Category: News
DHS Interdicts 6 Suspected Smuggling Vessels, Captures 82 Migrants Off San Diego Coast
DHS Interdicts 6 Suspected Smuggling Vessels, Captures 82 Migrants Off San Diego Coast
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Six suspected human smuggling boats were taken into custody by authorities during the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Feb. 27 post on X.
“Since our southern border is more secure than ever before, cartels are being forced to try to smuggle through our nation’s maritime waters. This past weekend, DHS law enforcement interdicted six suspected maritime smuggling vessels and apprehended 82 migrants off the coast of California,” the department said.
“Our work to keep our nation safe never ends. We stand ready to protect our Homeland from smugglers on land, air, and sea.”
Multiple other illegal immigrants trying to cross maritime waters have been apprehended by authorities over the past weeks.
On March 1, the Coast Guard announced that it interdicted 14 suspected illegal immigrants in a vessel roughly 10 miles southwest of Point Loma, San Diego.
On Feb. 24, the Coast Guard said it intercepted 20 illegal immigrants near Sunset Cliffs in California. The same day, the Coast Guard announced that it worked with DHS partner agencies and the U.S. Navy to interdict five suspected maritime smuggling vessels, nabbing 62 illegal immigrants in the process.
President Donald Trump achieved the “most secure American border EVER” during the first year of his second term, according to a Feb. 24 statement by DHS.
There were 90,084 Border Patrol apprehensions along the southwest border in the first year, which is lower than a single-month average of 155,485 apprehensions under the previous administration, the department said.
“Over the last 13 months, nearly 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 2.2 million self-deportations and more than 713,000 deportations,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.
“Meanwhile, we have saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion here at DHS. Countless lives have been saved, communities have been strengthened, and the American people have been put first again.”
Drug Smuggling, Strikes
In addition to its target of human smuggling, the Trump administration is also cracking down on drug smuggling into the United States.
The Coast Guard intercepted a suspected drug smuggling vessel, seizing roughly 17 pounds of marijuana and 174 pounds of cocaine, valued at around $1.3 million, according to a Feb. 27 announcement.
Two suspected smugglers were taken into custody to be further investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Coast Guard said.
The U.S. Southern Command said on Feb. 23 that it had struck a drug boat in the Caribbean Sea, killing at least three individuals alleged to be narco-terrorists. The U.S. military had launched such strikes targeting drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since September 2025.
These efforts have faced criticism. In September, Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a measure to stop such strikes, arguing that the actions were not authorized by Congress.
“Congress alone holds the power to declare war,” Schiff said while announcing the resolution.
“And while we share with the executive branch the imperative of preventing and deterring drugs from reaching our shores, blowing up boats without any legal justification risks dragging the United States into another war and provoking unjustified hostilities against our own citizens.”
Trump has said that the United States was in an “armed conflict” with South American cartels and justified the attacks as necessary actions to counter the flow of drugs in the United States.
A White House report from last year said: “Although friendly foreign nations have made significant efforts to combat these organizations, suffering significant losses of life, these groups are now transnational and conduct ongoing attacks throughout the Western Hemisphere as organized cartels.
“Therefore, the President determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States.”
Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 21:45
Los Reales firman al dominicano Starling Marte por un millón de dólares
SURPRISE, Arizona, EE.UU. (AP) — Los Reales de Kansas City firmaron al dos veces All-Star dominicano Starling Marte el lunes con un contrato de un millón de dólares para la próxima temporada, con la esperanza de que el veterano bateador derecho pueda aportar ayuda desde la banca o contra el pitcheo de zurdos.
Los Reales designaron al jardinero cubano Dairon Blanco para asignación en un movimiento correspondiente del roster.
Marte, de 37 años, quien también puede ganar hasta dos millones de dólares en bonificaciones por roster y rendimiento, batea para .285 con 163 jonrones, 667 carreras impulsadas y 361 bases robadas a lo largo de 14 temporadas con los Piratas, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Atléticos y Mets.
El ganador de dos Guantes de Oro fue All-Star con Pittsburgh en 2016 y nuevamente con Nueva York durante la temporada 2022.
Marte también ha disputado 25 juegos de postemporada a lo largo de seis campañas, aportando experiencia a un roster relativamente joven de Kansas City, y es uno de apenas 19 jugadores en la historia de las Grandes Ligas con al menos 150 jonrones y 350 bases robadas.
