allegiance to Al Qaeda and ISIS, then, to paraphrase President John F. Kennedy, what does it ask of us to do for our country, and what does it even mean beyond a set of legal complications?

The only pathway to reviving America is to make citizenship into a meaningful act of allegiance, not an accident of birth. Immigration in this regard is not the problem; immigration without allegiance is the real crisis, but so is the citizenship without allegiance of the likes of Bill Ayers of the “Weather Underground” who can trace his ancestry back to John Ayer, who came to this country from England in 1635 and was one of the original settlers of some of the Puritan towns.

America needs to exercise the traditional ability it once had to make citizenship meaningful by also making it selective, controlling immigration, ending the automatic grants of citizenship for happenstance births, and once again making citizenship conditional on ongoing allegiance.

Anything else is not citizenship; it’s a national death wish.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

The perfect storm surrounding the global LNG supply chain, which hit a brick wall two weeks ago when Iranian attacks shuttered 17% of Qatar’s LNG output following devastating strikes on the Ras Laffan plant, the largest in the world, just went from metaphorical to literal after storm damage to Chevron’s Wheatstone gas plant in Western Australia is hampering efforts to restart operations and the facility won’t be back online fully for weeks, adding even more turmoil to the global LNG market.

Wheatstone gas plant, Australia

As Reuters reports, tropical Cyclone Narelle was estimated to have disrupted Australian LNG facilities along the northern and western coasts, and disrupted supply equating to more than 30 million metric tons per ​year. Combined with the shock from conflict in the Middle East, ​more than a quarter of global LNG supply has been ⁠disrupted, MST Marquee analyst Saul Kavonic said on Friday.

“The Wheatstone gas facility near Onslow has had equipment damage from the severe weather, which has impacted restart activities,” Chevron said in a statement, adding that “while damage assessments ​continue at both the onshore Wheatstone plant and offshore Wheatstone Platform, it is ​likely to be a number of weeks before production returns to full rates to allow time for repairs to be safely completed.”

As we reported last week, Chevron said earlier in the week that one of three LNG production units at its Gorgon plant was halted, as well as a platform that feeds Wheatstone, which is a two-train LNG project which produces 8.9 million tons ​a year, about 15% of which is meant to be reserved for the domestic market. On Sunday it said the 15.9 million ton Gorgon LNG export facility and domestic plant continued to operate at full rates, adding that ​all of its ​three trains returned ⁠to full production on Sunday.

The storm also hit infrastructure feeding Woodside Energy Group’s North West Shelf export plant. The company said it’s working to resume normal operations, and output continues at its Macedon and Pluto gas facilities.

Woodside also said ship loading at Pluto LNG is restarting following the reopening on Saturday of Dampier port.

Gorgon, Wheatstone and North West Shelf accounted for almost half of Australia’s exports last month, or about 8.4% of the global trade, according to researcher EnergyQuest.

Australia became the world’s second-largest LNG exporter when Qatar shut down production this month ​after Iranian airstrikes damaged its facilities. The country most impacted from the Australian outage will likely be China, which following the Qatar force majeure production halt has been forced to rely on Australian product to a far greater degree. 

A week after Russian tankers loaded with fuel for Cuba were diverted due to a months-long US oil blockade, the US Coast Guard is permitting a Russian vessel carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil to reach Cuba, the NY Times reports, citing an official briefed on the matter.

The tanker – Anatoly Kolodkin – owned by the Russian state-controlled shipping company Sovcomflot under U.S. sanctions since 2024 – left Primorsk, Russia on march 9, and is now expected to dock at the port of Matanzas as early as Monday night or Tuesday.

This development marks a notable pause in the administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign, which has included threats to third-party nations, the escorting of at least one earlier tanker away from Cuba, and recent Treasury Department measures explicitly barring Cuba from any waivers on Russian-origin oil. Despite two U.S. Coast Guard cutters positioned in the region capable of interception, no orders were issued to stop the vessel. The Coast Guard referred questions to the White House, which did not respond.

The decision avoids an immediate and potentially thorny naval confrontation with Russia in the Caribbean, even as President Trump has publicly suggested military options toward Cuba. At a recent investment conference, Trump stated he believed he would have “the honor of taking Cuba” and added, “Cuba is next, by the way,” in reference to possible use of force after the Iran conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has similarly called for new leadership in Havana, stating that “Cuba’s economy can’t change unless their system of government changes.”

