海角大神

President Trump signed an order directing the creation of a national voter list. The executive order, signed Tuesday, aims to tighten voting rules by creating a national list of eligible voters and limiting mail ballots. It directs the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration on state-by-state voter lists. It also seeks to stop the Postal Service from sending absentee ballots to people not on approved lists. Democratic election officials in Oregon, Arizona, and Maine promised lawsuits and non-compliance. 鈥� The Associated Press

The U.S. is building 鈥渕ore and more bunkers鈥� at its military bases in the Middle East. It comes even as talks with Iran are 鈥済aining strength,鈥� Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday. Mr. Hegseth scolded NATO allies 鈥� 鈥淵ou might want to start learning how to fight for yourself鈥� 鈥� and said he would not 鈥渇oreclose any option鈥� in deploying U.S. ground troops headed to the region. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks.

The Supreme Court ruled against banning conversion therapy for minors. Chiles v. Salazar was brought by a therapist who is 海角大神 and works with individuals on sexual orientation and gender dysphoria. In an 8-1 decision Tuesday, the court held that Colorado鈥檚 law banning therapists from practicing conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ minors 鈥渞egulates speech based on viewpoint,鈥� violating the First Amendment. In a short concurrence, Justice Elena Kagan, joined by liberal colleague Justice Sonia Sotomayor, wrote that the case is 鈥渢extbook鈥� viewpoint discrimination by allowing speech only on one side of the issue, but left the door open for further debate. In a lengthy dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized her fellow justices for a decision she said will make it harder for states to regulate the medical profession.

Mexico vowed legal action over deaths in U.S. immigration detention facilities. At least 14 people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in 2026 鈥� including four Mexican nationals. Mexico is filing a legal brief as part of a federal class-action lawsuit alleging unconstitutional detention conditions. President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said Monday she would also raise the matter with the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. This is 鈥渁 reflection of an alarming and unacceptable trend,鈥� Mexican diplomat Vanessa Calva Ruiz said.

A Russian oil tanker docked in Cuba. Though the United States has imposed an energy blockade on shipments to the Caribbean island, the vessel brought 730,000 barrels of crude oil from Russia. It is the first oil tanker in three months to reach Cuba and is expected to supply the country鈥檚 oil needs for nine or 10 days, according to the Associated Press.

Iranian forces attacked a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai. The ship caught fire Tuesday morning after it was hit by a drone. The ship sustained damage to its hull, but the damage has so far not caused a spill. The attack comes just a day after President Donald Trump threatened attacks against Iran鈥檚 civilian infrastructure if a deal was not soon reached between the two countries.

A federal judge ordered White House ballroom construction to halt. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon told the Trump administration Tuesday to suspend construction of a $400 million ballroom after it demolished the White House鈥檚 East Wing. He granted a preservationist group鈥檚 request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts the project. Mr. Leon wrote that the president is a steward of the White House, not its owner, and said the project needs congressional approval. The Trump administration filed a notice to the ruling. 鈥� The Associated Press

鈥� Compiled by Monitor writers around the world

The U.S. and Israel aimed vast destructive power at regime targets in Iran. But the Islamic Republic鈥檚 true believers in the Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij militia are operating diligently聽鈥� and without known defections聽鈥� to intimidate any Iranian who might heed the call to rise up.

The U.S. is one of about three dozen countries that provide for unrestricted citizenship at birth. The聽Supreme Court will consider President Donald Trump鈥檚 effort to reinterpret the Constitution鈥檚 guarantee of automatic citizenship at birth.聽

Critics say traders appear to be getting confidential information about major news that will move markets, and then placing trades just before it happens, winning a big payoff.聽Suspicions of impropriety have sparked a wave of legislation in both houses of Congress.聽

For decades, Beijing has worked toward the same overarching goal: Rebuild China鈥檚 power, displace the U.S., and reshape the world order to better serve its interests. Under a second Trump presidency, it has found new opportunities to advance that plan.

The war in the Middle East is playing out many thousands of miles from Southeast Asia. But the impact is already being felt by millions of people in countries such as the Philippines, where the government has declared a national energy emergency, due to the skyrocketing cost of oil and gas.聽

Between the 1500s and the 1800s, breeders developed specialized livestock breeds for different purposes. During this time of specialization, a host of breeds dwindled.聽The Rare Breeds program at Colonial Williamsburg is aimed at preserving breeds that have fallen out of favor.聽

At the start of this week, a four-day gathering of the World Trade Organization ended in deadlock over a disagreement between just two of its 166 member countries. The United States sought a 10-year extension to existing duty-free digital purchasing rules (for items such as software, music, and movies); Brazil would only agree to a two-year extension.

Nevertheless, working on the sidelines, 66 other members 鈥� from Asia, Europe, and the Americas 鈥� forged their own agreement on the issue.

The recent increase in such 鈥渕inilateral鈥� solutions to global obstacles signifies more than mere impatience with time-consuming multilateral processes. Rather, it highlights the impetus and realization among the world鈥檚 middle powers about their changing role 鈥� and responsibility 鈥� in shaping a world order amid major geopolitical shifts. Middle powers are seeking ways to lessen overdependence on the world鈥檚 two largest economies 鈥� the U.S. and China 鈥� while also crafting new interdependent relations with a wider range of partners.

鈥淢iddle powers have the potential to help stabilize global order and advance cooperation,鈥� according to Stewart Patrick, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 鈥淭he range of potential issue areas for cooperation is vast, ... [including] trade, climate action and energy security, digital technology, and support for the international rule of law.鈥�

The European Union and Canada, both longtime allies that the U.S. has recently shunned, are at the forefront of this trend. In January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged a move toward 鈥渂uilding coalitions that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to act together.鈥� He dubbed this a policy of 鈥渧ariable geometry,鈥� based on shared values and interests.

In the two months since his speech at the Davos World Economic Forum, Mr. Carney has traveled to Asia and Australia to hold trade talks. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU, has also logged many air miles. In the first three months of 2026, she helped conclude three significant free-trade negotiations 鈥� with the five-country Mercosur bloc in South America, and with India and Australia.

The Mercosur deal 鈥� in discussion for 25 years 鈥� 鈥渟ignals that the EU can still 鈥� deliver; even if slowly,鈥� noted the Policy Center for the New South. For Mercosur nations, it is a 鈥渞ecognition of agency. Instead of choosing between China鈥檚 purchasing power and Washington鈥檚 attention, the bloc gains a third pillar: Europe鈥檚 market and political stability.鈥� Both sides, the Morocco-based center said, benefit from 鈥渨hat the other can offer: balance, resources, stability.鈥�

Referring to the U.S. retreat from a range of alliances and pacts, Dr. Patrick of Carnegie believes that emerging middle powers can 鈥渇ill the leadership vacuum.鈥� This is their opportunity, he wrote in January, 鈥渢o defend what should be preserved, jettison what is obsolete, and renegotiate rules so that they work better for all.鈥