A Very Wet Winter Has Eased California’s Drought, but Water Woes Remain
Torrential rain and snow have again drenched California in recent weeks and the extreme precipitation has begun to ease the state’s long-term drought, the driest three-year stretch on record. The recent onslaught of precipitation has flooded highways, broken levees and knocked out power for tens of thousands of utility customers. The deluges have had another effect: replenishing reservoirs and building up snowpack, which has improved drought conditions across much of the state. But long-term concerns remain in a state where years of aridity, rising temperatures and unsustainable water use have left their mark, experts say.
Justice Dept. Investigating TikTok’s Owner Over Possible Spying on Journalists
The Justice Department is investigating the surveillance of U.S. citizens, including several journalists who cover the tech industry, by the Chinese company that owns TikTok, according to three people familiar with the matter. The investigation, which began late last year, appears to be tied to the admission in December by the company, ByteDance, that its employees had inappropriately obtained the data of American TikTok users, including that of two reporters and a few of their associates. The department’s criminal division, the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia are investigating ByteDance, which is based in Beijing and has close ties with China’s government.
DeSantis, on Defense, Shows Signs of Slipping in Polls
It’s been a tough few months for Ron DeSantis. Donald Trump and his allies have blasted him as “Meatball Ron,” “Ron DeSanctimonious,” a “groomer,” disloyal and a supporter of cutting entitlement programs. Now, he’s getting criticism from many mainstream conservatives for calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “territorial dispute.” Is all of this making a difference in the polls? There are signs the answer is yes. In surveys taken since the Trump offensive began two months ago, DeSantis, the Florida governor, has steadily lost ground against Trump, whose own numbers have increased.
Trump Failed to Follow Law on Foreign Gifts, House Democrats Say
Several gifts given by foreign countries to Donald Trump during his presidency are unaccounted for in government records, according to a report released Friday by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which detailed ways in which the Trump White House had failed to follow the law in how it handled gifts. The missing items included a $3,040 driver and $460 putter given to Trump by Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan at the time, and “a larger-than-life-sized painting” of Trump given to him by El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, according to the report.
Turkey’s Erdogan Finally Endorses Finland’s NATO Bid, but Not Sweden’s
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey gave the go-ahead Friday for Finland’s application to join NATO, clearing a significant hurdle for the Nordic nation’s bid to join the alliance but leaving its neighbor, Sweden, on the sidelines for now. Erdogan spoke after concluding a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Ankara, the Turkish capital, saying the country’s parliament could vote before elections in mid-May. But Erdogan has blocked the Swedish application, claiming that the country has become a haven for Kurdish separatists and other dissidents he considers terrorists.
Anger and No-Confidence Motions Follow Pension Action in France
Opposition parties filed two no-confidence motions against President Emmanuel Macron’s government Friday after his decision to push a widely unpopular pension bill through parliament without a full vote, escalating a showdown with protesters and labor unions. Macron’s decision, announced by his prime minister Thursday in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, infuriated opponents of the bill, which would push the legal age of retirement to 64, from 62. Overnight, violent demonstrations broke out in several French cities, and protesters returned to the streets Friday. Under the French Constitution, the pension bill will become law unless a no-confidence motion against the government succeeds in the National Assembly.
Slovakia Follows Poland in Pledging Warplanes for Ukraine
Slovakia’s government said Friday that it would send 13 Soviet-designed fighter jets to Ukraine, a day after a similar announcement by Poland’s president, marking a possibly significant shift from NATO allies in increasing arms supplies for Kyiv. Most of Slovakia’s MiG-29 warplanes are not in working order so their delivery to Ukraine, most likely to provide spare parts for Ukraine’s fleet of Soviet-era jets, will not change the balance of force on the battlefield. But it could add momentum to a Polish-led push within NATO, of which both Slovakia and Poland are members, to break a taboo on sending Ukraine warplanes to defend against Russia’s invasion.
By wire sources