NOW: Trump on Cuba: “Within a short period of time, it’s going to fail, and we will be there to help it out.” pic.twitter.com/ssPdCmDraq

— Bruce Snyder (@realBruceSnyder) March 30, 2026

Temporary Relief for a Collapsing Energy Grid

The arrival could buy Cuba at least a few weeks of breathing room before its fuel reserves are exhausted again. The island has suffered repeated nationwide blackouts – including one lasting 29 hours in March – severe gasoline and diesel shortages, paralyzed agriculture and transportation, and deteriorating medical services. Diesel, the most critical product from this crude once refined, powers trucks, tractors, and many smaller power plants; shortages have even left humanitarian aid stranded in warehouses. Meanwhile, waste has been piling up.

Energy analyst Jorge Piñón of the University of Texas told the Times that the cargo will take roughly three weeks to refine and another week to distribute nationwide. While not a permanent fix, it should help stabilize the grid, reduce blackouts, and support essential government functions, including security forces. Cuba already generates about 40% of its electricity from domestic crude and has accelerated solar installations, but the remaining capacity relies heavily on imported diesel and fuel oil. Piñón estimates the Russian oil could be consumed in under a month, with some reserved for strategic needs. “It buys them time,” he said, “but this is not a magic wand.”

Earlier attempts at relief have faltered: another Russia-origin vessel (the Sea Horse, carrying diesel) diverted and remains in Venezuelan waters without discharging its cargo. Cuba has received only minimal fuel imports in 2026 amid the tightened blockade, which intensified after the U.S.-backed change in Venezuela’s leadership.

Cuban officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, have signaled resolve, stating the military is preparing for possible aggression while hoping it does not occur. Former Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray observed that the Trump administration appears to expect the Cuban government to collapse under pressure, but Havana believes it can endure – and has been negotiating, apparently. 

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

As Chicago and other blue cities move toward reparations for African Americans, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D, Wa.) wants reparations for illegal immigrants for the trauma caused by immigration enforcement.

At the same time, various Democrats are making clear that they want to entirely defund and eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

So, after the Biden Administration allowed in millions over an open border, Democrats would eliminate ICE and some like Jayapal would pay illegal immigrants reparations.

Rep. Jayapal declared on Friday:

“They need to be brought before us, and they need to be held account [sic] for the trauma that they have created, and we are going to have to have some form of reparation for the kids and the families that have been traumatized through all of this.”

While not calling for reparations, other democrats have picked up the theme that someone has to pay for the trauma caused by immigration enforcement.

Rep. Maxine Dexter (D, Or.) echoed the mantra of Democratic members that “The administration has terrorized our communities and mine in the Willamette Valley.”

Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX) told constituents, “I can’t imagine seeing my kid in a jail cell just because of where he was born, just because of what language he speaks at home.”

Jayapal fought back tears in her “shadow hearing” on Friday after calling for reparations, stating, “I still cannot believe that we are doing this to our own children.”

U.S.-born President Donald Trump is the outsider, Jayapal argued:

“When the founders put into the Constitution the idea that Congress would have power, they assumed that the party that was in control of Congress would stand up to a dictatorial, authoritarian president.”

Jayapal did not mention the many American children killed by what she called “our” migrants.

The question becomes, if more groups get reparations, when does this become a form of wealth redistribution?

Indeed, according to these members, much of the country has been traumatized by the Trump Administration.

What is missing in cities like Chicago facing economic meltdowns is any notion of financial limits.

Instead, Democrats are pushing tax hikes and wealth taxes to cover bloated budgets and growing deficits.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

New York City, already reeling from crime under years of radical leftist rule, now faces a proposal that sounds ripped straight from a communist energy-rationing handbook: mandatory blackouts every night.

Manhattan Assemblywoman Deborah Glick is sponsoring the “Dark Skies Protection Act,” which would require businesses and residents to turn off non-essential lighting between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. 

Critics are blasting it as a criminal’s dream come true in a city that already struggles with safety after dark.

New York City is proposing a World Economic Forum inspired law that would require a blackout to be put in place to save the energy grid.

Known as the “Dark Skies Protection Act,” it would require businesses and residents to turn off non essential lighting between 11 p.m. and 5… pic.twitter.com/cf6tFXRJvY

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) March 28, 2026

The bill itself spells out its goals in the legislation: “preserve and enhance the state’s dark sky while promoting safety for people, birds and other wildlife, conserving energy and reducing our carbon footprint, and preserving the aesthetic qualities of the night sky.”