Marte bateó apenas para .220 en sus primeros 41 juegos con los Mets la temporada pasada, pero demostró que la edad todavía no lo alcanzaba del todo cuando bateó para .295 en sus últimas 57 apariciones. Terminó bateando para .270 mientras fue titular como bateador designado y en las esquinas de los jardines.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Putin Decries ‘Cynical Murder’ Of His Friend Ayatollah Khamenei
Putin Decries ‘Cynical Murder’ Of His Friend Ayatollah Khamenei
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sunday comments blasted the United States and Israel’s “cynical” assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei which happened the day prior in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli Operation Epic Fury. Other translations in European media have used the word “murder” – citing Putin.
He expressed condolences to the Islamic Republic: “Please accept my deepest condolences in connection with the assassination of the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran… committed in cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law,” Putin said in a message to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“In our country, Ayatollah Khamenei will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a tremendous personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations,” he added.
Clearly the two ‘pariah’s’ (in the West’s labeling) always enjoyed warm, friendly relations. via AP
Putin had met with Khamenei directly on several occasions in the past. The Kremlin has further confirmed Monday that it remains in close communication with authorities in Tehran, after dozens of top leaders and officers have been killed in the massive bombing raids.
“We are in constant contact with the leadership of Iran and are discussing the situation surrounding that country,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a briefing.
The Russian spokesman said it was “deep disappointment” that Oman-brokered nuclear negotiations, the last of which were in Geneva, “deteriorated to the point of outright aggression.”
Down to the eve of the bombing of Tehran, the Iranian side was giving ‘positive’ signals of ‘progress’. But they once again feel duped, also amid reports the Iran operation had already been planned for weeks.
But Moscow’s priority still remains balancing and improving delicate relations with Washington amid the grinding, over four year long Ukraine ‘special military operation’. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have run point for negotiations in both the Iran and Ukraine war talks.
“It’s in our interests to continue these negotiations, and we will certainly remain open to them,” Peskov made clear. “We greatly appreciate the mediation efforts of the United States.”
Putin last month: “I apologize if this sounds a bit rude, but what the hell are the Iranians supposed to comply with?“
☝️ “Iran fulfilled all of its obligations under the well-known nuclear deal. All of them. There can be no complaints against Iran. Then U.S. President Trump unilaterally decided to withdraw from the agreement, while the Europeans were saying, “Yes, it’s bad that the Americans… pic.twitter.com/1sapSSaiDF
— 🇷🇺Russia is not Enemy (@RussiaIsntEnemy) February 21, 2026
But certainly Moscow must be even more cynical at this point. It likely agrees with Tehran’s perspective that the US basically cannot be trusted.
But Russia might also sit back and enjoy seeing the Pentagon expend precious resources, and blood and treasure, on another Middle East regime change operation which could in the end be ‘unwinnable’ – just with Iraq a couple decades prior.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 21:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/putin-decries-cynical-murder-his-friend-ayatollah-khamenei
El estelar de Gigantes Logan Webb abrirá en el Clásico Mundial por EEUU ante Brasil
Por DAVID BRANDT
PHOENIX (AP) — El estelar de los Gigantes de San Francisco, Logan Webb, abrirá en el montículo para el equipo de Estados Unidos en su primer juego del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol el viernes por la noche contra Brasil, informó el manager Mark DeRosa el lunes.
DeRosa agregó que se espera que Tarik Skubal, ganador del Premio Cy Young de la Liga Americana en las dos últimas temporadas, sea el abridor el sábado contra Gran Bretaña, seguido por el ganador del Cy Young de la Liga Nacional Paul Skenes frente a México el lunes.
El derecho de los Mets de Nueva York, Nolan McLean, está programado de manera tentativa para abrir el martes en el último juego de la fase de grupos contra Italia, aunque está lidiando con una enfermedad y no estuvo con el equipo de Estados Unidos en la práctica del lunes.
“Está armado”, expresó DeRosa. “Obviamente hay límites para el torneo desde el inicio, en cuanto al conteo de lanzamientos, pero también hay límites para que los muchachos tengan que lanzar en ciertos días para estar listos para el día inaugural de su equipo”.
Estados Unidos disputará dos juegos de exhibición en Arizona el martes y el miércoles antes de viajar a Houston para el debut del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol contra Brasil. Skenes abrirá el juego del martes contra los Gigantes. DeRosa indicó que Matthew Boyd, Gabe Speier, David Bednar, Griffin Jax y Mason Miller también subirán al montículo.
