https://www.devdiscourse.com RSS FeedCopyright devdiscourse.comnoemail@noemail.org (Devdiscourse)Fri, 6 Mar 2026 02:15:59 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/Rss/Feeden-usnohttps://www.devdiscourse.com RSS Feednoemail@noemail.orghttps://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/3827834-update-1-flights-for-us-citizens-stuck-in-middle-east-ramping-up-state-dept-saysnoemail@noemail.org (Reuters)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:45:39 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/3827834-update-1-flights-for-us-citizens-stuck-in-middle-east-ramping-up-state-dept-saysThe U.S. State Department said on Thursday it was ramping up charter flights from the Middle East after criticism over the Trump administration's planning and ‌initial assistance to U.S. citizens trying to leave the region since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began. The strikes that began on Saturday and Iran's retaliatory attacks on its neighbors have led to widespread airspace closures, clogging busy aviation routes throughout the region and leaving ‌thousands stranded.https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/3827833-forex-us-dollar-advances-as-middle-east-conflict-rages-on-fuels-safe-haven-demandnoemail@noemail.org (Reuters)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:43:47 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/3827833-forex-us-dollar-advances-as-middle-east-conflict-rages-on-fuels-safe-haven-demandThe U.S. dollar regained its footing on Thursday, rebounding after a ​brief pullback three-month highs, as an escalating conflict in the Middle East kept ‌investors ​jittery and drove demand for safe-haven assets. Earlier hopes of a de-escalation gave way to a fresh bout of uncertainty, with Iran warning that Washington would "bitterly regret" the sinking of an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka. The conflict entered its sixth day with more intensive bombing, while Iran vowed to retaliate anywhere for a U.S. attack on ‌a ship thousands of miles from the battle zone. That kept the dollar in favor, leaving the euro down 0.4% at $1.1580 and sterling 0.3% lower at $1.3326 in afternoon trading.https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3827832-venezuela-to-ensure-security-of-mining-companies-exceed-oil-productiongoals-burgumnoemail@noemail.org (Reuters)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:41:50 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3827832-venezuela-to-ensure-security-of-mining-companies-exceed-oil-productiongoals-burgum​United ​States Interior ‌Secretary Doug Burgum ​sounded an optimistic ‌note as he prepared to leave Venezuela on Thursday ‌after a two-day ‌visit, telling journalists that a new mining law ⁠will ​create ⁠opportunities for companies, that licenses allowing ⁠them to operate ​are on the horizon ⁠and that the interim government ⁠of ​Delcy Rodriguez has promised to ensure ⁠their security.https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/3827831-us-capitol-rioter-who-was-pardoned-by-trump-gets-life-sentence-for-molesting-2-childrennoemail@noemail.org (PTI)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:37:14 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/3827831-us-capitol-rioter-who-was-pardoned-by-trump-gets-life-sentence-for-molesting-2-childrenA Florida handyman who was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for molesting two children had been convicted of storming the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, but was pardoned by President Donald Trump. Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, is among several Jan 6 defendants who have been charged with new crimes since Trump's sweeping act of clemency for Capitol rioters. On his first day back in the White House last year, Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the attack. Johnson was convicted last month of two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child and one count of electronically transmitting material harmful to a minor, according to prosecutors in Hernando County, Florida. County Circuit Judge Stephen Toner handed down Johnson's life sentence. Sheriff's deputies began investigating the child molestation allegations against Johnson in July 2025. One of his victims told investigators that the abuse started around April 2024, several months before Johnson was sentenced for his Capitol riot conviction. Johnson told one of his victims that he expected to be compensated for being a pardoned Jan 6 defendant and would be putting the child in his will to inherit any leftover money, according to a sheriff's office report. ''This tactic was believed to be used to keep (the child) from exposing what Andrew had done,'' the report said. Investigators found sexually explicit messages that Johnson exchanged with one of his victims on the Discord messaging app, according to Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson's office. ''In the messages, Johnson attempted to have the victim download another application for a more private conversation and encouraged the victim to delete their messages afterwards,'' Gladson's office said in a news release. Chief US District Court Judge James Boasberg in Washington sentenced Johnson in August 2024 to one year behind bars after he pleaded guilty to four misdemeanour charges stemming from the riot. Johnson had asked to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming that he was pressured into it, but the judge rejected his request before sentencing. Johnson, of Seffner, Florida, was carrying a bullhorn as he marched to the Capitol after attending Trump's ''Stop the Steal'' rally near the White House. He entered the building through an office window