News of the World

[kyonides]

Putin Says Russia Will Place Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Neighboring Country

A senior White House official on Sunday said that there is no indication that Russia will station nuclear weapons in nearby Belarus after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a public pledge to do so a day earlier

“We have not seen any indication that he’s made good on this pledge, or moved any nuclear weapons around,” White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby told CBS’ “Face the Nation” when asked about Putin’s comments.

Although not unexpected, the plan is one of Russia’s clearest nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago, and Ukrainian officials called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in response. While Washington, the world’s other nuclear superpower, played down concerns about Putin’s announcement, NATO said Moscow’s non-proliferation pledge and his description of U.S. weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark.

“Russia’s reference to NATO’s nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments,” NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu told Reuters on Sunday, adding, “Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments.”

During a state television event, Putin revealed plans to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, located next to Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, and Lithuania. The Russian leader said that his military will have control of any weapons that are stationed in Belarus, which was used in part by Russian forces to help stage last year’s invasion of Ukraine.

Federal ‘Major Disaster’ Declared in Mississippi After Dozens Killed by Tornadoes

President Joe Biden on Sunday issued a major disaster declaration in Mississippi after tornadoes left dozens of people dead, according to a White House statement.

Biden early on Sunday “declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Mississippi and ordered Federal aid to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes from March 24 to March 25, 2023.”

Federal disaster funding will be made available for affected individuals in Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe, and Sharkey counties, the White House said. Assistance can be used for temporary housing, home repairs, low-interest loans to cover property losses, and other programs, it said.

Multiple tornadoes ripped through Mississippi and Alabama starting Friday, destroying entire towns and leaving at least 26 dead in Mississippi and one dead in Alabama, according to officials. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared an emergency in affected areas and wrote on Twitter that the state activated its medical support system.

New York Close to Passing Statewide Gas Stove Ban on New Homes

New York state is reportedly close to enacting the nation’s first legislative ban on gas stoves for most new construction, including single-family homes and commercial buildings.

Amid a statewide uproar over the plan, the Democrat-led state legislature is set to advance the move as part of Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul’s $227 billion budget blueprint, which heavily focuses on phasing out the use of fossil fuels with a commitment to creating a “cleaner, healthier environment for future generations.”

If passed as is, the measure would prohibit the installation of “fossil fuel equipment” and building systems in the construction of new one-family and smaller multi-family homes, beginning on Dec. 31, 2025. The same prohibition would apply to new larger multi-family homes and commercial buildings starting on Dec. 31, 2028.

This policy means that any new apartments or homes built after the effective dates wouldn’t be allowed to have many other common fossil fuel household items, including furnaces, water heaters, and clothes dryers. The term “fossil-fuel equipment” actually covers a wide range of oil- or gas-powered plumbing, heating, lighting, insulating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigerating equipment, as well as elevators and escalators that run on fossil fuel.

Exemptions for commercial kitchens, laboratories, laundromats, hospitals, crematoriums, and critical infrastructure projects would be likely, the governor’s office stated last month.

The state budget is due at midnight on April 1.

Philadelphia Officials Issue Emergency Alert to Residents
to Drink Bottled Water After Chemical Spill

The city of Philadelphia issued an advisory to locals on March 26 that they should drink bottled water “out of caution” following a chemical spill in the nearby Delaware River.

On Twitter, the city wrote that it’s currently “responding to a spill of a latex product that occurred along a Delaware River tributary” and that “more information will be provided as it becomes available.” As of March 26, it wrote that “no contaminants” were discovered in the city’s tap water and that any potential contaminants would most likely be found at the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant.

“Out of an abundance of caution, residents in the impacted areas may want to switch to bottled water,” the city of Philadelphia stated.

Authorities pointed to a map, titled “Delaware River Latex Spill Map,” that showed districts in Philadelphia that may have been “potentially impacted” by the spill as of March 26. That included much of the city’s border along the Delaware River.

“As has been reported, on [March 24] a chemical spill occurred in Bristol Township, Bucks County, which released contaminants into the Delaware River,” Mike Carroll, the city’s deputy managing director for transportation, told CNN. “The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) became aware of this through the Delaware Valley Early Warning System (EWS) and has been evaluating the situation since that time to understand potential impacts to the public. Although early indications have not revealed contamination, we are still monitoring the situation and conducting testing.”

Honduras Severs Diplomatic Ties With Taiwan, Recognizes China

Honduras’s leftist government cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the Latin American country announced on March 25, stating that it recognizes “only one China in the world,” under pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Hours later, Beijing and Honduras established diplomatic relations, China’s state-controlled media reported on March 26.

The announcement by Honduras’s Foreign Ministry, which was posted on Twitter, comes amid rising tensions between the regime in Beijing and the U.S.-led democratic international rules-based order, including the CCP’s increasing aggression toward self-ruled Taiwan. The move leaves Taiwan with diplomatic relations with only 13 sovereign states.

“The government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes the existence of only one China in the world and that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all of China,” the Honduran ministry statement reads.

It notes that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.”

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on March 26 that the governments of Honduras and China were discussing establishing ties and that Taiwan had ended its relations with Honduras to “safeguard its sovereignty and dignity.”