Se espera que Skubal haga apenas una apertura con Estados Unidos antes de reincorporarse a los Tigres de Detroit para el resto de los entrenamientos de primavera.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Supreme Court blocks law against schools outing transgender students to their parents in California
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for California schools to tell parents if their children identify as transgender without getting the student’s approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group.
The order blocks for now a state law that bans automatic parental notification requirements if students change their pronouns or gender expression at school.
The split decision comes after religious parents and educators challenged California school policies aimed at preventing schools from outing students to their families. Two sets of Catholic parents represented by the Thomas More Society say it caused schools to mislead them and secretly facilitate the children’s social transition despite their objections.
California, on the other hand, argued that students have the right to privacy about their gender expression, especially if they fear rejection from their families. The state said that school policies and state law are aimed at striking a balance with parents’ rights.
The high court majority, though, sided with the parents and reinstated a lower-court order blocking the law and school policies while the case continues to play out.
“The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs. California’s policies violate those beliefs,” and burden the free exercise of religion, the majority wrote in an unsigned order.
The court’s three liberal justices publicly dissented, saying the case is still working its way through lower courts and there was no need to step in now. “If nothing else, this Court owes it to a sovereign State to avoid throwing over its policies in a slapdash way, if the Court can provide normal procedures. And throwing over a State’s policy is what the Court does today,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote.
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, meanwhile, noted they would have gone further and granted teachers’ appeal to lift restrictions for them.
The Thomas More Society called the decision “the most significant parental rights ruling in a generation.”
The Supreme Court has ruled for religious plaintiffs in other recent cases, including allowing parents to pull their children from public-school lessons if they object to storybooks with LGBTQ+ characters.
The California order comes months after the court upheld state bans on gender-identity-related healthcare for minors. The justices also seem to be leaning toward allowing states to ban transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams.
School policies for transgender students, meanwhile, have also been on the court’s radar in other cases.
The court rebuffed another similar case out of Wisconsin in December, but three conservative justices indicated they would have heard the case. Justice Samuel Alito called the school policies “an issue of great and growing national importance.”
The justices have been weighing whether to hear arguments in cases out of states like Massachusetts and Florida filed by other parents who say schools facilitated social transition without informing them.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, found in January that California’s policies violated parents’ right to access their children’s education records. The Justice Department also sued after determining the states’ transgender athlete policies violate federal civil rights law.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/02/supreme-court-transgender-students/
Museo neerlandés confirma un Rembrandt como encontrar “una aguja en un pajar”
Por MIKE CORDER
LA HAYA, Países Bajos (AP) — Un cuadro que en su día fue rechazado como obra de Rembrandt van Rijn ha sido reconocido ahora como una creación del maestro neerlandés, gracias a dos años de revisión en la ciudad donde el entonces artista de 27 años lo pintó en 1633, anunció un museo el lunes.
El museo nacional de arte e historia de Países Bajos, el Rijksmuseum, presentó la obra, “Visión de Zacarías en el templo”, y señaló que un análisis minucioso, que incluyó escaneos de alta tecnología, ha confirmado que fue pintada por Rembrandt después de que se mudara a la capital, Ámsterdam.
El cuadro no se ha exhibido públicamente en décadas después de que un coleccionista privado lo comprara en 1961, un año después de que se determinara que no era un Rembrandt, indicó el museo en un comunicado. A partir del miércoles, se exhibirá junto a otras obras maestras en el Rijksmuseum, donde está en préstamo a largo plazo.
El director Taco Dibbits afirmó que el museo suele recibir correos electrónicos de personas que preguntan si el cuadro que poseen podría ser del maestro de la Edad de Oro.
“Siempre esperamos encontrar un nuevo Rembrandt, pero esto ocurre rara vez”, declaró a The Associated Press. Comentó que hacer un hallazgo así “es como (encontrar) una aguja en un pajar”.
El propietario, que ha permanecido en el anonimato, inicialmente solo preguntó al museo si el cuadro era neerlandés.
“Realmente no sabía lo que tenía. Y luego descubrir que es un Rembrandt es algo que es increíble vivir”, expresó Dibbits.