that other rioters had smashed, according to federal prosecutors. Johnson cursed and yelled at police officers after they used tear gas to disperse the mob of Trump supporters, prosecutors said.https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3827830-global-markets-us-european-stocks-fall-as-iran-war-drives-oil-rally-bond-selloffnoemail@noemail.org (Reuters)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:34:14 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3827830-global-markets-us-european-stocks-fall-as-iran-war-drives-oil-rally-bond-selloffEquity indexes fell more than 1% on Wall ​Street and in Europe on Thursday and government bonds sold off, while the dollar ‌climbed, ​as oil prices surged on supply fears amid intensifying fighting on the sixth day of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The campaign against Iran continued while Tehran launched a wave of missiles at Israel and vowed to retaliate against Americans "wherever they are" after a U.S. strike on a ship far from the battle zone. U.S. President Donald Trumpclaimed the right to have a say in who ‌next leads Iran, while U.S. and Israeli jets hit areas across the country and Gulf cities faced renewed bombardments. Investor hopes had risen on Wednesday after the U.S. said it would protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas is shipped. But more tankers came under attack in Gulf waters on Thursday as the conflict escalated, and Iranian drones entered Azerbaijan, raising the risk of the crisis spilling into other oil-producing states. A Bahamas-flagged crude tanker was targeted by an Iranian remote-controlled boat laden ‌with explosives while anchored near Iraq's Khor al Zubair port, according to initial assessments. A second tanker at anchor off Kuwait was taking on water and spilling oil after a large explosion on its port side. "We have a cloud of uncertainty with ‌the Iranian crisis under way. There's no real meaningful clarity on how long this crisis will last and what the total impact will be," said Mona Mahajan, head of investment strategy and asset allocation at Edward Jones, although she noted that past Middle East crises have tended to be relatively short-lived. Citing the reports of tanker attacks, Mahajan said investors were unnerved on Thursday because of the "very meaningful move higher in oil prices." On Wall Street, stocks added to losses in afternoon trading. At 02:54 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,047.28 points, or 2.15%, to 47,692.13, the S&P 500 fell 82.82 points, or 1.21%, to 6,786.42 and the Nasdaq Composite fell ⁠241.42 points, or ​1.05%, to 22,567.15. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 8.65 points, ⁠or 0.84%, to 1,022.94. Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 1.29%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 33.00 points, or 1.35%.https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/3827829-more-than-20-states-sue-over-new-global-tariffs-trump-imposed-after-his-stinging-supreme-court-lossnoemail@noemail.org (PTI)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:32:14 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/3827829-more-than-20-states-sue-over-new-global-tariffs-trump-imposed-after-his-stinging-supreme-court-lossSome two dozen states challenged President Donald Trump's new global tariffs on Thursday, filing a lawsuit over import taxes he imposed after a stinging loss at the Supreme Court. The Democratic attorneys general and governors in the lawsuit argue that Trump is overstepping his power with planned 15 per cent tariffs on much of the world. Trump has said the tariffs are essential to reduce America's longstanding trade deficits. He imposed duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 after the Supreme Court struck down tariffs he imposed last year under an emergency powers law. Section 122, which has never been invoked, allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 15 per cent. They are limited to five months unless extended by Congress. The lawsuit is led by attorneys general from Oregon, Arizona, California and New York. ''The focus right now should be on paying people back, not doubling down on illegal tariffs,'' said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. The suit comes a day after a judge ruled that companies that paid tariffs under Trump's old framework should get refunds. White House vows vigorous defence ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The White House said Trump is acting within his power. ''The President is using his authority granted by Congress to address fundamental international payments problems and to deal with our country's large and serious balance-of-payments deficits,'' said spokesman Kush Desai. ''The Administration will vigorously defend the President's action in court.'' The new suit argues that Trump can't pivot to Section 122 because it was intended to be used only in specific, limited circumstances - not for sweeping import taxes. It also contends the tariffs will drive up costs for states, businesses and consumers. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes pointed to a New York Federal Reserve Bank study that found Americans largely bear the cost of the tariffs, which has been estimated at USD 1,200 a year per household. ''That is money out of the pockets of American families trying to buy groceries, pay rent and keep their small businesses afloat,'' Mayes said. Many of the plaintiff states also successfully sued over Trump's tariffs imposed under a different law: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Four days after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping IEEPA tariffs on Feb 20, Trump invoked Section 122 to slap 10 per cent tariffs on foreign goods. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant told CNBC on Wednesday that the administration would raise the levies to the 15 per cent limit this week. The Democratic states and other critics say the president can't use Section 122 as a replacement for the defunct tariffs to combat the trade deficit. The Section 122 provision is aimed at what it calls ''fundamental international payments problems.'' At issue is whether that wording covers trade deficits, the gap between what the US sells other countries and what it buys from them. Section 122 arose from the financial crises that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s when the US dollar was tied to gold. Other countries were dumping dollars in exchange for gold at a set rate, risking a collapse of the US currency and chaos in financial markets. But the dollar is no longer linked to gold, so critics say Section 122 is obsolete. Awkwardly for Trump, his own Justice Department argued in a court filing last year that the president needed to invoke the emergency powers act because Section 122 did ''not have any obvious application'' in fighting trade deficits, which it called ''conceptually distinct'' from balance-of-payment issues. Still, some legal analysts say the Trump administration has a stronger case this time. ''The legal reality is that courts will likely provide President Trump substantially more deference regarding Section 122 than they did to his previous tariffs under IEEPA,'' Peter Harrell, visiting scholar at Georgetown University's Institute of International Economic Law, wrote in a commentary Wednesday. The specialised Court of International Trade in New York, which will hear the states' lawsuit, wrote last year in its own decision striking down the emergency-powers tariffs that Trump didn't need them because Section 122 was available to combat trade deficits. Trump does have other legal authorities he can use to impose tariffs, and some have already survived court tests. Duties that Trump imposed on Chinese imports during his first term under Section 301 of the same 1974 trade act are still in place. Also joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/3827828-us-bank-regulators-clarify-banks-do-not-face-extra-capital-requirements-for-holding-tokenized-securitiesnoemail@noemail.org (Reuters)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:30:16 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/3827828-us-bank-regulators-clarify-banks-do-not-face-extra-capital-requirements-for-holding-tokenized-securities​U.S. banking ​regulators clarified Thursday ‌that banks ​should not have to hold additional capital ‌against losses when dealing with tokenized securities, saying their rules are "technology neutral."https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3827827-oilfield-run-by-us-firm-hit-in-drone-attack-in-iraqi-kurdistan-sources-saynoemail@noemail.org (Reuters)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:29:39 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3827827-oilfield-run-by-us-firm-hit-in-drone-attack-in-iraqi-kurdistan-sources-say​A ‌drone ​attack ‌struck an oilfield operated ‌by a ‌U.S. firm ⁠in ​Dohuk ⁠in Iraq’s ⁠Kurdistan region ​on Thursday, causing ⁠a ⁠fire, ​security sources ⁠said.https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/politics/3827826-trump-can-suspend-refugee-admissions-us-appeals-court-rulesnoemail@noemail.org (Reuters)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:27:42 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/politics/3827826-trump-can-suspend-refugee-admissions-us-appeals-court-rulesA U.S. appeals court on Thursday ruled that President ​Donald Trump had the authority to indefinitely suspend admissions ​of foreign citizens seeking to enter the United ‌States ​under the U.S. refugee resettlement program. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reached that conclusion as it largely overturned injunctions issued by a judge in ‌Seattle last year that blocked the halt on refugee admissions and related actions. Trump, a Republican, had immediately paused refugee resettlement after taking office in January 2025, saying the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program must ensure refugees admitted to the U.S. "appropriately assimilate." A ‌class-action lawsuit by refugees, family members and resettlement organizations followed. Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, writing for the panel, ‌said the court recognized the "enormous practical implications" of its decision to largely overturn rulings issued in that case by U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead, whose decisions in the plaintiffs' favor were mostly paused while the appeal proceeded.https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3827825-refile-us-stocks-wall-street-extend-losses-as-investors-weigh-middle-east-war-risksnoemail@noemail.org (Reuters)Thu, 5 Mar 2026 20:25:45 +0530https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3827825-refile-us-stocks-wall-street-extend-losses-as-investors-weigh-middle-east-war-risksU.S. stocks extended losses on Thursday afternoon as the Middle East conflict entered its sixth day, pushing oil prices higher and spurring worries about inflation and whether ‌the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Expansion of the conflict to more countries fed fears of disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical energy choke point, where missile and drone threats have drastically reduced tanker traffic. This lifted U.S. crude prices about 8% to roughly $80 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude rose about 4% to $85. Traders worry ‌a prolonged interruption could feed inflation and slow economic growth.