It adds: “Our ancestors were able to experience a night sky full of stars, but now 80% of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way and experience its profound beauty.”

The full pitch on light pollution reads: “Light pollution has many negative impacts, including the disruption of the natural patterns of wildlife, wasted energy and increased output of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases, interruption of human sleep and other adverse health impacts, and the loss of the aesthetic qualities and cultural significance of the night sky.”

On birds, it states: “70% of bird species migrate each year. And of those birds, 80% migrate at night, using the night sky to help them navigate to and from their breeding grounds. However, as they pass over big cities on their way, they can become disoriented by bright artificial lights, often causing them to collide with buildings or windows.”

No bright idea! Lawmaker wants to force NYC to go dark after 11 p.m. – and critics say it’s a criminal’s dream bill https://t.co/iA55mpypfo pic.twitter.com/mo3pHA9QNA

— New York Post (@nypost) March 26, 2026

That’s all well and good, but there is an ongoing rampant crime epidemic in New York City. Is the safety of birds more important in than the safety of people?

Lights used for travel would be exempt, but the bill is already drawing fire.

One observer on X put it bluntly: “Criminal gangs approve this message.”

Another wrote sarcastically: “Good then criminals can maraud the populace under cover of darkness as intended!”

“What could go wrong?” a third asked.

A fourth added: “I’m all for seeing the stars but New York is not exactly a safe place.”

NYS Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kassar summed it up: “I guess Glick wants to push one last ridiculous idea before she retires.”

The idiotic cherry on top of this maniac idea comes with Times Square getting spared while the rest of the city is plunged into darkness.

This isn’t environmentalism. It’s control dressed up as virtue. In a city where crime already spikes at night and leftist policies have made streets less secure, mandating a nightly blackout is an open invitation for chaos.

This is the exact kind of thing you’d expect to see in a communist hellhole, the inevitable result of that ideology—failing grids, forced darkness, and everyday people paying the price while the system pretends it’s for the greater good.

The same pattern played out in Cuba, where communist mismanagement triggered repeated total grid collapses, leaving millions without power for days and exposing the rot at the core of that system.

New Yorkers wouldn’t be getting safer skies or saved birds—they’d be experiencing rationed freedom while the real problems go unaddressed. 

This bill may not pass, but the mindset behind it reveals everything about who’s steering the ship in blue-city America.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

As last week wore on, it felt increasingly like the market was transitioning from pricing inflation risk (from a ‘brief’ energy supply shock) to weighing a demand-shock-driven growth scare (from a longer lasting disruption) as bonds rallied in the face of higher oil and lower stocks (stagflation).

Last week saw three attempts at unilateral de-escalation (5-day delay, ‘ceasefire’ proposal, 10-day delay) met with even more supply as the apparent ‘Trump Put’ or ‘TACO’ trade is losing its power.

Simply put, as Goldman’s Shreeti Kapa noted last week, the answer to everything depends on one binary variable: the duration of the war.

That in turn depends if there will be safe transit of oil vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Even if the strait is opened, would we be able to restore oil flows to pre-conflict levels?

What is the guarantee for safe passage?

Can any ceasefire be trusted?

For how long would that hold?  

This weekend gave us no answers to those questions but did suggest, as top Goldman trader, Brian Garrett, described: the situation is fluid.

Iran says electricity facilities were attacked in Tehran

IDF says currently striking Iran targets across Tehran

Foreign ministers of regional countries seeking peace & offramp in Pakistan meeting on Sunday.

Iran destroyed US AWACS jet at Saudi Airbase

Report says Pentagon has been weeks in preparing ground operations as initial Marines arrive in region (WaPo).

Fluid indeed…

Here’s how Garrett started his “weekend” prep note: 

“the quotation marks around weekend are intentional…

…investors and traders have not had a break in months, with “Green Dot Sunday” turning from a one-off into a 2026 non-negotiable…

…the forthcoming three day “weekend” for US markets is almost unwelcome as the market holiday just means another news/headline session coupled with zero price discovery and zero liquidity.”

The feedback from various market participants suggests that Brian hit the nail on the head – headline fatigue is real.