El cuadro representa una historia bíblica en la que el sumo sacerdote Zacarías recibe la visita del arcángel Gabriel, quien le dice al sacerdote que él y su esposa tendrán un hijo: Juan el Bautista. La expresión de sorpresa de Zacarías queda resaltada por la luz que anuncia la llegada de Gabriel, señaló el museo.
Un estudio exhaustivo de la obra, que incluyó escaneos de fluorescencia de rayos X macro y comparaciones con otras obras del artista, confirmó que Rembrandt la pintó, dijo el curador del museo de pinturas neerlandesas del siglo XVII, Jonathan Bikker.
“Así que la madera que se utilizó para el panel sobre el que está pintado, sin duda proviene de un árbol que fue talado antes de 1633, la fecha que figura en el cuadro”, explicó.
“Todos los pigmentos, la pintura del cuadro, fueron utilizados por Rembrandt en otras pinturas. Y las capas de pintura y la manera en que lo pintó, eso también es precisamente lo mismo que en otras obras de Rembrandt”, añadió.
La obra se suma a unas 350 pinturas conocidas de Rembrandt y alimentó la esperanza de que pueda haber más.
“No estamos buscando activamente nuevos cuadros de Rembrandt, pero creo que esto nos da esperanza —no solo a nosotros, sino a todos los que están interesados en Rembrandt”, manifestó Bikker.
Justin Timberlake sues to block release of police video from 2024 drunken driving arrest in New York
NEW YORK — Justin Timberlake is suing to block the release of police body camera footage from his drunken driving arrest in New York’s Hamptons in 2024.
The pop star’s lawyers argued in a lawsuit filed Monday against the village of Sag Harbor and its police department that release of the video would “devastate” Timberlake’s privacy by revealing “intimate, highly personal, and sensitive details.”
They also said it would cause “severe and irreparable harm” to his reputation by subjecting him to “public ridicule and harassment.”
“The footage at issue depicts Petitioner in an acutely vulnerable state during a roadside encounter with law enforcement, capturing intimate details of Petitioner’s physical appearance, demeanor, speech, and conduct during field sobriety testing, the subsequent arrest, and Petitioner’s confinement following arrest over the next several hours,” the lawsuit reads.
A judge didn’t immediately rule following a Monday hearing in state court in Riverhead, according to Vincent Toomey, a lawyer for Sag Harbor. Instead, Judge Joseph Farneti asked the two sides to confer on a possible resolution and report back later in the week, he said.
Timberlake’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
The NSYNC singer-turned-solo artist and actor pleaded guilty to impaired driving in September 2024. Police said he ran a stop sign in the village center, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol that June.
The Tennessee native told officers he had had one martini and had been following some friends home in Sag Harbor, a former whaling village among the affluent beach towns of the Hamptons, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.
Timberlake agreed to give a public safety announcement against the perils of drunken driving as part of the plea deal that knocked down his initial misdemeanor charge to a noncriminal traffic violation. He was also sentenced to a $500 fine, 25 hours of community service and a 90-day suspension of his license.
“Even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car,” Timberlake said following his court appearance. “This is a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever is watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I know that I certainly have.”
In their suit, Timberlake’s lawyers say they were notified Sunday that village officials intended to release some of the footage, with certain redactions, to comply with public records requests.
They say the total footage runs roughly eight hours and includes Timberlake’s initial stop, police questioning, the administration of field sobriety tests and his arrest.
The Associated Press was among several media outlets that filed a records request seeking the release of the video.
Sag Harbor Mayor Thomas Gardella said village officials have carefully reviewed the footage to ensure nothing would be released that could put police or the public at risk.
“We’re trying to be as transparent as can be with this footage,” he said, noting that the state’s public records law generally requires release of police body camera footage.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/02/justin-timberlake-drunk-driving-arrest/
Indiana’s Curt Cignetti cashes in on title run with 8-year extension worth $13.2 million per year
Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti is cashing in on his first national championship run — even more than initially expected.
Athletic department officials announced Monday that the two-time national coach of the year has signed a memorandum of understanding on an eight-year contract extension, paying him an annual average of $13.2 million — or an increase of about $1.6 million per year from what school officials said Cignetti would earn when he first agreed to the extension in October.
School officials released the document Cignetti signed Feb. 4.
He joins Georgia coach Kirby Smart and LSU coach Lane Kiffin as the only active Football Bowl Subdivision coaches to receive paychecks of $13 million or more. The payouts could be even higher if Cignetti earns bonuses for winning Big Ten or national coach of the year honors in addition to playoff appearances and conference titles. The 64-year-old Cignetti has already said he hopes to retire at Indiana.
The new deal calls for a base salary of $500,000 per year through the 2033 season and a $1 million retention bonus on Nov. 30 of each year, starting this fall. The remaining portion of the $105.6 million will be collected from outside, promotional and marketing income.
Cignetti initially agreed to an eight-year extension worth $92.8 million — an annual average of $11.6 million — but university officials agreed to modify the deal as the Hoosiers remained undefeated and pursued the first football national championship in school history.
It’s the third time Cignetti has received a raise since he took over the losingest program in FBS history in November 2024. All he’s done since arriving is produce the two best seasons in school history while becoming one of college football’s fan favorites for his quick quips and unique facial expressions. Players have embraced him, too, telling many of their favorite Cignetti tales.
Just ask tight end Riley Nowakowski, who recounted his favorite Cignetti story during the recent NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.
“I think (Alberto Mendoza) was in the game, and he pulled like four runs in a row,” Nowakowski said, referring to last season’s victory over Illinois. “He kept pulling it, kept pulling it, kept pulling it, and then after the fourth time, it was a terrible read. So in the middle of the game, (Cignetti) tells our coach, ‘Get (Alberto) over here.’ Bert’s like, ‘What, it’s the middle of a game, what are you doing?’ And (Cignetti) goes, ‘We’re not paying you to run the ball, hand the ball off, right? We’re up like 70 points, but he’s pissed off, yelling at Bert, and (Cignetti) just turned back at me and gave me one of his little smiles, and he was just like, ’You like that now?’”
Cignetti wasted no time delivering on his promise to win after leading James Madison to the most successful transition from the Football Championship Subdivision to the FBS.
The son of Hall of Fame coach Frank Cignetti and a former Alabama assistant led Indiana to a school record 11 wins and its first College Football Playoff appearance in his first season with the Hoosiers.
Last season, he outdid that mark by producing the first 16-0 mark in major college football since the 1890s. The Hoosiers also won their first outright Big Ten crown since 1945, beat Miami on its home field to claim the national title and shed the label of having the most all-time losses in FBS history.
Mendoza’s older brother, Fernando, also became the first Indiana player to win the Heisman Trophy and is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft.
The reward: A record nine players, including Mendoza and Nowakowski, attended the recent combine in Indianapolis while Cignetti got another pay raise and school officials continued to invest heavily in keeping the coach’s staff together.
Offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines each agreed to three-year contract extensions worth about $3 million per year in December, making them two of the highest-paid assistants in the FBS. Haines won this year’s Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Indiana will begin next season with the longest winning streak (16) and longest home winning streak (15) in the FBS. Cignetti has never lost a home game with the Hoosiers, who open defense of their league and national titles at home against North Texas on Sept. 5.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/02/indiana-football-curt-cignetti-contract-extension/
China Conducts Patrol In South China Sea, Accuses Philippines Of Disturbing Regional Peace
China Conducts Patrol In South China Sea, Accuses Philippines Of Disturbing Regional Peace
Authored by Alex Wu via The Epoch Times,
The Chinese regime’s navy conducted patrols in the South China Sea from Feb. 23 to Feb. 26, while the United States, Japan, and the Philippines were holding joint military exercises in international waters.
The Chinese regime criticized the Philippines for “disturbing peace” in the region.
Analysts told The Epoch Times that the standoff in the South China Sea does not necessarily mean that the situation will escalate soon, and the Chinese regime’s rhetoric reflects complicated political considerations.
The United States, the Philippines, and Japan this week conducted joint exercises over the Bashi Channel that separates the Philippines from Taiwan in the South China Sea, according to a statement by the Philippine military on Feb. 27. The drills were aimed at showcasing the forces’ “ability to operate seamlessly together in complex maritime environments,” the Philippine military said.
This was the first time that such joint exercises have been conducted in the Bashi Channel.
The Chinese regime reacted angrily to the joint drills. On Feb. 27, a spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Southern Theatre Command accused the Philippines of “disrupting peace and stability by organizing joint patrols with countries outside the region.”
China conducted a “routine patrol” of the South China Sea from Feb. 23 to Feb. 26, according to the spokesperson.