Here’s a few things on Garrett’s radar…

1/ CTAs have sold even more global equities…

They are quickly approaching max short levels … at a minimum that pressure is abating 

2/ Main Street is finally noticing…

The texts from college friends and family members is showing some panic… “bg, what did you do to the market” 

3/ SPX Call Skew is collapsing…

The hope for a quick rebound is diminishing… this is reflected in the cost of an OTM upside strike…

4/ SPX realized correlation remains extremely low for the size of this drawdown…

Desk continues to like sector ETFs or custom basket options for those looking to express trades in convexity 

And in case you needed to hear from another ‘expert’, here’s Iran’s de factor leader offering some day-trading advice:

Iran’s defecto head now pitching premarket trades https://t.co/T6qy3fOPMW

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 29, 2026

So, Sunday night, dots are green… and oil futures open higher with WTI testing up to $103…

Up to 3-week highs…

S&P futures are down almost 1%…

The dollar is lower (against the JPY) out of the gate and Gold is up modestly, bouncing from a lower open…

How long will this opening kneejerk hold?

Finally, we given the last words before another busy (if shortened) week to Goldman’s Garrett: a silver lining?

What is good news is that prices are finally reflecting the issues at hand and the correction has at least started (h/t NDX officially -10% from the highs)… feels like we’re closer to an end than the beginning but also feels like we’re playing a game that doesn’t have “innings” in the classic sense (ie : no one can give you a timeline)… many parties need to want to de-escalate and that’s not evident (yet).

Here’s the trades Garrett likes:

Continue to think receiver (or just simply lower yield) trades make sense

Long emerging market equities that benefit from higher commodity prices

Short credit (only asset yet to flinch)

SPX ratio call spreads, long the 2-3x (pitched last week, still like it and we got traction)

Long gold (this one is gaining followership)

And don’t forget: buy the Monday/Tuesday…

…sell the Thursday/Friday (or Weds/Thurs this week?)

Professional subscribers can read Brian Garrett’s full “Weekend Prep” note here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal

Earlier this month, Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, faced an unprecedented threat from sophisticated drone swarms. These drones, operating in waves of 12 to 15 units each, loitered over the base for approximately four hours daily, disrupting critical operations and forcing the Air Force to halt activities and shelter personnel. 

This marked the first time a U.S. air base was temporarily taken out of operation in wartime, a scenario that had never occurred even during World War II.

“Barksdale is the headquarters of the Air Force’s Global Strike Command, which is responsible for the nation’s nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bomber forces, including B2, B1, and B52 aircraft,” explains The National Interest. “The base is home to the 2nd Bomb Wing B52s and is the central hub of communications and logistical support for coordinating and directing those forces.”

It’s hard to overstate just how alarming this is. Potentially hostile drones were able to operate over a critical military installation for days with what looks like total impunity. And making matters worse, the disruption caused by the drone swarms impacted B-52H aircraft launches for Operation Epic Fury against Iran, delaying critical missions and potentially compromising the effectiveness of the operation.

According to a report from Asia Times, “the drones that operated over Barksdale were far more sophisticated than anything seen in Ukraine, where drones are used heavily, and well beyond Iranian capabilities.”

The drone waves lasted around four hours each day, an extraordinarily long loiter time for a drone. It is not known if the drones were fixed wing or quadcopter types, or how they were powered (liquid fuel or electrical). Each wave consisted of 12 to 15 drones, and the drones flew with their lights on, intentionally making them visible.

Barksdale AFB does not have air defenses, nor does it have fighter jets that can take down drones.

The airbase does have some electronic countermeasures that were designed to disable GPS and the datalinks between the drones and their remote operators. The electronic countermeasures failed to work.

In fact, their ability to resist broad-spectrum jamming and operate using non-commercial signal characteristics made them particularly challenging to detect and neutralize. The drones also employed varied ingress and egress routes and dispersed patterns, complicating efforts to trace their origins.

Despite the base’s electronic countermeasures designed to disable GPS and datalinks, they failed to disable the sophisticated drones. 

At the very least, the incident exposed a major gap in U.S. air defenses, especially at bases like Barksdale that don’t have systems in place to stop this kind of threat. Even more concerning, these drones could potentially carry heavy weapons or conduct surveillance over sensitive nuclear facilities—raising serious national security alarms. 

It’s not known where the drones came from, but China is believed to be a likely source, given the drones’ advanced capabilities, which appear to outmatch much of the U.S. arsenal. The activity could be retaliation for the 2023 shootdown of Chinese spy balloons, which Joe Biden delayed until after they had already surveilled multiple U.S. military sites. The operation’s persistence and precision point to trained operators who likely smuggled the equipment into the country.

This incident makes one thing clear: it’s time for a serious reassessment of domestic air defense, especially as drones become a growing threat. The problem is, the United States is still years away from having effective domestic counter-drone capabilities.

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