While China claims sovereignty over the waters, citing the historical nine-dash demarcation line within the South China Sea, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia each claim sovereignty over their exclusive economic zones in the South China Sea. Some of these zones overlap with each other, with communist China’s nine-dash line, and with Taiwan’s 11-dash demarcation.
On July 12, 2016, an international tribunal ruled that the nine-dash demarcation couldn’t be used by the regime in Beijing to make historic claims to the South China Sea, parts of which are claimed by six governments. China rejected the ruling and has continued to assert its sovereignty claims and operations in the South China Sea.
“China has taken strong measures to drive away ships or fishing boats that enter the area, especially Philippine supply ships,” Shen Ming-shih, research fellow at the Division of National Security Research at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times.
“In such disputed areas, disputes should be shelved. It is because of China’s strong expulsion that the United States, Japan, and the Philippines are preparing for the worst-case scenario.”
Some of a total of 220 Chinese vessels are moored at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea on March 7, 2021. Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-West Philippine Sea via AP
Judging from the joint drills, it’s clear that the United States and Japan are paying particular attention to security in the South China Sea region, Shen added.
Commenting on the joint U.S.–Japan–Philippines drills conducted over the Bashi Channel, Wang Shiow-wen, an assistant researcher at the Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said, “This may be to test the PLA’s reaction, to see if the PLA has already considered the Bashi Channel and the South China Sea or even the Taiwan Strait as its own.”
As to the PLA’s accusation against the Philippines, she told The Epoch Times: “Why is it that the PLA’s daily harassment of Taiwan under the pretext of ‘exercises and training’ is not considered ‘disturbing peace and stability in the region,’ but other countries’ joint exercises are considered ‘disturbing the regional peace and stability’?”
The PLA spokesperson’s avoidance of directly naming the United States and Japan in its accusation may be laying the groundwork for future joint military exercises between China and Russia, or possibly North Korea, Wang said.
Furthermore, with an April meeting scheduled between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, both sides are currently cultivating a “friendly” atmosphere, making direct criticism inappropriate, she said.
Shen has a similar assessment. “Because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is currently hoping to ease tensions with the United States, and relations between China and Japan have already deteriorated, in order to avoid further complications, the Southern Theater Command only dared to condemn the relatively weaker Philippines in its statement this time.”
Deterrence
As to whether both sides doing military drills and patrols in the South China Sea in the same week might escalate the tension into a conflict, Shen said that “the main policy of the United States is to strengthen the defense capabilities of various countries in the First Island Chain region in order to deter China from easily launching a conflict or war in this region.”
An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter, attached to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 14, prepares to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on Jan. 15, 2026. Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Cesar Zavala/U.S. Navy
If war becomes unavoidable in the region, the United States should have many ways to participate. “Ultimately, war with the CCP will only be a last resort. Before that, political, economic, and cyber warfare are already underway,” he said.
Regarding the PLA spokesperson’s statement about China’s need to “safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty” and “uphold regional peace and stability,” Wang said that the Chinese regime is actually saying that as long as the United States, Japan, and the Philippines are not taking Chinese territory, the PLA won’t launch a preemptive attack.
Given the current military strength of the CCP, starting a war is not the problem, according to Wang. “The problem lies in how to sustain and end the war,” she said. “The Russia–Ukraine war has entered its fifth year, which should serve as a great warning to the CCP.”
“If the CCP leader Xi Jinping wants to escape his various domestic crises by starting a war, then it can only be said that he himself has determined the fate of the CCP regime,” she said.
A Chinese PLA Navy ship (background L) is seen while an Australian Navy destroyer (R) takes part in a maritime cooperative activity near Scarborough Shoal, on Sept. 3, 2025. Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images
Shen believes that the PLA’s patrol was routine, saying, “I don’t think it’s likely to start a conflict or war right now.”
“I think maintaining internal stability, conducting the CCP’s Fifth Plenary Session effectively, and balancing the power should be the top priorities right now.”
Shen added that when the internal power struggle within the CCP deteriorates or intensifies, “if [the regime] wants to take actions to divert [the] Chinese public’s attention from the domestic to the international, it might target the relatively weaker Philippines or the South China Sea.”
Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 20:55
Trump Administration abandons efforts to impose orders on law firms
The Trump administration on Monday abandoned its attempts to impose potentially crippling executive orders against law firms that refused to capitulate to the president, walking away from its appeal of victories the firms had won against the White House.
With a brief due this week, Justice Department lawyers told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that they were no longer interested in pursuing the cases and were voluntarily asking the court to dismiss them.
The decision is the White House’s most significant acknowledgment that the executive orders cannot be successfully defended in court. The move is particularly striking given that some firms opted to reach deals in a bid to head off executive orders that President Donald Trump’s Justice Department said it would no longer stand behind.
The battle over the executive orders had roiled the legal establishment and led many firms to submit to Trump rather than face the existential threat his directives represented. The orders barred the firms from government business and suggested that their clients could lose government contracts, spurring widespread panic in the legal profession.
Four firms — Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey — fought the orders, quickly receiving favorable rulings from district court judges. Nine others struck deals with Trump, most notably Paul Weiss, drawing sharp criticism.
Already, the Justice Department acknowledged in court that a parallel effort to use the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to scrutinize the hiring practices of some of the country’s biggest law firms amounted to very little. The commission has said that most of the firms did not provide any of the requested information and that it now considers the matter closed.
The firms contesting the orders welcomed the administration’s request for dismissal.
Jenner & Block said that its partners were “proud to have stood firm on behalf of its clients.” WilmerHale added that its challenge was based in part on “defending the rule of law.”
Susman Godfrey, in its statement, gestured at the larger implication of the orders. “We fought for ourselves, but we fought for bigger things, too,” it said. “For a Constitution that protects our freedoms; for a legal profession that depends on equal justice under the law; and for the people across this country who refuse to back down in the face of an administration that seeks to silence and intimidate them.”
Trump’s attacks on law firms were one of the early gambits in the shock-and-awe retribution campaign he mounted upon returning to the White House last year. In February 2025, he issued executive orders against two firms associated with his perceived enemies.
The first firm Trump targeted, Covington & Burling, had given free legal advice to Jack Smith, who as special counsel led investigations into Trump. The second, Perkins Coie, did work for Democrats during the 2016 presidential campaign and had hired a research firm that ultimately led to the creation of an unsubstantiated dossier about the ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The judge overseeing Perkins Coie’s case, Beryl Howell, said the executive order “sends little chills down my spine,” later writing that the administration had sent a clear message, “Lawyers must stick to the party line, or else.” The orders, she wrote, were “an unprecedented attack” on foundational constitutional principles.
Regardless, Trump signed a third executive order against the law firm Paul Weiss, which employed a litigator who as a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office led an investigation into Trump. The firm was widely expected to fight because its chair, Brad S. Karp, had helped galvanize the legal world to stand up to Trump during his first term.
But instead, Paul Weiss entered into negotiations with the White House.
Paul Weiss and other firms were particularly vulnerable to the orders because of a basic structural shift. While it was known for its litigation attorneys — the fast-talking, brief-writing lawyers who appear in court — the firm increasingly relied on highly paid corporate lawyers, who often bring in the most money. The firm’s litigators determined the executive order was illegal, but its top corporate rainmaker, Scott A. Barshay, said the firm could not even be perceived as adverse to Trump because it would hurt their business and clients.
Karp, fearing Barshay would leave the firm and take many partners and clients with him, went along with his desires, striking a deal in which the firm essentially agreed to represent clients no matter their political beliefs and do pro bono legal work for largely uncontroversial causes.
But the deal led to an uproar inside the firm, the legal community and among Democrats, who considered it a capitulation. And it appeared to embolden Trump, who went on to make similar deals with eight other firms.
In June, the administration appealed Howell’s ruling, and the four cases were consolidated to be heard as one by a panel of appeals judges in the District of Columbia. Last month, the court ordered the Justice Department to file its appeal by Friday.
The Justice Department’s surrender is the latest example of the White House pushing the limits of the law, benefiting from the lag time between the use of its power and the courts’ response. The administration has deployed the tactic in its efforts to keep its chosen U.S. attorneys in place and the prosecution of some of Trump’s adversaries. In some instances, even when the administration has walked away from its initial legal position, it has still been able to impose its will.
Despite its legal losses, the administration continues to take an unusually muscular approach with businesses. Last week, after talks between the Trump administration and the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic blew up, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally designated the company a “supply-chain risk to national security,” meaning that no contractor or supplier with military ties can do business with the firm.
The legal designation is highly unusual for an American company. Anthropic has vowed to fight it in court.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/02/trump-administration-orders-law-firms/
